Youtube comments of wily wascal (@wilywascal2024).
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Toxic Trump: "It's a HOAX!"
Much later: …."I got this pandemic completely under control, we're safe!"
Shortly after: …."It's not my fault! States need to take charge! I don't take ANY responsibility! It's unsafe! You need to stay home!"
Next day: ...."The cure is worse than the disease, you need to go back to work!
Next week: ...."Don't listen to me! Listen to the CDC!"
Following days: ...."USA #1 in coronavirus cases--and now we're #1 in coronavirus DEATHS! We're the BEST! Thanks to my extremely stable genius wartime leadership, only 100,000-240,000 Americans will die! We're doing a TREMENDOUS job! I still don't take ANY responsibility!"
Now: ... "I've anointed myself All Powerful Dear Leader and will soon order all my subjects back to work despite lack of vaccine, cure, testing, PPE, and the sure-fire massive resurgence killing tens of thousands more Americans--because this pandemic is killing my lucrative Emoluments business, and even my Soviet-style election chances!"
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Instead of embracing the reverance for nature and sustainability practiced by the America's indigenous peoples, we have entered into a death pact with capitalism, consumerism, greed, and selfishness, largely forced upon the common person by large businesses and the wealthy, who continue exploiting us for the own short-sighted, immediate benefit. We bear some responsibility for that, too. For taking part, for allowing it to happen, and for allowing it to continue as long as it has. Until enough of us average citizens wake up and become active in changing how our cultures and societies operate, the downward spiral of our environment will continue leading us into a dead-end death trap. Capitalism and consumerism can serve a purpose. However, they should be viewed and utilized as just one tool at our disposal in our toolbox, and not overly relied upon, like a hammer used for every job, which does more destruction than good.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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What we are witnessing and experiencing is only just the beginning of the reckoning for human stupidity, greed, apathy, and short-sightedness. Pretty soon, with so many suffering, empathy will be in short supply. I fear what is to come for the human race, for our children, for their children, and all who follow after, and the sorrow I feel for them and our planet, for all that will be lost, overwhelms. Because this didn't have to happen. We knew decades ago that we were creating our own apocalypse and took no more than token measures to stop it. And humans continue to dawdle, fiddling while the planet burns.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Toxic Trump: "It's a HOAX!"
Much later: …."I got this pandemic completely under control, we're safe!"
Shortly after: …."It's not my fault! States need to take charge! I don't take ANY responsibility! It's unsafe! You need to stay home!"
Next day: ...."The cure is worse than the disease, you need to go back to work!
Next week: ...."Don't listen to me! Listen to the CDC!"
Following days: ...."USA #1 in coronavirus cases--and now we're #1 in coronavirus DEATHS! We're the BEST! Thanks to my extremely stable genius wartime leadership, only 100,000-240,000 Americans will die! We're doing a TREMENDOUS job! I still don't take ANY responsibility!"
Last week: ... "I've anointed myself All Powerful Dear Leader and will soon order all my subjects back to work despite lack of vaccine, cure, testing, PPE, medical staffing, and the sure-fire massive resurgence resulting thereof, killing tens of thousands more Americans--because this pandemic is killing my lucrative Emoluments business, and even my Soviet-style election chances!"
Now: … "Scratch that; might have to actually do stuff. My greatest-ever new half-baked plan shifts all responsibility and blame back to governors! For now. Maybe. We'll be letting you know, hopefully!"
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Toxic Trump: "It's a HOAX!"
Much later: …."I got this pandemic completely under control, we're safe!"
Shortly after: …."It's not my fault! States need to take charge! I don't take ANY responsibility! It's unsafe! You need to stay home!"
Next day: ...."The cure is worse than the disease, you need to go back to work!
Next week: ...."Don't listen to me! Listen to the CDC!"
Following days: ...."USA #1 in coronavirus cases--and now we're #1 in coronavirus DEATHS! We're the BEST! Thanks to my extremely stable genius wartime leadership, only 100,000-240,000 Americans will die! We're doing a TREMENDOUS job! I still don't take ANY responsibility!"
Last week: ... "I've anointed myself All Powerful Dear Leader and will soon order all my subjects back to work despite lack of vaccine, cure, testing, PPE, medical staffing, and the sure-fire massive resurgence resulting thereof, killing tens of thousands more Americans--because this pandemic is killing my lucrative Emoluments business, and even my Soviet-style election chances!"
Now: … "Scratch that; might have to actually do stuff. My greatest-ever new half-baked plan shifts all responsibility and blame back to governors! For now. Somewhat. Maybe. We'll be letting you know, hopefully!"
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“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Toxic Trump: "It's a HOAX!"
Much later: …."I got this pandemic completely under control, we're safe!"
Shortly after: …."It's not my fault! States need to take charge! I don't take ANY responsibility! It's unsafe! You need to stay home!"
Next day: ...."The cure is worse than the disease, you need to go back to work!
Next week: ...."Don't listen to me! Listen to the CDC!"
Following days: ...."USA #1 in coronavirus cases--and now we're #1 in coronavirus DEATHS! We're the BEST! Thanks to my extremely stable genius wartime leadership, only 100,000-240,000 Americans will die! We're doing a TREMENDOUS job! I still don't take ANY responsibility!"
Last week: ... "I've anointed myself All Powerful Dear Leader and will soon order all my subjects back to work despite lack of vaccine, cure, testing, PPE, medical staffing, and the sure-fire massive resurgence resulting thereof, killing tens of thousands more Americans--because this pandemic is killing my lucrative Emoluments business, and even my Soviet-style election chances!"
Now: … "Scratch that; might have to actually do stuff. My greatest-ever new half-baked plan shifts all responsibility and blame back to governors! For now. Somewhat. Maybe. We'll be letting you know, hopefully!"
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Toxic Trump: "It's a HOAX!"
Much later: …."I got this pandemic completely under control, we're safe!"
Shortly after: …."It's not my fault! States need to take charge! I don't take ANY responsibility! It's unsafe! You need to stay home!"
Next day: ...."The cure is worse than the disease, you need to go back to work!
Next week: ...."Don't listen to me! Listen to the CDC!"
Following days: ...."USA #1 in coronavirus cases--and now we're #1 in coronavirus DEATHS! We're the BEST! Thanks to my extremely stable genius wartime leadership, only 100,000-240,000 Americans will die! We're doing a TREMENDOUS job! I still don't take ANY responsibility!"
Last week: ... "I've anointed myself All Powerful Dear Leader and will soon order all my subjects back to work despite lack of vaccine, cure, testing, PPE, medical staffing, and the sure-fire massive resurgence resulting thereof, killing tens of thousands more Americans--because this pandemic is killing my lucrative Emoluments business, and even my Soviet-style election chances!"
Now: … "Scratch that; might have to actually do stuff. My greatest-ever new half-baked plan shifts all responsibility and blame back to governors! For now. Somewhat. Maybe. We'll be letting you know, hopefully!"
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
~ "Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts."
~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating.
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"We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Unknown source, a derivative of similar quotes by William Butler Yeats, Bertrand Russell, and Charles Bukowski
Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
~ How Fascism Works, The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(Reference also Father Charles E. Coughlin and Henry Ford in regards to the original America First movement.)
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
Malcolm Nance: We Are In A Neo-Fascist Era In American Politics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_RxUAe2zeM
Political Analyst Tells Joy Reid: Forget Trumpism, IT’s Neo-Fascism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IgNp84JA4A
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"We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
~ How Fascism Works, The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(Reference also Father Charles E. Coughlin and Henry Ford in regards to the first America First movement.)
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
Malcolm Nance: We Are In A Neo-Fascist Era In American Politics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_RxUAe2zeM
Political Analyst Tells Joy Reid: Forget Trumpism, IT’s Neo-Fascism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IgNp84JA4A
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
~ "Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts."
~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans want competent leaders who speaks truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is receiving such high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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"Everybody that needs a test can get one!" Except, EVERYONE needs testing! It's not just about testing people who get sick, or even just those health care and other essential front-line workers, or those with a doctor referral. It's really all about RANDOMIZED testing, and testing for TRACKING and containment. THOSE are the testing capabilities desperately needed to safely reopen the economy--which the U.S. sorely lacks. Besides lying about virtually non-existent testing capabilities at the time, while also continually misleading Americans by touting testing kits instead of actual testing ABILITIES, the dirty, dastardly, dynamic duo of Toxic TRUMP and Plague PENCE were moving the goal posts, hoping to "score" in a game with no winners. They scored big, alright...in dead American bodies.
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Toxic Trump: "It's a HOAX!"
Much later: …."I got this pandemic completely under control, we're safe!"
Shortly after: …."It's not my fault! States need to take charge! I don't take ANY responsibility! It's unsafe! You need to stay home!"
Next day: ...."The cure is worse than the disease, you need to go back to work!
Next week: ...."Don't listen to me! Listen to the CDC!"
Following days: ...."USA #1 in coronavirus cases--and now we're #1 in coronavirus DEATHS! We're the BEST! Thanks to my extremely stable genius wartime leadership, only 100,000-240,000 Americans will die! We're doing a TREMENDOUS job! I still don't take ANY responsibility!"
Last week: ... "I've anointed myself All Powerful Dear Leader and will soon order all my subjects back to work despite lack of vaccine, cure, testing, PPE, medical staffing, and the sure-fire massive resurgence resulting thereof, killing tens of thousands more Americans--because this pandemic is killing my lucrative Emoluments business, and even my Soviet-style election chances!"
Now: … "Scratch that; might have to actually do stuff. My greatest-ever new half-baked plan shifts all responsibility and blame back to governors! For now. Somewhat. Maybe. We'll be letting you know, hopefully!"
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I don't condone hate or violence against any group of people, Jews or otherwise. That said, as a critic of the Israeli government and proponent of Palestinian human rights, have been constantly the victim of baseless allegations of anti-Semitism. To be clear, this isn't to draw any kind of victim equivalence. In fact, my concern is more for them than it is for me, as by applying the term anti-Semitic automatically to anyone questioning or criticizing the Israeli government, supporting Palestinian human rights, or supporting the BDS movement, they are working to incrementally make the term meaningless. Been warning Jewish Israelis and their supporters for decades that labeling anyone critical of Israel as being anti-Semitic was harmful and counterproductive, but they never listen. It's like the little boy who cried wolf once too often; it's destructive and it leads to no good end. For many of us who care about both Israeli's and Palestinians and who are wrongly and unjustly accused of anti-Semitism, it becomes something of an unwanted badge of honor.
Amy Goodman: Often when there is dissent expressed in the United States against policies of the Israeli government, people here are called anti-Semitic. What is your response to that as an Israeli Jew?
Shulamit Aloni: Well, it’s a trick, we always use it. When from Europe somebody is criticizing Israel, then we bring up the Holocaust. When in this country people are criticizing Israel, then they are anti-Semitic. And the organization is strong, and has a lot of money, and the ties between Israel and the American Jewish establishment are very strong and they are strong in this country, as you know. And they have power, which is okay. They are talented people and they have power and money, and the media and other things, and their attitude is “Israel, my country right or wrong,” identification. And they are not ready to hear criticism. And it’s very easy to blame people who criticize certain acts of the Israeli government as anti-Semitic, and to bring up the Holocaust, and the suffering of the Jewish people, and that is justify everything we do to the Palestinians.
~ August 14, 2002
Aloni was a major figure in Israel. She had been Education Minister, served in the Israeli parliament for 28 years, authored six books and numerous articles, and produced a radio program. She served in the elite Palmach, and was captured by Jordanian forces in the fight for the Old City of Jerusalem during the 1948 war. She founded and led the Ratz party, and later led the Meretz party.
Aloni was known as “the founding mother of civil rights in Israel.” For decades she worked for ethical humanism, against discrimination, and opposed the Israeli occupation. She was outspoken on a number of topics, including criticizing organized tours of Israeli high school students to Holocaust concentration camps on the ground that such visits were “turning Israeli youth into aggressive, nationalistic xenophobes.”
In 2000, Aloni was awarded the prestigious Israel Prize “for her struggle to right injustices and for raising the standard of equality.” In 2005 she was voted the 57th-greatest Israeli of all time.
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Vote BLUE for science, humanity, sanity, truth, reason, decency, democracy, and reality! And, don't forget to also GET OUT THE VOTE! With anti-democratic, fascist Trump and GOP, must vote to win too big to rig, too real to steal, create too much heat to cheat; if complete, Dems can't be beat.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
~ "Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts."
~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating.
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"We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 – than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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While feeling the pain and outrage of the injustice of Floyd's brutal, senseless murder at the hands of law enforcement--done in plain sight with impunity--and can empathize, can not experience the same level of fear and sickness of minorities suffering from such racism, who must live and deal with this dangerous reality EVERY DAY of their lives HERE in America. It is hard to even imagine, but can certainly understand how protests turn to angry rioting, when nothing seems to change, even if at the same time cognizant and saddened that such rioting is counterproductive and adding more harm to those communities already hurting. If there was only one thing could tell my minority brothers and sisters, fellow American citizens, it is that you will never stand alone in standing up against injustice; there are many Americans like me continuing to stand alongside you, willing to speak out, to act. Those of us who don't see colors, or biological gender, or infirmities--but PEOPLE. Stay strong, stay proud, stay NOBLE--truth and decency WILL prevail if we fight for them.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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"We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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"We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Unknown source, a derivative of similar quotes by William Butler Yeats, Bertrand Russell, and Charles Bukowski
Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
~ How Fascism Works, The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(Reference also Father Charles E. Coughlin and Henry Ford in regards to the original America First movement.)
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
Malcolm Nance: We Are In A Neo-Fascist Era In American Politics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_RxUAe2zeM
Political Analyst Tells Joy Reid: Forget Trumpism, IT’s Neo-Fascism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IgNp84JA4A
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We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Unknown source, a derivative of similar quotes by William Butler Yeats, Bertrand Russell, and Charles Bukowski
Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
~ How Fascism Works, The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(Reference also Father Charles E. Coughlin and Henry Ford in regards to the first America First movement.)
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
Malcolm Nance: We Are In A Neo-Fascist Era In American Politics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_RxUAe2zeM
Political Analyst Tells Joy Reid: Forget Trumpism, IT’s Neo-Fascism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IgNp84JA4A
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What we are witnessing and experiencing is only just the beginning of the reckoning for human stupidity, greed, apathy, and short-sightedness. Pretty soon, with so many suffering, empathy will be in short supply. I fear what is to come for the human race, for our children, for their children, and all who follow after, and the sorrow I feel for them and our planet, for all that will be lost, overwhelms. Because this didn't have to happen. We knew decades ago that we were creating our own apocalypse and took no more than token measures to stop it. And humans continue to dawdle, fiddling while the planet burns.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Toxic Trump: "It's a HOAX!"
Much later: …."I got this pandemic completely under control, we're safe!"
Shortly after: …."It's not my fault! States need to take charge! I don't take ANY responsibility! It's unsafe! You need to stay home!"
Next day: ...."The cure is worse than the disease, you need to go back to work!
Next week: ...."Don't listen to me! Listen to the CDC!"
Following days: ...."USA #1 in coronavirus cases--and now we're #1 in coronavirus DEATHS! We're the BEST! Thanks to my extremely stable genius wartime leadership, only 100,000-240,000 Americans will die! We're doing a TREMENDOUS job! I still don't take ANY responsibility!"
Last month: ... "I've anointed myself All Powerful Dear Leader and will soon order all my subjects back to work despite lack of vaccine, cure, testing, PPE, medical staffing, and the sure-fire massive resurgence resulting thereof, killing tens of thousands more Americans--because this pandemic is killing my lucrative Emoluments business, and even my Soviet-style election chances!"
Now: … "Scratch that; might have to actually do stuff. My greatest-ever new half-baked plan shifts all responsibility and blame back to governors! For now. Somewhat. Maybe. We'll be letting you know, hopefully! Did I mention I've been popping hydroxychloroquine like candy, contrary to medical recommendations?"
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@apep7188 ~ Democrats passed the Civil Rights Act in the sixties DESPITE opposition from Dixiecrats and some Republicans, DESPITE knowing that they would lose many Southern voters, because it was the right thing to do. And we all know how the Dixiecrats became Republicans because of that, and how Republican Presidential contenders then adopted the so-called "Southern strategy" to appeal to racist voters, Doc. Besides, racism in America before the Civil Rights Act was not confined to any one political party. Now, it's become exclusive to the GOP. Lincoln would be ashamed of today's Republican Party.
The KKK is a far-right group of white supremacists that are social conservatives. There have been three distinct versions of the KKK, all of them originated by individuals--not any political party. The KKK had in the past included both Republican and Democrat membership, but has been composed solely of Republican members for the last 50+ years.
Many of America's founding fathers were slaveholders before the Democratic party even existed. You're just regurgitating the same old fallacious Reich-wing talking points ad nauseum, attempting to conflate and confuse dead history with modern times, trying to project Republican racism onto your political opponents. You're not fooling anyone but yourself with that Reich-wing propaganda, while exposing yourself to be a dishonest partisan weasel.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
~ "Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts."
~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme.
~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history."
~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind."
~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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"We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Unknown source, a derivative of similar quotes by William Butler Yeats, Bertrand Russell, and Charles Bukowski
Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
~ How Fascism Works, The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(Reference also Father Charles E. Coughlin and Henry Ford in regards to the original America First movement.)
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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From the video, it was made abundantly clear that the real problem lies with the voters who elect the politicians. But it's always easier to blame someone else, isn't it? I'm a Democrat, and although opposed to the idea of "not in my backyard" and the hypocrisy present in that mindset, I recognize that blame can't be placed solely on Republicans, that Democratic voters need to take responsibility for the laws and policies enacted, especially on the local, county, and state level where they enjoy heavy majorities.
I'm glad that this video exposes Democratic hypocrisy, I welcome the criticism, find it valid, but I think this video, despite a few sparse caveats, critically omits the inequalities in Republican majority states, towns, and districts. If a person is lower middle-income or poor, especially if a minority, it is my experience they generally fare far better where Democrats are in power than Republicans. This video also omits other forms of inequality and how Republicans at the national level and overall are the prime drivers of inequality. Most critically, it ignores how the GOP has abdicated its duty and responsibility to act as LOYAL opposition, instead descending into a fascist, nihilistic hyper-partisan cult. By failing to take into account the big picture, this opinion video fails to see the forest for the trees, which does the public a disservice.
“Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a President and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt
“Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
~ "Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or "the Wall") is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle's name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called "leaders" in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 -- than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to--and a barrier against--our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It's design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge--and help teach--people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see...if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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Hypocritical Republican cult whines about cancel culture...
--while making death threats against those disagreeing with them
--while conducting a terrorist attack against the nation's Capitol in insurrection, beating and killing police, intent on killing lawmakers and the Republican VP, attempting a coup to overthrow the results of a free and fair election...just because their candidate lost.
--while trying to cancel out the votes of millions of Democrats and minorities by objecting solely to their votes, enacting numerous voter suppression measures, and engaging in egregious gerrymandering.
--while labeling MSM "the enemy of the people."
--while censoring and moving to remove fellow Republicans of integrity who speak up for truth and decency, and against GOP lies, terrorism, and crackpot conspiracy theories.
--while Reich-wing media turns off comments yet rants against "censorship."
--while Faux News fires its news editor for truthfully reporting that Arizona had been called for Biden.
--while trying to run a Biden campaign bus off the road.
--while Rep. Marjorie Greene prevents press from covering town hall meetings where nobody wore a mask.
--after seriously injuring over 140 police officers and killing one in the Republican cult's seditious terrorist attack of insurrection against the nation's Capitol, Republican cult terrorists threaten to call the cops on reporters trying to get their side of the story.
--after canceling out millions of American's jobs under George W. Bush's recession and the largest loss of jobs since the great Depression under Toxic Trump due to his gross incompetence, lies, and willful criminal negligence in responding to a global pandemic.
--while canceling out the lives of hundreds of thousands of their fellow Americans by spreading lies about COVID-19, politicizing a deadly pandemic, and refusing to follow common sense health guidelines.
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The building is mostly or wholly owned by its tenets and maintained through their condo association, of which condo owners sit on its board of directors. That said, it isn't unusual for many of the individual condo units to be leased out by the owners of those units. An engineering study conducted three years ago in preparation for its 40-year recertification found significant flooding and structural damage to the building, likely due to a "major error" in design of the building "where the lack of drainage on the pool deck caused major structural damage," and recommended timely reparations, estimating costs totaling $9.1 million. Can't know definitively without more information, but suspect the condo association balked at the huge cost involved with making needed repairs. Reportedly, Champlain Towers South had "extensive inspections prior due to deterioration, and the condo association was preparing to make updates and repairs." Also, Florida is notorious for its sinkholes, poor building codes (especially prior to Hurricane Andrew), shoddy construction, lax enforcement by building inspectors, and corrupt relationships between politicians and real estate developers. It's likely that there is plenty of blame to go around.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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"We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Unknown source, a derivative of similar quotes by William Butler Yeats, Bertrand Russell, and Charles Bukowski
Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
~ How Fascism Works, The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(Reference also Father Charles E. Coughlin and Henry Ford in regards to the first America First movement.)
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
Malcolm Nance: We Are In A Neo-Fascist Era In American Politics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_RxUAe2zeM
Political Analyst Tells Joy Reid: Forget Trumpism, IT’s Neo-Fascism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IgNp84JA4A
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
~ "Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts."
~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme.
~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history."
~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind."
~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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The building is mostly or wholly owned by its tenets and maintained through their condo association, of which condo owners sit on its board of directors. That said, it isn't unusual for many of the individual condo units to be leased out by the owners of those units. An engineering study conducted three years ago in preparation for its 40-year recertification found significant flooding and structural damage to the building, likely due to a "major error" in design of the building "where the lack of drainage on the pool deck caused major structural damage," and recommended timely reparations, estimating costs totaling $9.1 million. Can't know definitively without more information, but suspect the condo association balked at the huge cost involved with making needed repairs. Reportedly, Champlain Towers South had "extensive inspections prior due to deterioration, and the condo association was preparing to make updates and repairs." Also, Florida is notorious for its sinkholes, poor building codes (especially prior to Hurricane Andrew), shoddy construction, lax enforcement by building inspectors, and corrupt relationships between politicians and real estate developers. It's likely that there is plenty of blame to go around.
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"We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
~ How Fascism Works, The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(Reference also Father Charles E. Coughlin and Henry Ford in regards to the first America First movement.)
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
Malcolm Nance: We Are In A Neo-Fascist Era In American Politics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_RxUAe2zeM
Political Analyst Tells Joy Reid: Forget Trumpism, IT’s Neo-Fascism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IgNp84JA4A
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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"We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Unknown source, a derivative of similar quotes by William Butler Yeats, Bertrand Russell, and Charles Bukowski
Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
~ How Fascism Works, The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(Reference also Father Charles E. Coughlin and Henry Ford in regards to the original America First movement.)
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian nationalism religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
The Republican cult is sick, twisted, perverted, seditious, and dangerous.
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“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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I think it's important to know what was going on in the White House on January 6, and this reporting shows how the First Lady was, at best, apathetic about domestic terrorists attacking the nation's Capitol. As they say, sunshine is the best disinfectant. I don't think this news segment necessarily constitutes giving them air, either, given that this analysis of the events discussed occurs between three journalists, without providing a platform to anybody from the Trump family, the former administration, or the GOP trying to spin the facts and cover it all up with lies.
I also think that it's important to know your enemy, and dangerous to ignore your enemy. We should not forget or forgive what Trump and Republicans have put this country through, and continue to put it through. Reminders exposing their utter corruption to the general public are necessary and beneficial. While to some extent I sympathize with your sentiment----would be most happy to never have to hear or talk about Trump and Republicans again----I don't think that's a luxury we can afford. In fact, what I believe is needed is for all decent-minded people to be MORE vocal in expressing their disgust and unwillingness to tolerate Trump and Republicans tearing us apart and dragging this country down. Voting, getting out the vote, supporting good candidates are the most critical actions to be taken, but we also need to use our voices and our feet. The future of our democracy and nation is in grave peril----more so than at any time since the Civil War----and it is vitally imperative that we stand up and be counted.
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Amanda Carpenter is absolutely right--but so is Scott Jennings. Both are guilty, complicit in building the Republican cult beast, abandoning truth and reason, putting party before country.
Been saying it for a long time:
The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. Sure, some of them truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Republican cult placing political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast would soon come to consume them.
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"As many as 70,000 Americans could be confirmed as infected with coronavirus by the end of next week, marking a “pretty dramatic” increase in the number of confirmed cases," the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, told his employees in an agency-wide conference call on 03/20/20.
Except 03/21/20 saw a 33% jump in U.S. cases, from 18,000 to over 24,000. If continuing at 33% every 24 hours, the number of confirmed cases is trending much higher than just 70,000 by 03/27/20. Suspect confirmed cases will be double that. Bear in mind, states hardest hit are not testing many people, saving the tests for those most in need. So the actual number of infected Americans is going to be far higher than just what limited testing of the population has so far confirmed. Don't think this fact is being given enough attention. More important than the number of cases confirmed is the number contracting the disease and not getting tested, spreading the disease, in many cases unknowingly. Hospital projections are for about 100 MILLION Americans to become infected, with about 500,000 dead from covid-19.
(Update 5: Friday, 03/27/20, confirmed U.S. cases 105,000--which is 50% over NIH high-end estimate; deaths 1,700 by end of day. The perspective for cases is significantly skewed low and thus highly misleading, however, as just 0.17% of U.S. population has been tested to date.)
03/29/20 -- 143,000 confirmed cases; 2,450 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
03/30/20 -- 165,000 confirmed cases; 3,250 deaths.
03/31/20 -- 190,000 confirmed cases; 4,200 deaths.
04/01/20 -- 217,000 confirmed cases; 5,150 deaths.
04/02/20 -- 246,000 confirmed cases; 6,050 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/03/20 -- 278,000 confirmed cases; 7,150 deaths.
04/04/20 -- 312,000 confirmed cases; 9,400 deaths.
04/05/20 -- 338,000 confirmed cases; 9,700 deaths.
04/06/20 -- 369,000 confirmed cases; 11,000 deaths.
04/07/20 -- 400,000 confirmed cases; 13,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. Figures indicate a Covid-19 fatality rate for TESTED Americans at 3.25%.
04/08/20 -- 432,000 confirmed cases; 15,900 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S.
04/09/20 -- 466,000 confirmed cases; 16,700 deaths.
04/10/20 -- 502,000 confirmed cases; 18,800 deaths.
04/11/20 -- 530,000 confirmed cases; 20,500 deaths.
04/12/20 -- 558,000 confirmed cases; 22,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S. With just 4.25% of the world's population, the U.S. has 30% of the COVID-19 infections and 20% of the COVID-19 deaths. So far, the U.S. has the very WORST response of ANY nation, something formerly inconceivable, and inexcusable that it could now be allowed to happen here. In the U.S., we have 1.5 million seniors in 15,000 nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Despite forming only 0.45% of the U.S. population, they make up almost 10% of deaths, primarily because our federal government is not doing enough to protect them. Reported that many hospitals are no longer accepting COVID-19 patients from nursing homes, preferring they die there, instead. Our seniors, who helped build, grow and make America great, are being sacrificed, solely to ignorance.
04/13/20 -- 583,000 confirmed cases; 24,200 deaths
04/14/20 -- 609,000 confirmed cases; 26,600 deaths (+2,364* - New worst daily death toll)
04/15/20 -- 640,000 confirmed cases; 30,800 deaths (4,200*) The United States recorded its first coronavirus fatality on Feb. 29. It took 38 days to reach 10,000 deaths and just nine more days to go from 10,000 fatalities to 30,000. An increase in fatalities over the last 48 hours was expected, but was also due to new CDC policy, starting on 04/14, to include probable COVID-19 deaths...finally.
04/16/20 -- 671,000 confirmed cases; 33,100 deaths. Less COVID-19 testing performed this week than last, despite desperate need to ramp up volume to reopen economy.
04/17/20 -- 702,000 confirmed cases; 37,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
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Personally rather be shown where wrong than proven right. Why? Because I WANT the truth. And, because I don't want to unwittingly spread misinformation or disinformation to others. Trouble is, Republican leaders and cult stopped caring about the truth, honesty, and integrity long ago, long before Toxic Trump. They KNOWINGLY spread lies if they think it will help them politically, gain them partisan advantage. They simply deny inconvenient truths and science. They eschew reality for a delusional Reich-wing bubble world. We are, and have been, in the era of Republican dishonesty and unreason, and it's destroying the nation they claim to love so much. Unfortunately, they refuse to see that, and some don't care, don't really love democracy, don't want to be responsible or held accountable, really prefer some form of anarchy, theocracy, or white nationalism.
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Believe that what has precipitated or been the genesis of the deterioration of the GOP was Nixon's forced resignation and Ford's subsequent blanket pardon just a month later. Republican use of the "Southern strategy" during Nixon's time, which continues to this day, is also a significant factor in pushing the GOP to the far right. Of course, those events also did a severe disservice to our nation, but they invoked a sense of shame, disgrace and insecurity among Republicans. After Watergate, many Republicans were unwilling or reluctant to admit they voted for Nixon. The Republican ship was unmoored, set drifting a flounder. Republicans, unable to defend the indefensible of Watergate, Nixon's pardon and racist appeals, encumbered by shame, disgrace, and insecurity, yet unwilling to abandon their political party, reacted in unhealthy ways.
Rather than defending or improving their own party, they increasingly took to making scurrilous attacks to tear down their political opponents, with President Carter being the first to suffer. By the time Clinton got into office, the smears and attacks had gotten far worse. With President Obama, there was the Tea Party movement and Birtherism, the first flexing of the White power movement's political influence upon the GOP. Under Trump, the dark underbelly of American fascism was brought out into the open and sanctioned as "America First," a movement which bears uncanny resemblance to the original America First fascist movement of the 1920's and '30's.
Another readily apparent unhealthy result of Nixon and Ford's pardon has been Republican idolization and attempts to make heroes of Presidents Reagan, George W. Bush, and Trump, despite none rising above mediocrity and each successively being worse Presidents. While support for a President and the leader of one's political party is normal and expected, Republican's extreme embrace and deification of them entailed blind support and widespread unwillingness to question or criticize them, ostensibly to present a united front.
Yet another destructive reaction by Republicans was the use of lies, denials, obfuscations, propaganda techniques and propaganda for political gain, and the abandonment of truth, reason, integrity, scruples, honor and principle. While those undesirable traits have become ubiquitously present within and synonymous with the Republican party for a number of years now, it was a gradual process that worsened over time, and continues to worsen. The Republican party has chosen to separate itself from a common shared reality based upon truth and reason in blind pursuit of political power, placing party before common good and country, creating for itself a dystopian, nihilistic, Orwellian fantasy world. It is these things which are the most highly corrosive to the moral fabric of our society and most damaging to the nation.
To be sure, there have been other significant factors involved in the radicalization of the GOP which should not be discounted, such as the rise of right-wing demagogues like Rush Limbaugh, right-wing media like Fox, and right-wing White Christian nationalism. Would also acknowledge that the GOP is not a monolithic entity; people have different reasons for voting Republican, varying degrees of commitment to and involvement in the party. Not all Republicans are racist, bigoted, xenophobic, misogynistic, or unhinged extremists, although, unfortunately, such ignorance and hate has come to predominance in the GOP. There are many Republicans who are otherwise decent folk, if politically misguided and/or radicalized. However, with the exception of those Republicans leaving the party or vociferously and actively fighting against the rot and dysfunction occurring, even those who through their silent acquiescence and votes are complicit in enabling, aiding and abetting the evil being perpetuated by the GOP, and comprise part of what has for all intents and purposes become a fascist, nihilistic cult.
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"The cartels will continue as long as the Mexican government allows it." The government includes the Mexican federal, state, and local governments, the military controlled by the federal government, and the various law enforcement and judicial agencies at all levels of the Mexican government. Mostly, though, it's the corruption of the federal government of Mexico that is the decisive factor. To a large extent, the appetite of the American people for illegal drugs and contraband is also to blame. It's a matter of supply and demand, and the huge amount of money involved is the corrupting influence. America shares much of the blame for the violence occurring mostly in Mexico, but we are loath to admit it. For some powerful and moving insight into the problem of the Mexican cartels, Don Winslow's fictional trilogy about them gives a fair and impartial account, and makes for some truly engrossing reading.
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Personally rather be shown where wrong than proven right. Why? Because I WANT the truth. And, because I don't want to unwittingly spread misinformation or disinformation to others. Trouble is, Republican leaders and cult stopped caring about the truth, honesty, and integrity long ago, long before Toxic Trump. They KNOWINGLY spread lies if they think it will help them politically, gain them partisan advantage. They simply deny inconvenient truths and science. They eschew reality for a delusional Reich-wing bubble world. We are, and have been, in the era of Republican dishonesty and unreason, and it's destroying the nation they claim to love so much. Unfortunately, they refuse to see that, and some don't care, don't really love democracy, don't want to be responsible or held accountable, really prefer some form of anarchy, theocracy, or white nationalism.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Paul Drusbasky ~ You're projecting. Right-wing media, right-wing demagogues, and right-wing politicians have profited for four decades by exploiting the politics of divisiveness, demonization, and fear, which is transformed into hate by the Republican cult.
Been around long enough to remember when Republicans and Democrats got along, long enough to observe what has happened to the politics in this country. Unlike you, don't hate my fellow Americans; it's more like pity for the fools getting sucked into the mindless cult, disgust for those manipulating the suckers, and dismay at the damage being done to the nation. Putin and Trump merely exploited the divisiveness, fear, and hate of the Republican cult that had already been well-established for many years. If not Russian, get a clue, not a cult. #moreRussiasanctions
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance.
In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump leaves office, the one out of every 800 Americans will have died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 400,000 fatalities, as many American casualties as WWII. It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of crackpot conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of greed, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of plutocrats, the party of corruption, the party of anti-democracy, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their pact with the Devil.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Jodi Ernst is former military, but shows how she's nothing but a big coward, a disgusting disgrace to the uniform! Republicans can't even answer simple questions...because that would mean telling the truth! So they talk, and talk, and talk, and talk...stringing together empty words that say and mean absolutely nothing. Fighting for Iowa? No, she's fighting to keep her meal ticket on the GOP corruption train, that's all. Vote the Republican bums out like Ernst who dishonor their Oath of Office, the rule of law, justice, and our Constitution. Impeachment trial with NO witnesses?!? We can do better, but not with Ernst in office.
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GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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@Sandra Stone ~ Hypocritical Republican cult whines about cancel culture...
--while making death threats against those disagreeing with them
--while conducting a terrorist attack against the nation's Capitol in insurrection, beating and killing police, intent on killing lawmakers and the Republican VP, attempting a coup to overthrow the results of a free and fair election...just because their candidate lost.
--while trying to cancel out the votes of millions of Democrats and minorities by objecting solely to their votes, enacting numerous voter suppression measures, and engaging in egregious gerrymandering.
--while labeling MSM "the enemy of the people."
--while censoring and moving to remove fellow Republicans of integrity who speak up for truth and decency, and against GOP lies, terrorism, and crackpot conspiracy theories.
--while Reich-wing media turns off comments yet rants against "censorship."
--while Faux News fires its news editor for truthfully reporting that Arizona had been called for Biden.
--while trying to run a Biden campaign bus off the road.
--while Rep. Marjorie Greene prevents press from covering town hall meetings where nobody wore a mask.
--after seriously injuring over 140 police officers and killing one in the Republican cult's seditious terrorist attack of insurrection against the nation's Capitol, Republican cult terrorists threaten to call the cops on reporters trying to get their side of the story.
--after canceling out millions of American's jobs under George W. Bush's recession and the largest loss of jobs since the great Depression under Toxic Trump due to his gross incompetence, lies, and willful criminal negligence in responding to a global pandemic.
--while canceling out the lives of hundreds of thousands of their fellow Americans by spreading lies about COVID-19, politicizing a deadly pandemic, and refusing to follow common sense health guidelines.
--while threatening to cancel baseball's anti-trust exemption for exercising their right to free speech
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"We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Despite knowing of the emergence of COVID-19 in December, and it threat to world health shortly thereafter, Trump did virtually nothing to prepare for the inevitable coming health crisis of a pandemic. Trump administration has had MONTHS to get its act together, yet public health system and hospital networks are NOT prepared for the kind of outbreaks seen in China, South Korea and Italy. We do NOT have the respirators and ventilators needed for the expected numbers. We do NOT have enough oxygen equipment and medications stockpiled. We do NOT have enough medical personnel to handle the expected numbers. We do NOT have enough medical facilities for those kinds of numbers. We do NOT yet even have the training programs in place to handle this epidemic for either health professionals or the public. There should have been a massive national mobilization by our Federal government started months ago to begin preparation of needed medical equipment, supplies, and drugs. Instead, Trump has peddled delusions and denials of the realities, wasting weeks, which will result in the senseless, unforgivable loss of more American lives due directly to his gross ignorance and incompetence.
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"We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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"Everybody that needs a test can get one!" Except, EVERYONE needs testing! It's not just about testing people who get sick, or even just those health care and other essential front-line workers, or those with a doctor referral. It's really all about RANDOMIZED testing, and testing for TRACKING and containment. THOSE are the testing capabilities desperately needed to safely reopen the economy--which the U.S. sorely lacks. Besides lying about virtually non-existent testing capabilities at the time, while also continually misleading Americans by touting testing kits instead of actual testing ABILITIES, the dirty, dastardly, dynamic duo of Toxic TRUMP and Plague PENCE were moving the goal posts, hoping to "score" in a game with no winners. They scored big, alright...in dead American bodies.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 – than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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--Instead of striving to bring out the best in people, Toxic Trump reveled in bringing out the very worst.
--Instead of uniting the country, Toxic Trump sought to divide us.
--Instead of abiding by and honoring our Constitution and the rule of law, Toxic Trump held them in disdain, disregarded them, and degraded them.
--Instead of strengthening democracy and our cherished institutions, Toxic Trump worked to diminish and destroy them, inciting a terrorist insurrection against his own government, attempting a coup to steal an election.
--Instead of insuring a peaceful transfer power after losing the election, Toxic Trump kept insisting against all evidence that he won, and incited a terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol.
--Instead of confronting a serious threat to Americans with a deadly global pandemic, Toxic Trump lied to the American people about it, ignored it, and refused to take any responsibility for his gross homicidal criminal negligence that resulted in one out of every 800 Americans dying from COVID-19--over 400,000 lives in just ten months, as many casualties as all of WWII.
--Instead of confronting the ever-increasing existential crisis from climate change and its harmful effects, Toxic Trump gutted regulations, exacerbating the problem and poisoning citizens.
--Instead of creating jobs, Toxic Trump was the first President since the Great Depression to preside over a net loss of jobs over his tenure.
--Instead of lowering the national deficit, Toxic Trump increased it from 19.2 trillion to 27 trillion.
--Instead of building bridges, humane immigration reform, and infrastructure, Toxic Trump built walls and cages, separated children from mothers, allowed American infrastructure to decline and deteriorate, rejected economic opportunity.
--Instead of raising our standing and security in the world, Toxic Trump lowered and weakened it.
--Instead of draining the swamp, Toxic Trump turned it into a noxious overflowing Republican sewer.
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Personally rather be shown where wrong than proven right. Why? Because I WANT the truth. And, because I don't want to unwittingly spread misinformation or disinformation to others. Trouble is, Republican leaders and cult stopped caring about the truth, honesty, and integrity long ago, long before Toxic Trump. They KNOWINGLY spread lies if they think it will help them politically, gain them partisan advantage. They simply deny inconvenient truths and science. They eschew reality for a delusional Reich-wing bubble world. We are, and have been, in the era of Republican dishonesty and unreason, and it's destroying the nation they claim to love so much. Unfortunately, they refuse to see that, and some don't care, don't really love democracy, don't want to be responsible or held accountable, really prefer some form of anarchy, theocracy, or white nationalism.
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“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth and justice--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
~ "Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts."
~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme.
~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history."
~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind."
~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Congressional Republicans just proved--once again--they are unwilling to operate in good faith, first in the House, now in the Senate, unwilling to even pass a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate the January 6 insurrection! How many times does Lucy have to pull the football out at the last minute before Charlie Brown Manchin and Silly Sinema finally wise up? New voting rights protections sorely needed in the wake of new Republican Jim Crow legislation nationwide, a badly needed infrastructure and jobs bill, and numerous other pieces of critical legislation the Democrats want to pass don't stand a chance if the filibuster is allowed to stand. If Republicans are going to abuse the filibuster, then it's time to LOSE THE FILIBUSTER!!!
As Republicans continue relitigating the 2020 election in Arizona, Georgia, and other states based upon a Big Lie they pushed, and after Republicans relitigated Benghazi for years with TEN partisan investigations, Moscow McConnell doesn't want a bipartisan commission to investigate an insurrection against the nation's Capitol because it would be "relitigating?" Nevermind the heights of hypocrisy reached here; that's an insult to the intelligence of the American people, and a gross dereliction of duty by Republicans.
Naturally, Republicans don't want their ties to terrorists and the insurrection exposed, nor does McCarthy want to be forced to testify about his damning phone call to Traitor Trump on January 6th.
While it would be better to have a bipartisan commission with both sides operating in good faith to get to the truth, Republicans have demonstrated themselves to be incapable of operating in good faith. Given that they amply proved that by voting against the January 6 commission, it will actually be for the better, because a House select committee investigating January 6 won't be blocked by Republicans from subpoenaing witnesses, or bogged down with Republican obstructionism, obfuscations, deflections, and irrelevancies.
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@mervyngreene6687 ~ Exactly----they acted like a pack of wild hyenas, or a school of piranha fish, attacking and assaulting an already subdued handcuffed suspect laying on the ground, each trying to snag a bite. There was clearly more than five police officers guilty of physical assaulting the suspect and the innocent bystander, but it wasn't all of them.
I'm fairly certain "complicit" and "accomplice" means the same thing in every state. Being complicit in a crime makes one an accomplice. And it is also quite clear from these videotapes that all of the officers there were active accomplices in allowing other police to unnecessarily assault and beat the two men. They obviously weren't honoring their oath to "protect and serve," that's for damn sure.
What should also be obvious is these police----together as a group----were acting as judge, jury, and executioner. And that should not, MUST NOT, be tolerated or allowed in a civilized society. It should not tolerated or allowed anywhere in America. These were blatant violations of the suspect's and onlooker's civil rights, and all of those police present must be held accountable----not just a few of the worst offenders. Police should be held to a higher standard, not a lower one, but too often it is a lower standard to which they are held, to the detriment of our society, our communities, and our nation. And, yes, is is even also to the detriment of our law enforcement agencies and their personnel.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, along with Reich-wing demagogues and media, who were complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance, and in spreading disinformation and misinformation. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump left office, one out of every 800 Americans had died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 410,000 fatalities, as many American casualties as all of WWII. To put it into further perspective, throughout Trump's catastrophic mishandling of a deadly global pandemic, the U.S. led the world in cases and deaths, suffering nearly 25% of each, despite having only 4.25% of global population, despite having the advantage of being the richest and most advanced nation in the world.
The memorial would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure. Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
~ "Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts."
~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme.
~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history."
~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind."
~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Broadly speaking, would agree. More accurately, the mutations that are more contagious will be more successful, while those more deadly, killing off its hosts too quickly before the host is able to transmit the disease to X number of people, are likely to be less so. This is particularly true with human diseases, as humans are likely to take more preventative mitigation measures and isolate more the more deadly the variant or disease. But the process is governed by randomness, consequence, and circumstance, which is often misinterpreted, misrepresented, or misconstrued as intentional or willful by a species. And that is no guarantee that a virus that has mutated to become more contagious could not mutate further to become more deadly. Hence, the critical need for everyone able to get vaccinated and continue measures that will stop the spread of this novel coronavirus, to help avoid further mutations.
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Baby Hunn ~ The comment is overly simplistic, but so is your reply. Your reply is also propagating an extremist form of Islam, which is not necessarily embraced by "a large majority" or even a majority of Afghanis. Before the Russian invasion and U.S. backing of jihadists in Afghanistan, the people of Afghanistan were generally far more tolerant, and it was not all that unusual to see Afghan women, particularly younger women, in Western dress, sporting the latest fashions, and going to schools. Kabul used to be a vibrant, tolerant, cosmopolitan city.
Your reply reflects and breeds the ignorance of misogyny, ignores the suffering of women under the radical extremist forms of Islam forced upon Afghanis, often against their will, by the Taliban and other groups, and blames others instead of the perpetrators, the Taliban, for exacting retribution upon women and other Afghanis seeking their natural civil and human rights that are deserved by everyone, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, creed, status, or political ideology. The Islam religion was once renowned for its tolerance and relative progressivism, before being hijacked by religious extremists and those seeking to gain and maintain power like the Saud dynasty. It's true that a majority of Afghanis are Muslim, and as such are more comfortable with Sharia law. But democracy and Islam are compatible, and modern Islamic governments have incorporated Sharia law into governmental law. And while Afghanis are a fiercely independent people, that does not mean they wish to isolate their nation from all other nations, Western or otherwise. It just means that they are opposed to foreign occupations. In that, they are no different than most other peoples and nations.
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Of course, the January 6th Select Committee is going to issue an invitation to members of Congress to come forward with information about January 6th before issuing a subpoena, expecting them to honor their Oath of Office. Of course, Republicans don't care about their Oath of Office. Of course, they're going to falsely claim victimhood and allege the Commitee is a political witch hunt. Of course, they're not going to cooperate. Of course, Republicans will continue to Gaslight, Obstruct, and Project, putting personal and party interests before country. Of course, outside of a small handful of Congressional Republicans, they are not leaders, but followers in a fascist, nihilistic GOP cult. Of course, they continue to push the Big Lie, whether actively or silently complicit, fomenting domestic terrorism while undermining and degrading our democracy and republic.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Sorry to say, most of their revenue doesn't come from advertisers, but from the outrageous contracts they negotiate with cable providers. You really want to hit Faux News where it hurts, threaten cable TV providers that you will "drop the box" if they keep supporting and carrying Faux News. The good news is that cable TV providers have no desire to pay the outlandish sums Faux News demands, and would love to have us provide the excuse needed! There is already a non-profit organization out there pushing this, which can provide one more information if needed:
Pay for cable or satellite TV? You’re subsidizing Fox News whether you watch it or not.
Your cable or satellite TV provider pays a subscriber fee to carry Fox News. That cost is passed directly on to YOU.
Every network charges cable and satellite providers a small fee per subscriber; the one for Fox News is extraordinarily high. A typical household pays Fox News almost $2 per month—about $20 per year— via their cable or satellite provider, regardless of whether they actually watch the channel.
In 2021, a wave of big contracts between Fox News and TV providers for subscriber fees are set to expire. These contracts make up about 65% if Fox News’ subscriber fee revenue. If we want to stop paying the Fox News “tax,” now is the time to act.
Fox News makes approximately $1.8 billion per year from hidden subscriber fees–twice as much as CNN and three times as much as MSNBC.
The network's extra-high fees, which make up most of its revenue, protect Fox News from the advertisers that are quickly abandoning it.
https://unfoxmycablebox.com/
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If you hitched your wagon to a dying beast and got stranded, whose fault is that? And if you knew that dying beast was killing and sickening people, spewing poison into our air and water, but chose to hitch your wagon to it, anyway, what kind of person does that make you? One worthy of sympathy for losing that killer job? Besides, it isn't as if these people and communities are unable to learn new job skills, build a cleaner and more moral job base.
In addition to being one of the dirtiest hydrocarbon fuels to burn, contributing significantly to climate change and harmful air pollution, after coal is burned what remains in the ash includes lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium, arsenic, and selenium, all in levels that may threaten human health. In just 2014 alone, the U.S. produced 130 MILLION TONS of coal ash.
For decades, utilities have disposed of coal ash dangerously, dumping it in unlined ponds and landfills where the toxins leak into groundwater. According to the industry’s own data, more than 95% of the coal ash ponds in the United States are unlined. 738 coal ash units in 43 states and Puerto Rico have reported information in compliance with federal coal ash safeguards since 2015. More than 550 units — at 265 plants — reported groundwater monitoring data. Based on that data, 91% of these plants are contaminating groundwater with toxic substances at levels exceeding federal safe standards.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
~ "Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts."
~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme.
~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history."
~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind."
~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Because the Palestinian Authority is not provided the resources or means to act as a proper government. In the West Bank, their law enforcement essentially operates as a security force for Israel. Decades of brutal Israeli military occupation, oppression, and colonization has rendered the West Bank an apartheid quasi-state of bantus, where just traveling to the next Palestinian village can take hours. Israel's oppressive military occupation of the oPt has been described by many commentators as the world's largest open-air prison. Moreover, long-standing International Law mandates that it is the Occupying Power that is responsible for the safety and security of those territories it militarily occupies.
Have studied this conflict for decades, care about both sides, and it is extremely disturbing and distressing to see how those so systemically persecuted for so long have become those systemically persecuting another group of people for so long. Suggest taking the time to take an objective look at the situation there; there are many books offering views from both sides of the competing narratives, some that offer a stark, unvarnished view of the Israeli racism at work from Israeli Jews, and others from non-partisan sources that offer astute insight and analysis, as well as an accurate history of this century-old conflict. If reading is not your thing, there are numerous YouTube videos where one can gain good perspective, as well.
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@Iriamu-Guillermo ~ "The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
~ "Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
~ "Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts."
~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
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You don't get denialism without nihilism. As life-long conservative Bill Kristol astutely pointed out, the Republican party has embraced nihilism. Republicans still labeling COVID-19 a "hoax;" Republicans still refusing to wear masks or social distance after over half-a-million American fatalities from COVID-19; Congressional Republicans obstructing a COVID-19 stimulus bill certain to pass just to delay vital and urgently needed relief to Americans desperate for help; not one Congressional Republican in either chamber voting for the badly needed stimulus bill; Republican governors dropping mask mandates and all restrictions on businesses, heedless of rising case counts in their states and deadly new variants of the virus; and Republican leaders continuing to push the Big Lie that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen without evidence and in disregard of plentiful evidence and facts to the contrary, even AFTER their Big Lie incited a terrorist attack by a mindless Republican mob against the nation's Capitol in insurrection against the government, attempting to overturn a legitimate election, sieging, storming, sizing, sacking, defiling, defacing and disgracing America's citadel of, and temple to, democracy--these are all prime examples of nihilism.
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@antoniosaxon8605 ~ #unfoxmycablebox Sorry to say, most of their revenue doesn't come from advertisers, but from the outrageous contracts they negotiate with cable providers. You really want to hit Faux News where it hurts, threaten cable TV providers that you will "drop the box" if they keep supporting and carrying Faux News. The good news is that cable TV providers have no desire to pay the outlandish sums Faux News demands, and would love to have us provide the excuse needed! There is already a non-profit organization out there pushing this, which can provide one more information if needed:
Pay for cable or satellite TV? You’re subsidizing Fox News whether you watch it or not.
Your cable or satellite TV provider pays a subscriber fee to carry Fox News. That cost is passed directly on to YOU.
Every network charges cable and satellite providers a small fee per subscriber; the one for Fox News is extraordinarily high. A typical household pays Fox News almost $2 per month—about $20 per year— via their cable or satellite provider, regardless of whether they actually watch the channel.
In 2021, a wave of big contracts between Fox News and TV providers for subscriber fees are set to expire. These contracts make up about 65% if Fox News’ subscriber fee revenue. If we want to stop paying the Fox News “tax,” now is the time to act.
Fox News makes approximately $1.8 billion per year from hidden subscriber fees–twice as much as CNN and three times as much as MSNBC.
The network's extra-high fees, which make up most of its revenue, protect Fox News from the advertisers that are quickly abandoning it.
https://unfoxmycablebox.com/
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How many climate change warnings before they are heeded, and aggressive actions taken to tackle the problem?
What we are witnessing and experiencing is only just the beginning of the reckoning for human stupidity, greed, apathy, and short-sightedness. Pretty soon, with so many suffering, empathy will be in short supply. I fear what is to come for the human race, for our children, for their children, and all who follow after, and the sorrow I feel for them and our planet, for all that will be lost, overwhelms. Because this didn't have to happen. We knew decades ago that we were creating our own apocalypse and took no more than token measures to stop it. And humans continue to dawdle, fiddling while the planet burns.
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For three years, Republicans have propped up and protected a racist, corrupt, sociopathic narcissistic menace to society, gaslighting and covering up Traitor Trump crimes, ineptness, and incompetence. Republicans don't really care about our country; time and again, for decades now, they have put their politics and greed for power above the welfare of this nation. The destructiveness of GOP politics on American government began under Nixon, but starting with Reagan it became a Republican selling point. Conservatism won't die, but Republicanism has become a zero-sum game for losers. This incarnation of the GOP needs to die, or it will be the end of American greatness.
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@Schlabbeflicker ~ CRT is actually a subgroup of Critical Legal Theory, more commonly known as Critical Legal Studies.
CLS includes several subgroups with fundamentally different, even contradictory, views. Feminist legal theory examines the role of gender in the law. Critical race theory (CRT) examines the role of race in the law. Postmodernism is a critique of the law influenced by developments in literary theory, and it emphasizes political economy and the economic context of legal decisions and issues.
Critical legal studies (CLS) is a theory which states that the law is necessarily intertwined with social issues, particularly stating that the law has inherent social biases. Proponents of CLS believe that the law supports the interests of those who create the law. As such, CLS states that the law supports a power dynamic which favors the historically privileged and disadvantages the historically underprivileged. CLS finds that the wealthy and the powerful use the law as an instrument for oppression in order to maintain their place in hierarchy. Many in the CLS movement want to overturn the hierarchical structures of modern society and they focus on the law as a tool in achieving this goal. CLS was officially started in 1977 at a conference at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, but its roots extend earlier to when many of its founding members participated in social activism surrounding the Civil Rights movement and the Vietnam War. The founders of CLS borrowed from non-legal fields such as social theory, political philosophy, economics, and literary theory. Among noted CLS theorists are Roberto Mangabeira Unger, Robert W. Gordon, and Duncan Kennedy. CLS has been largely contained within the United States. While influenced to some extent by European philosophers, such as Karl Marx, Max Weber, Max Horkheimer, Antonio Gramsci, and Michel Foucault, CLS has borrowed heavily from Legal Realism, the school of legal thought that flourished in America in the 1920s and 1930s. Like CLS scholars, legal realists rebelled against accepted legal theories of the day and urged the legal field to pay more attention to the social context of the law.
Legal realism is a naturalistic approach to law. It is the view that jurisprudence should emulate the methods of natural science, i.e., rely on empirical evidence. Hypotheses must be tested against observations of the world. Legal realists believe that legal science should only investigate law with the value-free methods of natural sciences, rather than through philosophical inquiries into the nature and meaning of the law that are separate and distinct from the law as it is actually practiced. Indeed, legal realism asserts that the law cannot be separated from its application, nor can it be understood outside of its application. As such, legal realism emphasizes law as it actually exists, rather than the law as it ought to be. Locating the meaning of law in areas like legal opinions issued by judges and their deference or dismissal of the past precedent and the doctrine of stare decisis, it stresses the importance of understanding the factors involved in judicial decision making.
Legal realism is associated with American jurisprudence during the 1920s and 1930s, particularly amongst federal judges and lawyers within the Roosevelt administration. Notable jurists associated with legal realism include Felix Cohen, Morris Cohen, Arthur Corbin, Walter Wheeler Cook, Robert Hale, Wesley Hohfeld, Karl Llewellyn, Underhill Moore, Herman Oliphant and Warren Seavey, many of whom were associated with Yale Law School. As Keith Bybee argues, "legal realism exposed the role played by politics in judicial decision-making and, in doing so, called into question conventional efforts to anchor judicial power on a fixed, impartial foundation." Contemporary legal scholars working within the Law and Society tradition have expanded upon the foundations set by legal realism to postulate what has been referred to as new legal realism.
As a form of jurisprudence, legal realism is defined by its focus on the law as it actually exists in practice, rather than how it exists on the books. To this end, it was primarily concerned with the actions of judges and the factors that influenced processes of judicial decision making. As Karl Llewellyn argues, “behind decisions stand judges; judges are men; as men they have human backgrounds.” The law, therefore, did not exist in a metaphysical realm of fundamental rules or principles, but was inseparable from human action and the power of judges to determine the law. In order to understand the decisions and actions of legal actors, legal realists turned to the ideas of the social sciences in order to understand the human behavior and relationships that culminated in a given legal outcome.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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So many people not taking this pandemic seriously enough, reminding one of little kids who think they're invincible and need to be constantly reminded and monitored not to run out into the street. Try explaining to them that this coronavirus isn't just an opportunistic killer, affecting only the very old or very vulnerable, but also a random killer, striking people of all ages in the peak of health. Try explaining to them how even if they don't suffer, their failure to follow common-sense health guidelines causes many others to suffer and die needlessly. They don't want to hear any of it, because it might interfere with them going to a bar or restaurant, going to the gym, getting together with friends, etc. While the bulk of responsibility for the excess suffering and deaths America has experienced goes to an abject failure in leadership by Trump and many other Republicans, individuals behaving with wanton recklessness bear some responsibility, too.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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@marciasandberg4513 ~ The "ricky" character is just another one of Putin's sock-puppet propaganda pawns with a new YouTube account only a couple of days old. They get paid extra $$$$ for eliciting responses, so they like to post outrageous, untrue things as bait. Best not to encourage or feed them. If so inclined to respond, do so indirectly, replying to the comment instead.
Just to note, Covid-19 deaths under Trump were 411,000+ after just ten months when he left office. Moreover, Trump is to blame for most of the deaths that have occurred in the six months following, given the rate of infections and number of hospitalized at the time Biden took office, the disinformation and politicization by Trump and Republicans, and the lack of any competent vaccine distribution plan and general mess Biden inherited.
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"We have met the enemy and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Thank-you, Ambassador Yovanovitch, for your courage, your wisdom, and your selfless service to your country on behalf of ALL the American people. Thank-you, Rep. Heck, for expressing the great anger and disgust publicly that many of us deeply share, and for doing it so eloquently and powerfully. You are both the bright, shiny face of America, our perpetual hope, whereas Trump and Republicans supporting and protecting him represent its dark, slimy underbelly, our sure demise.
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@tomvalveede6808 ~Largely agree, but don't sell America and Americans so short. We actually manufacture many high-quality products in the U.S. Corporations moved most jobs overseas to increase profits, and in order to be able to compete against foreign competitors likewise employing cheap labor in developing nations. There is a trade-off of good and bad benefits to shedding manufacturing jobs for service jobs, and we need to get the mix right. If we pay Americans enough they can afford to buy well-made American products. And if we level the playing field, bringing up working wages and conditions for all workers around the world, we can make those cell phones competitively in America. However, America may choose to specialize in making or offering other products, which benefit and profit us and the world more. The real problem is overcoming our addiction and overreliance on consumerism and capitalism, which have a place in human social development, but must be taken in moderation. Aspirin is good, vitamins are good--but taking too many is not.
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Please excuse reposting an earlier comment made elsewhere, but it seemed somewhat relevant to this discussion also:
Putin's puppet Trump is enabled by traitorous, cowardly Congressional Republicans, who obstruct, obfuscate, deny and silently acquiesce to his criminal and treasonous acts, which are clearly outlined in the Mueller Report and self-evident. Whether they read it or not, they KNOW Trump richly deserves impeachment, yet keep continuing to endanger the security of the American people while remaining derelict in their sworn duty to faithfully defend the Constitution. They are a disgrace to Congress and our nation. Republicans don't seem to realize or care how their cowardice and betrayal is transparently obvious, and their legacy infamy. Republicans KNOW Trump is compromised by Russia. They KNOW Trump repeatedly tried to fire Mueller, refused to be interviewed for Mueller and responded inadequately to written questions, and now seeks to silence Mueller (and everyone else). We know they know. And we know they know that they are gross hypocrites who would have already impeached a Democrat for what is contained in the Mueller Report, enjoying bipartisan support.
As for Barr, there's a special place in hell for people like him.
The question was why Congressional Republicans aren't more concerned about their sabotaging and setting bad precedent with House oversight, and Byron York evades the question on Face the Nation to talk about Pelosi and Dems. Anyone that reads the Mueller Report has to know that Trump needs to be impeached; this is the elephant in the room Republicans pretend not to see. This is implicit in what the question addresses, yet Byron York does not want to talk about any of that. Why? Because it entirely demonstrates Congressional Republicans to be highly hypocritical, hyper-partisan, cowardly, power-obsessed, and traitors to their sworn duty to faithfully defend our Constitution and country? Isn't that what we really need to be talking about at this point?
Additionally, it is essential to address the growing rot in our society. The Republican cult is a sickness, a disease upon our nation. Molding their cult through right-wing propaganda, Trump is the fruit of the poisoned tree Republicans sowed. I'm not suggesting killing the Republican party, but the disease needs to be treated, and measures taken to prevent recurrence. Else Americans face demise at our own hands from extremists who would seek to substitute blind fealty for independent thought and critical reasoning, gathering citizens into their Orwellian realities for money and political power.
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In Alberta, Canada has the largest production of tar sands, one of the dirtiest fuels, polluting its rivers, soil, and air! Canada's ecological footprint pre capita was graded at 8.17, just below the U.S. at 8.22 (2016), which is higher than European nations.
Some small oil-producing nations like Kuwait and UAE produce far more greenhouse gases because of their refineries. But the problem is about more than just who is producing the most greenhouse gases or who is producing the most green energy; it also involves who is consuming the most products made with those greenhouse gases, who is most exploiting Earth's resources faster than they can be renewed?
Now, the figures given were for per capita, but if we look at national rankings without regard to population and other factors such as China and the U.S. being major exporters, then those rankings change. But one could well argue that per capita ratings are a more accurate and fair measure. In that regard, Canada is on par with the U.S., Oman, Mongolia, and Australia, the only five in the world which require more than 6.7 global hectares per capita.
ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT PER PERSON: The Ecological Footprint per person is a nation's total Ecological Footprint divided by the total population of the nation. To live within the means of our planet's resources, the world's Ecological Footprint would have to equal the available biocapacity per person on our planet, which is currently 1.7 global hectares. So if a nation's Ecological Footprint per person is 6.8 global hectares, its citizens are demanding four times the resources and wastes that our planet can regenerate and absorb in the atmosphere.
Here are the ecological footprint national rankings from Global Footprint Network for the five worst nations:
1. China
China has an ecological footprint of 3.71 hectares per capita and a biocapacity of 0.92 per capita. China’s total ecological deficit is -3,435.62, the largest in the world. As China’s economy continues to rapidly expand, people’s incomes are rising, and, as a result, so is their consumption. With the largest population of any country in the world at about 1.4 billion combined with inefficient resource use, China is depleting its resources quickly.
2. United States
The U.S. has an ecological deficit of -1,416.05. Its ecological footprint per capita is 8.04 hectares and its biocapacity per capita is 3.45 hectares. The average US ecological footprint is about 50% larger than the average person in most European countries. The U.S. has more suburban sprawl, less public transportation, and uses more energy and water per person than other comparable, developed countries. Additionally, California has the same ecological footprint as France.
3. India
India’s ecological footprint per capita is 1.19 and its biocapacity per capita is 0.43 hectares. India’s total ecological deficit is -878.05 hectares. India represents about 6% of the world’s ecological footprint. India, like China, has a population of over 1 billion people. While India’s ecological footprint is relatively low, its biocapacity is much lower, leading to its large deficit.
4. Japan
Japan’s ecological footprint is 4.65 hectares per capita and its biocapacity is 0.59 hectares per capita. Japan’s ecological deficit is -547.18 hectares, the fourth-highest in the world. A majority of Japan’s ecological footprint is made up of Japan’s carbon footprint. If everyone lived based on the Japanese standard of living, we would require the equivalent of 2.3 Earths to support the world population.
5. United Kingdom
The U.K. has the fifth-largest ecological deficit in the world of -483.83. The U.K.’s ecological footprint per capita is 4.20 hectares and its biocapacity per capita is 1.08 hectares. Between 2014 and 2016, the United Kingdom’s carbon footprint dropped 11.7% driving the country’s total ecological footprint down by 8.8%. Although the U.K.’s ecological deficit is the fifth-highest in the world, the country seems to be moving in the right direction.
A note on hydropower: In addition to methane, hydropower can have significant environmental effects such as fish injury and impact on downstream water quality. By diverting water out of the water bodies for power, dams remove water needed for healthy in-stream ecosystems thereby disrupting the natural river flows. Dams also slow down the flow of the river. The size of the reservoir created by a hydroelectric project can vary widely, depending largely on the size of the hydroelectric generators and the topography of the land. Hydroelectric plants in flat areas tend to require much more land than those in hilly areas or canyons where deeper reservoirs can hold more volume of water in a smaller space.
At one extreme, the large Balbina hydroelectric plant, which was built in a flat area of Brazil, flooded 2,360 square kilometers—an area the size of Delaware—and it only provides 250 MW of power generating capacity (equal to more than 2,000 acres per MW). In contrast, a small 10 MW run-of-the-river plant in a hilly location can use as little 2.5 acres (equal to a quarter of an acre per MW).
PS: Love Canada and Canadians, so don't get the wrong idea. But we also need to be realistic about the problems and their causes. Had always admired Canada as being very environmentally conscious, but with the Alberta tar sands, Canada placed greed before the health of humans and the environment. Canada is by no means alone in this area; plenty of other nations are guilty of the same. My own country, the U.S., is likewise a large source of the problem, and we need to do much more to change our own policies and lifestyles. Greed may improve quality of life in the short-term, but it is inexorably killing us and destroying quality of life for all of us in the long term.
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"We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Worst economic downturn in American history, catastrophically botched COVID-19 pandemic response with over 160,000 senseless American deaths. TWENTY straight weeks of over ONE MILLION new unemployment claims. Deaths projected to double by the end of year due to most corrupt, incompetent, racist, and ignorant President in U.S. history. A treasonous President that compromised himself with Russia, who refuses to hold the U.S. principle foreign adversary accountable for its attacks on America, who won't even speak out against Russian bounties on U.S. soldiers. Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy: "Toxic Trump is doing a helluva job!" Rabid right-wing cult media is DESTROYING America!
What's really confusing America is Newsmax, Faux News, and all the other rabid right-wing media outlets propagating and spreading disinformation. Without the supporting cast of willing supplicant proto-fascist right-wing media exploiting and profiting from them, the lies and distortions of Toxic Trump and Republicans would hold very little power, and could not persist.
Anyone really all that surprised that the CEO of Newsmax, Chris Ruddy, is a dishonest partisan hack with no character or integrity whatsoever? If so, that's only because you've never seen Newsmax.
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For the record--the criminal record that is, of Rep. Loony Boebert's husband:
In October 2020, Colorado blogger Anne Landman uncovered a 2004 case involving Jayson Boebert. She posted the arrest report from the case. According to police, Jayson Boebert was accused of exposing his penis to young women, including his future wife and a 16-year-old girl, at a bowling alley in Rifle.
According to the arrest report, Jayson Boebert was at the bowling alley’s snack bar while the group of young women discussed their tattoos. Police said he overheard the conversation and interjected, telling them he had a tattoo on his genitals. According to police, the women turned away from him to ignore him, but he came up to them, unzipped his pants and exposed his penis. Police said the bowling alley owner then called police after Jayson Boebert refused to leave.
Landman wrote, “Two females described the incident to Garfield County Sheriff officers and signed witness statements leading to Jayson’s arrest. Jayson told the officers that he had ‘displayed his thumb pretending it was his genitals in a gesture of fun,’ according to the report, but one of the victims wrote in her statement, ‘I know that wasn’t his thumb, because thumbs aren’t 6 inches long.'”
According to the arrest report, Lauren Boebert, then known by her maiden name, Lauren Opal Roberts, was listed as one of the victims. Jayson Boebert later pleaded guilty to public indecency and lewd exposure and was sentenced to four days in jail and two years of probation.
Also in 2004, Jayson Boebert was charged with domestic violence against Lauren Boebert. They were dating at the time, according to the New York Post. A Garfield County court clerk told The Post that Jayson Boebert, “did unlawfully strike, shove or kick … and subjected her to physical contact,” and served seven days in jail in that case.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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It wasn't a cell phone camera that captured that the boy's backpack brushed up against the 'Karen.' And, while it may not feel like it, a whole lot more has changed than just cell phones equipped with cameras able to capture video and sound. Societal change is gradual, with spurts of progress and periods of stagnation. We don't notice all the changes happening, because of the time element, and because we adapt as we live through them, not always aware of the incremental nature of change happening around us.
Can certainly understand and empathize with the sentiment expressed, but it's overly simplistic and not wholly accurate. Lived many decades in this nation, have watched societal progress ebb and flow, but it invariably always moves us slowly forward overall. If there is hope, it is with our citizens--not the latest technological advances. These 'Karen' types should not be dismissed or ignored; they are dangerous. However, they are not representative of the whole in America.
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Troll account opened less than a year ago with no content, trash talking, pretending to know more about the problem than the people actually investigating the problem. Waiting has always been a complaint with truckers, because it often affects our income, and it doesn't just occur at the docks. Have had to wait in line not just hours, but a day or more before also at some factories and warehouses because of volume or production lag. Fact is, wait times at the docks on the West Coast have gone up considerably. But that is only one part of the problem, as this video does an excellent job of explaining.
The port of Los Angeles and adjacent port of Long Beach cover 68 miles of coastline, and account for a quarter of all container shipping traffic in North America. For comparison, they handled 17 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units) in 2019, compared to 7.5 million for the second-busiest port, New York-New Jersey, which covers 25 miles of coastline. The U.S. is the worlds largest importer and second-largest exporter, at $3.1 trillion and $2.5 trillion worth respectively. The Biden administration announced an initiative this month to operate the ports 24/7 to ease the flow of goods, doubling their hours of operation, and a number of major corporations have committing to participating in that effort.
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Instead of embracing the reverence for nature and sustainability practiced by the America's indigenous peoples, we have entered into a death pact with capitalism, consumerism, greed, and selfishness, largely forced upon the common person by large businesses and the wealthy, who continue exploiting us for the own short-sighted, immediate benefit. We bear some responsibility for that, too. For taking part, for allowing it to happen, and for allowing it to continue as long as it has. Until enough of us average citizens wake up and become active in changing how our cultures and societies operate, the downward spiral of our environment will continue leading us into a dead-end death trap. Capitalism and consumerism can serve a purpose. However, they should be viewed and utilized as just one tool at our disposal in our toolbox, and not overly relied upon, like a hammer used for every job, which does more destruction than good.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
~ "Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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More accurately, "...will continue as long as the Mexican government allows it." The government includes the Mexican federal, state, and local governments, the military controlled by the federal government, and the various law enforcement and judicial agencies at all levels of the Mexican government. Mostly, though, it's the corruption of the federal government of Mexico that is the decisive factor. To a large extent, the appetite of the American people for illegal drugs and contraband is also to blame. It's a matter of supply and demand, and the huge amount of money involved is the corrupting influence. America shares much of the blame for the violence occurring mostly in Mexico, but we are loath to admit it. For some powerful and moving insight into the problem of the Mexican cartels, Don Winslow's fictional trilogy about them gives a fair and impartial account, and makes for some truly engrossing reading.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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"We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Actually, if hasn't always been broken. Democrats and Republicans used to be able to have rational discussions about our differences in ideology and on issues, bipartisanship was commonplace, and what political party another belonged to made little difference to the average person in our everyday lives. That began changing with Roger Ailes and the rise of Republican demagogues circa 1980, when the GOP was reeling from the disgrace of Nixon, insecure and greedy for a return to power. It's why conservative voters have sought to idolize poor or mediocre leaders like Reagan, George W. Bush, and Trump, desperate for another Teddy Roosevelt to lead them out of the wilderness. Republicans sacrificed truth and comity in the political sphere for their own political gain, at the expense our society and country. We have been reaping the rotten fruit of their poisoned seed planted decades ago for years, well before Toxic Trump.
Agree that fixing it requires both sides acting in good faith; a return to truth and comity, and Republicans have shown an unwillingness to make that effort and commitment. It can be fixed, but it takes two to tango, and the ball is in Republican's court. Will they continue putting party before country, or will they finally come back to the realization that we are all on the same team? Had hoped that this pandemic would have brought them back to reality and unity; instead they used it, once again, to further divisiveness for political gain.
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If you hitched your wagon to a dying beast and got stranded, whose fault is that? And if you knew that dying beast was killing and sickening people, spewing poison into our air and water, but chose to hitch your wagon to it, anyway, what kind of person does that make you? One worthy of sympathy for losing that killer job? Besides, it isn't as if these people and communities are unable to learn new job skills, build a cleaner and more moral job base.
In addition to being one of the dirtiest hydrocarbon fuels to burn, contributing significantly to climate change and harmful air pollution, after coal is burned what remains in the ash includes lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium, arsenic, and selenium, all in levels that may threaten human health. In just 2014 alone, the U.S. produced 130 MILLION TONS of coal ash.
For decades, utilities have disposed of coal ash dangerously, dumping it in unlined ponds and landfills where the toxins leak into groundwater. According to the industry’s own data, more than 95% of the coal ash ponds in the United States are unlined. 738 coal ash units in 43 states and Puerto Rico have reported information in compliance with federal coal ash safeguards since 2015. More than 550 units — at 265 plants — reported groundwater monitoring data. Based on that data, 91% of these plants are contaminating groundwater with toxic substances at levels exceeding federal safe standards.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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@cincinnatixdxd5055 ~ You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It’s that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes have to KNOW at some level he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don’t care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn’t want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it’s more than hope—those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer at least another two months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn’t really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
“The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.”
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump’s hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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It's like rowing or paddling upstream, or into a stiff wind--if you ease-up too much or stop, you will only have to paddle twice as hard to make up all the previous hard-earned progress that was quickly lost. Failing to maintain isolation and other measures for sufficient time to stop the spread of COVID-19 transmission will cost U.S. more in time, effort, money, and LIVES. Reopening and relaxing measures too early in defiance of the science and data is the ultimate in colossal ignorance, greed, ruthlessness, and arrogance.
We have a segment of Republican cult willfully ignorant, who malevolently seek to sabotage containment efforts. But many do not grasp how important it is that we treat ourselves and everyone else as being infected.
This is because people know that is very unlikely, especially outside dense urban areas, where incidence rates are low. Because of the delay in onset of the disease and asymptomatic carriers, COVID-19 is a stealth killer that uses Americans against each other as its foot soldiers, transporting it, keeping the disease and its train of transmission alive. This is further complicated because people cannot see a virus, see it attacking, see it spreading, until it is too late. For many of us, seeing is believing, and people are incapable or reluctant to make that leap of logic required to keep them and everyone safe--even with the massive public education efforts.
Of course, the problem becomes greatly exacerbated when the President refuses to wear a mask, and his administration works against itself in fighting this deadly global pandemic, sending conflicting messages to the public. Toxic Trump, his administration, and all the Republicans who have aided and abetted him, are directly responsible in our view for the senseless deaths of tens and thousands of Americans. The dead are the worst of it, but there is also the tremendous needless suffering and economic loss accompanying their wanton criminal negligence.
No national testing, no rational national coordinated pandemic response. Republican governors reopening too quickly in defiance of CDC guidelines are only following the President's lead. Democratic governors in many states likewise being adversely pressured by Toxic Trump's pandemic disinformation and Republican opposition to requisite lockdowns. Problem starts at the top. Don't fault even the worst Republican governors as much as this President. The President needed to take the lead, take the hit for the hard decisions--not put all the weight on governors as he as.
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@carollandon3083 - You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It's that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don't care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another five months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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This is a sad video. Privacy and independence is all well and good; people shouldn't be constantly tracked, and they should be free to walk away from their current situation. But that has to be balanced with security and the common good. A person with mental illness, Alzheimer's, or senile may not know what they are doing, and need help. A person could be kidnapped, hurt or killed, and the police need to act quickly to find that person and/or perpetrator to save the victim or apprehend the perpetrator before more people are hurt or killed. If a person leaves behind a wife and three children, or their loving parents and siblings, don't they deserve to at least know that person voluntarily left and is alive but perhaps wishes to have no further contact with them, at least for the time being, so they don't worry, and resources are not wasted by the police or on private investigators? Do we really want governments and criminals to be able to hide behind such privacy and freedom laws to disappear dissidents or people victimized? Do we really want a society where large numbers of people go missing and we don't know the reason why? Do we really want children to go missing and no law enforcement and community effort made to locate them? Appreciate that Japanese culture is different than my own, but this video nevertheless makes clear that there are problems with Japanese laws and culture in this respect.
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Trump is merely a symptom of the disease that had already been infecting the Republican party for decades, which represents a minority of Americans, many of them older and dying out. Which isn't to downplay the threat they present or the harm they do to the country. Ironically, though, JFK Jr. is not a Republican, just a kook when it comes to vaccines.
RFK Jr. has advocated many good causes, done much good work for them, but he's discredited and disgraced himself as a leading anti-vax proponent and founder and chairman of a well-known anti-vax organization. How many people has RFK Jr. caused to suffer and die with his pseudo-science, misinformation, disinformation, and crackpot conspiracy theories about vaccines? That number may be impossible to quantify, but it is far, far, too many, and it is likely to be more than the number of those he ever helped. In case anyone is wondering, he has a rare speech disorder.
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Yes, it should be reported, but media focusing so very much time on when Congress "officially" declares impeachment to the detriment of what's really important, and at the same time ignoring and consistently neglecting to shine the spotlight on Congressional Republicans with even the same (or the deservedly more) scrutiny, is absurdly ridiculous! Media is not helping matters; this is misleading to the public about the real priorities, and helps feed Trump's false narrative.
Declaring impeachment is not some magic wand, it isn't going to change anything appreciably; the investigations, subpoenas, and court battles will continue, regardless. I favor Congress making that declaration, but also trust where this whole process is going and where it will lead.
No one wants this to be political, but the political component is integral to the process, and that needs to be recognized. It is already recognized that Dems will vote for impeachment, that Republican partisanship is the impediment. The media putting Congressional Democrats--a number of whom represent swing districts--on the spot accomplishes nothing other than providing cover for Trump, Barr, and Congressional Republicans. Something one could expect from Fox news, not more objective sources that ought to know better.
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One of the most oft misattributed and mangled quotes in American history. In fact, there is no record of Lincoln ever speaking or writing any such thing. The original version of the quotation came on Jan. 16, 1883, during an introductory speech to a lecture on Lincoln in Washington, D.C., by the prominent writer and orator Robert Ingersoll, and is actually ABOUT Lincoln:
“If you want to find out what a man is to the bottom, give him power. Any man can stand adversity — only a great man can stand prosperity. It is the glory of Abraham Lincoln that he never abused power only on the side of mercy. He was a perfectly honest man. When he had power, he used it in mercy …”
Ingersoll slightly reformulated and refined the quote in his 1895 volume of speeches and essays, “Abraham Lincoln, a Lecture:"
“Nothing discloses real character like the use of power. It is easy for the weak to be gentle. Most people can bear adversity. But if you wish to know what a man really is, give him power. This is the supreme test. It is the glory of Lincoln that, having almost absolute power, he never abused it, except on the side of mercy.”
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@shambles.8989 ~ You don't get denialism without nihilism, and as staunch conservative Bill Kristol has pointed out, the GOP has embraced nihilism. Many of them don't even care about their own lives, or the lives of their children and loved ones, anymore, so it is a kind of death cult. Substitute immigrants for Jews and Trump for Hitler, and we can see how the GOP has also become fascist. Not all Republicans are racist, or fascist, or deep into the GOP cult, however. Some are reachable.
But this was written and assembled to offer perspective as well for those not Republicans, to help them understand what is happening by providing historical context, so that they appreciate the danger sufficiently and not become complacent. What we have is a form of mutiny against America by a significant minority of Republicans, some active participants, some passively complicit, and a very few actively opposed. This is a time requiring all good hands on deck to make the voice of truth and reason prevail, so that the cause of righteousness and justice is able to triumph.
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"We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
~ How Fascism Works, The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(Reference also Father Charles E. Coughlin and Henry Ford in regards to the first America First movement.)
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
Malcolm Nance: We Are In A Neo-Fascist Era In American Politics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_RxUAe2zeM
Political Analyst Tells Joy Reid: Forget Trumpism, IT’s Neo-Fascism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IgNp84JA4A
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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@justafidemyself ~ Actually, I'm just pointing out the facts, it's your arguments that don't add up. Not only did Alec do almost all of the talking, but nothing she says is going to get him into trouble, anyway. This was a tragic accident, nothing more. Alec was handed a stage gun loaded with a live round, so he will not be charged or held responsible for the unintentional shooting death of the cinematographer or the wounding of the director.
Alec is cooperating fully with the authorities, talking with them every day since they began the investigation. Alec made it clear right from the start that he couldn't talk about the ongoing investigation because he was instructed by the authorities not to do so. Moreover, neither Alec or his wife were talking about the ongoing investigation, which included not talking about any specific details about the shooting. Also, if there was any reason for Alec to worry, he would have a lawyer speaking for him, like the armorer on that set who was responsible for gun safety.
Neither your comment or your reply makes any sense, really. It just seems like an excuse to hate on his wife. Yeah, she was obviously distraught and angry at the paparazzi, but for good reason. So what? Why does she have to be the villain? And why can't you refute any of the facts and points I presented? You offer no cogent or coherent rebuttal, only irrational denial.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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What we are witnessing and feeling is an ongoing train wreck, from the vantage point of the passengers. The lunatic conductor of the LOCO-motive, Toxic Trump, knew the end-of-the-line was coming, yet kept increasing acceleration, anyway. He's still trying to pump the gas, even with the train off the track! We on the HELL bound train, now, Lucifer's demented and depraved minion absolutely determined, dedicated, DEVOTED to getting us all there on time!
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@punkgrl325 ~ You got it backwards. If anything, it would be neo-Marxism being a cornerstone of CRT. But I don't think that's quite accurate, either. While it may have provided some inspiration and some aspects of it share rough similarities, don't find that as forming the basis for CRT. Critical race theory examines social, cultural and legal issues as they relate to race and racism, particularly institutionalized and systemic racism. Don't think it is based upon or confined to any one socio-political ideology. Unlike socio-political ideologies like neo-Marxism, while it may have broader application, it was designed and intended primarily as a way of perceiving and addressing problems specifically in regard to racism in America.
Generally agree with the rest of your reply, although I think there is more to it than just a contrived culture war issue and reactionary politics. It is a thinly veiled appeal to white supremacists and an attempt to perpetuate racism by the right. It's not a dog-whistle; it's a bullhorn. It's the right-wing transforming itself into the Reich-wing and unabashedly embracing fascism. That's what really needs to be recognized, acknowledged, and addressed----not the resulting dishonest conflation of CRT with Marxism, which is used to distract and deflect. And, ironically, the recent backlash it has generated only further validates the concept and teaching of CRT, while simultaneously underscoring the descent of the GOP into an evil entity that can no longer be considered loyal opposition.
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Sorry to say, most of their revenue doesn't come from advertisers, but from the outrageous contracts they negotiate with cable providers. You really want to hit Faux News where it hurts, threaten cable TV providers that you will "drop the box" if they keep supporting and carrying Faux News. The good news is that cable TV providers have no desire to pay the outlandish sums Faux News demands, and would love to have us provide the excuse needed! There is already a non-profit organization out there pushing this, which can provide one more information if needed:
Pay for cable or satellite TV? You’re subsidizing Fox News whether you watch it or not.
Your cable or satellite TV provider pays a subscriber fee to carry Fox News. That cost is passed directly on to YOU.
Every network charges cable and satellite providers a small fee per subscriber; the one for Fox News is extraordinarily high. A typical household pays Fox News almost $2 per month—about $20 per year— via their cable or satellite provider, regardless of whether they actually watch the channel.
In 2021, a wave of big contracts between Fox News and TV providers for subscriber fees are set to expire. These contracts make up about 65% if Fox News’ subscriber fee revenue. If we want to stop paying the Fox News “tax,” now is the time to act.
Fox News makes approximately $1.8 billion per year from hidden subscriber fees–twice as much as CNN and three times as much as MSNBC.
The network's extra-high fees, which make up most of its revenue, protect Fox News from the advertisers that are quickly abandoning it.
https://unfoxmycablebox.com/
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Candace Owens is propagating another bald-faced Republican Big Lie. As of inauguration day, January 20, 2021, over 411,000 Americans had died from Covid-19 in just TEN months under Trump. (Covid-19 infections only began to spread widely in late February and early March 2020 in the U.S. With the subsequent lag time between contraction of the disease and death, significant amounts of fatalities didn't result until mid-March 2020.) As of December 20, 2021, the total was 808,000. Which translates to 397,000 Covid-19 deaths in ELEVEN months under Biden. Considering that most of those deaths under Biden were incurred by Republicans refusing to get vaccinated, and who are also adamantly opposed to vaccine mandates, it appears Republicans are literally DYING to make Biden look bad.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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GOP cult: “Democracy is great…only so long as we can subvert it with lies, cheating, a multitude of Jim Crow voter suppression laws, egregious gerrymandering, obstruction, coups, election interference, sedition, and terrorism to gain power and maintain our corrupt, plutocratic, minority fascist rule!”
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“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Been warning Israelis and their supporters of that for decades, but they never listen. It's like the little boy who cried wolf once too often; it's destructive and it leads to no good end. For many of us who care about both Israeli's and Palestinians who are wrongly and unjustly accused of anti-Semitism, it becomes something of an unwanted badge of honor. Long before there was the Republican cult, there was the hasbara and their helpers, placing the Israeli government before truth, reason, decency, justice, and the long-term interests of both Jews and Palestinians. Ironically, there is much more truthfulness to be found on the Palestinian side than the Israeli. Most of the world knows this, but Americans have been brainwashed on this conflict, unfortunately, with many taking a distorted view through a Christian religious prism--even though Christians in Israel and Palestine have suffered greatly under Israeli rule.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Great to see good 'ol Torture Yoo put under the bright lights and given a little taste of his own medicine! However, as Torture Yoo proves, torture victims will say anything to make the torture stop, making it useless for intelligence gathering, good only for perverted gratification, used by sadistic, ignorant brutes like Trump, Cheney, and Torture Yoo!
It's "Torture" Yoo! Never forget--this is the clown that wrote specious opinions at OLC to provide legal cover for Dubya's torture regime! Still pissed Princeton took him on as a professor afterward, giving him a plush, prestigious job, a position he still holds, lending credibility when he deserves to be thoroughly discredited! Still pissed at Obama for not investigating torture, too--leaving the door open for another joker like Trump to torture.
Torture Yoo is a weasel. Always has been, so this is really nothing new for those who knew. Typical Republican.
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“Don’t give me the MyPillow guy doing a song-and-dance up here on a Monday afternoon when people are dying in Queens,” Francesa said. “Get the stuff made, get the stuff where it needs to go, and get the boots on the ground! Treat this like the crisis it is!”
New York sports talk radio icon Mike Francesa, a longtime and vocal defender of Trump, delivered an on-air tirade Tuesday about the president’s leadership. Francesa seized upon Trump’s comments Monday that if the total number of coronavirus fatalities in the United States is between 100,000 and 200,000, that would count as a good job.
“How can you have a scoreboard that says 2,000 people have died and tell us, ‘It’s okay if another 198,000 die, that’s a good job,’ ” Francesa said. “How is that a good job in our country? It’s a good job if nobody else dies! Not if another 198,000 people die! So now 200,000 people are disposable?”
Jesus freak fervently praying for God to save our pillowed butts in WH presser...because, God knows, Trump sure as hell ain't doing it!
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"We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
~ How Fascism Works, The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
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Have been lamenting and protesting what has been happening to the Uighur's for years, as well as China's ill-treatment and takeover of Tibet. The Uighur internment camps are nothing new; they've been operating these for some years, now. We've known what they do and how bad conditions there are. Not to criticize this video, which brings much-needed public attention to the problem!
Unfortunately, Toxic Traitor Trump's foreign policy has strengthened China at our expense, while his administration has destroyed international good will, respect, and leadership that took decades to build. Meaning that all of those suffering in China will assuredly suffer needlessly longer. Multiply China by all the other people around the world who have been and will needlessly be made to suffer because of Trump's feckless, heedless, careless--and thus disastrous--policies. While not initiating some of these problems, he is responsible for exacerbating and creating more problems.
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Heard a rumor that laughter is the best medicine. Time to open-up, take your medicine, now, be a big boy!
As long as the rest of us are in the control group, perhaps having a trial run with Trump on his new experimental COVID-19 disinfectant treatment to kill toxins wouldn't be such a bad idea! Like they say, "Put your Lysol where your mouth is, Toxic Trump!"
Trump at coronavirus briefing: "I got the best...you know what!"
Joe the Plumber: "Did you see that? Toxic Trump thought his penis was in his cranium! That's because he knows his brains are leaking out his ass!"
The single, MOST important thing we can do with COVID-19 is to isolate the President.
Toxic Trump's sin-in-law, Shared "Too Much" Kushner: "The NATIONAL federal government is not supposed to take charge when we declare a NATIONAL federal emergency. We are at war, and the states must each fend for themselves. Nevermind that we signed legislation from the UNITED States Congress that authorized us to spend over two TRILLION dollars of UNITED States TAXPAYER money to fight this pandemic. Does that make any more sense than my genocidal stillborn Israeli "peace" plan and policy?"
Toxic Trump: "Pandemic? What pandemic? Nobody told me anything about any pandemic!"
Shared "Too Much" Kushner: "Time for me to disappear, again."
Seems only fair that the least Toxic Trump could do, after killing 50,000 Americans with his ignorance, is to give the U.S. government his resort properties, to be quickly converted by the Army Corp of Engineers into public hospitals.
Toxic Trump: "It's a HOAX!"
Much later: …."I got this pandemic completely under control, we're safe!"
Shortly after: …."It's not my fault! States need to take charge! I don't take ANY responsibility! It's unsafe! You need to stay home!"
Next day: ...."The cure is worse than the disease, you need to go back to work!
Next week: ...."Don't listen to me! Listen to the CDC!"
Following days: ...."USA #1 in coronavirus cases--and now we're #1 in coronavirus DEATHS! We're the BEST! Thanks to my extremely stable genius wartime leadership, only 100,000-240,000 Americans will die! We're doing a TREMENDOUS job! I still don't take ANY responsibility!"
Last week: ... "I've anointed myself All Powerful Dear Leader and will soon order all my subjects back to work despite lack of vaccine, cure, testing, PPE, medical staffing, and the sure-fire massive resurgence resulting thereof, killing tens of thousands more Americans--because this pandemic is killing my lucrative Emoluments business, and even my Soviet-style election chances!"
Now: … "Scratch that; might have to actually do stuff. My greatest-ever new half-baked plan shifts all responsibility and blame back to governors! For now. Somewhat. Maybe. We'll be letting you know, hopefully!"
Nevermind about baptism; whole trouble is, Trumpettes were duly "anointed" before birth in the Holy gene pool of Our Lady of Perpetual Ignorance. For some, it's 'Forgive them, for they know not what they do.' But, for most, it's more about willful ignorance...than it is the choice they could NOT make.
Governors: "WE NEED HELP!"
Toxic Trump: "Relax, I've got covert Agent 19 working on the cases!"
Officially endorsed in American's blood on each stimulus check: AMERICA'S #1 KILLER -- Toxic Trump!
News anchor: "In just ONE month, we got over 800,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in America with OVER 40,000 deaths because of Trump shirking responsibility, refusing to take a global pandemic seriously, prepare, and defend our nation! Now, that lunatic has turned pandemic press briefings into macabre Dear Leader campaign rallies where he belittles and berates any and all who question him! Can you tell us just WTF the situation is at the moment in the White House?"
White House correspondent: "Situation unchanged--still hopeless. Completely, totally FUBAR, as usual. Don't expect any help or change from this dystopian, dysfunctional Branch..."
Trump: "As President, my power is absolute! I can kill as many Americans as I want!"
Grifter Tony Spell in Loserannie uses voodoo religion to fleece his flock, offers up parishioners for sacrifice to the Almighty! Glory be, hallelujah--it's Darwinism at it's finest!
Trump in pandemic briefing: "These model projections of hundreds of thousands of American pandemic deaths due to my gross negligence, ignorance, and incompetence remind me so much of the models I've dated!"
Toxic Trump: "I'm the BEST, just absolutely CRUSHING the competition, with over 830,000 cases and 52,000 COVID-19 deaths! Nobody else even comes close! Those other weaklings and losers don't stand a chance, because we're going to keep right on winning as long as I'm in charge! Let's keep America great--get rid of all the excess baggage!"
USA was caught flat-footed by covid-19...only because Toxic Trump pulled the rug out from under American's feet.
Turns out, the only thing Toxic Trump really excels at is getting Americans killed!
Who knew?
Came up with this SUPER idea, really hoping it goes VIRAL! Dr. Osterholm's prescription for COVID-19 mandates leadership as its first priority. So, why don't Republicans just impeach Toxic Trump, like they should have done long ago after the Mueller Report, and again after the Ukraine shakedown? Then, afterward, all those Congressional Republicans can resign, as well.
Toxic Trump just filling up the coffins so he can fill up his coffers! "That's all, folks!"
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@heathbradshaw284 ~Toxic Trump is sick, depraved, deranged and ignorant: a clear and present danger to America, doing us tremendous harm for over three years, who is clearly unfit for ANY high office--much less the highest in the land.
Yet, he is but one man. Though he cannot be absolved from guilt or responsibility, it is those who have enabled him, and continue enabling him, who share most responsibility for the harm he has done us. They, as a group, cannot claim to ALL possess the mental illness and mental disorder which plagues Toxic Trump.
Particularly those elected to be LEADERS, who have instead proven themselves to be nothing but liars and cheats, corrupt to their core, consumed by a partisan cult. One may bitterly oppose and detest the words, deeds, and behaviors of Trump, but still have some pity, out of understanding his affliction forming the basis, which was not self-chosen. The same is not true for Congressional Republicans and the GOP, for whom we hold only contempt. Trump should have been removed from office LONG ago, and could even now be removed IMMEDIATELY, but his enablers STILL refuse to ACT, despite their CRIMINAL negligence KILLING MORE Americans.
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This June, Rep. Anthony Gonzalez vote AGAINST establishing the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.
In August he voted AGAINST the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. In March he voted AGAINST the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act and AGAINST the For the People Voting Rights Act.
He also opposes environmental protection, financial sector regulation, humane immigration policy, labor rights and wages, LBGTIQ rights, avoiding default, countering Russian interference, and women's rights.
Gonzalez now avows he is not going to let our democracy fall, so he's going to retire, instead of staying in a position of power where he could do the most good? That makes absolutely no sense. His actions are incongruent with his words. His voting record, even recent, shows his disdain for democracy. He has been an enabler of Republican fascism throughout his career, and now he is bailing because he doesn't like the poisoned fruit from the tree he helped sow and cultivated? No admission of responsibility for his role in helping create the divisive, toxic environment and being silently complicit for so long? Sure, he is finally speaking the truth about the Big Lie and the evil being perpetrated against our Constitution by the GOP that most of us have been condemning for months, but his words ring hollow.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
~ "Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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@chiefgstar8966 ~ Yeah, you're definitely racist, and your attempts to project your own racism just don't wash. George Floyd was not on trial. Derek Chauvin was. The trial wasn't about judging what George Floyd did. It was about judging what Derek Chauvin did with deadly deliberation, and what he did not do when he should have. Fellow police officers, including even his own police chief, testified that Chauvin acted improperly outside of procedures, using excessive force. The jury saw and heard all of the relevant evidence, including from the coroner and defense's medical experts, and pronounced Chauvin guilty on all counts after deliberating just ten hours. So, it wasn't even a close call for the jury to follow the law.
You're also grossly exaggerating the threat posed and resistance offered by Floyd. The nine-minute video with Floyd on the ground handcuffed with his hands behind his back and four officers on top of him shows him pleading for his life--not resisting. Even if it were true, resisting arrest is not sufficient grounds in and of itself for police to kill a suspect they are trying to detain. Your attempts to gaslight the murder in cold blood of George Floyd that we all saw with our own eyes is despicable. You're no different than the Holocaust deniers.
If breaking the law makes you a criminal, than most Americans are criminals. However, in our justice system, the presumption is one of innocence until proven guilty in a court of law. And merely because someone may have at one time or another committed criminal acts doesn't automatically translate into them being a "criminal." Regardless of any previous criminal acts committed in the past alleged or convicted of, Floyd was at the time only a suspect, entitled to protections under the law, with only allegations of criminal misconduct against him. Because George Floyd never will get a fair trial--unlike his killer Derek Chauvin just did. In fact, a fair trial is just one many things George Floyd can't ever enjoy on Earth anymore--because he was senselessly murdered by the police.
Nobody needs to prove your racism, because you put it on display for all to see, Doc!
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Sounds like Moscow on the line again, calling impeachment a coup, now! OMG, stop the presses, man the trenches, lock the wives and kids in the closet--Republicans are following Putin's marching orders!!!
1) Putin is playing U.S. population, gaming elections.
2) Republicans are playing U.S. population, gaming elections.
3) Republicans are willfully and knowingly spreading Putin's debunked propaganda in aid of both their own and Russia's aforementioned efforts.
4) Republicans are willfully and knowingly protecting a President that has compromised himself with our chief foreign adversary, Russia, despite clear and overwhelming evidence of criminality of the highest order threatening our elections, democracy, and national security.
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@shambles.8989 ~ Sorry if it disappoints, but am actually just a regular working stiff, largely self-educated and naturally inquisitive. Have always made the effort to stay informed, which that collective knowledge and experience I believe is helpful in evaluating and comprehending current events.
Most welcome, of course! And thank-you for the kind words; your appreciation reflects well upon you and is fuel for the creative furnace. As always, folks are encouraged to share or repost any of my original YouTube commentary they like----no personal accreditation even required! Educating, enlightening, provoking thought, and occasionally even entertaining are the goals, not recognition, popularity, subscribers, or profit.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, or QaBomb, they're all part and parcel of the current Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian nationalism religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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And yet, here you are ironically drawing conclusions from the affair! Everyone is not "acting like there are more facts to uncover." Everyone would include you. Do you feel that way? Obviously not. So, you're simply engaging in hyperbole. It would seem that most people are quite familiar with most of the known facts, and some are still discovering some of the particulars that were already known but of which they were not aware. Which is typical of most any case that draws a lot of attention. It would appear that very few are expecting any new salient facts to come out.
Would agree the verdict is what it is, and the whole affair, from an out-of-state minor arming himself with a semi-automatic AR-15 to act as a vigilante, to law enforcement allowing Rittenhouse to walk away that night, to the special treatment given to the defendant by a large segment of the public and the judicial system, to the judge's apparent bias at the trial and the resulting verdict----all leave a bad taste.
Would also agree that many have strong views on this case, and that many minds won't be changed. But not everyone has strong views, and there are always some who are open to changing their mind. I have strong views, watched the trial, saw all the evidence, am familiar enough with the law, and think the wrong verdict was reached. However, I remain open minded to being convinced otherwise. However, there is another part to this, too. Even if convinced the verdict was right, I would still need to be convinced that Rittenhouse's actions that night were right.
Would disagree also that the "case details are so incredibly simple." If so, why did it take the jury nearly four days of deliberations? Who pointed their firearm first at the other, was it Rittenhouse, or was it Grosskreutz? Had Grosskreutz fired first, killing Rittenhouse because he feared for his life and was trying to stop what those there widely perceived as an active shooter fleeing the scene of his first shooting, wouldn't Grosskreutz have then had a legitimate case of self-defense? Did Rittenhouse really feel that threatened, or were the four shots fired into Rosenbaum (who was just 5 foot 3 inches, weighed only 150 pounds, and unarmed at the time), the fatal final shot in his back after injured and horizontal, committed more out of anger? Would a reasonable person have felt threatened with serious bodily injury or death?
Finally, would disagree that everyone sees the implications of this case clearly...or the same. What implications do most Black Americans, other people of color, and other minority groups see from this? What implications do most mothers see? What implications do most of those on the right see, or most of those on the left?
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Her kids were in the car crying because the paparazzi wouldn't leave their family alone. She's being protective of her family, including her husband Alec. If you've never been a victim of the paparazzi, then you probably have trouble relating to how it was the paparazzi who created the tense situation with their tactics. Personally haven't been a victim myself, but I can certainly empathize. Alec only granted the impromptu interview to get them to leave them alone while in the process of grieving the loss of a dear friend he accidentally killed. Don't fault the wife; fault the media for hounding them.
And for what good purpose? Did this interview really tell us anything we didn't already know? Chasing Alec around the country, a mass of media following behind his vehicle everywhere he goes, with no clear purpose or real need to do so, creating a circus horror for a grieving Alec and his family? Isn't this the kind of thing that led to Princess Diana's death? When do people finally say too much and enough to the paparazzi's excesses? I'm all for journalism, but this is yellow journalism, tabloid journalism, which should be condemned and shunned. I expect better from CNN; don't know whether they were part of that freak circus show of paparazzi, but even if not, they shouldn't have contributed to it by using the footage and airing this, because it makes them complicit.
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Wrong. Remote learning isn't the problem, it's some people wanting in-person learning, which there are closing temporarily in a number of places because of Omicron surges. Which makes sense when there are large numbers of students and staff testing positive, as there are.
Teachers and school administrators are the canaries in the coal mine; they see what is happening in their schools before others do, and they are reacting accordingly to keep the kids and any vulnerable people in the kid's homes safe. They are asking for N95 masks for the kids and school staff, higher vaccination rates, and better mitigation efforts, like contact tracing. Those things are reasonable and doable.
Everybody wants the kids in schools for in-person learning, but as these different variants surge, it's prudent to adapt and be flexible to lessen the spread, keep hospitals from being overrun, and lessen the amount of severe illness and death. It's an imperfect situation, and the choices are between bad or worse. Some people like to think we're done with Covid-19, but Covid-19 isn't done with us, whether they're willing to accept it or not. Last week, we averaged nearly 2400 deaths a day from Covid-19, which is way too many. More and more children are being hospitalized with Covid-19. We can do better, we can work together, we can save American lives. This Omicron variant is expected to run its course in a six to eight weeks, and if more of the population eligible -- including kids -- gets vaccinated, we could be over the worst and looking forward to better times again soon.
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Feel this woman's grief, feel for their kids and their families and friends their loss. Am glad that this woman, this wife, this mother, Katie, chose to bravely share her pain with us fellow Americans, that those not taking this deadly global pandemic seriously enough, endangering themselves and others, would take heed of the terrible cost of their ignorance. Mostly, though, feel anger and resolve, because so many Americans need not have become sick and died. How did we ever allow the senseless, preventable deaths of so many Americans to happen here?
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***MEDIA FAIL*** -- Apparently, Smercartoonish would say Hitler was a "gifted showman" and orator, too. Limbaugh used divisive demagoguery to peddle lies, fear, bigotry, hypocrisy, and hate--purely for his vanity and greed. He may have achieved the most popularity among the Republican cult he was partly instrumental in creating, but he was only one instrument out of many who exploited the masses in the same way. Together, they were all the "John the Baptist," making way for America's version of Hitler, the Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump. There was nothing complicated about any of it--many of us have been calling out this Reich-wing demagoguery for what it is and where it would lead us for decades. Media BE better, WE be better!
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@nancychandler367 ~ You were well to do so. Perhaps not as much for your benefit, then, but to enlighten and historically educate anyone else reading this:
Comment is both hilarious and deadly serious at the same time. Unlike Toxic Trump, Herbert Hoover was a man of character and integrity, well renowned as a humanitarian when elected President in a landslide. The comparison is not intended to be one of character, but of blind adherence to dubious, bankrupt, or failed ideology, leading to catastrophic failure highly damaging to America and lethal to Americans. The following should aid in understanding why our comparison is not only valid, but an astute, appropriate one:
Hoover saw the presidency as a vehicle for improving the conditions of all Americans by encouraging public-private cooperation—what he termed "volunteerism". He tended to oppose governmental coercion or intervention, as he thought they infringed on American ideals of individualism and self-reliance. ~Wikipedia
Hoover’s reputation as a humanitarian—earned during and after World War I as he rescued millions of Europeans from starvation—faded from public consciousness when his administration proved unable to alleviate widespread joblessness, homelessness, and hunger in his own country during the early years of the Great Depression. ~Brittanica
Why Trump Ended the Task Force and Put a Kook in Charge of the Coronavirus
Jonathan Chait -- October 20, 2020
The implosion of the last Republican administration was in large part the story of conservative ideology defeating empiricism. George W. Bush dismissed intelligence and foreign-policy professionals who questioned the Iraq weapons claims and pressed the need to plan for an occupation as small-minded bureaucrats disloyal to his grand vision.
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/trump-fauci-coronavirus-scott-atlas-herd-immunity-science-masks.html
Historian explains why Donald Trump’s COVID-19 response is remarkably similar to Herbert Hoover’s failed crisis leadership
April 14, 2020 -- History News Network
Robert Rupp is a professor of history and political science at West Virginia Wesleyan College.
On April 9, the New York Times reported more than 6 million new unemployment claims for the previous week, and nearly 17 million over the previous three weeks. As this massive unemployment has followed the coronavirus crisis, a comparison between Presidents Donald Trump and Herbert Hoover becomes more apt than ever. For both presidents failed to project candor or show leadership during an unprecedented national crisis.
President Hoover during his first year in office confronted an economic collapse. Unemployment soared to a record 25% at time when most Americans did not have access to unemployment benefits let alone health care. But as the nation sank into the Great Depression of the 1930s, Hoover radiated confidence. He was fond of saying that prosperity was just around the corner.
Hoover allegedly explained his optimistic proclamations by saying that “A doctor does not tell his patient how sick he is.” His lack of openness prompted a pushback as opponents during his administration labelled the slums built outside major cities as “Hoovervilles,” and encouraged people to call an empty pocket turned inside out as a “Hoover Flag.”
Like Hoover, Trump leans toward overconfidence rather than openness. According to the Washington Post, he had sought to downplay the coronavirus threat 33 times in February and March. At the start of the pandemic Trump appeared to dismiss the threat by highlighting low numbers (only 5 deaths and 15 cases). In the following months he repeatedly ignored Winston Churchill’s observation that “ There is no worse mistake in public leadership than to hold out false hope soon to be swept away.” On April 3, President Trump did warn Americans that this week “there’s going to be a lot of death.” But then he talked about “the light at the end of the tunnel.”
Another characteristic shared by the two presidents is an avoidance of strong presidential action; each proved reluctant to use the full power of the federal government.
Any discussion of presidential leadership must first recognize that Hoover was not a laissez-faire bystander as the depression worsened.
However, Hoover’s initiatives were constrained by his conservative political philosophy. He had strong ideological resistance to excessive federal intervention—a profound belief that such action would undermine initiative and responsibility. He expressed his strong views in his 1922 book American Individualism, which highlighted the danger of collectivism and a reliance too much on the federal government. In this regard he believed that assistance should be handled on a local, voluntary basis rather than on the federal level.
The American public would have to wait until President Franklin Roosevelt initiation of the New Deal and mobilization efforts during the World War II to witness dramatic model of full government intervention.
Like his overconfident pronouncements, Hoover’s principled resistance to extensive federal intervention did not serve him well as president and may have undermined his political future. Hoover was elected with 444 electoral votes winning all but 8 states in 1928. Four years later he received 59 electoral votes and carried just 6 states. Today no politician mentions him, except to compare their political opponent to him.
If history shows Hoover followed the wrong path for principled reasons, what will it say about Donald Trump, who has several tools that were not available to Hoover? Unlike Hoover, Trump could use such tools as War Production act and Defense Production act that date to World War II and the Korean War era, plus he has the precedent of the New Deal. All of these things happened after Hoover was president, and although available to Trump, he nonetheless is choosing not to use them as part of his action plan.
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/04/historian-explains-why-donald-trumps-covid-19-response-is-remarkably-similar-to-herbert-hoovers-failed-crisis-leadership/
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Republicans know if witnesses and documents allowed, Pence implicated with the rest of this completely corrupt administration. They know a fair trial will result in Pelosi as President until 2020 elections. THAT is why they won't remove Trump, despite overwhelming evidence of his criminality, his abuses of power, and his total obstruction of Congress. Congressional Republicans are already complicit in the cover-up, the question now becomes how many implicated along with Pence, Perry, Pompeo, Mulvaney, Barr, et al in Trump's criminality?
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@sadienailedit7467 ~ It's good that you got vaccinated, but what you're saying is not quite accurate. While there have been breakthrough cases among those vaccinated, it tends to be among those who got the vaccine first and the elderly whose immune systems are no longer as robust as when younger. But the chances of getting infected are still less when vaccinated, so there is less chance of spreading Covid-19 to others. Also, taking the vaccine protects others, too, because the chances of serious illness that requires hospitalization is far, far, less. Meaning medical staff and ICU's are not stressed past capacity, preventing critical care for patients other than Covid-19 to be administered in a safe and timely fashion. Moreover, taking the vaccine helps to get things back to normal and our lives and economy back on track. Getting the booster shot when available and recommended will likely also further help to prevent infection, serious illness, and death.
All of those things show how by taking the vaccine you are not helping just yourself, but everyone else, too. You're also contradicting the experts, who say that vaccines are the answer to getting Covid-19 under control. While the disease is likely to persist for some time, it can be controlled and the likelihood of new variants decreased by everyone eligible getting vaccinated so that it no longer poses any significant threat. It's one of those things where we need everyone rowing in the same direction, so that we can make it to the other side, and get there quicker with more of the crew alive and in good health.
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@CAPCOM784 ~ That's what we'd like to believe, but that fat cat isn't changing his dirty stripes, much less his soiled underwear. Otherwise, he would have called Biden, who was exposed at the debate, instead of making him find out about it through the public news. Otherwise, he would have told his Propaganda Secretary, "Costly McHeinous," so she didn't do a press briefing sans mask after coming into contact and being exposed. Otherwise, he wouldn't have had his Chief of Staff--also exposed and not wearing a mask--obfuscating and refusing to discuss a timeline with reporters. Otherwise, he would be much more candid about his health condition and the threat posed to him by COVID-19. Otherwise, he would have had the class to pull the negative political ads attacking his opponent, as Biden has done (except Toxic Trump's sleazy negative ads rely on doctored videos and other disinformation). Wishful thinking gets us nowhere.
For the record, if you hadn't figured it out, the comment is just being facetious. Can't trust the Creator, aka Grim Reaper, a fickle, mischievous, and cruel beast. "The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away." While it would be poetic justice for him to die from the disease he scorned and lied about, causing tremendous needless suffering and deaths, much prefer a resounding defeat at the polls, followed by multiple indictments and convictions, then off to prison, where he can die from old age, for all we care. As they say, "The Lord helps those who help themselves."
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@connerredel9971 - That's the BS you're swallowing and we ain't buying. Most places you vote by mail--absentee or otherwise--you can't check, because they aren't counted until Election Day or after. Even if you vote in person on Election Day, people trust their vote is counted, they're not running around trying to verify. Election fraud is a mere 0.00006 in the U.S., and is even less with mail-in voting. The only mail-in votes not getting counted are those without signatures, without selections, with invalid postmarks. It's a non-issue, the BIG LIE you WANT to swallow whole. GOP never been about voter enfranchisement; GOP all about gerrymandering, voter suppression, voter disenfranchisement. GOP all about sliming their opponents and CHEATING! We suspect that you're not as dumb as you make out, that you're just another gaslighting CHEATER, because you know that's the only way Putin's Republican cult can win. Which, ironically and paradoxically, actually only makes you MORE ignorant than just being uninformed!
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over four decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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“Don’t give me the MyPillow guy doing a song-and-dance up here on a Monday afternoon when people are dying in Queens,” Francesa said. “Get the stuff made, get the stuff where it needs to go, and get the boots on the ground! Treat this like the crisis it is!”
New York sports talk radio icon Mike Francesa, a longtime and vocal defender of Trump, delivered an on-air tirade Tuesday about the president’s leadership. Francesa seized upon Trump’s comments Monday that if the total number of coronavirus fatalities in the United States is between 100,000 and 200,000, that would count as a good job.
“How can you have a scoreboard that says 2,000 people have died and tell us, ‘It’s okay if another 198,000 die, that’s a good job,’ ” Francesa said. “How is that a good job in our country? It’s a good job if nobody else dies! Not if another 198,000 people die! So now 200,000 people are disposable?”
Jesus freak fervently praying for God to save our pillowed butts in WH presser...because, God knows, Trump sure as hell ain't doing it!
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@mimzyjinx8142 ~ Gee, Doc, could it just possibly be all those 74 million Republican cult morons supporting the Traitor-'n-Thief Toxic Trump no matter what heinous act or crime he commits? Could it be all those Congressional Republicans enabling, empowering, aiding, and abetting fascist Toxic Trump and his fascist lunatic fringe, pushing the Big Lies, demonization, demagoguery, and divisiveness for personal and political gain, putting party before country, for the past four years?
If the horrific nightmare the GOP has become were my party, would no longer associate myself with it. If you had spoken up before against those labeling all Democrats "Demonrats," communists, and socialists, instead of engaging in the same behavior, and were not now being such a big hypocrite, then you might have a leg to stand on, and your words carry some weight. But, alas, you're still not thinking, still being a weasel. Get a clue, not a cult.
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“Don’t give me the MyPillow guy doing a song-and-dance up here on a Monday afternoon when people are dying in Queens,” Francesa said. “Get the stuff made, get the stuff where it needs to go, and get the boots on the ground! Treat this like the crisis it is!”
New York sports talk radio icon Mike Francesa, a longtime and vocal defender of Trump, delivered an on-air tirade Tuesday about the president’s leadership. Francesa seized upon Trump’s comments Monday that if the total number of coronavirus fatalities in the United States is between 100,000 and 200,000, that would count as a good job.
“How can you have a scoreboard that says 2,000 people have died and tell us, ‘It’s okay if another 198,000 die, that’s a good job,’ ” Francesa said. “How is that a good job in our country? It’s a good job if nobody else dies! Not if another 198,000 people die! So now 200,000 people are disposable?”
Jesus freak fervently praying for God to save our pillowed butts in WH presser...because he knows Trump sure as hell ain't doing it!
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@PhillyBagel ~ For decades, right-wing demagogues, politicians, and media have been demonizing Democrats, casting those of us on the other side of the political divide as a greater evil than America's foes. It's been highly corrosive to our politics, our government, and our society. The right-wing cult machine peddles fears that are turned into hate. Of course, it's not based in reality, which has resulted in a delusional Republican cult echo chamber, where fiction becomes fact, and facts labeled fiction. Because small lies soon become big lies swallowed whole, when there is a receptive, programmed audience.
For those of us old enough to know, it didn't use to be this way. Not that there hasn't always been a right-wing lunatic fringe, there has. It's just that the small right-wing extremists are now mainstream GOP, which has become hyper-partisan.
Do generally agree with your assessment of the Republican cult mindset; that they justify diminishing, degrading, and destroying democracy by demonizing Democrats, although there is much more to it than just falsely projecting their own anti-democratic stances and practices onto Democrats. They are taught to believe Democrats are destroying America, and from there that their ends justify whatever means necessary--lying, cheating, voter suppression, gerrymandering, etc., etc. However, destroying democracy to save it is illogical, and the Republican cult is too blind to see that they are being used and manipulated into themselves being the actual, real internal threat against America, dividing and weakening us.
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@gabe75001 ~ Given that I don't oppose affordable housing in my neighborhood or any other, that I support making the wealthy pay their fair share, that I support property taxes be distributed to all school districts equitably on the basis of greatest need, and that I live up to my ideals, it wasn't me being criticized.
Moreover, given that I first conceded that the criticism was valid and welcomed; that my critique of the critique is well-founded upon its narrow focus that omits the greater harm, the greater threat, and fails to acknowledge that the Republican platform does not even contain any of those ideals, much less strive for them; and that the comparison wasn't to intended to deflect or deceive, but to express those flaws with this piece, is doesn't actually constitute Whataboutism, either.
But thanks for tacitly conceding the truth about the GOP, Doc!
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***MEDIA FAIL*** -- Video is two different segments dealing with COVID-19. First part deals with the title, second part deals with pandemic impact on medical workers and patients. First segment could be a commercial for Delta airlines, advertising their pandemic response, touting safety measures. The segment, however, neglects to include the opinions of medical and scientific experts about the safety of their measures, or flying in general at a time when infection rates are soaring out of control in the majority of states around the nation. Its narrow focus on just one airline fails to inform the public what to expect when flying on so many other airlines. The fact remains that many airlines are packing too many people too near together for extended periods in the tightly enclosed space of an airplane. That was ignored in this segment. Why? While providing some good information, with 133,000 COVID-19 deaths already, and fatalities once again starting to soar, does the media really want to encourage travel on airplanes that is not absolutely essential, particularly when many airlines are NOT taking proper common-sense safety precautions? If airlines can not operate profitably keeping passengers socially distant and safe, then why isn't the media addressing that, instead of lulling people into a false sense of security about flying, which is irresponsible? Second segment demonstrates media knows how to do better, being informative, impactful, produced well, and more on point. Found this was one of those rare instance where having two disparate, but related, subjects lumped together was beneficial. However, there was no bridge to segue the two segments, and the news video title fails to inform viewers of the second subject addressed.
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"I have a chapter in the book on malignant narcissism as a characteristic of destructive cult leaders. These are people who have a deep need for grandiosity, to be the center of attention, who need to control others, and who lack empathy and lie without hesitation. These are psychological traits perfectly attuned to manipulation and projection.
But the malignant part is about sociopathic tendencies. Almost every cult leader thinks he’s above the law, which is why he’s allowed to persecute and harass or harm anyone he wants. When someone really believes this, they can rationalize all kinds of destructive behavior."
--Steven Hassan, The Cult of Trump
Narcissistic cult leaders like Trump thrive on chaos. They'll create crisis situations. When they walk in the room, you never know if they're going to be good and kind-hearted or be mean and call someone out or create some kind of dangerous situation.
A cult leader is also a master of manipulating information, so that his followers will only trust details that come from him. This is what Trump accomplishes every time he cries "fake news" or discredits a reporter as "terrible" or "nasty." He knows that Americans have access to all sorts of information, so he has to make his followers distrust other sources.
A cult environment like "Q" and Trumpism discourages critical thinking, making it hard to voice doubts, when everyone around you is displaying dogmatic faith and obedience to their leader. A process of indoctrination is in use that can be seen as coercive persuasion, or thought reform, commonly called "brainwashing". The resulting internal conflict, known as cognitive dissonance, keeps them trapped, as each compromise makes it more painful to admit that you've been deceived..
“Shared psychosis”—which is also called “folie à millions” [“madness for millions”] when occurring at the national level or “induced delusions”—refers to the infectiousness of severe symptoms that goes beyond ordinary group psychology.
When a highly symptomatic individual is placed in an influential position, the person’s symptoms can spread through the population through emotional bonds, heightening existing pathologies and inducing delusions, paranoia and a propensity for violence—even in previously healthy individuals.
Destructiveness is a core characteristic of mental pathology, whether directed toward the self or others. When mental pathology is accompanied by criminal-mindedness, the combination can make individuals far more dangerous than either alone.
In my textbook on violence, I emphasize the symbolic nature of violence and how it is a life impulse gone awry. Briefly, if one cannot have love, one resorts to respect. And when respect is unavailable, one resorts to fear. Trump is now living through an intolerable loss of respect: rejection by a nation in his election defeat.
Violence helps compensate for feelings of powerlessness, inadequacy and lack of real productivity."
--Bandy Lee
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Feel this woman's grief, feel for their kids and their families and friends their loss. Am glad that this woman, this wife, this mother, Katie, chose to bravely share her pain with us fellow Americans, that those not taking this deadly global pandemic seriously enough, endangering themselves and others, would take heed of the terrible cost of their ignorance. Mostly, though, feel anger and resolve, because so many Americans need not have become sick and died. How did we ever allow the senseless, preventable deaths of so many Americans to happen here?
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@johnmartin4233 ~ Mueller couldn't establish enough evidence for a legal charge of conspiracy because of witnesses refusing to testify and destruction of evidence by Trump and his campaign. However, he did find plenty of evidence of collusion, which is very different from being able to bring a legal charge of conspiracy. The REPUBLICAN Senate Intelligence Committee's 1,000 page report reaffirmed the circumstances of the Russian collusion with the Trump campaign outlined in the Mueller Report, even expanding upon it.
Investigations of Russian interference into American affairs began well before Trump considered running for office, and were predicated upon well-established evidence. The investigation of Trump's collusion with Russia was folded into that ongoing investigation, and was not predicated upon the Steel dossier, but from other sources preceding the FBI receiving that raw intelligence material from Steel.
Unlike investigations into Russian interference and collusion, there is no credible evidence of voter fraud or irregularities to predicate an investigation of the 2020 election. If there was such evidence, the Trump campaign would have already produced it. That they have not tells us all one needs to know.
The most Trump can do is demand recounts in those few states where the election was close enough that state law permits it (in some states that is automatic, anyway). However, be advised that recounts seldom differ from the original counts by more than a few hundred votes, and because Biden leads Trump by thousands in all the closely contested states, a recount will do Trump little good. Moreover, the recounts would have to overturn the results of several states, not just one, to gain him an electoral advantage--something which just isn't going to happen.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
~ "Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts."
~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans want competent leaders who speaks truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is receiving such high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating.
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America's enemies don't need to spread disinformation, doubt, discord, and division to weaken America, kill Americans--Republican politicians, Reich-wing demagogues, Faux News, OAN, Newsmax, Breitbart and the rest of the Reich-wing media do that so effectively for them, already. More Americans need to realize that the GOP has abdicated it's duty as loyal opposition, and that its prioritization of party over country diminishes both our government and our national security, endangering ALL Americans, as well as weakening and endangering America itself.
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@RandolphStranz ~ Always thought Reagan's VP, the former head of the CIA, George H.W. Bush, was involved in Iran-Contra up to his neck. Just to add, the Reagan administration was in direct violation of a law specifically passed by Congress to stop it from engaging in the Iran-contra shenanigans. Oliver North and some other low-level government employees took the fall, but those at the top were never really held accountable.
And so we see history repeating itself, over and over. George W. Bush and his administration cherry-picking intelligence and lying about Iraq's WMD program, it's use of black-ops concentration camps and torture, followed by Toxic Trump's total disregard for the rule of law and disdain for the separation and balance of power among the three branches of government.
Despite distrust of and disagreements with George H.W. Bush, thought he was the best Republican President since Eisenhower. Ironically, he was the only one since Nixon Republicans didn't place upon a pedestal, attempting to make an icon. After Nixon's disgrace, Republicans have been desperate to find a hero leader, desperate to escape the stain upon their party, desperate to eradicate their insecurities with a sense of self-worth. They're still trying.
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Not war. Israel and the Trump administration poisoning a nuclear deal between Iran and the incoming Biden administration. Iran will have a measured response, which may lead to a limited tit-for-tat back and forth--not much different than what's been happening for years. But no war. What's disturbing about all of this is the lack of condemnation by our government and news media for what is clearly a terrorist attack against civilians. Because it's an Iranian nuclear scientist, that makes it OK? So, does that make Israeli and U.S. scientists legitimate targets then, too? There's long been a double-standard applied, and it's sickening. Targeted assassinations and kidnappings on foreign soil against sovereign states not declared war upon are fine if the U.S. and Israel does it, but not anybody else? Don't think so. It's a very slippery slope, with a very precipitous ending certain for the U.S. and Israel. This is not the path to ensuring mutual security, but mutual destruction. Our comment posted here:
So, it's OK to assassinate scientists now? Assassinating Iranian civilians going to make Iran more moderate, more likely to enter into and abide by nuclear agreements? Israel have a death wish? No fan of either the Iranian or Israeli governments, but Israel's incitement was pure ignorance. The lack of condemnation from certain quarters speaks volumes, as well.
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--Instead of striving to bring out the best in people, Toxic Trump reveled in bringing out the very worst.
--Instead of uniting the country, Toxic Trump sought to divide us.
--Instead of abiding by and honoring our Constitution and the rule of law, Toxic Trump held them in disdain, disregarded them, and degraded them.
--Instead of strengthening democracy and our cherished institutions, Toxic Trump worked to diminish and destroy them.
--Instead of confronting a serious threat to Americans with a deadly global pandemic, Toxic Trump lied to the American people about it, ignored it, and refused to take any responsibility for his gross homicidal negligence.
--Instead of creating jobs, Toxic Trump was the first President since the Great Depression to preside over a net loss of jobs over his tenure.
--Instead of raising our standing and security in the world, Toxic Trump lowered and weakened it.
--Instead of draining the swamp, Toxic Trump turned into a noxious overflowing sewer.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
~ "Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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You get an upvote on each video I catch this! Not that I personally need any reminder after over 600,000 Americans senselessly killed, but there are plenty of others that do!
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, along with Reich-wing demagogues and media, who were complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance, and in spreading disinformation and misinformation. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump left office, one out of every 800 Americans had died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 410,000 fatalities, as many American casualties as all of WWII. To put it into further perspective, throughout Trump's catastrophic mishandling of a deadly global pandemic, the U.S. led the world in cases and deaths, suffering nearly 25% of each, despite having only 4.25% of global population, despite having the advantage of being the richest and most advanced nation in the world.
The memorial would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure. Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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Feel this woman's grief, feel for their kids and their families and friends their loss. Am glad that this woman, this wife, this mother, Katie, chose to bravely share her pain with us fellow Americans, that those not taking this deadly global pandemic seriously enough, endangering themselves and others, would take heed of the terrible cost of their ignorance. Mostly, though, feel anger and resolve, because so many Americans need not have become sick and died. How did we ever allow the senseless, preventable deaths of so many Americans to happen here?
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Welcome to war. This is what war is. It's terrible, it's tragic, it's ugly, it stinks, it's unfair, it's sad, it's wasteful, it's hell, innocents die, and things always go wrong. You think we'd have learned that by now, but no, it's a lesson that has to be repeatedly learned, evidently. The consensus is that nobody foresaw the Afghan government and its armed forces completely capitulating so quickly as they did. Some say there should have been a contingency plan for this, but even though hindsight is 20/20, have yet to hear any rational plan that could have dealt with this situation. Shit happens, and Biden got handed a turd with Afghanistan. Instead of allowing the crap to continue, Biden made the hard, responsible decision to pull the U.S. out of another country's civil war. Fallout was inevitable, and Republicans trying to capitalize on that politically or media trying to profit from it is truly degenerate.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of crackpot conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of plutocrats, the party of corruption, the party of anti-democracy, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their pact with the Devil.
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Never idolized Tiger, but did respect his golfing abilities, had wanted to see him do well, to shatter all the records. Too many people put Tiger on a pedestal, and too many tried tearing him down, often out of racial animosity. In the end, he has proven that he was only human, as should have been known all along. He made mistakes in his life, as we are all prone to do, and he paid for and took lessons from those mistakes. In his chosen profession, he accomplished more than the vast majority even dream of and left a legacy which will continue to earn him deserved respect. I'm not disappointed in Tiger, nor do I feel sorry for him; but do feel grateful to have watched him play the game of golf at such a high level, and only wish him peace and happiness.
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Only when law enforcement demonstrates nationally that it is capable of adequately policing and holding itself accountable can the public have the security and confidence they are there to PROTECT and serve ALL citizens. We're sick of the carnage and misery--we're not waiting, anymore, police, prosecutors, judges, mayors, councils, legislators, governors, Congress, Mr. President, SCOTUS. This is really a question of whether or not America wants to be a democracy, or something less.
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"We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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@alext3811 ~ It's "Putsch," German for insurrection or insurgency, but "Putz" seems more apt. And its probably more accurate to say the Reich-wing is gaslighting Jan. 6. But you're spot-on. A bit of history that may interest you (see also Father Charles E. Coughlin and Henry Ford in the following regard):
The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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"We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
~ How Fascism Works, The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(Reference also Father Charles E. Coughlin and Henry Ford in regards to the first America First movement.)
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
Malcolm Nance: We Are In A Neo-Fascist Era In American Politics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_RxUAe2zeM
Political Analyst Tells Joy Reid: Forget Trumpism, IT’s Neo-Fascism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IgNp84JA4A
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--Instead of striving to bring out the best in people, Toxic Trump reveled in bringing out the very worst.
--Instead of uniting the country, Toxic Trump sought to divide us.
--Instead of abiding by and honoring our Constitution and the rule of law, Toxic Trump held them in disdain, disregarded them, and degraded them.
--Instead of strengthening democracy and our cherished institutions, Toxic Trump worked to diminish and destroy them, inciting a terrorist insurrection against his own government, attempting a coup to steal an election.
--Instead of insuring a peaceful transfer power after losing the election, Toxic Trump kept insisting against all evidence that he won, and incited a terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol.
--Instead of confronting a serious threat to Americans with a deadly global pandemic, Toxic Trump lied to the American people about it, ignored it, and refused to take any responsibility for his gross homicidal criminal negligence that resulted in one out of every 800 Americans dying from COVID-19--over 400,000 lives in just ten months, as many casualties as all of WWII.
--Instead of confronting the ever-increasing existential crisis from climate change and its harmful effects, Toxic Trump gutted regulations, exacerbating the problem and poisoning citizens.
--Instead of creating jobs, Toxic Trump was the first President since the Great Depression to preside over a net loss of jobs over his tenure.
--Instead of lowering the national deficit, Toxic Trump increased it from 19.2 trillion to 27 trillion.
--Instead of building bridges, humane immigration reform, and infrastructure, Toxic Trump built walls and cages, separated children from mothers, allowed American infrastructure to decline and deteriorate, rejected economic opportunity.
--Instead of raising our standing and security in the world, Toxic Trump lowered and weakened it.
--Instead of draining the swamp, Toxic Trump turned it into a noxious overflowing Republican sewer.
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@annem1123 ~ As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth and justice--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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They have been closing schools in Europe with the explosion of Omicron cases there, too. These are difficult decisions, where the choice is between bad and worse. Some people just want to bash teachers and their unions for political purposes, some parents are frustrated because they have to miss work, pay for childcare, and be inconvenienced. But it isn't always teachers and their unions deciding. In Milwaukee, it was the school board that decided 8-1 to close schools in that large city. The decision was made based upon what they were seeing in the schools with infection rates from Omicron.
Nobody seems to be considering that the school closing would only be temporary until the threat from Omicron surges in areas resides. Nobody seems to be considering that such closings of schools and other non-essential services temporarily would be good for hospitals and health care workers, for stopping the spread, and for saving people from hospitalizations, injury, and death from Covid-19 (hospitals and staff again getting stressed to the breaking point, more children being hospitalized, averaging nearly 2,400 Covid-19 fatalities daily). Nobody seems to be considering a plan to offer summer school classes for children to catch up on studies because of Covid-19. Why?
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@jewlzn7130 ~ It's not conflating; it's making a point about governments failing to hold themselves accountable by using an example. It's an excellent example:
Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law?
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Unlike many others here, I don't blame Sen. Peters for the omission of the word "insurrection." I'm quite sure that it wasn't the preference of Peters and Democrats on the committee to not use the word, but rather was done at the insistence of Republicans. They----and they alone----are to blame. Peters and the rest of the Democrats rightly decided that getting out a timely report with bipartisan support on the security and intelligence failures, as well as recommendations to secure the Capitol, were more important than inclusion of the word. I am just as disappointed and disgusted about not describing the events of January 6 as an insurrection as everyone else, would agree that there is some danger in not doing so, but it was imperative to get to the bottom of this aspect of January 6, and we needed those recommendations to secure the Capitol. It was a choice of two evils, and I think Peters and the Democrats made the correct decision to get this vitally needed report produced and released. I salute Keilar for her tough questioning, and while I understand Peters is running a critically important committee that requires bipartisanship to function well and is being diplomatic to foster as much cooperation with Republicans as possible, I still wish he had been more forthright about exactly why the word insurrection wasn't used to describe the insurrection, placing blame where deservedly due.
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Let's face it; this American fall towards fascism didn't just happen overnight. Since before the '70s Republicans have engaged in dog whistles and pursued a racist agenda, hidden behind various facades. Reagan helped Goldwater using dog-whistles; Nixon was infamous for his use of them. Roger Ailes micromanaged Nixon's appearances, and stoked racial fears and resentments. Reagan employed them getting elected governor of California. Lee Atwater, who greatly admired Nixon's 'Southern strategy,' worked on Reagan's Presidential campaign, teaming up with Ailes. A year after Reagan's victory, Atwater gave what was then an anonymous interview, and perhaps lulled by the anonymity, he offered an unusually candid response to a question about Reagan, the Southern strategy, and the drive to attract the Wallace voters:
"You start out in 1954 by saying, "N------, N------, N-------." By 1968 you can't say "N-------," that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states' rights and all that stuff. You're getting so abstract now, you're talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you're talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is, blacks get hurt worse than whites. And subconsciously maybe that is part of it. I'm not saying that. But I'm saying that if it is getting that abstract, and that coded, that we are doing away with the racial problem one way or the other. You follow me; because obviously sitting around saying, "We want to cut taxes and we want to cut this," is much more abstract than even the busing thing, and a hell of a lot more abstract than "N------, N------." So anyway you look at it, race is coming on the back burner."
Humiliated and stunned by Nixon's forced resignation, Republicans anointed Reagan their hero, and have long insisted on regarding him as such, despite his repeated use of racial dog-whistles and his mediocre record. In 1980, Reagan characterized food stamp recipients as, "That strapping young buck in front of you at the checkout buying T-bone steak, while you wait in line to buy hamburger," and kicked off his campaign outside Philadelphia, Mississippi--notorious for the KKK lynching of four volunteer civil rights workers just 16 years earlier--by delivering the promise that, "I believe in state's rights!" Reagan returned in 1984 to another cheering crowd, this time endorsing the neo-Confederate slogan, "The South shall rise again!"
Lee Atwater went on to work with Roger Ailes on George H.W. Bush's Presidential campaign, which shamelessly stoked racial fear through the infamous Willie Horton political ad and other means. Roger Ailes would go on to head Fox News for Rupert Murdoch, until numerous allegations of sexual harassment and improprieties, along with related lawsuits against Fox, forced his removal. Ailes was a polarizing influence, who has been called the most destructive force in American politics in 50 years.
Conservative plutocrats and the GOP created the beast over decades with round-the-clock propaganda, but were swallowed whole by their own mutated creations of daily outrage, white grievance politics, and phony populism; first by the Tea Party, then by Trump. Unable to go back, and clearly having no way forward, they remain planted in their own muck and mire, trapped by the cult of their own making. The pundits and conservatives rejecting Trump are trying to salvage their party, but any person of principle and sense ought to know enough to defect the rotten machine.
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@danielsimchuk8224 ~That's what the Russian bots and Trump are feeding their flock of Republican cult sheep, Doc! Baa--aaa-aaa! Try using a little critical thought and objectivity for a change--you'll find it both refreshing and enlightening!
Pelosi and Schiff were both AGAINST impeachment. Trump illegal acts attempting to shakedown a foreign nation to cheat again in the 2020 election gave Democrats no choice but to act. But Democrats didn't make it partisan; Republicans did, by deciding to gaslight and become complicit in the cover-up of Presidential malfeasance of the highest order.
If there was a prime example of when removal of a President is a necessity, this is it. Trump's criminal acts degrade and weaken the U.S., make us vulnerable, put our national security at risk. Do you care about your country, or are you just another silly cult dupe, programmed to mindlessly care more about your political party?
The bitter irony here is that Republicans are doing even GREATER harm to themselves and their party through their ignorance. Doubtless, you'll choose to believe that's a lie, that you're being manipulated. But that is the simple truth, which doesn't require a whole lot of intellect to know or figure out. Did you ever stop to think for a moment about what the endgame to this Republican insanity will be? A tragic wrong turn, taking America down a very dark path, leading us no where good, just because of Republican greed, ignorance, cowardice, and an unhinged lust for power.
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It's like rowing or paddling upstream, or into a stiff wind--if you ease-up too much or stop, you will only have to paddle twice as hard to make up all the previous hard-earned progress that was quickly lost. Failing to maintain isolation and other measures for sufficient time to stop the spread of COVID-19 transmission will cost U.S. more in time, effort, money, and LIVES. Reopening and relaxing measures too early in defiance of the science and data is the ultimate in colossal ignorance, greed, ruthlessness, and arrogance.
We have a segment of Republican cult willfully ignorant, who malevolently seek to sabotage containment efforts. But many do not grasp how important it is that we treat ourselves and everyone else as being infected.
This is because people know that is very unlikely, especially outside dense urban areas, where incidence rates are low. Because of the delay in onset of the disease and asymptomatic carriers, COVID-19 is a stealth killer that uses Americans against each other as its foot soldiers, transporting it, keeping the disease and its train of transmission alive. This is further complicated because people cannot see a virus, see it attacking, see it spreading, until it is too late. For many of us, seeing is believing, and people are incapable or reluctant to make that leap of logic required to keep them and everyone safe--even with the massive public education efforts.
Of course, the problem becomes greatly exacerbated when the President refuses to wear a mask, and his administration works against itself in fighting this deadly global pandemic, sending conflicting messages to the public. Toxic Trump, his administration, and all the Republicans who have aided and abetted him, are directly responsible in our view for the senseless deaths of tens and thousands of Americans. The dead are the worst of it, but there is also the tremendous needless suffering and economic loss accompanying their wanton criminal negligence.
No national testing, no rational national coordinated pandemic response. Republican governors reopening too quickly in defiance of CDC guidelines are only following the President's lead. Democratic governors in many states likewise being adversely pressured by Toxic Trump's pandemic disinformation and Republican opposition to requisite lockdowns. Problem starts at the top. Don't fault even the worst Republican governors as much as this President. The President needed to take the lead, take the hit for the hard decisions--not put all the weight on governors as he as.
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Sure, we believe in challenging the system...but not throwing your vote away, allowing true evil to win. Don't believe it fair to characterize Democrats as 'evil,' either. About 90% of Blacks who vote Democrat, many of them actively supporting Democrats of all race, creed, sexual orientation, creed, and social class, might beg to differ with that misguided assessment, as well. His vote and others like him who chose supporting a third-party candidate instead of the only viable alternative to Toxic Trump had real world consequences that were detrimental overall to the people and causes for which he claims to advocate. Just goes to show how intelligent people can make stupid choices, too. Now, after four years of a racist President, and a nation upon the precipice of fascist authoritarianism, this joker needs to be "wooed" to make the only logical, sensible choice, or he will do what? Help Trump win AGAIN by throwing his vote away again on a third-party candidate? Repeat the same mistake, hoping for a different result? Simply unbelievable.
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@armandhammer2235 ~ No, Trump and you couldn't be any more wrong. Trump's statement denigrated and disparaged all POW's, not just McCain.
"At the heart of @realDonaldTrump statement is a lack of respect for those who have served - a disqualifying characteristic to be president." ~Lindsey Graham
"America’s POWs deserve much better than to have their service questioned by the offensive rantings of Donald Trump." ~ Marco Rubio
Unfortunately, Trump has an extensive history of disrespecting our military personnel:
Trump during 2018 visit to France commemorating the end of WWI: "Why should I go to that [WWI] cemetery? It's filled with losers." Trump referred to the more than 1,800 marines who lost their lives at Belleau Wood as “suckers” for getting killed. Trump — on at least two occasions — referred to former President George H.W. Bush as a “loser” for getting shot down as a Navy pilot in Japan during World War II.
You're also making spurious accusations against former Sen. and Navy pilot John McCain:
On 29 July 1967, a fire broke out on board the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal after an electrical anomaly caused a Zuni rocket on a F-4B Phantom to fire, striking an external fuel tank of an A-4 Skyhawk. The flammable jet fuel spilled across the flight deck, ignited, and triggered a chain-reaction of explosions that killed 134 sailors and injured 161. At the time, Forrestal was engaged in combat operations in the Gulf of Tonkin, during the Vietnam War. McCain flew A-4 Skyhawks. He escaped from his burning jet and was trying to help another pilot escape when a bomb exploded; McCain was struck in the legs and chest by fragments. The ensuing fire killed 134 sailors and took 24 hours to control. With the Forrestal out of commission, McCain volunteered for assignment with the USS Oriskany, another aircraft carrier employed in Operation Rolling Thunder. There, he was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal and the Bronze Star Medal for missions flown over North Vietnam.
McCain was taken prisoner of war on October 26, 1967. He was flying his 23rd bombing mission over North Vietnam when his A-4E Skyhawk was shot down by a missile over Hanoi. McCain fractured both arms and a leg when he ejected from the aircraft, and nearly drowned after he parachuted into Trúc Bạch Lake. Some North Vietnamese pulled him ashore, then others crushed his shoulder with a rifle butt and bayoneted him. McCain was then transported to Hanoi's main Hỏa Lò Prison, nicknamed the "Hanoi Hilton".
Although McCain was seriously wounded and injured, his captors refused to treat him. They beat and interrogated him to get information, and he was given medical care only when the North Vietnamese discovered that his father was an admiral. His status as a prisoner of war (POW) made the front pages of major American newspapers.
McCain spent six weeks in the hospital, where he received marginal care. He had lost 50 pounds (23 kg), he was in a chest cast, and his gray hair had turned white. McCain was sent to a different camp on the outskirts of Hanoi. In December 1967, McCain was placed in a cell with two other Americans, who did not expect him to live more than a week. In March 1968, McCain was placed into solitary confinement, where he remained for two years.
In mid-1968, his father John S. McCain Jr. was named commander of all U.S. forces in the Vietnam theater, and the North Vietnamese offered McCain early release because they wanted to appear merciful for propaganda purposes, and also to show other POWs that elite prisoners were willing to be treated preferentially. McCain refused repatriation unless every man taken in before him was also released. Such early release was prohibited by the POWs' interpretation of the military Code of Conduct, which states in Article III: "I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy." To prevent the enemy from using prisoners for propaganda, officers were to agree to be released in the order in which they were captured.
Beginning in August 1968, McCain was subjected to a program of severe torture. He was bound and beaten every two hours; this punishment occurred at the same time that he was suffering from heat exhaustion and dysentery. Further injuries brought McCain to "the point of suicide," but his preparations were interrupted by guards. Eventually, McCain made an anti-U.S. propaganda "confession." He had always felt that his statement was dishonorable, but as he later wrote, "I had learned what we all learned over there: every man has his breaking point. I had reached mine." Many U.S. POWs were tortured and maltreated in order to extract "confessions" and propaganda statements; virtually all of them eventually yielded something to their captors. McCain received two to three beatings weekly because of his continued refusal to sign additional statements.
Ironically, and quite sadly, your comment and your reply both vividly demonstrate the validity of Acosta's observations in this video.
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@HD4all - You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It's that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don't care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another five months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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@kathrynfrank4291 ~ "We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Unknown source, a derivative of similar quotes by William Butler Yeats, Bertrand Russell, and Charles Bukowski
Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
~ How Fascism Works, The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(Reference also Father Charles E. Coughlin and Henry Ford in regards to the original America First movement.)
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
Malcolm Nance: We Are In A Neo-Fascist Era In American Politics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_RxUAe2zeM
Political Analyst Tells Joy Reid: Forget Trumpism, IT’s Neo-Fascism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IgNp84JA4A
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A "tornado shelter" in the candle factory that didn't really offer much shelter, sadly resulting in many senseless deaths. No U.S. tornado is known to have killed more than 80 people outside the core tornado season from March to June. If more than 80 deaths recorded, this Mayfield, KY December tornado will become among the 25 most deadly in U.S. history, despite occurring outside the core tornado season in December. If more than 100, it will be among the 15 most deadly. At least two F5/EF5 tornadoes are on the record books for December: one in Vicksburg, Mississippi on Dec. 5, 1953, that killed 38 (the deadliest December tornado on record up to this year), and one on Dec. 18, 1957, that struck Sunfield, Illinois, as part of the state’s most severe outbreak on record so late in the year. Annually, the U.S.averages over 1,000 tornadoes a year, with only one per year rating as an EF5. However, the last EF5 was in Moore, OK in May of 2013, and before that in Joplin, MO in May of 2011. This Mayfield tornado is certain to be classified as at least an EF4, and may well have been an EF5, but it could take as long as a week before confirmed by the National Weather Service.
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@VV-lz1xp ~ The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which supplies about 90% of the state with its power, said Tuesday that wind power is responsible for just a fraction of the loss.
"Of the power shortfall that hit Texas, over 80% was due to problems at coal- and gas-fired plants," PolitiFact reported.
Experts say traditional energy sources, including coal and natural gas, performed below expectations, while wind power actually performed above expectations.
"Main story continues to be the failure of thermal power plants — natural gas, coal, and nuclear plants — which ERCOT counts on to be there when needed. They've failed," Princeton engineering professor Jesse Jenkins tweeted Tuesday. "Those of you who have heard that frozen wind turbines are to blame for this, think again. The extreme demand and thermal power plant outages are the principle cause."
Just to also note; this is the third time Texas has experienced power losses due to winter weather events. It happened before in 1986 and 2011, and the Texas legislature and Governors have repeatedly ignored warnings of catastrophe and recommendations that power generating infrastructure urgently needed upgrading to winterize it. Compounding the problem is that Texas and ERCOT decided to be independent of the national grid to avoid regulations, which would have helped ameliorate power losses. Now, instead of Texas having spent a little money to insure themselves energy security, U.S. taxpayers will be bailing out hundreds of millions in aid to Texas because of their ignorance, greed, and criminal negligence.
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@dianehooper3589 ~ Think most of the Republican cult is willfully ignorant, too. Sure, there's some that really are that stupid, that wacko, that gullible. But the vast majority have become radicalized and tribalized, to to the point where they believe that the ends justify whatever means, that abandoning truth, civility, integrity, and reason is acceptable as long as their side "wins," conveniently forgetting we are all on the same team, conveniently ignoring the destruction they wreak upon society and the substantial damage they do to America, weakening us with their hyper-partisanship.
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Demented Trumpettes feeling dejected at Toxic Trump not getting reelected, so objected. Rather get detected, infected, inspected, injected, and disinfected--instead of getting rejected from their genuflected Republican cult! This time, it isn't the Kool-Aid; it's the Clorox, Lysol, Oxycodone, Oleander, and Hydroxychloroquine cocktails...
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Amanda Carpenter is absolutely right--but so is Scott Jennings. Both are guilty, complicit in building the Republican cult beast, abandoning truth and reason, putting party before country.
Been saying it for a long time:
The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. Sure, some of them truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Republican cult placing political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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@Villaineditings ~ More Republican cult projection. That was the Republicans in the Senate, Doc! They sat on the Heroes act passed by the House for over six months, while the nation suffered. They could have brought it to the floor for debate, could have started negotiating with House Democrats--but they didn't. And it was Senate Republicans holding up the $2,000 stimulus check so desperately needed by Americans, too.
They impeached the Traitor-'n-Thief quickly with the biggest BIPARTISAN margin in U.S. history quickly because Toxic Trump is a CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER to the nation, the #1 security threat, doofus. On the flip side, McConnell had no problem confirming Amy COVID Barrett's SCOTUS nomination in record time right before an election (breaking Republican's promise to the American people), then sending the Senate back home on break instead of passing COVID-19 relief bill. Get a clue, not a fascist terrorist cult of seditionists.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, along with Reich-wing demagogues and media, who were complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance, and in spreading disinformation and misinformation. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump left office, one out of every 800 Americans had died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 410,000 fatalities, as many American casualties as all of WWII. To put it into further perspective, throughout Trump's catastrophic mishandling of a deadly global pandemic, the U.S. led the world in cases and deaths, suffering nearly 25% of each, despite having only 4.25% of global population, despite having the advantage of being the richest and most advanced nation in the world.
The memorial would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure. Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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So many people not taking this pandemic seriously enough, reminding one of little kids who think they're invincible and need to be constantly reminded not to run out into the street. Try explaining to them that this coronavirus isn't just an opportunistic killer, affecting only the very old or very vulnerable, but also a random killer, striking people of all ages in the peak of health. Try explaining to them how even if they don't suffer, their failure to follow common-sense health guidelines causes many others to suffer and die needlessly. They don't want to hear any of it, because it might interfere with them going to a bar or restaurant, going to the gym, getting together with friends, etc. While the bulk of responsibility for the excess suffering and deaths America has experienced goes to an abject failure in leadership by Trump and many other Republicans, individuals behaving with wanton recklessness bear some responsibility, too.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Hypocritical Republican cult whines about cancel culture...
--while making death threats against those disagreeing with them
--while censuring any Republican leaders daring to speak the truth about January 6.
--while conducting a terrorist attack against the nation's Capitol in insurrection, viciously beating police, intent on killing lawmakers and the Republican VP, attempting a coup to overthrow the results of a free and fair election...just because their candidate lost.
--while trying to cancel out the votes of millions of Democrats and minorities by objecting solely to their votes, enacting numerous voter suppression measures, and engaging in egregious gerrymandering.
--while labeling MSM "the enemy of the people."
--while censoring and moving to remove fellow Republicans of integrity who speak up for truth and decency, and against GOP lies, terrorism, and crackpot conspiracy theories.
--while Reich-wing media turns off comments yet rants against "censorship."
--while Faux News fires its news editor for truthfully reporting that Arizona had been called for Biden.
--while trying to run a Biden campaign bus off the road.
--while Rep. Marjorie Greene prevents press from covering town hall meetings where nobody wore a mask.
--after seriously injuring over 140 police officers in the Republican cult's seditious terrorist attack of insurrection against the nation's Capitol, Republican cult terrorists threaten to call the cops on reporters trying to get their side of the story.
--after canceling out millions of American's jobs under George W. Bush's recession and the largest loss of jobs since the great Depression under Toxic Trump due to his gross incompetence, lies, and willful criminal negligence in responding to a global pandemic.
--while canceling out the lives of hundreds of thousands of their fellow Americans by spreading lies about COVID-19, politicizing a deadly pandemic, and refusing to follow common sense health guidelines.
--while threatening to cancel baseball's anti-trust exemption for exercising their right to free speech
--while canceling out a bipartisan January 6 commission, despite initally agreeing to it and Democrats acceding to all Republican demands for the commission
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GOP and Trump administration: Where the hard reality of COVID-19 pierces the Republican cult bubble world of delusional fantasies, denialism, deceit, supreme ignorance, utter incompetence, and Orwellian governance, exposing them all as charlatans and frauds. Much as needed, we're hoping that doesn't happen; that America escapes the ravages of this disease, and we don't suffer thousands of American citizens dying, with many more becoming critically ill. Tragically, that doesn't seem very likely, and the Trump administration hardly inspires confidence, with all indications to date CONTRARY that they can capably handle such a catastrophe occurring here.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Feel this woman's grief, feel for their kids and their families and friends their loss. Am glad that this woman, this wife, this mother, Katie, chose to bravely share her pain with us fellow Americans, that those not taking this deadly global pandemic seriously enough, endangering themselves and others, would take heed of the terrible cost of their ignorance. Mostly, though, feel anger and resolve, because so many Americans need not have become sick and died. How did we ever allow the senseless, preventable deaths of so many Americans to happen here?
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Instead of embracing the reverence for nature and sustainability practiced by the America's indigenous peoples, we have entered into a death pact with capitalism, consumerism, greed, and selfishness, largely forced upon the common person by large businesses and the wealthy, who continue exploiting us for the own short-sighted, immediate benefit. We bear some responsibility for that, too. For taking part, for allowing it to happen, and for allowing it to continue as long as it has. Until enough of us average citizens wake up and become active in changing how our cultures and societies operate, the downward spiral of our environment will continue leading us into a dead-end death trap. Capitalism and consumerism can serve a purpose. However, they should be viewed and utilized as just one tool at our disposal in our toolbox, and not overly relied upon, like a hammer used for every job, which does more destruction than good.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, along with Reich-wing demagogues and media, who were complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance, and in spreading disinformation and misinformation. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump left office, one out of every 800 Americans had died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 410,000 fatalities, as many American casualties as all of WWII. To put it into further perspective, throughout Trump's catastrophic mishandling of a deadly global pandemic, the U.S. led the world in cases and deaths, suffering nearly 25% of each, despite having only 4.25% of global population, despite having the advantage of being the richest and most advanced nation in the world.
The memorial would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure. Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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@anonymoususer7602 ~ The only good Republican is a former Republican. Were Democrats taken over by a cult, would not support the party, would no longer associate with the party. Those still associating and supporting the GOP are enablers, aiders and abettors, fully complicit with the damage being done by the Republican cult to our democracy, our institutions, and our nation.
So, while in agreement to some extent with you, it is a distinction with little difference. Moreover, this transformation into a Republican cult began happening long before Trump, and will continue to exist after he exits stage Reich. Some Republicans of conscience, reason, and integrity have already left the GOP. Any others remaining in the GOP need to follow suit.
They need to form a new political party, as with the Mugwumps after Lincoln. Preferably a new party one can respect, one that represents conservatism and all types of American people, instead of just another pseudo-GOP corrupted by plutocrats, large corporations, and special interests, composed of phony populists peddling to petty white grievances, religious fundamentalism and bigotry, racism, and anti-science.
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@anonymoususer7602 ~ Well, as a Jeffersonian, have trust in the basic goodness of people. The majority don't always get it right, but they get it right more often than any other form of government.
So, the responsibility lies with each and all of us to educate each other, to be involved in civic affairs, to work towards forming a more perfect union. It is a ceaseless task, but one we should not look upon as a burden, but as a duty and privilege of being free. Democracy is a fragile thing that requires constant vigilance and diligence, or it will be lost.
Political parties are merely people of like mind joining together in common cause. They are inevitable and unpreventable. They are both good and bad. As with everything else, they must be taken in moderation. The problem with the Republican cult is they have misguidedly become so hyper-partisan as to place their party before the good of the country, harming and posing a danger to it. Because they have been programmed into a cult, they have become blinded or uncaring to that, taught to think or rationalize that they are somehow "saving" the very thing they are, in fact, destroying. Unrealizing or uncaring in their raw lust for power and "winning" how their behavior and actions work to diminish or make the prize they seek worthless.
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@anonymoususer7602 ~ Most Americans self-identify as Independent, followed by Democrat, with Republican last at about 31%, last checked. That's been pretty consistent now for at least a couple of decades.
Personally, 'Jeffersonian' is not an ideology. Nominally, it is used just to describe a faith in the basic goodness of people, and by extension, democracy. While there is much to admire about Jefferson, he was certainly not infallible, nor were any of the founding fathers, who too often are wrongly idolized. They should be judged in the context of their times, respected for their tremendous contributions, but not placed upon a pedestal.
Cult members don't realize or recognize they are being indoctrinated into a cult. They are often told what they want to hear, what they wish to believe. It starts out with little things, and grows from there over time. Cult members may find their needs being met in the cult; a sense of belonging being just one example. There is also a natural human inclination towards tribalism. Commentary we've frequently posted on the Republican cult before may offer additional insight:
“The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.”
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
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@TheAnonapersons ~ “I'm not scared of the Maos and the Stalins and the Hitlers.
I'm scared of the thousands or millions of people that hallucinate them to be "authority", and so do their bidding, and pay for their empires, and carry out their orders.
I don't care if there's one looney with a stupid moustache. He's not a threat if the people do not believe in "authority".” ― Larken Rose
Setting aside the sleazy immoral Reich-wing grifters at the top -- people like Trump, Congressional Republicans, Reich-wing demagogues and media -- the rank-and-file of the GOP has become a fascist cult. To be clear, Trump did not create the cult, it existed before him. He merely served as a unifying figure they chose to rally around and worship as their fool's gold god. Trump appealed to their basest nature and told them what they wanted to hear. Now, those Reich-wing grifters may have cultivated their cult to exploit for their own greed, power and vanity, but at least to some extent the Republican cult in turn seeks to exploit the GOP for their own various misguided purposes. They CHOOSE to be willfully ignorant, to believe or espouse the lies, because as a political calculus they shortsightedly see it as expedient to their ends.
What must also be taken into consideration are the characteristics of a cult. Why do people join a cult? Why do they choose to remain in a cult? No need to go into detail; the answers are largely common knowledge or easily researched. But it should be pointed out that in a complex world, the simplistic and rigid beliefs embraced by cults can be very alluring, no matter how fantastical and removed from reality. It should also be acknowledged that the Republican cult is not a monolithic entity, but an amalgamation of sects, including White supremacists, Christian nationalists, libertarians, sovereign nationals, anarchists, tax resistors, Qanon and other extremist fringe groups. Of course, not every Republican is an extremist, a fascist, or untethered from reality. But this latter more benign group is nevertheless part of the fascist Republican cult, complicit in their support of the whole, whether through their silent acquiescence and votes or willing assistance.
It's a very dangerous feedback loop, a vicious circle, one that as it sinks further into depravity its threat correspondingly rises, for as the Republican cult has over time been becoming increasingly more radicalized, we witness the election of more radical politicians to represent them, more radicalized Reich-wing media and demagogues to feed them propaganda. While some Republicans are leaving the GOP and some others are speaking out and trying to save their party, they constitute a weak minority, unfortunately.
In a normal, sane world, the Republican cult would have ended or been marginalized after the Mueller Report, after Trump's Ukraine shakedown and impeachment, after Trump's horrendous handling of a deadly global pandemic, after his election defeat, or after January 6th and his second impeachment. But that hasn't happened. Instead, the Republican cult continues to become increasingly more radicalized and extreme. As President Biden says, "We are in a battle for the soul of this nation." And that battle is far from over.
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@burritosupremejeem ~ Just to point out and put into proper perspective, it's not yet a Congressional subpoena for McCarthy. Nor are citizens required to cooperate with any investigation. But it is our civic duty, and for members of Congress it is part of their Oath of Office to uphold the Constitution, which makes McCarthy's refusal despite admitted knowledge of January 6th a betrayal of both his office and the Constitution. To my mind, that should be grounds for removal for McCarthy and others Republican members of Congress like him refusing to honor their Oath and the Constitution. They are unfit to serve and unfit to lead.
However, it's not so simple. Republicans are engaging in asymmetrical warfare. They are tearing down our democracy and government for minority rule by fascists and plutocrats. Democrats value truth, civility, our democracy, our government and its institutions, work to preserve them. That crucial context needs to be recognized and remembered. We must be careful not to destroy those things in which we believe to defeat the nihilistic, fascist, plutocratic GOP, for that would be a hollow victory that would also do us much harm.
In short, Democrats are stepping in a minefield, where there are no sure, easy answers to dealing with the dysfunctional and destructive GOP. If you look at the slim majority the Democrats have had in the House, they have been doing a masterful job of standing up and fighting for what is right. In fact, over 99% of Democrats in Congress are trying to do the right thing.
While certainly sharing your frustration, disturbance and anger, I don't fault Democrats. I fault Manchin and Sinema, who want to play pretend that the situation is normal, when it is glaringly obvious that outside of a very small handful of Congressional Republicans the GOP is acting as a wrecking ball. I also fault Merrick Garland and his DOJ, who have yet to issue any subpoenas or indictments for the numerous crimes of Trump and his accomplices, including against top players in the January 6th terrorist insurrection.
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The GOP has gone rogue, become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
“The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.”
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump’s hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic hyper-partisan Republican cult placing political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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Exactly right, as is the first reply here by rrtorres81. This was a fairly anodyne analysis by CNN that was straightforward and objective, albeit giving short shrift to Palestinians, who mostly see this as yet another betrayal in a long succession of them.
Mention this, because to see the lunatic fringe Republican cult replies to this and their comments posted, one might suspect some egregious skullduggery was being committed by CNN, which is ridiculous.
If anything, officially formalizing the relationship appears more likely to have been the two nations throwing a bone to Trump's reelection campaign.
Anyone remember the late comedian Sam McKinnon? He would have had a field day with these clueless Evangelical right-wing cult clowns! They sure as HELL don't care about Palestinians, Jews, Muslims, or achieving peace in the region. They don't even really care about Israel, excepting as a prop for their mythological Armageddon, so they can experience the "joy" of the Rapture, hoping it occurs in their lifetime. And, of course, they want to put a feather in the cap of their golden idol God, Toxic Trump, inflating their cult bubble world. Sam would have loved them!
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@tiffanyvang9814 ~ But if you can't count on Manchin when it matters most and he's voting with the Republicans, anyway, what's the big difference? We don't pass The People's Act, Democrats will almost certainly lose control of both the House and the Senate, and it may well lead to the end of our democracy----game, set, and match to the fascists. If we get it passed, at least we'll have a fighting chance in the midterms. Besides which, if we put enough pressure on Manchin to let him know he's going to be primaried and lose his seat, we at least did what we could to change his mind. We tried. Which would be better than just waving the white flag, essentially giving up all power to a single Senator who is putting himself before the will of his constituents and the American people, as well as the good of democracy and the country. If you got any better ideas, please let us know! That isn't sarcasm, it's a serious request, looking for solutions to a very serious problem.
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"We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
~ How Fascism Works, The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(Reference also Father Charles E. Coughlin and Henry Ford in regards to the first America First movement.)
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
Malcolm Nance: We Are In A Neo-Fascist Era In American Politics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_RxUAe2zeM
Political Analyst Tells Joy Reid: Forget Trumpism, IT’s Neo-Fascism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IgNp84JA4A
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@wolfgangwichmann490 ~ Not so simple, Doc. Also an incoherent rant. Your conflating and confusing religion with the secular government proscribed in our Constitution, for one. Social media certainly has its faults that need to be addressed, to be sure. However, the real problem is those unwilling to be objective, to seek truth, to avoid confirmational bias, and to reject willful ignorance. We all have a personal responsibility to stay properly informed and educated, an obligation to ourselves, our society, our communities and our country. And it is not so much the platforms, as it is these Reich-wing Republican politicians, demagogues, and media using them to exploit people by sowing division, disinformation and dissatisfaction for political gain, personal ambition, power, and profit.
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--Instead of striving to bring out the best in people, Toxic Trump reveled in bringing out the very worst.
--Instead of uniting the country, Toxic Trump sought to divide us.
--Instead of abiding by and honoring our Constitution and the rule of law, Toxic Trump held them in disdain, disregarded them, and degraded them.
--Instead of strengthening democracy and our cherished institutions, Toxic Trump worked to diminish and destroy them, inciting a terrorist insurrection against his own government, attempting a coup to steal an election.
--Instead of insuring a peaceful transfer power after losing the election, Toxic Trump kept insisting against all evidence that he won, and incited a terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol.
--Instead of confronting a serious threat to Americans with a deadly global pandemic, Toxic Trump lied to the American people about it, ignored it, and refused to take any responsibility for his gross homicidal criminal negligence that resulted in one out of every 800 Americans dying from COVID-19--over 400,000 lives in just ten months, as many casualties as all of WWII.
--Instead of confronting the ever-increasing existential crisis from climate change and its harmful effects, Toxic Trump gutted regulations, exacerbating the problem and poisoning citizens.
--Instead of creating jobs, Toxic Trump was the first President since the Great Depression to preside over a net loss of jobs over his tenure.
--Instead of lowering the national deficit, Toxic Trump increased it from 19.2 trillion to 27 trillion.
--Instead of building bridges, humane immigration reform, and infrastructure, Toxic Trump built walls and cages, separated children from mothers, allowed American infrastructure to decline and deteriorate, rejected economic opportunity.
--Instead of raising our standing and security in the world, Toxic Trump lowered and weakened it.
--Instead of draining the swamp, Toxic Trump turned it into a noxious overflowing Republican sewer.
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@halloweenjack8655 ~ The same Lee Harvey Oswald that defected to Russia during the height of the Cold War, likely betraying his country by passing military secrets he had acquired in the Marines? Before ditching the military with a bogus excuse about needing to help his mother, Oswald had been court-martialed twice, disciplined three times, and demoted down to private. Unlike General Milley, who has served in multiple combat theaters, Oswald never faced combat. The REAL question is, what was your point in trying to engage in such a false equivalence? That you're just a troll pervert? Or, that you're just another hyper-partisan Republican cult moron hypocrite placing party before country? It would actually be better if it was the former, but it's more likely to be the latter, unfortunately.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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@metalheadgames5066 ~ No significant amount of any city burned, and the fires that did occur were addressed by firefighters; no city was allowed to burn, as you dishonestly mischaracterize it. Besides, Democrats don't condone arson, and Democrats, BLM leaders, and families of the victims of police spoke out against the senseless destruction, which was not only wrong, but also counterproductive to BLM's goal of achieving social justice. Where I live, the BLM protestors were mostly Republican, Doc! And in my state and some others, there were even police joining the protests in support. In fact, people from across the political spectrum joined in protest marches nationwide in support of BLM, 93% of which involved no burning, looting, violence, or vandalism. But are you suggesting the police should have gunned down all the terrorist Republican seditionists that attacked our Capitol in insurrection on January 6?
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Setting aside the sleazy immoral Reich-wing grifters at the top -- people like Trump, Congressional Republicans, Reich-wing demagogues and media -- the rank-and-file of the GOP has become a fascist cult. To be clear, Trump did not create the cult, it existed before him. He merely served as a unifying figure they chose to rally around and worship as their fool's gold god. Trump appealed to their basest nature and told them what they wanted to hear. Now, those Reich-wing grifters may have cultivated their cult to exploit for their own greed, power and vanity, but at least to some extent the Republican cult in turn seeks to exploit the GOP for their own various misguided purposes. They CHOOSE to be willfully ignorant, to believe or espouse the lies, because as a political calculus they shortsightedly see it as expedient to their ends.
What must also be taken into consideration are the characteristics of a cult. Why do people join a cult? Why do they choose to remain in a cult? No need to go into detail; the answers are largely common knowledge or easily researched. But it should be pointed out that in a complex world, the simplistic and rigid beliefs embraced by cults can be very alluring, no matter how fantastical and removed from reality. It should also be acknowledged that the Republican cult is not a monolithic entity, but an amalgamation of sects, including White supremacists, Christian nationalists, libertarians, sovereign nationals, anarchists, tax resistors, Qanon and other extremist fringe groups. Of course, not every Republican is an extremist, a fascist, or untethered from reality. But this latter more benign group is nevertheless part of the fascist Republican cult, complicit in their support of the whole, whether through their silent acquiescence and votes or willing assistance.
It's a very dangerous feedback loop, a vicious circle, one that as it sinks further into depravity its threat correspondingly rises, for as the Republican cult has over time been becoming increasingly more radicalized, we witness the election of more radical politicians to represent them, more radicalized Reich-wing media and demagogues to feed them propaganda. While some Republicans are leaving the GOP and some others are speaking out and trying to save their party, they constitute a weak minority, unfortunately.
In a normal, sane world, the Republican cult would have ended or been marginalized after the Mueller Report, after Trump's Ukraine shakedown and impeachment, after Trump's horrendous handling of a deadly global pandemic, after his election defeat, or after January 6th and his second impeachment. But that hasn't happened. Instead, the Republican cult continues to become increasingly more radicalized and extreme. As President Biden says, "We are in a battle for the soul of this nation." And that battle is far from over.
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@magsbrowne3447 ~ Thanks for the kind words! It's heartening that people like you appreciate it. As the hucksters in the ad business are fond of saying, "But, wait, there's still more!" You may also appreciate the following commentary:
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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Asked by reporters about the protestors gathering against pandemic lockdowns, the vast majority not wearing face masks or observing social distancing, Toxic Trump--who tweeted his supporters to "Liberate" three states with Democratic governors critical to his reelection, against his own administrations pandemic edicts and guidance, and in foment of partisan rebellion against state's governors during a Federal National Emergency declared against this pandemic--said, "They seem to be very responsible people to me!"
Trumpette insanity that should have us ALL livid with outrage! Not only are these Republican cult fools putting themselves, their loved ones, and everyone else in danger, they are putting an increased burden upon our already over-stressed health care workers and system, FURTHER endangering them and those they would serve. They put all our other essential front-line workers at increased risk, as well--those we need for our groceries and supplies (including migrant workers), to keep the government, electric, gas and other critical infrastructure functioning. What's really, really stupid about their aberrant, irrational partisan cult behavior, is that they are only PROLONGING restrictive measures to contain COVID-19, EXTENDING the time until our economy can reopen fully, REDUCING the amount our economy can be opened--all of which DAMAGES Trump's reelection chances! But that isn't the worst of it. These Trumpettes ignorantly protesting are KILLING actual Americans, just as surely as they put a gun to their heads and pulled the trigger. Toxic Trump shares responsibility, but it is these GOP idiots who own primary responsibility for manslaughter. They should be charged, tried, and convicted, in our view. At the very, very least, they should all be arrested for public endangerment. Ludicrous and lethal ignorance!
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"As many as 70,000 Americans could be confirmed as infected with coronavirus by the end of next week, marking a “pretty dramatic” increase in the number of confirmed cases, the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, told his employees in an agency-wide conference call on 03/20/20."
Except 03/21/20 saw a 33% jump in U.S. cases, from 18,000 to over 24,000. If continuing at 33% every 24 hours, the number of confirmed cases is trending much higher than just 70,000 by 03/27/20. Suspect confirmed cases will be double that. Bear in mind, states hardest hit are not testing many people, saving the tests for those most in need. So the actual number of infected Americans is going to be far higher than just what limited testing of the population has so far confirmed. Don't think this fact is being given enough attention. More important than the number of cases confirmed is the number contracting the disease and not getting tested, spreading the disease, in many cases unknowingly. Hospital projections are for about 100 MILLION Americans to become infected, with about 500,000 dead from covid-19.
(Update 1: Confirmed U.S. cases doubled in two days, from 18,000 to 36,000 by 03/22/20, with about 350 deaths. Which is on track for the suspected 150,000 by Friday--not 70,000 predicted by NIH.)
(Update 2: Confirmed U.S. cases over 55,000 Tuesday, 03/24/20, with over 700 deaths. Note: States hardest hits had begun limiting testing to medical staff and hospital patients to save medical PPE. So, while test kits have become more widely available, and lab processing has started expanding in volume and capacity, actual testing is sorely lagging, thus continuing to grossly undercount and misrepresent the number of Americans infected. We should be able to figure out rough estimated numbers, and those are the realistic numbers we should be using to warn the public, not the dangerous illusion being presented, which can prevent people from taking this seriously enough, costing more lives!)
(Update 3: Confirmed U.S. cases about 70,000 on Wednesday, 03/25/20, with over 1050 deaths. That 50% increase of total U.S. covid-19 fatalities in just one day becomes a most alarming trend as the accumulated sum continues growing. The rising trend with confirmed cases is also of particular concern, given the critical lack of testing of the general population indicating a much, much larger total hidden. NOTE: Data obtained from John Hopkins website end of 03/25/20 are slightly higher figures than published news reports.)
(Update 4: U.S. now has the MOST confirmed cases in the world, with 86,000 on 03/26/20, surpassing both Italy and China. Death tolls in numerous U.S. COUNTIES are now HIGHER than the totals of many nations. U.S. fatalities now at 1,300 according to John Hopkins final updated totals for the day.)
(Update 5: Friday, 03/27/20, confirmed U.S. cases 105,000; deaths 1,700 by end of day. The perspective for cases is significantly skewed low and thus highly misleading, however, as just 0.17% of U.S. population has been tested to date.)
03/29/20 -- 143,000 confirmed cases; 2,450 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
03/30/20 -- 165,000 confirmed cases; 3,250 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
03/31/20 -- 190,000 confirmed cases; 4,200 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
04/01/20 -- 217,000 confirmed cases; 5,150 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
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It seems quite clear that Arbery was acting in self defense, that he feared for his life. Funny how Reich-wingers overwhelmingly want these three white men found innocent for the killing of Arbery, claiming self-defense for them, but not for Arbery, who had committed no crime and there being no justification for any citizen's arrest. They also overwhelmingly want Rittenhouse to be found innocent on the basis of self-defense, despite the fact he was acting criminally by being in Kenosha after curfew and a minor illegally carrying an assault rifle, and who was an active shooter when fleeing the scene of the crime after he shot the first person. With Reich-wingers, it's all about the racism and vigilantism, being able to inflict violence upon others without consequence, obtaining the same kind of screwed up qualified immunity given to police using the excuse of self-defense. It's the modern-day version of KKK tactics used by the current crop of white supremacists, which seeks to be more discreet, but is nonetheless all too transparent.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and disturbing. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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@benniecrawford6876 ~ Thanks! As with all my original commentary, it is offered freely to educate, enlighten, and provoke thought. As always, people are encouraged to share and repost if found worthy as they wish--no accreditation even necessary. Personal recognition, popularity, subscribers, or YouTube profits are of no concern to me. Can't be everywhere, don't have time for every YouTube video, so appreciate others spreading the good word. Consider it an honor whenever seen someone has reposted my commentary. Will post separately here to this space some other of our commentary you may also like; feel free to share or repost that if you like, as well.
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@benniecrawford6876 ~ The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance.
In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump left office, one out of every 800 Americans had died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 400,000 fatalities, as many American casualties as WWII. It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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“Don’t give me the MyPillow guy doing a song-and-dance up here on a Monday afternoon when people are dying in Queens,” Francesa said. “Get the stuff made, get the stuff where it needs to go, and get the boots on the ground! Treat this like the crisis it is!”
New York sports talk radio icon Mike Francesa, a longtime and vocal defender of Trump, delivered an on-air tirade Tuesday about the president’s leadership. Francesa seized upon Trump’s comments Monday that if the total number of coronavirus fatalities in the United States is between 100,000 and 200,000, that would count as a good job.
“How can you have a scoreboard that says 2,000 people have died and tell us, ‘It’s okay if another 198,000 die, that’s a good job,’ ” Francesa said. “How is that a good job in our country? It’s a good job if nobody else dies! Not if another 198,000 people die! So now 200,000 people are disposable?”
Jesus freak fervently praying for God to save our pillowed butts in WH presser...because, God knows, Trump sure as hell ain't doing it!
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It’s that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes have to KNOW at some level he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don’t care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn’t want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it’s more than hope—those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another two months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn’t really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
“The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.”
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump’s hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic hyper-partisan Republican cult placing political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, along with Reich-wing demagogues and media, who were complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance, and in spreading disinformation and misinformation. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump left office, one out of every 800 Americans had died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 410,000 fatalities, as many American casualties as all of WWII. To put it into further perspective, throughout Trump's catastrophic mishandling of a deadly global pandemic, the U.S. led the world in cases and deaths, suffering nearly 25% of each, despite having only 4.25% of global population, despite having the advantage of being the richest and most advanced nation in the world.
The memorial would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure. Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast would soon come to consume them.
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Setting aside the sleazy immoral Reich-wing grifters at the top -- people like Trump, Congressional Republicans, Reich-wing demagogues and media -- the rank-and-file of the GOP has become a fascist cult. To be clear, Trump did not create the cult, it existed before him. He merely served as a unifying figure they chose to rally around and worship as their fool's gold god. Trump appealed to their basest nature and told them what they wanted to hear. Now, those Reich-wing grifters may have cultivated their cult to exploit for their own greed, power and vanity, but at least to some extent the Republican cult in turn seeks to exploit the GOP for their own various misguided purposes. They CHOOSE to be willfully ignorant, to believe or espouse the lies, because as a political calculus they shortsightedly see it as expedient to their ends.
What must also be taken into consideration are the characteristics of a cult. Why do people join a cult? Why do they choose to remain in a cult? No need to go into detail; the answers are largely common knowledge or easily researched. But it should be pointed out that in a complex world, the simplistic and rigid beliefs embraced by cults can be very alluring, no matter how fantastical and removed from reality. It should also be acknowledged that the Republican cult is not a monolithic entity, but an amalgamation of sects, including White supremacists, Christian nationalists, libertarians, sovereign nationals, anarchists, tax resistors, Qanon and other extremist fringe groups. Of course, not every Republican is an extremist, a fascist, or untethered from reality. But this latter more benign group is nevertheless part of the fascist Republican cult, complicit in their support of the whole, whether through their silent acquiescence and votes or willing assistance.
It's a very dangerous feedback loop, a vicious circle, one that as it sinks further into depravity its threat correspondingly rises, for as the Republican cult has over time been becoming increasingly more radicalized, we witness the election of more radical politicians to represent them, more radicalized Reich-wing media and demagogues to feed them propaganda. While some Republicans are leaving the GOP and some others are speaking out and trying to save their party, they constitute a weak minority, unfortunately.
In a normal, sane world, the Republican cult would have ended or been marginalized after the Mueller Report, after Trump's Ukraine shakedown and impeachment, after Trump's horrendous handling of a deadly global pandemic, after his election defeat, or after January 6th and his second impeachment. But that hasn't happened. Instead, the Republican cult continues to become increasingly more radicalized and extreme. As President Biden says, "We are in a battle for the soul of this nation." And that battle is far from over.
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Trump Has Sabotaged America’s Coronavirus Response
by Laura Garrett
In 2018, the Trump administration fired the government’s entire pandemic response chain of command, including the White House management infrastructure. In numerous phone calls and emails with key agencies across the U.S. government, the only consistent response I encountered was distressed confusion.
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White House efforts included reducing $15 billion in national health spending and cutting the global disease-fighting operational budgets of the CDC, NSC, DHS, and HHS. And the government’s $30 million Complex Crises Fund was eliminated.
In May 2018, Trump ordered the NSC’s entire global health security unit shut down, calling for reassignment of Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer and dissolution of his team inside the agency. The month before, then-White House National Security Advisor John Bolton pressured Ziemer’s DHS counterpart, Tom Bossert, to resign along with his team. Neither the NSC nor DHS epidemic teams have been replaced. The global health section of the CDC was so drastically cut in 2018 that much of its staff was laid off and the number of countries it was working in was reduced from 49 to merely 10. Meanwhile, throughout 2018, the U.S. Agency for International Development and its director, Mark Green, came repeatedly under fire from both the White House and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. And though Congress has so far managed to block Trump administration plans to cut the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps by 40 percent, the disease-fighting cadres have steadily eroded as retiring officers go unreplaced.
Public health advocates have been ringing alarm bells to no avail.
Ronald Klain, who directed U.S. efforts on Ebola, has been warning for two years that the United States was in grave danger should a pandemic emerge. In 2017 and 2018, the philanthropist billionaire Bill Gates met repeatedly with Bolton and his predecessor, H.R. McMaster, warning that ongoing cuts to the global health disease infrastructure would render the United States vulnerable to, as he put it, the “significant probability of a large and lethal modern-day pandemic occurring in our lifetimes.” And an independent, bipartisan panel formed by the Center for Strategic and International Studies concluded that lack of preparedness was so acute in the Trump administration that the “United States must either pay now and gain protection and security or wait for the next epidemic and pay a much greater price in human and economic costs.”
https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/31/coronavirus-china-trump-united-states-public-health-emergency-response/
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"Peace is not a very big thing to ask for, is it?" ~ Fatima Gailani, Afghan activist and negotiator, pleading for continued U.S. presence in Afghanistan
It is when asking the Taliban, who do not seek peace or to bargain in good faith, but total domination once again. U.S. has spent 20 years and $2 trillion trying to achieve peace in Afghanistan, losing over 4000 American lives (military and civilian contractors), with tens of thousands of Americans wounded there.
"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials … have given Afghans little reason to support their government," Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the commander of U.S. forces in the country, wrote in a 2009 memorandum. "This crisis of confidence, coupled with a distinct lack of economic and educational opportunity, has created fertile ground for the insurgency."
That was 11 years ago, and little has changed since. Thought the invasion of Afghanistan by Bush was a mistake that would lead to a quagmire, and have been proven correct. Still, initially supported efforts to bring peace and stability there, along with basic human and civil-rights, because after invading felt we had an obligation to rebuild. However, while U.S. blunders there have contributed to a failure, Afghans are their own worst enemy, and no can help them until enough of them wish to help themselves.
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Elmer Fudd's always trying to convince me he just wants unity.
What he really means is that he wants to eat me.
When the truth is divisive, then there can be no unity. Unity and compromise is a two-way street that only works if both parties operate in good faith. Republicans have a long history of failing to do that--or even trying. Recent history since Biden won the election shows no indication of them changing their divisive, destructive words, attitudes, obstruction and other acts. Tyrant Trump incited a terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol to overthrow an election, endangering his VP and members of Congress, sat by and gleefully reveled in watching it happen for hours, ignoring desperate pleas for help from Congressional Republicans forced to flee for their lives, and only a very few Republicans were willing to speak out, impeach him, convict him, and prevent him from holding public office again? Republicans wouldn't even agree to a bipartisan January 6 commission formulated upon a plan in which all their demands were met. That's not loyal opposition--that's a dangerous terrorist political cult of fascists.
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"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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"We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
~ How Fascism Works, The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(Reference also Father Charles E. Coughlin and Henry Ford in regards to the first America First movement.)
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
Malcolm Nance: We Are In A Neo-Fascist Era In American Politics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_RxUAe2zeM
Political Analyst Tells Joy Reid: Forget Trumpism, IT’s Neo-Fascism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IgNp84JA4A
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@amandareiche9083 - You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It's that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don't care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another five months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or "the Wall") is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle's name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called "leaders" in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. has ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 -- than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to--and a barrier against--our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It's design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge--and help teach--people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see...if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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@TheBioExplorer ~ Nixon only ended the war in Vietnam because of overwhelming public opposition, a decision which was likely hastened to distract the public from Watergate investigations. Still, it was a war he inherited, the situation with Vietnam then was much as we find ourselves in now with Afghanistan, and despite not being a fan of Kissinger's foreign policy perspectives, Nixon did not suck up to autocrats like Putin, even though he did open up relations with China (a bold move for a Republican at the time, which I still think was good).
Nixon was a crook and a liar, but not so much as Trump, and felt much safer under Nixon during the Cold War than under Trump after the Cold War. Nixon had experience in foreign policy and was shrewd, whereas Trump had no experience and was ignorant in handling foreign affairs. Overall, tend to agree, but the reason would most especially pick Nixon over Trump is because Nixon, unlike Trump, at least had the integrity and respect for our institutions to resign.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or "the Wall") is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle's name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called "leaders" in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. has ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 -- than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to--and a barrier against--our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It's design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge--and help teach--people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see...if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
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@Rex-dk1rx ~ Gomm is also a virtuoso on guitar, but I agree. It's not all about speed and technical proficiency; what is most important is the music. As a rough analogy, have tremendous respect for Eddie Van Halen, enjoy his work, but much prefer listening to Jimmy Page. It isn't just that Page had a better band, or was a wizard in his arrangements and in the studio, or produced better and more varied songs, although those things all play a part, but also in how he played and used the guitar. Of course, music is subjective, and I'm sure there are some head-bangers out there who would disagree, but hopefully you get the general idea.
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***MEDIA FAIL*** -- All right, we learned all about the air we breathe in an airplane at 30,000 feet. What about at 28,000 feet? What if the flight never goes above 24,000 feet? More importantly, what about the air passengers are breathing all the time when the plane is sitting on the ground in the dead air of the tarmac? As anyone whose flown frequently knows, there are often times where passengers are forced to wait on board for extended periods, particularly before take-off. What is the significance of 30,000 feet, NBC? It's a meaningless, arbitrary number, since flights operate at all different altitudes for safety reasons. Why not the REAL significance of zero feet questioned and investigated?
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Watching this got me to thinking... Been around awhile, never seen a more impressive crop of Democrats than currently exists--and not just in Congress, either. Look around at Congressional Republicans, the only leader among them was Amash, who was forced out for daring to speak the truth. To the point, while Democrats have a very bright future, where are the future leaders of the Republicans? Not currently serving in Congress, that's for sure! Think people should stop listening to so much right-wing cult propaganda, start thinking more critically for themselves, quit being blind single-issue and wedge-issue voters, and return to placing more emphasis on traits such as good character and integrity in our elected officials; qualities sorely lacking among ALL current Congressional Republicans.
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@privatename3621 ~ We see things almost identically. A few areas where I would differ: China is presently more of an emerging threat, while Russia is actively and overtly working to subvert Western democracies and their elections. Nationalist movements have been ongoing in a number of Western nations, presenting a weakness and an opening for Russia to exploit. What is happening in Bulgaria in Poland with their governments is also cause for concern.
I have likened the current threat as the greatest to America since the Civil War. The War of 1812 posed no real serious threat to American sovereignty, despite the British burning of Washington, D.C. in 1814. The war declared by the U.S. was largely a byproduct of the war between England and France at that time. While the Federalists and most people in the U.S. northeast generally opposed the war, by war's end public sentiment had shifted, with widespread public resentment against the British, leading to the decline of the Federalist Party.
Don't think that a U.S. fall from power would necessarily lead to a domino effect of European nations falling, but it would leave a huge power vacuum for Russia and China to exploit and fill, although doubt that either would rise to the level of dominance that the U.S. had achieved. In fact, would argue that despite the U.S. still being the world's sole superpower, it's dominance has been waning for decades, which has little to do with internal political divisions, and much more to do with moral considerations and the acceptance of grim realities; regardless of how much influence any one nation may attain, it can not rule the world.
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Jamie Yang ~ Wrong analogy, Doc. Over 150 years ago, seditious racists insurrected against America, causing the Civil War. Today, a MINORITY of racist Americans once again tried seditious insurrection, conducting a TERRORIST attack against the nation's CAPITOL...all because their fascist leader they idolized lost an election, and because they willingly CHOSE to swallow whole the poisonous BIG LIES and crackpot conspiracy theories they were fed by Toxic Trump and other unscrupulous corrupt Reich-wing leaders, they were willing to destroy our democratic republic. But TRUE American patriots defeated those traitors, and they are being held to account, hunted down, arrested, and jailed.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic hyper-partisan Republican cult placing political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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@TheRobWay1 ~ I agree, and it seems I took your reply in a totally different way, so for that misunderstanding I must humbly apologize. I'm certain that none of the Reich-wing politicians, lawyers and demagogues pushing the Big Lie actually believe it; they're just sycophants, opportunists and grifters. In fact, I would wager that most of the Republican cult base they fleece doesn't actually believe the Big Lie, either. They just pretend to believe it because they see it as politically advantageous, as it allows them to justify January 6 and Republican laws rigging future elections in their favor.
It's all only an act, but a very dangerous act, the act of desperate people who place personal and party interests above the good of the nation they are betraying. They've been doing that for a while, now, and it's a slippery slope they've gone down, leading no place good.
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Justin Macisaac ~ That's isn't the way it works making movies. The armorer is responsible for gun safety, not the actors. You're welcome to your opinion, but it is not one widely shared. It is very unlikely that Baldwin will be held criminally liable, and it doesn't appear either the director or the cinematographer's husband and child wish to see Alec held criminally liable, either. Personally, I think no charge against Baldwin is the right call given the known facts in this case, and it seems most people are in agreement about that. Good luck getting a jury to convict him for this tragic accident; that's just not going to happen.
Besides, unless a person is some kind of psychopath utterly lacking humanity, the pain, remorse, nightmares, shock and stress of being involuntarily involved in a friend's death are far worse than any kind of criminal record and prison time. Alec is to be pitied, not pilloried.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected this pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Republican cult placing political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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Let's just call January 6 what it actually was -- a Republican smash and grab, an act of violent larceny against democracy and sedition employing domestic terrorism right out in open sight.
"Without accountability, an attempted autogolpe and insurrection is just practice."
"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ― Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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@Alltime2050 ~ Conservatism as a political ideology is flawed in a number of respects. It supplied the fertile ground for the radicalization and cultdom of the GOP witnessed today, which now resembles fascism much more than conservatism.
~ “Expect poison from the standing water.” ― William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
~ "Conservatism is the endless, futile quest to justify greed." — Unknown, evidently a derivative of this quote: "The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness." — John Kenneth Galbraith
~ “There are few genuine conservatives within the U.S. political system, and it is a sign of the intellectual corruption of the age that the honorable term 'conservatism' can be appropriated to disguise the advocacy of a powerful, lawless, aggressive and violent state, a welfare state for the rich dedicated to a lunatic form of Keynesian economic intervention that enhances state and private power while mortgaging the country's future.” ― Noam Chomsky, The Culture of Terrorism
~ "Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives." — John Stuart Mill
~ “A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned how to walk forward.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt
~ "The radical of one century is the conservative of the next. The radical invents the views. When he has worn them out, the conservative adopts them." — Mark Twain
~ “Conservatism is the blind and fear-filled worship of dead radicals.” ― Mark Twain
~ "Liberalism is trust of the people, tempered by prudence; conservatism, distrust of people, tempered by fear." — William E. Gladstone
~ “Deregulation is a transfer of power from the trodden to the treading. It is unsurprising that all conservative parties claim to hate big government.” ― George Monbiot
~ "Conservatism, though a necessary element in any stable society, is not a social program; in its paternalistic, nationalistic and power adoring tendencies it is often closer to socialism than true liberalism; and with its traditionalistic, anti-intellectual, and often mystical propensities it will never, except in short periods of disillusionment, appeal to the young and all those others who believe that some changes are desirable if this world is to become a better place." — Friedrich Hayek, p. xi (The Road to Serfdom (1944))
~ "Caution and conservatism are expected of old age; but when the young men of a nation are possessed of such a spirit, when they are afraid of the noise and strife caused by the new applications of the truth, Heaven save the land! Its funeral bell has already rung." — Henry Ward Beecher, Notes from Plymouth Pulpit (1859)
~ "We will not adopt the fantastic hypocrisy of modern conservatism which preaches the values of families and communities, while conducting a direct assault on them through reduced wages and conditions and job security." — Paul Keating, speech, February 14, 1996
~ "The Right thinks that the breakdown of the family is the source of crime and poverty, and this they very insightfully blame on the homosexuals, which would be amusing were it not so tragic. Families and 'family values' are crushed by grinding poverty, which also makes violent crime and drugs attractive alternatives to desperate young men and sends young women into prostitution. Family values are no less corrupted by the corrosive effects of individualism, consumerism, and the accumulation of wealth. Instead of shouting this from the mountain tops, the get-me-to-heaven-and-the-rest-be-damned Christianity the Christian Right preaches is itself a version of selfish spiritual capitalism aimed at netting major and eternal dividends, and it fits hand in glove with American materialism and greed.” ― John D. Caputo, What Would Jesus Deconstruct?: The Good News of Postmodernism for the Church
~ “Change is not what we expect from religious people. They tend to love the past more than the present or the future.” ― Richard Rohr, Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life
~ "They offer me neither food nor drink intellectual nor spiritual consolation... [conservatism] leads nowhere; it satisfies no ideal; it conforms to no intellectual standard, it is not safe, or calculated to preserve from the spoilers that degree of civilisation which we have already attained." — John Maynard Keynes, Collected Writings Volume IX page 296-297
~ “The conservatives are fools: They whine about the decay of traditional values, yet they enthusiastically support technological progress and economic growth. Apparently it never occurs to them that you can't make rapid, drastic changes in the technology and the economy of a society without causing rapid changes in all other aspects of the society as well, and that such rapid changes inevitably break down traditional values.” ― Theodore J. Kaczynski, Industrial Society and Its Future
~ “Social conservatism and neoconservatism have revived authoritarian conservatism, and not for the better of conservatism or American democracy. True conservatism is cautious and prudent. Authoritarianism is rash and radical. American democracy has benefited from true conservatism, but authoritarianism offers potentially serious trouble for any democracy.” ― John W. Dean, Conservatives Without Conscience
~ "Conservatism discards Prescription, shrinks from Principle, disavows Progress; having rejected all respect for antiquity, it offers no redress for the present, and makes no preparation for the future." — 1844 Coningsby, bk.2, ch.5
~ “I cannot help fearing that men may reach a point where they look on every new theory as a danger, every innovation as a toilsome trouble, every social advance as a first step toward revolution, and that they may absolutely refuse to move at all.” ― Alexis de Tocqueville
~ "If movement conservatism is less about hating the state than about fighting Godless modernism, this might explain why conservatives have always found actual or cultural wars to fight, but have never got around to shrinking or controlling the growth of government (though centrists like Eisenhower and Clinton did)." — Mark Riebling, "Conservatism Turned Upside, City Journal (October 16, 2009)
~ "The two parties which divide the state, the party of conservatism and that of Innovation, are very old, and have disputed the possession of the world ever since it was made. Now one, now the other gets the day, and still the fight renews itself as if for the first time, under new names and hot personalities ... Innovation is the salient energy; Conservatism the pause on the last movement." — Ralph Waldo Emerson, "The Conservative," lecture delivered at the Masonic Temple, Boston, Massachusetts (December 9, 1841)
~ "Conservatism makes no poetry, breathes no prayer, has no invention; it is all memory. Reform has no gratitude, no prudence, no husbandry." — Ralph Waldo Emerson, "The Conservative," lecture delivered at the Masonic Temple, Boston, Massachusetts (December 9, 1841)
~ "It may be true that the government that governs best governs least. Unfortunately, the same is also true of the government that governs worst." — Jane Auer
~ "A conservative is a man who is too cowardly to fight and too fat to run." — Elbert Hubbard
~ “In an era of stress and anxiety, when the present seems unstable and the future unlikely, the natural response is to retreat and withdraw from reality, taking recourse either in fantasies of the future or in modified visions of a half-imagined past.” ― Alan Moore, Watchmen
~ “Clinging to any form of conservatism can be dangerous. Become too conservative and you are unprepared for surprises. You cannot depend on luck. Logic is blind and often knows only its own past. Logic is good for playing chess but is often too slow for the needs of survival.” ― Frank Herbert, Chapterhouse: Dune
~ “The media are desperately afraid of being accused of bias. And that's partly because there's a whole machine out there, an organized attempt to accuse them of bias whenever they say anything that the Right doesn't like. So rather than really try to report things objectively, they settle for being even-handed, which is not the same thing. One of my lines in a column—in which a number of people thought I was insulting them personally—was that if Bush said the Earth was flat, the mainstream media would have stories with the headline: 'Shape of Earth—Views Differ.' Then they'd quote some Democrats saying that it was round.” ― Paul Krugman
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@rmcdudtheyounger3221 ~ "When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
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Israel’s Violations of the Oslo Agreements
Israeli Violations of the Sovereignty of the Palestinian Authority:
25 Years Since the Signing of the Oslo II Accord
1. Israel Has Failed to End its Occupation
The Oslo Agreements provide that Palestinians would have their freedom by May 1999. To date, Israel’s military occupation not only continues, but intensifies. The Declaration of Principles provides that the interim period is not to exceed five years (Article 1), from May 4, 1994. This is confirmed in Article 4 of the Wye River Memorandum. The interim period commenced with Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and Jericho on May 1994. By May 1999, the interim period was to have ended and Palestinians were to be given their freedom. To date, Israel has failed to end its military occupation.
After missing this deadline, Israel renegotiated a new deadline with the PLO. Under Article 1 of the Sharm El-Sheikh Memorandum, the Palestinians were to be given their freedom on September 13, 2000. By September 13, 2000, the Palestinians were still living under military occupation and continue to do so.
2. Israel Continues to Build and Expand Its Illegal Colonies
The Fourth Geneva Convention, ratified by Israel in June 1951 and which was not superceded by the Oslo Agreements, prohibits Israel from establishing colonies in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Article 49 (6) of the Fourth Geneva Convention states “The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.” The Oslo Agreements reaffirm this position. Article 31 of the Interim Agreement provides that “the two parties view the West Bank and Gaza Strip as a single territorial unit, the integrity and status of which will be preserved during the interim period.” Article 31 also provides that “neither side shall initiate or take any step that will change the status of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip pending the outcome of the permanent status negotiations.”
Despite these articles and in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, Israel has since 1993:
Doubled the number of settlers living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. There are now approximately 400,000;
Increased the number of illegal housing units in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (excluding Occupied East Jerusalem) by 62%;
Confiscated more than 60,000 acres of Palestinian land for colony construction and related by-pass roads, uprooted 220,000 trees and demolished 690 homes in the West Bank alone; and
Removed from official government maps the Green Line separating Israel from the Occupied Palestinian Territories, thereby failing to recognize the Occupied Palestinian Territories as a “single territorial unit”. (See official Touring Map of Israel issued by the Israeli Ministry of Tourism).
3. Israel Fails to Withdraw from Palestinian Territories
Under the Oslo Agreements, Israel’s occupation forces were to have withdrawn from substantially all of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip by July, 1997 – more than four and a half years ago. The process of withdrawal was to be carried out in three phases, beginning in October 1996 and ending in July 1997 and would have transferred approximately 88 percent of the West Bank to Palestinian control. Israel delayed each and every phase of the withdrawal. The Palestinian Authority has only full jurisdiction over 17.2 percent of the West Bank.
4. Israel Fails to Release Political Prisoners
Throughout Israel’s 35-year occupation of the Palestinian Territories, Israel imprisoned and detained thousands of Palestinians. Israel’s rate was so widespread that Palestinians suffered from one of the highest rates of incarceration in the world.
The Oslo Agreements contain a number of provisions regarding the release of political prisoners.
Article 20 of the Gaza Strip and Jericho Agreement required Israel to release over 5,000 Palestinian political prisoners. Article 16 of the Interim Agreement provided for further releases of Palestinian prisoners in three phases, the last of which was to occur during permanent status negotiations. Finally, Article 3 of the Sharm El-Sheikh Memorandum provided for the release of 350 political prisoners in September and October of 1999 and in December 1999 and January 2000. Despite these agreements, as of December 2000, approximately 1,350 Palestinians remained in Israeli custody, in violation of the Oslo Agreements.
5. Israel Fails to Open the Northern Safe Passage Route between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and Closes the Southern Safe Passage Route
Under the Interim Agreement (Annex I, Article 10) and the Sharm El-Sheikh Memorandum (Article 5), Israel was required to open both a northern and a southern safe passage route to connect the West Bank to the Gaza Strip for the movement of persons, vehicles and goods. The southern safe passage route was closed on October 8, 2000. The northern safe passage route was never opened.
6. Israel Fails to Co-operate on Security Matters
The Interim Agreement requires Israel and the Palestinian Authority to cooperate on security matters. (Annex I, Article 3). Since October 2000, Israel unilaterally decided not to cooperate with the PA on security matters. Repeated calls by the PA to resume security cooperation have been ignored by Israel.
7. Israel Uses Lethal Force
The Interim Agreement provides clear rules of engagement for Israeli soldiers:
The use of firearms…shall not be allowed, except as a last resort after all attempts at controlling the act or the incident, such as warning the perpetrator or shooting in the air, have failed or are ineffective or without any promise of achieving the intended result in the circumstances. Use of firearms should be aimed at deterring or apprehending, and not killing the perpetrator. The use of firearms shall cease once the danger is past. (Interim Agreement, Annex I, Article XI (3)(c)).
Despite this provision, Israeli soldiers have deliberately aimed at killing Palestinian protestors and have not used live fire as a last resort. After conducting an inquiry into the Israel’s practices during the current uprising, Physicians for Human Rights (USA) concluded that the “IDF soldiers are not firing only in life-threatening situations and they are firing at heads and thighs in order to injure and kill, not to avoid loss of life and injury.” Furthermore, even non-violent demonstrations (including those that do not involve stone-throwing), have met with violent responses by Israeli occupation forces.
8. Israel Denies Palestinians Freedom of Movement
The Interim Agreement compels both sides to “respect[] and preserv[e] without obstacles, normal and smooth movement of people, vehicles and goods within the West Bank, and between the West Bank and Gaza Strip.” (Interim Agreement, Annex I, Article 1 (2)).
In contravention of these obligations, Israel has repeatedly imposed severe restrictions on the movement of persons, vehicles and goods through the establishment of more than 120 checkpoints in the West Bank alone, (dividing the West Bank into 64 cantons) and through Israel’s destruction of Palestinian roads and bridges.
9. Israel Fails to Prosecute Israeli Settlers for Crimes Committed Against Palestinians
Under the Interim Agreement, Israel is required to prosecute Israelis for crimes committed against Palestinians (Annex I, Articles 2 and 3). Since the signing of the Interim Agreement, there have been hundreds of attacks against Palestinians and Palestinian property. Since October 2000 alone, 44 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli settlers, and there have been hundreds of attacks on Palestinian property. Israel has not prosecuted ANY of these settlers for their crimes.
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Linda Gaia ~ Claptrap. Trailblazers take risks, they don't "meet in the middle." Our country was founded on liberalism, progress, and science. One side wants to ignore that, take the low road of demagoguery and demonization of their opponents.
Personally, if someone has a good idea or a better idea, don't care if it comes from the left or the right. Where are the good ideas on the right? Where is their plan for health care? Where is their plan for getting dark money and big money out of our politics and government? Where is their plan for dealing with climate change? Where is their plan for dealing with COVID-19? Where is their plan for dealing with the gross racial and social inequality in this country? Where is their plan for insuring clean water and air for our families, our children, our grandchildren and future generations?
Truth is, they have no realistic plans for any of those things. If you understood politics for the past four decades, you'd understand that Republicans have become the wrecking ball of government. First ideologically blinded, now a tribalistic partisan cult lacking any real cohesive ideology. Small government? Please. Government hasn't shrunk under Trump, deficits were skyrocketing even before COVID-19. Conservatism? Please. The GOP under Trump has become radicalized.
Yes, we do need a return to more civil political discourse and relations in this country. But Democrats have been extending olive branch after olive branch, compromise after compromise--only to be met with obstinance, obstructionism, demagoguery, demonization, power grabs. Have no doubt that Biden will reach out to the other side just as Obama did. Yet have little hope that the Republican cult, those who created it, nourished it, and exploited it, before becoming subsumed by it, will change significantly.
You want to fix problems, it is first necessary to correctly identify the problems, then properly acknowledge it. Only then is one able to go about devising and working on any effective solutions to fix the problems.
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@H. Nguyen ~ Certainly no fan of big pharma, but maybe you could explain just how big pharma is preventing the public from knowing what medical workers are going through with COVID-19? Because not really buying that claim you're making.
The problem from the beginning has been the lack of competent national leadership. Other nations are shocked and appalled at our 237,000 dead Americans, and the disturbing lack of care and concern shown by this President. Other nations have rational national plans for testing, contact tracing and otherwise dealing with COVID-19. This President has failed. Competent leadership would be impressing upon the public the sacrifices being made by medical workers, so that they wouldn't be put into untenable situations. This President has failed in that regard, as well.
Fact is, most Democrats do realize what health care workers are facing with COVID-19, do acknowledge their sacrifices, do take steps to control the spread, try to follow guidelines. Conversely, this President has politicized a grave public health issue, to where many Republicans ignore the sacrifices being made by ALL front line essential workers, ignore CDC guidelines.
We are all reaping the horrific result of Toxic Trump and Republicans catastrophic failure to take a deadly once-in-a-century pandemic seriously, with medical and other front-line essential workers being forced to bear the brunt of the burden and pay the heaviest cost. Big pharma may be guilty of many sins, but Trump and the GOP own this spectacular failure with COVID-19.
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Farmer wakes up one morning, goes outside to milk his cows, and discovers his entire herd is missing! So, he then walks over nest door to where the Republican cult lives, notices them grinding a whole bunch of beef into hamburger, and asks them, "Did you see what happened to all my cows?"
Republican cult: "Yeah, they jumped over the moon."
Farmer: "Do you have any actual evidence of that?"
Republican cult: "No, because they landed on the dark side, and you can't see them over there. But we're conducting a bunch of investigations and fraudits, and we're confident evidence will soon emerge to prove it!"
Farmer: "You know, that sounds like a load of manure!"
Republican cult: "Well, that's what we all choose to believe!"
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@geoffreyk6229 ~ What you don't get is that climate change is already affecting all of us, and will only continue to get MUCH worse unless we take action NOW. Oil companies are not the future, they are the past, and the sooner we transition, the more we all benefit economically, as well as the numerous benefits to our health and security. Before Trump's Big Lie about the election and the January 6 terrorist insurrection against the nation's capitol which caused the nation's #1 security threat to be revised to domestic terrorism by Reich-wing groups, our military and intelligence had assessed climate change as America's #1 national security threat.
You don't get that the shareholders of Exxon Mobil are the ones making the decision, that they are doing so to force Exxon to transition away from oil so that their shares will remain profitable, that Exxon will remain strong. The media is only reporting on what happened and the truth about climate change; they are not to be blamed for the decisions of Exxon's shareholders, who are influenced by their own wallets, and who are, in fact, doing a favor to Exxon Mobil (and this country and planet) by forcing it to change its business practices.
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stavros333 ~ White privilege claiming to be a victim, Doc? While siding with seditionists and terrorists? While supporting the tyrant, Traitor-'n-Thief Toxic Trump? Nobody is "coming" for people looking to take away women's reproductive choice; nobody is "coming" for NRA members. Nobody is "coming" for Christians. Nobody is "coming" for me, except possibly GOP fascists wanting to silence people standing up for truth, justice, and the American way.
However, America will hold Traitor-''n-Thief Toxic Trump accountable for his abuses of power and heinous crimes, who will be given a chance to defend himself in the Senate impeachment trial, and also given a chance to defend himself before a jury of his peers in court. Don't be a drama queen, swallowing the Kool-Aid. Get a clue, not a cult.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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@Teresa Ellis ~ You're basically ignoring my entire rebuttal to spew more Reich-wing fear-mongering propaganda lies. The Republican party has become radicalized, turned into a cult, and you are the living proof, do you get that? Do you get how decades of Republican little lies turned into Big Lies, like Biden not winning the election, that it was somehow stolen, despite all evidence to the contrary, and no credible evidence to support that Big Lie? Do you get how Republican dishonesty divides this country, weakens us, and could soon come to destroy us? Do you get how Reich-wing politicians, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing media are exploiting and using you for their own gain, at your expense? You apparently don't get any of that, refuse to see it, because you have been programmed not to believe your own eyes and ears.
Why is it that Republicans rail against socialism and big government, but want bail-outs for failed businesses, subsidies for big wealthy corporations, and are first in line for hand-outs from the government when something bad happens to them or their state? Did you know that a good majority of America's GDP and tax revenue is produced in Democratic districts and states, while the Republican districts receive the most in Federal tax dollars? So, why all the Republican hypocrisy? Is it because Republicans don't have much in the way of policies to improve and advance America, just bogus culture wars they feed as red meat to their voting base to divide America but advance themselves? Is it because Republican policies are not supported by a majority of Americans? You claim to support democracy, but in a democracy, we all get a voice, and the majority gets to decide----but Republicans don't really believe in democracy, anymore, because they are in the minority, and can't have their minority rule over the majority who oppose their ignorance.
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@DianneMarian ~ The Molotov cocktail recipe:
Mix in equal parts of mental illness, lies, willful ignorance, fear, hate, greed, decades of 24/7 Reich-wing disinformation, misinformation, and crackpot conspiracy programming by Republican politicians, plutocrats, media and demagogues, add supplemental divisive Russian propaganda attacking and weakening America, stir well, garnish with COVID-19, and you have the mindless Republican cult descending into fascism, committing terrorism and sedition. Then, grab a stiff drink--you'll need it.
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@cherylalt101 ~ Saw your reply to me went missing, but wanted to respond with some commentary posted numerous times to demonstrate complete agreement, anyway:
The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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***MEDIA FAIL*** -- Here's a novel idea, one that's not so novel: Why not conduct the interview, then air the segment in pieces debunking and analyzing Smellyanne's B.S. with a panel of objective experts as they go. That way, the propaganda queens don't get to score points, guests get to air their arguments (or lack thereof), and the public actually gets informed instead of misinformed.
Media cuts out all the redundant, non-relevant B.S., stripping the response to questions to the essential, saving us the torture and wasted time. In the process, they are helping raise the conduct and standards expected of their guests to the basic minimum we expect. There are times where it is prudent for politicians to be circumspect, which is expected, but that would also presumably be recognized by the host or panel in their wisdom. Also think it proper for media to reward good behavior while discouraging bad. Expect media allow guests to sometimes expand on answers, or accept answers that lend fresh perspective, or touch briefly upon a manner of concern. The idea isn't to stifle debate in any way, but to allow cogent, coherent debate. Media needs to mediate better. Media BE better, WE be better!
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"We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
~ How Fascism Works, The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(Reference also Father Charles E. Coughlin and Henry Ford in regards to the first America First movement.)
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
Malcolm Nance: We Are In A Neo-Fascist Era In American Politics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_RxUAe2zeM
Political Analyst Tells Joy Reid: Forget Trumpism, IT’s Neo-Fascism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IgNp84JA4A
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or "the Wall") is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle's name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called "leaders" in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 -- than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to--and a barrier against--our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It's design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge--and help teach--people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see...if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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There will be an impeachment; pay no attention to political posturing to get public onboard. The, impeachment process will destroy Trump -- make no mistake! Clinton, Nixon and Johnson never recovered from their impeachments, even though none actually impeached from office (Nixon was forced to resign). But there are many factors at play bearing consideration; this is not as simple as the media would have us believe, sometimes. For instance, the power of Pence to pardon Trump should he be impeached, the resistance and cover-up by Republicans required for impeachment.
In case it wasn't noticed, impeachment is ongoing, if not yet declared. The obvious inevitable "official" announcement timing is not nearly as concerning as the media selling Dems and their leadership short, neglecting their own duty to investigate and cover corrupt Congressional Republicans equally responsible for impeachment who are--contrastingly--derelict and openly defiant to their sworn oath by engaging in this cover-up in plain sight of the Mueller Report. No Pulitzer there. Media cowards fail big time! Media optics obsessive, misguided focus on Democrat strategy overly and overtly politicizes, is bad for impeachment, helpful to Trump and Republicans. Stupid.
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--Instead of striving to bring out the best in people, Toxic Trump reveled in bringing out the very worst.
--Instead of uniting the country, Toxic Trump sought to divide us.
--Instead of abiding by and honoring our Constitution and the rule of law, Toxic Trump held them in disdain, disregarded them, and degraded them.
--Instead of strengthening democracy and our cherished institutions, Toxic Trump worked to diminish and destroy them, inciting a terrorist insurrection against his own government, attempting a coup to steal an election.
--Instead of insuring a peaceful transfer power after losing the election, Toxic Trump kept insisting against all evidence that he won, and incited a terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol.
--Instead of confronting a serious threat to Americans with a deadly global pandemic, Toxic Trump lied to the American people about it, ignored it, and refused to take any responsibility for his gross homicidal criminal negligence that resulted in one out of every 800 Americans dying from COVID-19--over 400,000 lives in just ten months, as many casualties as all of WWII.
--Instead of confronting the ever-increasing existential crisis from climate change and its harmful effects, Toxic Trump gutted regulations, exacerbating the problem and poisoning citizens.
--Instead of creating jobs, Toxic Trump was the first President since the Great Depression to preside over a net loss of jobs over his tenure.
--Instead of lowering the national deficit, Toxic Trump increased it from 19.2 trillion to 27 trillion.
--Instead of building bridges, humane immigration reform, and infrastructure, Toxic Trump built walls and cages, separated children from mothers, allowed American infrastructure to decline and deteriorate, rejected economic opportunity.
--Instead of raising our standing and security in the world, Toxic Trump lowered and weakened it.
--Instead of draining the swamp, Toxic Trump turned it into a noxious overflowing Republican sewer.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance.
In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump left office, one out of every 800 Americans had died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 400,000 fatalities, as many American casualties as WWII. It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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Great to see good 'ol Torture Yoo put under the bright lights and given a little taste of his own medicine! However, as Torture Yoo proves, torture victims will say anything to make the torture stop, making it useless for intelligence gathering, good only for perverted gratification, used by sadistic, ignorant brutes like Trump, Cheney, and Torture Yoo!
It's "Torture" Yoo! Never forget--this is the clown that wrote specious opinions at OLC to provide legal cover for Dubya's torture regime! Still pissed Princeton took him on as a professor afterward, giving him a plush, prestigious job, a position he still holds, lending credibility when he deserves to be thoroughly discredited! Still pissed at Obama for not investigating torture, too--leaving the door open for another joker like Trump to torture.
Torture Yoo is a weasel. Always has been, so this is really nothing new for those who knew. Typical Republican.
PS--Love your F*** Yoo moniker, too! Also one of the few astute enough to mention the torture connection here, as well! No-i-i-i-ce!
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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natalie garavagno ~ Yes, you lie like a rug. You're spewing out Reich-wing propaganda which is false or highly misleading. You omit and ignore critical context while twisting things to draw unsubstantiated conclusions and make wild allegations against your political opponents. You do not display any interest in being objective. You appear to have crawled down too many internet rabbit holes in search of crackpot conspiracy theories that support your wacky worldview. You make unsubstantiated blanket accusations. You're contradictory and hypocritical, since if you think MSM news is not to be believed, then why are you here? You're on a mission to save people from the truth? Did the former French President not get sentenced? Are any details of the story as reported here by CNN false? If so, what is your proof? You're like the YouTube version of that nutcase Qanon aficionado Marginalized Greene. To debunk just one of your malicious lies:
***FACT CHECK***
No, Obama didn’t make it legal for propaganda to run amok in U.S. newsrooms and be presented as fact in broadcasts and reports to the American public. But a bill passed as part of H.R. 4310 — the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2012 — instead reversed restrictions on news programs funded by the U.S. government.
Let’s break this down.
First, Obama didn’t "quietly" sign H.R. 4310, also known as the National Defense Authorization Act, into law as the meme suggests. He issued a statement about its passing and about some provisions he didn’t agree with, though he didn’t list the Smith-Mundt modernization bill as part of his objections.
So what did the legislation actually do?
H.R. 4310 and the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2012
H.R. 4310, otherwise known as the National Defense Authorization Act, authorized Pentagon funding through fiscal year 2013.
As part of H.R. 4310, the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2012 also passed and removed restrictions on programming produced by the U.S. Agency for Global Media, formerly known as the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the U.S. government’s broadcasting arm.
Some of these programs include Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia and Middle East Broadcasting Networks.
"An essential guarantee of the journalistic credibility of Voice of America content is the ‘firewall’ enshrined in the 1994 U.S. International Broadcasting Act," the website says. "The firewall prohibits interference by any U.S. government official in the objective, independent reporting of news, thereby safeguarding the ability of our journalists to develop content that reflects the highest professional standards of journalism, free of political interference."
Before the act was passed, the programs could only be viewed or listened to at broadcast quality in foreign countries. The bill removed restrictions on domestic distribution.
A contemporaneous report by Foreign Policy, a news organization that covers global affairs, detailed what the bill did, along with why government officials say it was passed:
"A former U.S. government source with knowledge of the BBG (Broadcasting Board of Governors) says the organization is no Pravda, but it does advance U.S. interests in more subtle ways. In Somalia, for instance, VOA serves as counterprogramming to outlets peddling anti-American or jihadist sentiment. ‘Somalis have three options for news,’ the source said, ‘word of mouth, al-Shabab, or VOA Somalia.’
This partially explains the push to allow BBG broadcasts on local radio stations in the United States. The agency wants to reach diaspora communities, such as St. Paul, Minnesota’s significant Somali expat community. ‘Those people can get al-Shabab, they can get Russia Today, but they couldn’t get access to their taxpayer-funded news sources like VOA Somalia,’ the source said. ‘It was silly.’
Lynne added that the reform has a transparency benefit as well. ‘Now Americans will be able to know more about what they are paying for with their tax dollars — greater transparency is a win-win for all involved,’ she said.."
That doesn’t change the fact that the programs can be considered propaganda, but contrary to the Facebook post’s claim, the legislation did not repeal any law that prohibited independent and traditional media outlets in the private sector from publishing false information. It removed limitations on U.S.-funded and generated content from being aired in the country.
For context, it’s important to note that post might sound like Obama changed libel laws in the country. But that’s not true, either. Libel laws vary state by state, and there isn't a federal libel law.
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2019/aug/23/facebook-posts/no-obama-didnt-make-it-legal-media-outlets-purpose/
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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@sanketshirodkar1978 ~ The buck stops at the top, Doc! Modi could have set the example, he could have prohibited large gatherings, he could have campaigned by being responsible--not with reckless disregard for his constituents lives. And my comment also assigns personal responsibility to the people of India for their own culpability in all these senseless deaths of their fellow citizens.
You have no idea how weird American, British, and Brazilian politics are. But that excuse doesn't absolve Trump, Johnson, and Bolsonaro from their own failures in responding to this pandemic, either. Lots of other nations have really weird politics, too. Yet, nations with responsible, competent leadership have managed to somehow protect their citizens more effectively during this global health crisis, despite their "weird" politics.
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RFK Jr. has advocated many good causes, done much good work for them, but he's discredited and disgraced himself as a leading anti-vax proponent and founder and chairman of a leading anti-vax organization. How many people has RFK Jr. caused to suffer and die with his pseudo-science, misinformation, disinformation, and crackpot conspiracy theories about vaccines? That number may be impossible to quantify, but it is far, far, too many, and it is likely to be more than the number of those he ever helped. In case anyone is wondering, he has a rare speech disorder.
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(1) Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts.
~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
(2) You are entitled to your own views, but you are not entitled to your own facts.
~ U.S. Secretary of Defense James R. Schlesinger, December 1975 and January 1976
(3) People are entitled to their own opinions, but not to their own facts.
~ U.S Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, 1983 Washington Post op-ed, who credited the quote to Alan Greenspan in 1984: "During the commission’s deliberations, Alan Greenspan, our chairman and former chairman of the president’s Council of Economic Advisers, imposed a simple but crucial rule: Members were entitled to their own opinions, but not to their own facts."
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puddles puddles ~ Hypocritical Republican cult whines about cancel culture...
--while making death threats against those disagreeing with them
--while conducting a terrorist attack against the nation's Capitol in insurrection, beating and killing police, intent on killing lawmakers and the Republican VP, attempting a coup to overthrow the results of a free and fair election...just because their candidate lost.
--while trying to cancel out the votes of millions of Democrats and minorities by objecting solely to their votes, enacting numerous voter suppression measures, and engaging in egregious gerrymandering.
--while labeling MSM "the enemy of the people."
--while censoring and moving to remove fellow Republicans of integrity who speak up for truth and decency, and against GOP lies, terrorism, and crackpot conspiracy theories.
--while Reich-wing media turns off comments yet rants against "censorship."
--while Faux News fires its news editor for truthfully reporting that Arizona had been called for Biden.
--while trying to run a Biden campaign bus off the road.
--while Rep. Marjorie Greene prevents press from covering town hall meetings where nobody wore a mask.
--after seriously injuring over 140 police officers and killing one in the Republican cult's seditious terrorist attack of insurrection against the nation's Capitol, Republican cult terrorists threaten to call the cops on reporters trying to get their side of the story.
--while canceling out the lives of hundreds of thousands of their fellow Americans by spreading lies about COVID-19, politicizing a deadly pandemic, and refusing to follow common sense health guidelines.
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You heard it here, folks...Trump hates himself! Publicly confesses his problems...that he's "a negative force, not a positive force." And, if you look at what he said, "he hurts the people of this great country." Furthermore, he acknowledges, "he should actually focus on his job, it would be a lot better if he did that he could straighten out some of the problems he has, and probably some of the problems he's caused." (Trump, answering questions, June 4. 2019)
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@connerredel9971 - You really believe that, we got a great parcel of land down in the Everglades to sell you, Doc! She was asked a simple question, which she couldn't answer. Toxic Trump said nothing of provisional ballots, his remarks aren't being taken out of context. Conversely, McHeinous' gaslighting and filibustering, using two primary propaganda talking points that were definitely taking things out of context. Just like Putin's corrupt Russian government, corrupt Toxic Trump and Republican cult all about slimy projecting. The BIG LIES right out in plain sight, but GOP sheep want to be blind, eating it all up so they can be fleeced, then slaughtered. If you think we're the enemy because we care enough to help you see, you really need to get a clue!
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"We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
~ How Fascism Works, The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(Reference also Father Charles E. Coughlin and Henry Ford in regards to the first America First movement.)
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
Malcolm Nance: We Are In A Neo-Fascist Era In American Politics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_RxUAe2zeM
Political Analyst Tells Joy Reid: Forget Trumpism, IT’s Neo-Fascism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IgNp84JA4A
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 – than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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If you're not very sophisticated, know little about the Constitution and impeachment, and didn't listen objectively to the other three expert witnesses on Constitutional law, then you might come away with the wrong idea that Professor Turley was credible. You do realize that Turley's whole testimony ADVOCATES impeachment, simply asking for more witnesses, which Democrats very much want to have testify, but refuse to let Trump run out the clock in the courts with baseless legal appeals blocking evidentiary materials and their testimony?
Professor Turley disgraced himself and his employer, Georgetown University, getting taken to the mat repeatedly and completely outclassed by three experts from other universities. While clearly knowledgeable about Constitutional law and history, Professor Turley failed to present any rational academic argument against impeachment, choosing instead to turn a blind eye to high crimes, unprecedented total obstruction of Congress oversight and impeachment powers, this President's penchant for perversions and abuses of power, and dire national security concerns...while making false allegations, engaging in false equivalencies, projecting undue bias and playing coy. Although much value and greatly appreciate opposing perspectives, Professor Turley's performance was an act of bad faith and intellectual dishonesty, demonstrating a critical lack of integrity, of which Georgetown University, its students, and its alumni should all be ashamed, as it reflects very poorly on them and their fine institution. This was a fool willingly made a Republican cult tool, and the motivation appears more self-interest than altruistic--at a time when all sane, loyal hands are crucially required on deck.
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@ÚLFHÉĐNAR ~ DONALD TRUMP’S CAMPAIGN to change the subject from the coronavirus pandemic took a bizarre turn May 21, 2020, as the president paused during a speech at a Ford Motor Company plant in Michigan to praise the “good bloodlines” of the family descended from the firm’s founder, Henry Ford, a notorious anti-Semite and favorite of Adolf Hitler.
In an apparent ad-lib, Trump looked up from his prepared remarks — which praised the firm for teaming up with General Electric to produce ventilators and face shields for medical workers — to observe that Henry Ford’s descendants, like the current chairman, Bill Ford, who had introduced the president, have “good blood.”
“The company founded by a man named Henry Ford,” Trump’s prepared text appeared to say, “teamed up with the company founded by Thomas Edison — that’s General Electric.” But when Trump came to Ford’s name, he looked up from the text and observed: “good bloodlines, good bloodlines — if you believe in that stuff, you got good blood.”
Trump has made no secret of his own belief that he inherited everything from intelligence to an ability to withstand pressure through the “great genes” passed on to him by his parents and grandparents. He has also frequently compared the importance of “good bloodlines” in humans to the breeding of champion racehorses, a view that overlaps in uncomfortable ways with those of eugenicists and racists like Ford.
“I’m proud to have that German blood,” Trump once told an interviewer. “You’ve all got such good bloodlines,” Trump reportedly told British business leaders at a dinner in 2018. “You’ve all got such amazing DNA.”
Trump also suggested that Ford and Edison were both in heaven, “looking down right now.” The president’s belief that Ford, the only American singled out for praise in Hitler’s “Mein Kampf,” should be in heaven was a stark contrast to his sarcastic comment during a visit to Michigan in December that the late Democratic congressman, John Dingell, might be “looking up” from hell.
Among the many reasons to believe that Henry Ford does not deserve a place in heaven is the fact that, as the writer Matthew Wills noted, starting in 1920, “Ford’s newspaper, the weekly Dearborn Independent, which was distributed through Ford dealers and sent free to schools and libraries around the country, published 90 anti-Semitic articles, later collected and distributed as a book called ‘The International Jew.'”
Victoria Saker Woeste, the author of “Henry Ford’s War on Jews and the Legal Battle Against Hate Speech,” explained that “the first article staked out the familiar anti-Semitic trope of ‘The Jew’ as ‘the world’s enigma. Poor in his masses, he yet controls the world’s finances,’ and was, ‘the power behind many a throne.'” The articles recapitulated and excerpted the notorious anti-Semitic forgery, “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” for nearly 700,000 readers.
The collected articles were sold as a pamphlet, which was subsequently translated into German, and inspired Hitler’s praise for Ford in “Mein Kampf.” “It is Jews who govern the stock exchange forces of the American Union,” Hitler claimed, “only a single great man, Ford, to their fury, still maintains full independence.”
The New York Times reported in 1922 that Ford’s importance to Hitler was very obvious. “The wall beside his desk in Hitler’s private office is decorated with a large picture of Henry Ford,” the newspaper’s Berlin correspondent observed. “In the ante-chamber there is a large table covered with books, nearly all of which are a translation of a book written and published by Henry Ford.”
Although Ford was eventually forced to sign a public apology for the articles in 1927, after being sued for libel in federal court by Aaron Sapiro, a Jewish-American activist smeared by his newspaper, he remained an anti-Semite and a favorite of the Nazis. In 1938, Ford accepted the Grand Cross of the German Eagle, the Nazi regime’s highest honor for foreigners, on the occasion of his 75th birthday. The two Nazi diplomats who pinned the medal on his chest also brought a personal message of congratulations from Hitler.
In 1940, Steven Watts recounted in “The People’s Tycoon: Henry Ford and the American Century,” Ford told the automobile editor of The Associated Press that he blamed the Jews, not Hitler, for the war in Europe. “I still think this is a phony war made by the international Jewish bankers,” Ford said, in remarks later reported by the automaker’s former personal secretary.
Trump’s praise of Ford on Thursday prompted Jonathan Greenblatt, the chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, to demand an apology from the president for hailing a man who was “an anti-Semite and one of America’s staunchest proponents of eugenics.” “If he doesn’t know why,” Greenblatt added, the president should read his organization’s history of Ford’s role as an anti-Jewish propagandist.
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@ÚLFHÉĐNAR ~ Numerous non-partisan sources place fascism as far-right in the political spectrum. The Nazi official name of 'German Workers Socialist Party' was a fraud perpetrated upon the German people, a ruse and a marketing ploy in an attempt to gain more widespread acceptance when Nazism first began.
Fascists made no secret of their hatred of Marxists of all stripes, from totalitarian communists to democratic socialists. Fascists promised to deal more “firmly” with Marxists than had earlier, more democratic rightist parties. Mussolini first made his reputation as a fascist by unleashing armed squads of Blackshirts on striking workers and peasants in 1920–21.
Many early Nazis had served in the Freikorps, the paramilitary groups formed by ex-soldiers to suppress leftist activism in Germany at the end of World War I. The Nazi SA (Sturmabteilung [“Assault Division”], or Storm Troopers) clashed regularly with German leftists in the streets before 1933, and when Hitler came to power he sent hundreds of Marxists to concentration camps and intimidated “red” neighborhoods with police raids and beatings.
For French fascists, Marxism was the main enemy. In 1925, Valois, leader of the Faisceau, declared that the guiding principle of his organization was “the elimination of socialism and everything resembling it.” In 1926 Taittinger declared that the primary goal of his Patriotic Youth was to “defeat the progress of communism by any means necessary,” adding that “We defend the hierarchy of classes.…Everyone knows that there will always be different social levels, the strong and the weak, the rich and the poor, the governing and the governed.”
In Spain much of the Falange’s early violence was directed against socialist students at the University of Madrid. Portuguese Blue Shirts, who called themselves “national syndicalists,” regarded systematic violence against leftists to be “revolutionary.” During the Spanish Civil War, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and German fascists joined forces to defeat the Popular Front, a coalition of liberals, socialists, communists, and anarchists who had been democratically elected in 1936.
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@apistevistatheist ~ If there's anyone that could unite America, we have yet to meet them. As long as Reich-wing media, demagogues, Christian nationalist religions, and politicians continue seeking to manipulate, exploit and further widen the division with lies, fear, hate, conspiracy theories, culture wars, and petty wedge issues, there is little chance for anyone to succeed. Thought that COVID-19 would be a unifying force? Wishful thinking, mostly. The problem for Biden and Democrats is that there are very few Republicans willing to bargain in good faith. Not one Republican vote for the COVID-19 stimulus bill? Come on, man! (Pun intended.)
Anyway, who was the last President to unify this country? Carter was a unifier like Biden, in that he tried to find common ground, tried to work with the other side, but he had little success, served only one term. Clinton and Obama both won reelection but both hit the same brick wall with Republicans. JFK was a unifier, but he got assassinated. Possibly Eisenhower, but would argue FDR was the last President that achieved significant unity, with the help of WWII. And, even then, FDR had his detractors. When we talk about unity, what metric are we using to gauge it? Proportionately? The percentage of the population? The percentage of votes by politicians are consensual? What is the expectation? Should people unify behind blatant lies, or behind the truth? Unity can mean different things to different people.
At any rate, Biden attempts to unify will not go too far until the GOP resumes the duty it abdicated to be the loyal opposition. The onus is not upon Biden or Democrats; the ball is in the Republican's court, now? Are they going to start passing the ball, show a willingness to play team ball, or is the right wing going to keep trying to fly solo, putting us in a tailspin going down?
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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"As many as 70,000 Americans could be confirmed as infected with coronavirus by the end of next week, marking a “pretty dramatic” increase in the number of confirmed cases," the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, told his employees in an agency-wide conference call on 03/20/20.
Except 03/21/20 saw a 33% jump in U.S. cases, from 18,000 to over 24,000. If continuing at 33% every 24 hours, the number of confirmed cases is trending much higher than just 70,000 by 03/27/20. Suspect confirmed cases will be double that. Bear in mind, states hardest hit are not testing many people, saving the tests for those most in need. So the actual number of infected Americans is going to be far higher than just what limited testing of the population has so far confirmed. Don't think this fact is being given enough attention. More important than the number of cases confirmed is the number contracting the disease and not getting tested, spreading the disease, in many cases unknowingly. Hospital projections are for about 100 MILLION Americans to become infected, with about 500,000 dead from covid-19.
(Update 5: Friday, 03/27/20, confirmed U.S. cases 105,000--which is 50% over NIH high-end estimate; deaths 1,700 by end of day. The perspective for cases is significantly skewed low and thus highly misleading, however, as just 0.17% of U.S. population has been tested to date.)
03/29/20 -- 143,000 confirmed cases; 2,450 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
03/30/20 -- 165,000 confirmed cases; 3,250 deaths.
03/31/20 -- 190,000 confirmed cases; 4,200 deaths.
04/01/20 -- 217,000 confirmed cases; 5,150 deaths.
04/02/20 -- 246,000 confirmed cases; 6,050 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/03/20 -- 278,000 confirmed cases; 7,150 deaths.
04/04/20 -- 312,000 confirmed cases; 9,400 deaths.
04/05/20 -- 338,000 confirmed cases; 9,700 deaths.
04/06/20 -- 369,000 confirmed cases; 11,000 deaths.
04/07/20 -- 400,000 confirmed cases; 13,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. Figures indicate a Covid-19 fatality rate for TESTED Americans at 3.25%.
04/08/20 -- 432,000 confirmed cases; 15,900 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S.
04/09/20 -- 466,000 confirmed cases; 16,700 deaths.
04/10/20 -- 502,000 confirmed cases; 18,800 deaths.
04/11/20 -- 530,000 confirmed cases; 20,500 deaths.
04/12/20 -- 558,000 confirmed cases; 22,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S. With just 4.25% of the world's population, the U.S. has 30% of the COVID-19 infections and 20% of the COVID-19 deaths. So far, the U.S. has the very WORST response of ANY nation, something formerly inconceivable, and inexcusable that it could now be allowed to happen here. In the U.S., we have 1.5 million seniors in 15,000 nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Despite forming only 0.45% of the U.S. population, they make up almost 10% of deaths, primarily because our federal government is not doing enough to protect them. Reported that many hospitals are no longer accepting COVID-19 patients from nursing homes, preferring they die there, instead. Our seniors, who helped build, grow and make America great, are being sacrificed, solely to ignorance.
04/13/20 -- 583,000 confirmed cases; 24,200 deaths
04/14/20 -- 609,000 confirmed cases; 26,600 deaths (+2,364 - *New worst daily death toll)
04/15/20 -- 640,000 confirmed cases; 30,800 deaths. The United States recorded its first coronavirus fatality on Feb. 29. It took 38 days to reach 10,000 deaths and just nine more days to go from 10,000 fatalities to 30,000. An increase in fatalities over the last 48 hours was expected, but was also due to new CDC policy, starting on 04/14, to include probable COVID-19 deaths...finally.
04/16/20 -- 671,000 confirmed cases; 33,100 deaths. Less COVID-19 testing performed this week than last, despite desperate need to ramp up volume to reopen economy.
04/17/20 -- 702,000 confirmed cases; 37,000 deaths.
04/18/20 -- 735,000 confirmed cases; 39,900 deaths.
04/19/20 -- 760,000 confirmed cases; 41,700 deaths.
04/20/20 -- 788,000 confirmed cases; 43,200 deaths.
04/21/20 -- 825,000 confirmed cases; 45,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/22/20 -- 853,000 confirmed cases; 47,800 deaths (+2,674*)
04/23/20 -- 890,000 confirmed cases; 50,400 deaths.
04/24/20 -- 927,000 confirmed cases; 52,400 deaths.
04/25/20 -- 958,000 confirmed cases; 54,000 deaths.
04/26/20 -- 985,000 confirmed cases; 55,400 deaths.
04/27/20 -- 1,009,000 confirmed cases; 56,500 deaths.
04/28/20 -- (Incomplete) 1,026,000+ confirmed cases; 58,500+ deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. The U.S. now has as many COVID-19 deaths in just NINE WEEKS as there was for all TWELVE YEARS of the Vietnam War.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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Great to see good 'ol Torture Yoo put under the bright lights and given a little taste of his own medicine! However, as Torture Yoo proves, torture victims will say anything to make the torture stop, making it useless for intelligence gathering, good only for perverted gratification, used by sadistic, ignorant brutes like Trump, Cheney, and Torture Yoo!
It's "Torture" Yoo! Never forget--this is the clown that wrote specious opinions at OLC to provide legal cover for Dubya's torture regime! Still pissed Princeton took him on as a professor afterward, giving him a plush, prestigious job, a position he still holds, lending credibility when he deserves to be thoroughly discredited! Still pissed at Obama for not investigating torture, too--leaving the door open for another joker like Trump to torture.
Torture Yoo is a weasel. Always has been, so this is really nothing new for those who knew. Typical Republican.
~*hyGOPricy*~
Hypocrisy knows no bounds
For rotten GOP clowns
With them phony outrage hounds
Their flimflam no more astounds
Betraying US for king's crowns
If bribed in dollars--not pounds
Claim for impeachment no grounds!
Care not for the laws he downs
Block out all objection sounds
Do not see disgusted frowns
Just pack courts with goons in gowns
Caring their cozen confounds
As public outrage resounds
When their vile dream scheme rebounds
Souls forfeit as deceit mounds
Fear the contempt that surrounds
And that loathing which abounds
In each city and all towns
But taking too many rounds
From nasty GOP clowns
Must end now....ran out of nouns!
~*~*~*~*~
Audio version of hyGOPrisy narrated by author for the blind or whomever available here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dFYRskt-Ls
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@shoko2816 ~ You obviously don't believe in doing any research, only engaging in dishonest Whataboutism to deflect and rationalize. The ICC has active special investigations in a number of countries, Myanmar and Iraq included. If you even watched the news clip, you'd know that this current ICC investigation involves both sides, Palestine and Israel. The ICC also has preliminary investigations ongoing in a number of other countries. Moreover, the ICC receives complaints that it can not address, because it lacks jurisdiction.
As far as Israel being a "democracy," and supposedly a standard bearer for human rights, then shouldn't those claiming a higher standard be held to that same higher standard? Or, do you think they should be immune from scrutiny and not be held accountable at all, that they should automatically just get a free pass for war crimes and other breaches of International Law?
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That great big dysfunctional Donald Trump family intersection in limbo land, where arrogance, ignorance, privilege, ignominy, vapid, heartless, dumb, insecurity, stupidity, desultory, idiocy, hubris, vanity, pompous, venality, avarice, psychosis, unscrupulous, vituperative, entitlement, banality, brutality, vice and vile all meet together to form a black hole sucking humanity out of the world.
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The Konservative Kult Klowns would also, on the other hand, convict an innocent man not sharing their politics, as in Toxic Traitor Trump extorting foreign nations for investigations into his political rival! However, even our own reputable MSM media is not without fault, as we need remind them occasionally:
***MEDIA FAIL*** -- Brian Stelter: "Clinton didn't have the right-wing media to deal with during his impeachment!" Five plus years of Republicans chasing corny cockamamie concocted crackpot conspiracy theories investigating Clinton, starting out with a real-estate deal and only coming up with an extra-marital affair? All pushed by right-wing media? Are CNN journalists not required to even know MODERN American history, politics, before opinionating on the subject? Does CNN care about misinforming its viewers? Media BE better, WE be better. Oddly and ironically enough, this is a segment about misinformation, and how getting the truth right is important. You think CNN would have chosen to take better care of truth, set the right example in doing this piece!
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"We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Amanda Shen ~ So, you don't believe in human and civil rights? I welcome other nations pushing the U.S. to do better. Here in the U.S., I can and do freely criticize my government where I think it can do better, without fear of reprisal. Too bad the same is not true for China. The problem is not with the Chinese people; it is with the Chinese government. The Chinese people can do better, and I hope more of them start demanding better of their government. Whether American, Chinese, or other, we're all in this together. Insuring the human and civil rights of others insures our own security in those areas. It's one thing to be patriotic, but the human race needs to progress past nationalistic thinking.
~ "'Tis not, 'my country, right or wrong;' 'tis, 'my country, that which is right to be kept right, that which is wrong to be set right.'" ― Carl Shurz
~ Patriotism can only flourish only where racism and nationalism are given no quarter. We should never mistake patriotism for nationalism. A patriot is one who loves his homeland. A nationalist is one who scorns the homelands of others. ― Johannes Rau
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Neglected to add Wisconsin Supreme Court ordered halt to mailing out of absentee ballots until determining whether West should be added. That is the reason for the delay.
Additional background on earlier outrageously partisan decision:
U.S. SCROTUM's Chief Jester "KILLER" Roberts -- America's worst!
By a 5–4 Vote, SCOTUS Lets Wisconsin Throw Out Tens of Thousands of Ballots
The conservative majority just approved one of the most brazen acts of voter suppression in modern times.
By Mark Joseph Stern -- Slate -- April 06, 2020
Unfortunately for the nation, Wisconsin Republicans decided that they would prefer to exploit the pandemic to suppress Democratic votes. Their state Supreme Court, dominated by partisan Republicans, allowed them to do so. And now the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned the only protection in place to ensure that voters could still safely cast ballots even if the state fails to provide them expediently. This election looks increasingly like a sham tainted by partisan manipulation. And now the most powerful court in the nation has approved these tactics. An election that forces voters to choose between protecting their health and casting a ballot is not a free and fair election. Nor should its results be treated as indisputably legitimate. The courts may have permitted Republicans to rig this election, but Wisconsinites are under no obligation to pretend that its outcome reflects the will of the people.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/04/supreme-court-wisconsin-absentee-ballots.html
NOTE: This was all about Republicans forcing an election during a pandemic to suppress Democrat voters, so they could win the deciding seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The reason why this partisan power play by Republicans in Wisconsin State Legislature, Wisconsin Supreme Court, and U.S. Supreme Court bent over backwards to endanger, sicken, and kill Wisconsin voters and their families: not yet content after over a decade of egregious Republican voter suppression and gerrymandering in Wisconsin, they want their Republican judge to decide a case purging 200,000 Wisconsin voter registrations, further disenfranchising and suppressing voters there. But, it gets even worse. A further detrimental effect of this Republican attack against democracy was that they robbed vital PPE from medical and other front-line workers at a very critical time, to be wasted on poll workers unnecessarily, because the election could have been easily suspended, just as 13 other states had already done.
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@agf1700 ~ For me, I find the quote by Ulysses S. Grant particularly relevant and prescient. That piece is another of mine often posted, and thought it might prove useful here after seeing the discussion in this thread had turned to Reich-wing fascism. Ironic, isn't it, how Trump chose "America First" as the mantra for his political movement, given the history. I don't think it was any accident or coincidence, though. I think it was deliberate.
“Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a President and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country.” ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt
“Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.” ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt
“A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned how to walk forward.” ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt
"Progress and justice possess similarities: both can be swift, but too often they are a long time coming."
~ wily wascal
Most welcome, of course! As always, folks are encouraged to share or repost any of my original YouTube commentary they like----no personal accreditation even required! Educating, enlightening, provoking thought, and occasionally even entertaining are the goals, not recognition, popularity, subscribers, or profit.
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Trump Has Sabotaged America’s Coronavirus Response
by Laura Garrett
In 2018, the Trump administration fired the government’s entire pandemic response chain of command, including the White House management infrastructure. In numerous phone calls and emails with key agencies across the U.S. government, the only consistent response I encountered was distressed confusion.
....
White House efforts included reducing $15 billion in national health spending and cutting the global disease-fighting operational budgets of the CDC, NSC, DHS, and HHS. And the government’s $30 million Complex Crises Fund was eliminated.
In May 2018, Trump ordered the NSC’s entire global health security unit shut down, calling for reassignment of Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer and dissolution of his team inside the agency. The month before, then-White House National Security Advisor John Bolton pressured Ziemer’s DHS counterpart, Tom Bossert, to resign along with his team. Neither the NSC nor DHS epidemic teams have been replaced. The global health section of the CDC was so drastically cut in 2018 that much of its staff was laid off and the number of countries it was working in was reduced from 49 to merely 10. Meanwhile, throughout 2018, the U.S. Agency for International Development and its director, Mark Green, came repeatedly under fire from both the White House and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. And though Congress has so far managed to block Trump administration plans to cut the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps by 40 percent, the disease-fighting cadres have steadily eroded as retiring officers go unreplaced.
Public health advocates have been ringing alarm bells to no avail.
Ronald Klain, who directed U.S. efforts on Ebola, has been warning for two years that the United States was in grave danger should a pandemic emerge. In 2017 and 2018, the philanthropist billionaire Bill Gates met repeatedly with Bolton and his predecessor, H.R. McMaster, warning that ongoing cuts to the global health disease infrastructure would render the United States vulnerable to, as he put it, the “significant probability of a large and lethal modern-day pandemic occurring in our lifetimes.” And an independent, bipartisan panel formed by the Center for Strategic and International Studies concluded that lack of preparedness was so acute in the Trump administration that the “United States must either pay now and gain protection and security or wait for the next epidemic and pay a much greater price in human and economic costs.”
https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/31/coronavirus-china-trump-united-states-public-health-emergency-response/
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@olrikparlez3152 ~ GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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@Wow Bagger ~ Sounds like you're being judgmental about me, Doc! Kind of hypocritical to accuse others of that which you yourself are guilty of, isn't it? But don't we all judge others, just about every single day? Curious why didn't you chastise the person here judging others about abortion, calling it "murder?" You're condemnation in this regard seems rather selective, to say the least.
Your whole reply is disingenuous on a number of levels. For instance, one can't champion healthier lifestyles to prevent heart disease, participating in run/walk events and the like, and ALSO champion common sense measures in response to a deadly global pandemic? Once can't walk and chew gum at the same time, or listen to the radio while driving a vehicle? That argument of yours amount to Whataboutism, besides, which is a logical fallacy----a falsehood.
Another example is your false allegation of fear-mongering. If there is a poisonous snake in the grass, and one warns people about it, are they fear mongering? Of course not. It's a fact, it's a danger, just like pointing out how COVID-19 is both an opportunistic and a random killer. The more informed people are, the better able to make intelligent decisions.
Yeah, let's look up gain of function and find out what it's really used for:
Gain of function research (GoFR) is a term used to describe any field of medical research which alters an organism or disease in a way that increases pathogenesis, transmissibility, or host range (the types of hosts that a microorganism can infect). This research is intended to reveal targets to better predict emerging infectious diseases and to develop vaccines and therapeutics.
Bio-warfare is nothing new, has been around for centuries, and while true that GoFR could be used for nefarious purposes, that is not it's normal application, nor is there any proof that it has anything to do with COVID-19. So, YOU are the one guilty of fear-mongering, trafficking in crackpot conspiracy theories.
Moreover, you erroneously are conflating chlorine gas, a chemical weapon, with bioweapons. It appears you're not so book smart. Personally, most of my news and other information comes through reading, but there are people who may have difficulty reading and therefore choose to get most of their information from television and radio. Your aging dad may be one such person. You denigrate and judge your dad for getting information from reputable news organizations, like CNN and MSNBC, which is both judgmental and wrong. Is it not a good thing he strives to stay informed about current events?
"The exalted scientific community" has perhaps never been so united (along with the medical community) about COVID-19, the need for wearing masks, and the need for vaccines. While there are typically a few outliers in science and medicine, it is the broad consensus formed by peer review and other methods which is trusted both within and outside of those communities. So, you're either grossly distorting things or just flat out lying on that point.
Sure, that imbecile driving 95 mph down the road didn't make any conscious decision to kill anyone either, but his reckless disregard got a whole family killed. So your argument in that regard doesn't withstand even scant scrutiny. Willful ignorance and deliberate obtuseness or negligence is not an acceptable excuse for not following common sense health guidelines, including getting vaccinated.
Not sure what "positive things" about COVID-19 to which you refer. Over 600,000 dead Americans in a little over a year, more than died in all American wars over the past century? That's a "positive thing?" One out of every 550 Americans in that timeframe dead from COVID-19 is a "positive thing?" People touting the 98.2% survival rate ignoress just how misleading that figure is. It doesn't account for all the mitigation efforts and sacrifices of responsible people following CDC guidelines and getting vaccinated, without which the death toll would be much higher. It doesn't account for all the sickness and suffering, or the people suffering long-term debilitating effects from COVID-19, which would have also been much higher without mitigation efforts and responsible Americans. It doesn't account for the short period of time covered, or how COVID-19 surpassed all other causes to be the leading cause of death over the past year.
In conclusion, while clear you didn't mean to, you couldn't have done it better, unwittingly proving my point about not enough people taking COVID-19 seriously. Your "pops" appears to have a lot more experience, common sense, and smarts than you do, at least about COVID-19, but undoubtedly about a lot of other things, too. You would do well to heed his counsel. Sounds as if you could also take lessons from him in empathy and consideration for others, and proper value for human life.
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Jodi Ernst is former military, but shows how she's nothing but a big coward, a disgusting disgrace to the uniform! Republicans can't even answer simple questions...because that would mean telling the truth! So they talk, and talk, and talk, and talk...stringing together empty words that say and mean absolutely nothing. Fighting for Iowa? No, she's fighting to keep her meal ticket on the GOP corruption train, that's all. Vote the Republican bums out like Ernst who dishonor their Oath of Office, the rule of law, justice, and our Constitution. Impeachment trial with NO witnesses?!? We can do better, but not with Ernst in office.
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Exactly the point I have made before. It seems quite clear that Arbery was acting in self defense, that he feared for his life. Funny how Reich-wingers overwhelmingly want these three white men found innocent for the killing of Arbery, claiming self-defense for them, but not for Arbery, who had committed no crime and there being no justification for any citizen's arrest. They also overwhelmingly want Rittenhouse to be found innocent on the basis of self-defense, despite the fact he was acting criminally by being in Kenosha after curfew and a minor illegally carrying an assault rifle, and who was an active shooter when fleeing the scene of the crime after he shot the first person. With Reich-wingers, it's all about the racism and vigilantism, being able to inflict violence upon others without consequence, obtaining the same kind of screwed up qualified immunity given to police using the excuse of self-defense. It's the modern-day version of KKK tactics used by the current crop of white supremacists, which seeks to be more discreet, but is nonetheless all too transparent.
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@ShaneOmac831 ~ My critical thinking skills tell me that you're avoiding the arguments by making new attacks that are also simplistic and cynical. You're still engaging in a false equivalence, while blinding yourself to stark contrasts between the two sides in the current political landscape. Taken together, your reply is somewhat disingenuous and lacking in objectivity.
Biden just pulled us out of Afghanistan, and isn't looking to start any new wars. Obama inherited two wars, and didn't start any new ones. Counting the war on terror, it was three wars he inherited. Supporting forces fighting against ISIS was a continuation of the mess left by Bush's illegal and ill-advised invasion of Iraq. While as a progressive I may agree with you on spending less on our military, the majority of Americans wanting a strong military don't agree with us.
You're ignoring how House Democrats just passed the We the People Act with no Republican support, which has broad Democratic support in the Senate, but is being blocked by Republicans there. That bill has provisions for cleaning up campaign finance. You're also ignoring how Democrats are universally opposed to the Republican partisan SCOTUS decision in Citizens United, which blasted the door wide open to corruption, while Republicans overwhelmingly support it.
You want to quibble over a few minor provisions in the stimulus bill with which you don't agree while trying to dismiss the greater good it does, but that doesn't discount my counterargument; it's just evasive subterfuge on your part.
You're also introducing and conflating MSM into this discussion, which is irrelevant. MSM is not a political party. Besides, the MSM is generally critical of Big Pharma, regardless of how much they advertise. Moreover, many Democrats want universal health care, with government able to negotiate single-payer low bulk prices for pharmaceuticals like Canada, but the Republicans falsely label that "socialism" and want to spend twice as much for inferior health care. Republicans even tried to repeal the ACA over 50 times, and have taken it to court numerous times trying to eliminate it, despite it being a fairly modest health care reform bill modeled on a Republican proposal and first enacted by a Republican governor.
You can nitpick all you want, and Democrats shouldn't be immune from criticism where and when warranted, but you're still missing the forest for the trees.
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Nobody is erasing history. A statue is not history, it is merely a monument to a historical figure. But----make no mistake----history can not be changed. It's a matter of either learning to live with the truth of our history or continuing to try deluding ourselves. We won't stop acknowledging that Jefferson was an integral and influential player in our nation's founding, but that must also be balanced against the fact that he was a slaveholder, who raped at least one of the slaves he owned, siring children by that Black slave that were thereupon born into slavery. So, he was a rapist who enslaved his own children. Is that something of which Americans should be proud?
Besides, Jefferson's statue is not being destroyed, only moved to a more suitable home in a museum, where even more people can view it and learn both the good and the bad about Jefferson. You want me to get my violin out so you can cry a river because you were too stupid to understand and appreciate any of that? After all, isn't it really you here who is offended, and for no good reason?
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Harris claims to be a progressive, but she was a law-and-order candidate whose policies as a DA and AG were, in fact, largely regressive. "As attorney general, Harris opposed a bill requiring her office to investigate shootings involving police officers and threatened to imprison the parents of truant children, who are disproportionately poor and non-white. Her office fought a proposed parole program that would release prisoners early if they served half their sentences, arguing that “prisons would lose an important labor pool.”
"Time after time, when progressives urged her to embrace criminal justice reforms as a district attorney and then the state’s attorney general, Ms. Harris opposed them or stayed silent. Most troubling, Ms. Harris fought tooth and nail to uphold wrongful convictions that had been secured through official misconduct that included evidence tampering, false testimony and the suppression of crucial information by prosecutors."
"...a judge condemned Ms. Harris’s indifference to the systemic violation of the defendants’ constitutional rights." "Ms. Harris contested the ruling by arguing that the judge, whose husband was a defense attorney and had spoken publicly about the importance of disclosing evidence, had a conflict of interest. Ms. Harris lost. More than 600 cases handled by the corrupt technician were dismissed." [Disturbingly identical to Trump's attitude and behavior.]
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Like and respect Rep. Schiff, but his waffling on investigations and holding the Trump administration accountable after they leave office is deeply disturbing and disheartening. So-called "healing" is just a euphemism for evading the dirty work that may be distasteful and divisive, but that vitally needs to be done to preserve our democracy.
Moreover, investigations for prosecutions involving corrupt and unlawful acts by Trump and those in his administration are not under the purview of Congress, nor up to it to decide, but are the DOJ's responsibility. This doesn't mean Congress shouldn't conduct its own investigations in order to determine security breaches, possible legislation to prevent recurrences of malfeasance, abuses of power, etc.
Another aspect of this is that "healing" is not going to happen with the GOP cult in its present state. This needs to be acknowledged, accepted, and acted upon accordingly, or Democrats are only setting themselves up for failure and weakness. Democrats need to stand up for the American people--ALL the American people, Rep. Schiff, which includes single people and young people, not just "families" and "working families." If Democrat leaders could just grow a pair, they would find the American people standing more firmly behind them. The Republican cult has declared political war, a war where they don't abide by any rules. It's a war Democrats can't and won't win by lying down and rolling over, trying to "make nice." If Democrats haven't learned that by now, this nation is in deep trouble.
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@samanthabeasley1515 ~ That's simply not true at all that both sides are the same. Democrats are fighting for a higher minimum wage, corporations and the wealthy paying their fair share in taxes, social justice and equality for all, improving our infrastructure (which will provide jobs and stimulate our economy while providing a number of benefits to Americans), ending dark money campaign donations and campaign finance reform, as well as fighting for other things that benefit the average person.
Not all politicians are alike, and as one Republican former Presidential advisor put it, "The Republican party has reached dysfunction junction." Value and respect loyal opposition, but the GOP has abdicated that duty and responsibility, and can no longer be trusted in power, sadly. We voters can get the Republican party back on the right track by not voting for them until they get their party's act together and once again behave as a loyal opposition should.
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@maryotoole4368 ~ Exactly. Reputable MSM holds the government accountable, regardless of partisan affiliation. Faux News, AON, Breitbart, Newsmax, etc. are nothing more than disgusting Reich-wing propaganda outlets specializing in hyper-partisan yellow journalism, anti-science, dog whistles, and crackpot conspiracy theories. Even a judge in a lawsuit against Faux News just ruled that it obviously isn't news, rather just "entertainment," which, ironically, was the defense presented by Faux News itself to escape liability!
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Unlike many others here, I don't blame Sen. Peters for the omission of the word "insurrection." I'm quite sure that it wasn't the preference of Peters and Democrats on the committee to not use the word, but rather was done at the insistence of Republicans. They----and they alone----are to blame. Peters and the rest of the Democrats rightly decided that getting out a timely report with bipartisan support on the security and intelligence failures, as well as recommendations to secure the Capitol, were more important than inclusion of the word. I am just as disappointed and disgusted about not describing the events of January 6 as an insurrection as everyone else, would agree that there is some danger in not doing so, but it was imperative to get to the bottom of this aspect of January 6, and we needed those recommendations to secure the Capitol. It was a choice of two evils, and I think Peters and the Democrats made the correct decision to get this vitally needed report produced and released. I salute Keilar for her tough questioning, and while I understand Peters is running a critically important committee that requires bipartisanship to function well and is being diplomatic to foster as much cooperation with Republicans as possible, I still wish he had been more forthright about exactly why the word insurrection wasn't used to describe the insurrection, placing blame where deservedly due.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of crackpot conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of plutocrats, the party of corruption, the party of anti-democracy, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their pact with the Devil.
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@Miguel-pw9fe ~ You call yourself "Truth teller," but consistently spread disinformation and misinformation. Your moniker is a lie. That's not to insult you, it's merely a frank observation. Nowadays, you could be a Russian bot, deliberately sowing disinformation to weaken America, kill Americans. How do we know that you are not? And if you are not, you are unwittingly acting as a pawn, doing Putin's bidding for him. So, it becomes a distinction making little difference, anyway.
No, the only ones at risk are not those with preexisting conditions. The foremost risk factor is age. Second is obesity. Native Americans, Hispanics, and Blacks are also at-risk groups. A large number of Americans--around 40%--have preexisting conditions. The only group that is relatively--not completely--safe from serious complications or death from COVID-19 is pre-pubescent children. Healthy teenagers are dying, suffering serious complications, suffering long-term debilitating effects from contracting COVID-19. Same is true for 20-year old's, 30-year old's, 40-year old's, 50-year old's. They are all dying despite being healthy, having no pre-existing condition. COVID-19 is a random killer, if also an opportunistic killer. Do you really want to play Russian roulette with your life, and if forced to do so, wouldn't you want to increase your odds as much as possible? Or, do you have a death wish?
What you don't seem to grasp or have the humanity to appreciate is that even if in a lower risk group, one's failure to follow simple health measures does directly impact others by spreading the disease to others, who may get extremely sick, may suffer long-term debilitating conditions keeping them from work, may kill them. You wear a seatbelt to protect yourself and don't consider it that onerous of a burden upon your freedom. Why is is so hard to wear a mask in public and follow other temporary health measure to protect both yourself and your family, your friends, your coworkers, and your fellow Americans?
Do you understand that nations like Finland and Norway that follow the simple guidelines, do testing and contact tracing, limit large gatherings, strictly enforce people coming into their countries to get tested first and quarantine themselves for two week in special hotels DO control the spread of COVID-19, allowing their citizens to lead fairly normal lives without resorting to harsh measures like lockdowns? Do you understand that Americans could do the same, allowing children to stay in school, a broader range of normality, without losing so many jobs and taking such an economic hit? Can you understand how we would actually gain MORE freedom by each giving up just a little freedom? Or, is that all beyond your thought process capabilities?
#moreRussiasanctions
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The name is aspirational, while at the same time it does work as a unifying force. It's founding principle and primary purpose is to help settle disputes between nations to prevent war. Because it has no real power of enforcement other than what its member nations may choose to temporarily grant it, and because powerful, competing nations often work at cross-purposes to each other, its effectiveness can be very limited. It is only as good as its member nations make it. For the past four years, the Trump administration has strived to weaken international bodies like the UN and the WHO, to our own and the world's detriment.
While there are legitimate criticisms to be voiced about the U.N., such as most of the power being vested in its Security Council, making it undemocratic, it helps to understand what the UN is and is not. It is primarily because the U.S., as a privileged member of the Security Council where it takes unanimous consent to pass any significant measure, blocks any and all punitive measures against Israeli violations of its obligations in the oPt and International Law that the UN's hands are tied vis-à-vis Israel. The UN as a body has historically worked to help the Palestinian people, serving as arguably their greatest benefactor and best ally. The UN stance is opposed to the discrimination inherent in Israel's vaccine distribution to Palestinians in the oPt, as well as other forms of discrimination and oppression imposed upon them by Israel. Hope this helps promote better understanding of the situation and the UN.
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@franklin9400 ~ Gee, we posted our thoughts about the video. You responded to me, trying to convince me that day is night, white is black, and nothing is right. See, we're not out to convince anyone--especially the likes of you, which would be hopeless, anyway. Meanwhile, you attack me with irrelevant ad hominem, like you're stupid enough to think that's a good way to convince people. You're either trying to convince yourself, or you're playing to the audience, hoping to peddle your lies. #moreRussiasanctions
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian nationalism religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast would soon come to consume them.
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RL West ~ Going forward, Democrats must have constructive discussions over policy and political strategy disagreements, while staying strong, united, focused, vocal, and active in rejecting highly destructive Republican proto-fascist cultdom. We must continue to reach out to young voters, independents, as well as conservatives of reason and conscience, working to increase and expand our diverse base. It's also essential to remain scrupulous in our ethics and fierce in fighting government corruption, that we retain public confidence and support. It's going to take a lot of determination, commitment, and hard work, but it's a vital, noble cause to preserve this nation, to build a better America, a more perfect union. Not apropos of your replies or anything; just a few thoughts wanted to share.
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Personal responsibility has not completely left this country. More accurately, Republican cult has abdicated social responsibility. It began decades ago with Republican leadership placing greed, excess, and self before the common good. Our Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, is merely the culmination of their efforts, the most glaring present symptom of the disease, a symptom exacerbating the disease. Certainly am sympathetic to the sentiment expressed, but hyperbole isn't very helpful. Before a problem can be fixed, it must first be identified correctly, then acknowledged.
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge." ~ Ben Franklin, from Poor Richard's Almanack
Those who confuse a grievous public health issue with "essential" liberty to kill and harm their fellow citizens--as well as their nation--sorely lack both care and knowledge. They are also sorely lacking in common sense, something else about which Mr. Franklin was quite keen. Were he alive today, he would be rather dismayed, disgruntled, and disgusted with the current President, his enablers, and his followers, that much is crystal clear.
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Alright, watched the video, prefer progressive over Biden, disagree slightly with some of the analysis, but this was not an endorsement of Biden or a disparagement of any other Dem candidate; it was simply an analysis of the Dem front runner status and strategy. Why all the negative comments, thumbs down, and attacks against CNN? As a frequent media critic, definitely not warranted for this video. This was a fairly objective piece, and it pains me to see Dems acting like Republicans to news they don't like. In this case, apparently just because the front-runner is getting publicity--and it isn't even flattering! We better than this, Dems! Warren/? 2020!
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@kathiapierre5518 ~ How am I part of Haiti's problems? For telling the truth? For supporting the Haitian people?
I am not a partisan; I am neither for or against any political party or leader in Haiti. That is for the people of Haiti to decide in free and fair elections.
Haiti has much of which to be proud. It is the second nation to be independent in the Western Hemisphere, not long after the U.S. had declared its own independence. It is the first and only nation where slaves rose up to win independence. Haiti’s first constitution, written in 1801, stated outright that “servitude is therein forever abolished.” It included fundamental rights for all men, regardless of race, that other nations would not adopt until the next century.
For too long, France, England, and the U.S. failed to acknowledge or respect Haiti's independence, which has contributed greatly to problems there, problems which linger to this day, even though that changed in 1986 with a popular uprising ending Duvalier dictatorship rule, and with the U.S. and other nations helping Haiti conduct democratic elections in 1990.
However, since then Haiti has suffered from political instability, corruption, and the economic devastation of a series of natural disasters. President Moïse failed to instate the legislative check of a new parliament and he ruled past Feb. 7, 2021, which many cited as the end of his five-year term.
A group of U.S. human rights clinics issued a statement warning of deteriorating human rights conditions, and Haitian civil society leaders testified before U.S. legislators explaining Mr. Moïse’s consolidation of power.
“The U.S. should recognize the situation in Haiti today as a struggle by the Haitian people to take ownership of their government and build democracy, not simply a fight between politicians for power,” said Emmanuela Douyon, a Haitian activist, in her testimony.
What is the path forward? Breaking patterns of foreign intervention and rule by elites disconnected from the masses requires tipping the balance of power toward civil society actors who’ve long protested corruption, gangs, and inequality.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
~ "Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Farmer wakes up one morning, goes outside to milk his cows, and discovers his entire herd is missing! So, he then walks over nest door to where the Republican cult lives, notices them grinding a whole bunch of beef into hamburger, and asks them, "Did you see what happened to all my cows?"
Republican cult: "Yeah, they jumped over the moon."
Farmer: "Do you have any actual evidence of that?"
Republican cult: "No, because they landed on the dark side, and you can't see them over there. But we're conducting a bunch of investigations and fraudits, and we're confident evidence will soon emerge to prove it!"
Farmer: "You know, that sounds like a load of manure!"
Republican cult: "Well, that's what we all choose to believe!"
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Let's just call January 6 what it actually was -- a Republican smash and grab, an act of violent larceny against democracy and sedition employing domestic terrorism right out in open sight.
"Without accountability, an attempted autogolpe and insurrection is just practice."
"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ― Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
So, why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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@David-infantryst ~ Cops lie, Blacks die. Have witnessed police brutality, racial profiling, and excessive force firsthand, although not as the victim. Have also witnessed police deliberately lying about their wrongful actions, or to justify them. Resisting arrest is not in and of itself sufficient cause for police murdering a person in cold blood, anyway, Doc.
There's good cops and bad cops, but the police culture, police unions, and a critical lack of accountability is a sure-fire recipe for bad policing. It's why police are increasingly required to wear body cams, to protect both them and the public. It's why we need independent investigators and prosecutors dedicated to holding police accountable. And it's why we need other reforms in policing, including using money in far more effective and cost-effective ways to reduce crime, so that less money needs to be spent on policing, and police are better able to do their jobs, benefiting both the public and law enforcement.
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@David-infantryst ~ Better re-check those statistics, Doc, because you're being misled by the nose with a trick as old as the hills. It's not the total number that matters; it's the proportionate number. There are far more Whites than Blacks in this country, so--naturally--there will of course be more Whites killed by police. Are you that gullible and ignorant to fall for that old, well-known trick, or are you deliberately being dishonest?
Are you denying that police lie to cover their wrongdoing? Are you denying that police racially profile? Are you denying that police abuse their authority? Are you denying that police use excessive force? Are you denying that police plant evidence? Are you denying that police inappropriately escalate situations? Are you denying that police are guilty of unjustified shootings? Are you denying police have used so-called "throw-down" weapons to incriminate and justify a suspect wrongly shot or killed? Are you denying that there are bad cops?
You're also cherry-picking, not responding to all the points and arguments. Like your previous logical fallacy argument about resisting arrest, you are being disingenuous and not operating in good faith. Why is that? Don't think it's because you're of mixed race, as you claim. If you are or were a member of the military, as your moniker suggests, your dishonesty is a disgrace and poor reflection upon both you and our armed services, making one wonder if you were not guilty yourself of some atrocity or atrocities. You may just want to ponder on that.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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Toxic Trump: "I'm the BEST, just absolutely CRUSHING the competition, with over TWO POINT FIVE MILLION coronavirus cases and over 125--one-hundred and twenty-five!!!--THOUSAND deaths! Easy as 1-2-3! They ALL got eighty-sixed, 'cause nobody else even comes close! With a QUARTER of the world's cases AND deaths--can you even imagine how truly great, how awesome, that achievement is, with only just FOUR PERCENT of the world's population to work with? Believe it or not, I accomplished in only FIVE WEEKS what it took the Vietnam War a whole TWELVE YEARS to do! Not done with the fun--and not to be outdone--I then doubled down on the death toll from Vietnam in just FOUR MONTHS! PLUS, we're not even counting ALL the COVID-19 cases and deaths here in the U.S.! And, with only SEVEN PERCENT of the U.S. population already infected, we're just getting started with all the sickness and death; there's PLENTY more to come! Those other weaklings and losers don't stand a chance, because we're going to keep right on winning--as long as I'm in charge! Now, vacation's over; time to get back to work on increasing those numbers, people! Let's keep America great, get rid of all the excess baggage! As wartime President, I am commanding all CIVILIANS to senselessly sacrifice their lives for my arrogance, stupidity, vanity, malevolence, and greed!"
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@Steam fish White rice ~ Republican cult morons rail against the very "elite" they keep voting for, who give tax cuts to the rich and have created the greatest income inequality and wealth disparity in American history.
Why? They are driven by the divisive fear and bigotry programmed into them 24/7 by the Reich-wing media and propaganda owned or funded by the plutocracy. It's absolutely Orwellian, and it began around 1984 in America. What is witnessed now is just the rotten results from the poisoned tree bearing fruition. It's the disease killing America that existed long before COVID-19, and which is likely to persist long after.
Republican cult going to believe what the Republican cult wants to believe, whatever the truth, whatever proof, whatever anybody says. "Healing" the country means deprogramming the 30-40% of Americans deep in cultdom. That needs to be recognized, acknowledged, and acted upon if we truly wish to revive the patient, America, and restore it to glory.
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There are pros and cons to elected, appointed, term limits and lifetime appointments. There is no easy answer to which are best. Judges don't sit for three-quarters of a century, but they may serve as long as four or five decades, which is still a long, long time. As a point of reference, note that the average tenure before 1975 was just 15 years. Now, the average has grown to 27 years. That increase is due to a variety of reasons: longer life spans, younger appointments, justices staying on the bench longer.
That said, Republicans have heavily politicized the bench at all levels; local, state, and federal. For example, in an unprecedented move by Republicans, Merrick Garland was denied even a hearing, yet the Obama nominee to SCOTUS was a centrist judge. Sen. Whitehouse has been the most effective member on this Senate Judiciary Committee nomination panel, exposing Republican corruption, dark money, and its ties to conservative justices on SCOTUS. The constant hyper-partisan decisions based upon contorted ideological distortions of the law by these Republican justices are destroying not only its reputation and stature, but also the legitimacy of the Supreme Court. Republicans have been taking a wrecking ball to long-cherished government institutions for decades, and SCOTUS is just one of their more notable casualties.
Chief Justice Roberts, Justice Kavanaugh, and now SCOTUS nominee COVID Barrett were all Republican legal shysters working for Bush and the GOP in their machinations that led to the horrendous, undemocratic, purely partisan Bush v. Gore SCOTUS decision. Coincidence? Think again. The Republican fix is in for this election and any future contested elections for the foreseeable future. Bye-bye democracy, hello banana Republic!
GOP has lost the popular vote in six of the last seven elections and yet appointed 15 out of the last 19 justices. Barrett would make that 16 out of 20 seats. The reason the president forgot to mention that (a) his judges cannot be permitted to be independent; and (b) that his judges tend to be wildly out of step with public opinion on so many of the topics he holds dear is that it would highlight what minority rule looks like, and why he cannot, in fact “let the people” decide with their votes in his upcoming election. A court determined to impose minority rule is in fact the playbook. It benefits big business, it benefits secret donors with considerable war chests, it benefits white supremacy, and it benefits Trump’s trailing electoral campaign. Quite simply, locking in the power of a minority through the courts is the political project of Trump and the Republican Senators who are equally eager to jam this nominee through before the election.
Trump Kept the Quiet Part Quiet About Amy Coney Barrett
The president introduced his Supreme Court pick—but stayed mum about the real reason he needs her.
By DAHLIA LITHWICK
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/09/trump-amy-coney-barrett-introduced-election-minority-rule.html
Expand SCOTUS to FIFTEEN justices once Democrats regain power! It will be Republicans own fault for playing partisan power games, packing the Federal courts and SCOTUS with radical extremist conservative activist judges hiding behind judicial philosophies like 'originalism" and "textualism" to distort the Constitution and the law to benefit their bankrupt, corrupt ideology and corrupt Republican government.
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***MEDIA FAIL*** -- Questions were answered, just not with a 'yes' or 'no.' CNN making mountains out of molehills, trying to stir controversy, jack ratings, mesmerize the masses for more mega-moola. It's all about the "SOUND BITE," right, CNN, not the substance of the issue here? Fact is, DCCC and AOC may have their differences, but the common ground between them is vast, far more than any petty disagreements. We all know that, but CNN not going to let the truth get in the way of fabricating a fiction for followers of such foolery.
DCCC's Bustos didn't do herself any favors, either. We expect politicians to speak diplomatically and to parse their words to please the largest proportion of people. However, here the affirmative admission was made in both instances, anyway, so a simple straightforward 'yes' answer to both questions would be appropriate, reflecting both on her and Democrats favorably. Instead, Bustos comes off as being less than honest, reflecting poorly on both herself and Democrats--pointlessly, for no good reason, whatsoever! In fact, she was being honest, if also reserved and reticent, in her answers.
The bottom line here is the reporter kept redundantly asking the same questions, despite being supplied the same AFFIRMATIVE answers each time. That's on the reporter, not the DCCC chair. Doggedly determined to dig dirt and dominate, but denied going down in the ditch, diatribe dip at the CNN desk deserved to be dangled and dissed.
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@pietsnotty8283 ~ You got it almost exactly right...except left and right are relative to each country's own unique brand of politics. And the "American standards" of which you speak are actually just Reich-wing propaganda that's been programmed into the Republican cult they've created through decades of fear-mongering and disinformation. Nobody on the left and few in the center here views either Democrats or the U.S. as socialist, and certainly not as communist.
In fact, nearly every single democracy in the world today is classified as a social democracy. However, social democracy does not equate to socialism or a socialist government, and while socialism is compatible with democracy, communism is not. I think that if comparing apples to apples--the U.S. against other more advanced nations--then America falls in the middle, or perhaps slightly center-right, because radicalization of the GOP has successfully moved the goal posts on the political playing field here to some extent. Despite that, the U.S. has continued overall to make social progress, albeit slowly, in fits and spurts backward and forward. The problem for Republicans is that while progress can be impeded, it won't ever be stopped for long, and sooner or later those standing in the way get run over.
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Yet, somehow, the Report itself is distinctly and uniquely Mueller, as is his testimony reinforcing that Report. How far down those rabbit holes you want to chase, Doc? Even if true, can't change the facts! You a Russian bot, or just another Republican traitor weakening America? Sorry, got to start asking all the time, thanks to Trump. Plus, can't tell the two apart anymore, they got this constant feedback loop going on betwixt the two, the Putin bots and Republican cult dupes all sound the same now! Always casting doubt on any fact or evidence against their Russian asset, Trump. They'll try to convince one that maybe the moon really is made of cheese! But we're on to their little games.
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@kevinstaggs5048 ~ Wearing a proper mask in public during the midst of a deadly global pandemic, wearing a seat belt in a motor vehicle or on an amusement park ride, wearing a helmet on a motorcycle--none of those things are infringing upon a person's "essential" liberties; they are simply common sense. This was already addressed in the comment to which you responded, but you apparently have serious difficulty with reading comprehension.
We should always question things, but unless doing so from a position of knowledge, facts, evidence, reason, and logic, then one is nothing more than a simpleton fool lacking common sense. A category in which you have placed yourself, tool fool. Get a clue, not a cult.
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And without time limits, what would happen? Would Republicans quit their theatrics? No. Would Republicans filibuster and obstruct even more egregiously than they have been? Yes. Would much of anything get accomplished in Congress, with a simple confirmation of a cabinet appointee taking weeks, months, perhaps years? No. It's why Democrats changed Senate rules to prevent Republican filibustering for judicial appointments (although not SCOTUS nominees, which the Republicans later changed Senate rules, requiring only a simple majority instead of 60 votes to get far-right Neil Gorsuch on the bench after blocking Obama's pick, mainstream Merrick Garland, for nearly a year until Obama's term ended, leaving the seat open in hopes of a Republican winning the Presidency). Also, just to point out, the nominee here was accused of filibustering by Scuzzy Cruz, but that simply wasn't true. If anything, it looked more like Cruz filibustering with the nominee and Chairman Durbin, in fact.
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Sorry, Doc Gawande , you fail spectacularly: There's much, much more than just four things to protecting workers when reopening the economy during this pandemic!
What is OSHA doing to protect workers from COVID-19; what standards are in place? Answers: Nothing; none.
Where are detailed NATIONAL DIRECTIVES (not mealy-mouthed, watered-down suggestions) from the CDC on how businesses can reopen safely, protecting both the public and their workers? Answer: Hijacked by the White House, unavailable.
Where is the NATIONAL coordinated response to this pandemic needed to protect workers and the public? Answer: Non-existent.
Where is the NATIONAL coordinated testing needed to protect workers and the public? Answer: Non-existent.
Where is your (or anyone else's) protections for those workers at high-risk? Answer: Not you or anyone else has a plan or even any idea sufficient.
How can we feel or be safe at work when a quarter of the population is actively resisting common sense measures like wearing a mask and social distancing, their bad behavior reinforced by our PRESIDENT? Answer: Those morons make it UNSAFE for EVERYONE!
Unlike the vast majority of medical facilities where the Doctor works, the vast majority of other employers put on a nice pretend show, but cut corners at every chance, caring little or nothing about worker safety and health in actual practice. Isn't the Doctor being naïve, assuming that businesses will protect their workers with the same diligence and commitment as hospitals (especially given that hospitals themselves haven't done that great a job protecting their workers during this pandemic)? Answer: Yes, the Doctor is being naïve--which is dangerous, a prescription sure to get more Americans killed.
How can you insure that businesses will be able to operate profitably with all the restrictive measures they need to undertake to protect their workers and the public, and what are they supposed to do if they can't? Answer: Nobody seems to have those answers--yet this is something that needs to be examined and understood--preferably before the senseless loss of MORE American lives.
Despite all of these remaining roadblocks, with the passenger cars completely off the rails as we STILL remain on a plateau in Wave 1, with cases rising in many states and many states reopening against guidelines, this Dr. Gawande is suggesting we can reopen safely, full speed ahead on the hell bound train? No, thanks--you can keep that insanity!
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@Chimichungus69 ~ A couple things you got very wrong. First, you're using what one of CNN's hosts said and wrongly transposing and conflating that as being the position of CNN, which is a fallacy. Secondly, you're taking what Brian Stelter said wildly out of context, as I watched him several times talk about the need for people to avoid disreputable sources, but instead to use reputable sources like CNN. While expected and acceptable for CNN to promote their own news outfit, no one at CNN is seriously advocating that people shouldn't use a wide variety of sources, or that they shouldn't verify facts, nor have I ever gotten that implication or impression.
One more thing is your accusation that CNN "pretends" to be unbiased, which seems a rather harsh characterization and an attempt to project. Isn't it Faux News whose slogan is "We report, you decide?" Wasn't it O'Reilly spinning like a top on his "No Spin Zone" news segment? Isn't it really Faux News that has pretended to be unbiased? CNN presents views from both sides, and if there is a predominant bias at CNN, it is towards the truth. Sure, some of the CNN news segments offer opinion and analysis, which may display some bias, e.g., S.E. Cupp presenting a conservative perspective, or Don Lemon presenting a liberal one. However, CNN's overall coverage of the news is mostly objective and unbiased. May not always agree with the opinions or analysis of CNN hosts, but at least they are rational and reality based. They're not deliberately trying to promote lies or incite racism and violence. Even if in disagreement, I can appreciate different perspectives offered in good faith. Reputable news organizations like CNN strive to avoid bias, unlike Faux News, OAN, Newsmax, and other conservative "news" organizations, which specialize in disseminating Reich-wing propaganda. In fact, Brian Stelter has discussed and detailed that very thing before, describing how the process works at CNN and other reputable news media outlets. There's a wide chasm between CNN and disreputable Riech-wing media that puts them in entirely different categories; attempts to equate them are engaging in false equivalence.
My main complaint with reputable media is that too often they engage in both-sidesism, in an attempt to appear unbiased. "Both-sidesism," aka "false balance," is a media bias that is a logical fallacy which does a disservice to the truth and is a source of disinformation and misinformation. It's little different than false equivalency or the logical fallacy argument to moderation (Latin: argumentum ad temperantiam)—aka false compromise, argument from middle ground, fallacy of grey, and the golden mean fallacy—which is the fallacy that the truth is a compromise between two opposing positions. If one person says Earth is flat and another says it is round, is the truth somewhere in the middle, or does it lie only on one side? Was the 2020 Presidential race "stolen" as the GOP and Reich-wing media is pushing, or did Biden win by a large margin in a free and fair election?
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@benniecrawford6876 ~ As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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Trump and Republicans are like Jack and his band of boys in 'Lord of the Flies' who went native and turned barbaric. Ralph, Simon, Piggy and the other group of boys represent the rest of us who value civilization and order. Just as Jack and his band turned savage, killing and cannibalizing their fellow students on the deserted island they landed upon, Trump and Republicans, manically obsessed with power, money and vanity, have also turned savage, rejecting responsibility, reason, civility, morality, and science, killing their fellow Americans and cannibalizing our government. Except there will be no adults arriving to save those of us trying to do the right thing, like in the classic tale. We are the adults, and it is strictly up to us to save ourselves and this country from the fascistic, nihilistic impulses of Trump and Republicans.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
― Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a serious threat to our very security.
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"We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
~ How Fascism Works, The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(Reference also Father Charles E. Coughlin and Henry Ford in regards to the first America First movement.)
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
Malcolm Nance: We Are In A Neo-Fascist Era In American Politics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_RxUAe2zeM
Political Analyst Tells Joy Reid: Forget Trumpism, IT’s Neo-Fascism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IgNp84JA4A
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Republicans know if witnesses and documents allowed, Pence implicated with the rest of this completely corrupt administration. They know a fair trial will result in Pelosi as President until 2020 elections. THAT is why they won't remove Trump, despite overwhelming evidence of his criminality, his abuses of power, and his total obstruction of Congress. Congressional Republicans are already complicit in the cover-up, the question now becomes how many implicated along with Pence, Perry, Pompeo, Mulvaney, Barr, et al in Trump's criminality? How long before the media starts catching on? They're a bit slow sometimes, you know...get stuck in neutral, can't turn left or right to find the truth staring them in the face.
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@alioucisse1548 ~ GOP has gone rogue, doesn’t want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it’s more than hope—those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another two months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn’t really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
“The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.”
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump’s hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic hyper-partisan Republican cult placing political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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***MEDIA FAIL*** -- Only just one week ago, Brian Stelter was warning us about the creeping authoritarianism on the right. That's a very serious, negative charge to level against Republicans, Brian! Why the double-standard? If it's true, shouldn't we all be pointing that out, fighting the creeping fascist authoritarianism of Trump and Republicans (something happening with the Republican cult long before Trump ran for President), regardless of how a person identifies politically? Are you suggesting we should just ignore it, because if we say anything, we are being too negative, being too partisan? Maybe if more had spoken out against Hitler, we wouldn't have had a Hitler.
So completely fed-up with cowardly media equivocation, when we need to clearly identify the problems, regardless of on which side the problems lay. The two sides are not equal. The two sides are not playing the same game. Democratic politicians TRY working with Republicans, don't play the politics of personal destruction the way Republican politicians do. There is no left-wing equivalent to right-wing media. Unless you consider CNN or NPR to be their equivalent. Is that what you're saying Brian, CNN is a major part of the problem? We don't have a LOYAL opposition anymore with the GOP. That's a VERY serious problem--a problem that is KILLING tens of thousands of Americans, making MILLIONS of Americans sick, causing untold senseless suffering and economic devastation. Let's quit pretending everyone is at fault. They're not. Media BE better, WE be better!
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@pneron2032 ~ The 'we,' 'us,' etc. is merely an informal usage, not to imply any collective. It's simply in avoidance of--and an aversion to--the pronoun. Not egotistical, but in opposition to that.
Furthermore, our arguments and position are not geared in furtherance of our own self-interest, but to the common good--regardless of political affiliation or ideology. We don't come here to collect upvotes or subscribers, or to try making money, only to become informed and share our perspective. To enlighten and be enlightened. To question and challenge, and to be questioned and challenged.
You accuse us of having an ideological blind spot, but you fail to identify or specify precisely what that might be. That doesn't question or challenge our beliefs; it appears solely to be the kind of typical Republican cult projectionism and transference constantly encountered, a logical fallacy that is intellectually dishonest--another trait constantly encountered when discoursing with the Republican cult.
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@LeeBee-hs6mj - These Russian and Republican cult propagandists with their sock puppets get paid extra for eliciting responses. They call MSM "fake news" while peddling lies. But if fake news, why do they come to MSM? Know plenty of actual Republicans, live among a whole town full of them, none of them (other than former Republicans) straying outside of their safe and secure delusional Reich-wing media bubble. Obviously, from their ridiculous denials, denigrations, deflections, and deceits these propagandists aren't really here to convince anyone, only to crap in the pool of truth and decency, turn people off, blowing a stench of hot flaming gas out their ass to obfuscate and bully. The more outrageous and ludicrous their trolling, the more responses they hope to generate, so the more $$$$$ they can pocket.
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The Molotov cocktail recipe:
Mix in equal parts of mental illness, willful ignorance, fear, hate, decades of 24/7 Reich-wing disinformation, misinformation, and crackpot conspiracy programming by Republican politicians, plutocrats, media and demagogues, add supplemental divisive Russian propaganda attacking and weakening America, stir well, garnish with COVID-19, and you have the mindless Republican cult descending into fascism, committing terrorism and sedition. Then, grab a stiff drink--you'll need it.
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@jansmitowiczauthor78 ~ "We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth and justice--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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Hypocritical Republican cult whines about cancel culture...
--while making death threats against those disagreeing with them
--while censuring any Republican leaders speaking the truth about January 6.
--while conducting a terrorist attack against the nation's Capitol in insurrection, beating and killing police, intent on killing lawmakers and the Republican VP, attempting a coup to overthrow the results of a free and fair election...just because their candidate lost.
--while trying to cancel out the votes of millions of Democrats and minorities by objecting solely to their votes, enacting numerous voter suppression measures, and engaging in egregious gerrymandering.
--while labeling MSM "the enemy of the people."
--while censoring and moving to remove fellow Republicans of integrity who speak up for truth and decency, and against GOP lies, terrorism, and crackpot conspiracy theories.
--while Reich-wing media turns off comments yet rants against "censorship."
--while Faux News fires its news editor for truthfully reporting that Arizona had been called for Biden.
--while trying to run a Biden campaign bus off the road.
--while Rep. Marjorie Greene prevents press from covering town hall meetings where nobody wore a mask.
--after seriously injuring over 140 police officers and killing one in the Republican cult's seditious terrorist attack of insurrection against the nation's Capitol, Republican cult terrorists threaten to call the cops on reporters trying to get their side of the story.
--after canceling out millions of American's jobs under George W. Bush's recession and the largest loss of jobs since the great Depression under Toxic Trump due to his gross incompetence, lies, and willful criminal negligence in responding to a global pandemic.
--while canceling out the lives of hundreds of thousands of their fellow Americans by spreading lies about COVID-19, politicizing a deadly pandemic, and refusing to follow common sense health guidelines.
--while threatening to cancel baseball's anti-trust exemption for exercising their right to free speech
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"We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
~ How Fascism Works, The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(Reference also Father Charles E. Coughlin and Henry Ford in regards to the first America First movement.)
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
Malcolm Nance: We Are In A Neo-Fascist Era In American Politics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_RxUAe2zeM
Political Analyst Tells Joy Reid: Forget Trumpism, IT’s Neo-Fascism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IgNp84JA4A
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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@dublinjazz1 ~ Very true. Fortunately, the Republican cult is the minority, and a shrinking, aging minority at that. Biden's resounding win is reaffirmation that the truth does matter in America, even if disappointed that it wasn't more of a landslide, or that more Republican enablers weren't given the boot by voters.
Unfortunately, the problem with the Republican cult existed before Toxic Trump, and will persist after he is gone, weakening and diminishing America. It's a thorny problem, deprogramming the 35% of the electorate brainwashed by Reich-wing media, demagogues, and politicians, with no easy solutions. A large part of the problem is one of ignorance, much of it willful; those in the Republican cult are being fed a steady diet of what they wish to hear and believe.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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--Instead of striving to bring out the best in people, Toxic Trump reveled in bringing out the very worst.
--Instead of uniting the country, Toxic Trump sought to divide us.
--Instead of abiding by and honoring our Constitution and the rule of law, Toxic Trump held them in disdain, disregarded them, and degraded them, running the most corrupt and least transparent administration in U.S. history.
--Instead of strengthening democracy and our cherished institutions, Toxic Trump worked to diminish and destroy them, inciting a terrorist insurrection against his own government, attempting a coup to steal an election.
--Instead of ensuring a peaceful transfer power after losing the election, Toxic Trump kept insisting against all evidence that he won, continuously repeating the Big Lie that the election was "stolen," inciting the terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol.
--Instead of confronting a serious threat to Americans with a deadly global pandemic, Toxic Trump lied to the American people about it, ignored it, and refused to take any responsibility for his gross homicidal criminal negligence that resulted in one out of every 800 Americans dying from COVID-19--over 411,000 American lives in just ten months, as many casualties as all of WWII.
--Instead of confronting the ever-increasing existential crisis from climate change and its harmful effects, Toxic Trump gutted regulations and withdrew from the voluntary Paris climate accords, exacerbating the problem and poisoning citizens.
--The eight largest single-day net drops in the Dow Jones Industrial Average occurred under Toxic Trump.
--Instead of creating jobs, Toxic Trump was the first President since the Great Depression to preside over a net loss of jobs over his tenure.
--Instead of lowering the national deficit, Toxic Trump increased it from 19.2 trillion to 27 trillion, eight trillion dollars in four years----the highest rate of increase of ANY President, ever.
--Instead of helping out the least among us, Toxic Trump widened the wealth and income disparity gap. 50% of his $1.9 trillion tax cut went to the top 5%; 65% went to the top 20%, with the top 40% benefiting next most, and the bottom 20% only receiving 1%. Moreover, his huge tax cut for big corporations and the wealthy left a legacy adding $1,000,000,000,000 a year to the federal deficit while lowering federal revenue.
--Instead of building bridges, humane immigration reform, and infrastructure, Toxic Trump built walls, cages, and concentration camps, separated children from mothers, allowed American infrastructure to decline and deteriorate, rejected economic opportunity.
--Instead of raising our standing and security in the world, Toxic Trump lowered and weakened it.
--Instead of draining the swamp, Toxic Trump turned it into a noxious overflowing sewer of Republican corruption.
--U.S. poverty level steadily rose under Reagan, steadily decreased under Clinton, steadily rose again under Bush, steadily decreased again under Obama after recovering from Bush's recession. Trump inherited a booming economy and declining poverty level from Obama, but the poverty level increased sharply during his last two years in office.
--Toxic Trump spent more time on the golf course and watching TV than he spent doing his job, golfing over 300 rounds while in office, almost always at his own golf courses, where he could enrich himself at taxpayer's expense.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law?
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Trump Has Sabotaged America’s Coronavirus Response
by Laura Garrett
In 2018, the Trump administration fired the government’s entire pandemic response chain of command, including the White House management infrastructure. In numerous phone calls and emails with key agencies across the U.S. government, the only consistent response I encountered was distressed confusion.
....
White House efforts included reducing $15 billion in national health spending and cutting the global disease-fighting operational budgets of the CDC, NSC, DHS, and HHS. And the government’s $30 million Complex Crises Fund was eliminated.
In May 2018, Trump ordered the NSC’s entire global health security unit shut down, calling for reassignment of Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer and dissolution of his team inside the agency. The month before, then-White House National Security Advisor John Bolton pressured Ziemer’s DHS counterpart, Tom Bossert, to resign along with his team. Neither the NSC nor DHS epidemic teams have been replaced. The global health section of the CDC was so drastically cut in 2018 that much of its staff was laid off and the number of countries it was working in was reduced from 49 to merely 10. Meanwhile, throughout 2018, the U.S. Agency for International Development and its director, Mark Green, came repeatedly under fire from both the White House and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. And though Congress has so far managed to block Trump administration plans to cut the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps by 40 percent, the disease-fighting cadres have steadily eroded as retiring officers go unreplaced.
Public health advocates have been ringing alarm bells to no avail.
Ronald Klain, who directed U.S. efforts on Ebola, has been warning for two years that the United States was in grave danger should a pandemic emerge. In 2017 and 2018, the philanthropist billionaire Bill Gates met repeatedly with Bolton and his predecessor, H.R. McMaster, warning that ongoing cuts to the global health disease infrastructure would render the United States vulnerable to, as he put it, the “significant probability of a large and lethal modern-day pandemic occurring in our lifetimes.” And an independent, bipartisan panel formed by the Center for Strategic and International Studies concluded that lack of preparedness was so acute in the Trump administration that the “United States must either pay now and gain protection and security or wait for the next epidemic and pay a much greater price in human and economic costs.”
https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/31/coronavirus-china-trump-united-states-public-health-emergency-response/
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It's that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don't care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another five months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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“I'm not scared of the Maos and the Stalins and the Hitlers.
I'm scared of the thousands or millions of people that hallucinate them to be "authority", and so do their bidding, and pay for their empires, and carry out their orders.
I don't care if there's one looney with a stupid moustache. He's not a threat if the people do not believe in "authority".” ― Larken Rose
Setting aside the sleazy immoral Reich-wing grifters at the top -- people like Trump, Congressional Republicans, Reich-wing demagogues and media -- the rank-and-file of the GOP has become a fascist cult. To be clear, Trump did not create the cult, it existed before him. He merely served as a unifying figure they chose to rally around and worship as their fool's gold god. Trump appealed to their basest nature and told them what they wanted to hear. Now, those Reich-wing grifters may have cultivated their cult to exploit for their own greed, power and vanity, but at least to some extent the Republican cult in turn seeks to exploit the GOP for their own various misguided purposes. They CHOOSE to be willfully ignorant, to believe or espouse the lies, because as a political calculus they shortsightedly see it as expedient to their ends.
What must also be taken into consideration are the characteristics of a cult. Why do people join a cult? Why do they choose to remain in a cult? No need to go into detail; the answers are largely common knowledge or easily researched. But it should be pointed out that in a complex world, the simplistic and rigid beliefs embraced by cults can be very alluring, no matter how fantastical and removed from reality. It should also be acknowledged that the Republican cult is not a monolithic entity, but an amalgamation of sects, including White supremacists, Christian nationalists, libertarians, sovereign nationals, anarchists, tax resistors, Qanon and other extremist fringe groups. Of course, not every Republican is an extremist, a fascist, or untethered from reality. But this latter more benign group is nevertheless part of the fascist Republican cult, complicit in their support of the whole, whether through their silent acquiescence and votes or willing assistance.
It's a very dangerous feedback loop, a vicious circle, one that as it sinks further into depravity its threat correspondingly rises, for as the Republican cult has over time been becoming increasingly more radicalized, we witness the election of more radical politicians to represent them, more radicalized Reich-wing media and demagogues to feed them propaganda. While some Republicans are leaving the GOP and some others are speaking out and trying to save their party, they constitute a weak minority, unfortunately.
In a normal, sane world, the Republican cult would have ended or been marginalized after the Mueller Report, after Trump's Ukraine shakedown and impeachment, after Trump's horrendous handling of a deadly global pandemic, after his election defeat, or after January 6th and his second impeachment. But that hasn't happened. Instead, the Republican cult continues to become increasingly more radicalized and extreme. As President Biden says, "We are in a battle for the soul of this nation." And that battle is far from over.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
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@HughJorgan1 ~ You're only proving our point, Doc, engaging in Whataboutism, leaving out vital context, showing yourself incapable of critical reasoning, independent thought, and objectivity.
Rep. Cynthia Johnson's comments were made after receiving threats from Reich-wingers she would be lynched. You omitted that critical context. Why? You also omitted critical context in the her words immediately following your truncated quote: that makes clear she was not about advocating violence:
In the same video, however, Johnson urged her supporters to "do things right and in order," and to "be smart," telling them: "Don't get upset with folks," or cuss people out, because "it never works." Instead, she said, hit them "in the pocketbook."
Hours after Michigan state Rep. Cynthia A. Johnson blasted Republicans for inviting President Trump’s personal attorney, Rudolph W. Giuliani, to hold a hearing last week with supposed witnesses of voter fraud, the Democratic lawmaker’s phone began ringing nonstop.
Over two days, Johnson, who is Black, received nearly 100 calls from angry Trump supporters, according to a Facebook post with 10 screenshots of the incoming calls, which she called “a sampling.” She had been doxed, she said, and now her harshest critics had a direct line to aim their racist threats.
“You should be swinging from a f------ rope, you Democrat,” one woman said in a voice mail laced with racial slurs, according to Johnson’s Facebook post linking to a recording of the message.
Despite all of that vital context you omit, partisan Republicans in Michigan's State Legislature removed her from four committee assignments. Yet, when faced with the far more violent and incendiary rhetoric and conspiracy theories denying school shootings resulting in mass deaths of children by Qanon Rep. Marjorie Greene in the U.S. CONGRESS, Congressional Republicans assign her to the House Education Committee, refusing to discipline her?
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@Daniel Jacobs ~ Israel has a “duty” to vaccinate Palestinians, the Palestinian Authority said in a statement it released on Jan 10. Not doing so constitutes “racial discrimination against the Palestinian people and a denial of their right to healthcare.” Until their public statement on the matter on Jan. 10, Palestinian officials had made contradictory claims on whether or not they had asked Israel for vaccinations. However, it should be noted that Israel never planned to provide Palestinians in the oPt vaccine doses under their legal and moral obligations as the military occupying authority, ordering only enough for Israeli citizens.
In a Jan. 14 statement, The UN’s body for human rights also called on Israel to ensure swift and equitable access to the COVID-19 vaccine for the Palestinian people, in accordance with its responsibilities as an occupying power under the Geneva Convention.
Israeli lawmaker Nitzan Horowitz, leader of Israel’s Meretz party, says that vaccinating Palestinians in the oPt is, “our moral obligation.”
Israeli rights organization Rabbis for Human Rights has similarly argued that Israel has a “moral imperative” to vaccinate Palestinians, especially in Gaza.
Gerard Rockenshlaub, the head of the World Health Organization Office for the occupied Palestinian territory told TIME on Jan 13 that “unequal access to essential vaccines is hardly anywhere as visible as it is in this particular context.”
Miriam Marmur, spokesperson for the Tel Aviv-based rights group Gisha, says, "Israeli authorities citing the Oslo accords is an example of how they do so at their convenience. In reality, Israel has undermined the ability of the Palestinian Authority and also of the de-facto Hamas Authorities in Gaza to actually take full responsibilities for health as was provided for in the Oslo agreement.” U.N. human rights experts say that the Oslo Accords must be “interpreted and applied consistently with international law, and cannot derogate from its broad protections,” according to the Jan. 14 OCHA statement.
The exclusion of Palestinians from Israel’s vaccination program is “reflective of a system of apartheid,” says Dr. Mustafa Al Barghtoy, a physician and former Palestinian minister who serves on the Palestinian health committee dealing with COVID-19. The injustice is underscored by the fact that hundreds of thousands of Israeli settlers are eligible to receive the vaccine, he says, while their Palestinian neighbors are not. Meanwhile, Israel will be vaccinating prison guards, but not the Palestinian political prisoners they oversee, he adds.
Before the PA formally said Israel is responsible for vaccinating Palestinians, the WHO had informally requested Israel provide vaccinations to inoculate frontline Palestinian health workers. Israel denied that request.
With the IDF moving throughout the West Bank, and some 130,000 Palestinians working in the settlements or Israel, not making the vaccine available is “counterproductive” in terms of achieving herd immunity.
The Palestinian Authority has made efforts to import vaccines independent of Israel. Its health ministry on Jan 11 announced it had given emergency approval to Russia’s Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine for use in areas it administers under limited Palestinian self-rule; it also says it has struck a deal with AstraZeneca for vaccines it expects to receive in late February. On top of that, the first shipment of vaccines under the WHO’s COVAX program could become available as early as February.
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Seems only fair that the least Toxic Trump could do, after slaughtering over 75,000 Americans with his ignorance, is to give the U.S. government his resort properties, to be quickly converted by the Army Corp of Engineers into public hospitals, medical facilities, and morgues. Too bad that's never going to happen--Turd Trump refuses to even sign order for FEMA to help fellow Americans out with OUR taxpayer money to bury their loved ones whom he killed, like they do in every other national emergency, despite repeated pleas to him, appealing for some shred of humanity, respect, and dignity be given for our dead.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It’s that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don’t care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn’t want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it’s more than hope—those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another four months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn’t really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
“The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.”
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump’s hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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@jvinal846 ~ So, why don't we track every single grain of sand that moves in the ocean if science is data? Because resources can be limited, the CDC tracks what is most likely to be of greatest concern. As circumstances change, CDC makes adjustments to what data they collect. As new information becomes available, data collection methods can change, health guidelines are updated.
CDC said focusing on cases where patients have severe disease helps “maximize the quality of the data collected on cases of greatest clinical and public health importance.” Walensky said it was a “misconception” that her agency was not doing enough to understand the patterns of infection in vaccinated people. CDC will soon release data on “tens of the thousands” of people across the country who have caught Covid-19 after vaccination. The agency is performing focused studies in dozens of academic medical centers, hospitals and nursing homes and across the country. It is also publishing model estimates every two weeks on the prevalence of Covid-19 variants in different geographic regions every two weeks, using sequencing data from testing labs nationwide.
Any reputable doctor would strongly advise getting the vaccine and any recommended boosters unless a person had a medical condition that would prevent them from receiving it. Any reputable doctor would advise Grandma to follow current CDC guidelines, which means wearing a mask indoors when in public around strangers even if vaccinated, to help protect herself and others, even though she is at less risk for getting infected or becoming severely ill.
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Asked by reporters about the protestors gathering against pandemic lockdowns, the vast majority not wearing face masks or observing social distancing, Toxic Trump--who tweeted his supporters to "Liberate" three states with Democratic governors critical to his reelection, against his own administrations pandemic edicts and guidance, and in foment of partisan rebellion against state's governors during a Federal National Emergency declared against this pandemic--said, "They seem to be very responsible people to me!"
Trumpette insanity that should have us ALL livid with outrage! Not only are these Republican cult fools putting themselves, their loved ones, and everyone else in danger, they are putting an increased burden upon our already over-stressed health care workers and system, FURTHER endangering them and those they would serve. They put all our other essential front-line workers at increased risk, as well--those we need for our groceries and supplies, to keep the government, electric, gas and other critical infrastructure functioning. What's really, really stupid about their aberrant, irrational partisan cult behavior, is that they are only PROLONGING restrictive measures to contain COVID-19, EXTENDING the time until our economy can reopen fully, REDUCING the amount our economy can be opened--all of which DAMAGES Trump's reelection chances! But that isn't the worst of it. These Trumpettes ignorantly protesting are KILLING actual Americans, just as surely as they put a gun to their heads and pulled the trigger. Toxic Trump shares responsibility, but it is these GOP idiots who own primary responsibility for manslaughter. They should be charged, tried, and convicted, in our view. At the very, very least, they should have all been arrested for public endangerment. Ludicrous and lethal ignorance!
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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Republicans: "I pledge allegiance to the lies of Trump, and to the racism, bigotry, crimes, corruption, crackpot conspiracies, delusions and ignorance for which he stands, one dysfunctional lunatic fascist cult under Trump, a nation forever divided, with plutocracy, autocracy and injustice for all."
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Republican cult placing political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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GOP cult: “Democracy is great…only so long as we can subvert it with lies, cheating, a multitude of Jim Crow voter suppression laws, egregious gerrymandering, obstruction, coups, election interference, sedition, and terrorism to gain power and maintain our corrupt, plutocratic, minority fascist rule!”
Have been saying since the start the top priorities for Democrats should be voting rights, eliminating the filibuster, and expanding the Supreme Court to 15 justices.
Farmer wakes up one morning, goes outside to milk his cows, and discovers his entire herd is missing! So, he then walks over nest door to where the Republican cult lives, notices them grinding a whole bunch of beef into hamburger, and asks them, "Did you see what happened to all my cows?"
Republican cult: "Yeah, they jumped over the moon."
Farmer: "Do you have any actual evidence of that?"
Republican cult: "No, because they landed on the dark side, and you can't see them over there. But we're conducting a bunch of investigations and fraudits, and we're confident evidence will soon emerge to prove it!"
Farmer: "You know, that sounds like a load of manure!"
Republican cult: "Well, that's what we all choose to believe!"
Yeah, let's not abolish the filibuster because of its racist history, which is being further perpetuated by not abolishing it! That's the warped logic of people like Charlie Brown Manchin and Silly Sinema.
Republican SCOTUS: "Racism is no longer a problem in America."
Republican politicians: "Great, let's pass Jim Crow voter suppression measures, gerrymander districts to discriminate against minorities, and use dog whistles to win elections."
Conservatives on SCOTUS have unfortunately already destroyed the Court's legitimacy, revealing themselves to be little more than racist partisan hacks.
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Ignore the "Jo" moniker, who is almost certainly one of Putiin's sock-puppet propaganda pawns, with a new YouTube account less than two months old. They get paid $$$$ for every reply they elicit, and seek to insult and leave incendiary BS to elicit more replies so they can earn more $$$$. Best not to encourage them, provide them more incentive, or play into their hands, which is to sow discord, division, and disinformation. Instead of addressing them directly, if you feel you absolutely must respond, leave an unaddressed general reply to the comment with factual information rebutting their propaganda.
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In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation—only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regurgitation
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump’s COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration…
Now reaching vacation destination!
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Who'd have ever equated voting in America with survival? But that's pretty much what it has boiled down to, hasn't it? Survival of ourselves, survival of our democracy, survival of our nation, and survival of our planet. The irony is that Republicans have always tried to paint Democrats as an existential threat...but in doing so it is actually they who have become exactly that.
Democrat voters need an even greater turnout in '22 and '24, put the final fork in Trumpism! Republicans want to engage in Jim Crow voter suppression laws, voter intimidation, and egregious gerrymandering? Republicans want to engage in corruption, gaslight their corruption, coverup their corruption? Republicans want to live in delusion and denial about the major problems confronting the nation and planet? Let's just prove that's fuel for the fire, and make their fascist antidemocratic corruption backfire on them!
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It's that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don't care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another five months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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Mike Lopez ~ Believe most Americans actually would choose universal health care if not for all the Republican disinformation, which the mindless Republican cult sheep are fed by their elite plutocrat masters, eat up, then spew back out, eager to be fleeced, then sacrificially slaughtered. Just like happened with the ACA. Too many people in the middle, too, get influenced by the disinformation. And too many Democrats are afraid of being falsely labeled socialist by the Republican cult smear machine.
I say screw them--they're going to falsely smear Democrats, anyway, so why not just go for it? Democrats need to grow a pair and fight for what's right, regardless. They'll soon discover it's a winning strategy, gaining us more respect and a larger base.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth and justice--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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All these Republicans betraying their fellow citizens, the rule of law, Constitution, democracy, and nation by their gaslighting, covering-up, and complicit silence -- they are betraying themselves for all to see to be just as corrupt as can be, no less so than Trump and his administration! Republicans don't seem to realize just how transparently obvious is their bad acting, how utterly unconvincing and how clearly phony the pretenses they air! Simply unbelievable watching this GOP cult in action, slowly but surely committing suicide with thousands of self-inflicted cuts, hoping they don't bleed out the nation, first!
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You don't get denialism without nihilism. As life-long conservative Bill Kristol astutely pointed our just recently in a tweet, the Republican party has embraced nihilism. Republicans still labeling COVID-19 a "hoax;" Republicans still refusing to wear masks or social distance after over half-a-million American fatalities from COVID-19; Congressional Republicans obstructing a COVID-19 stimulus bill certain to pass just to delay vital and urgently needed relief to Americans desperate for help; not one Congressional Republican in either chamber voting for the badly needed stimulus bill; Republican governors dropping mask mandates and all restrictions on businesses, heedless of rising case counts in their states and deadly new variants of the virus; and Republican leaders continuing to push the Big Lie that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen without evidence and in disregard of plentiful evidence and facts to the contrary, even AFTER their Big Lie incited a terrorist attack by a mindless Republican mob against the nation's Capitol in insurrection against the government, attempting to overturn a legitimate election, sieging, storming, sizing, sacking, defiling, defacing and disgracing America's citadel of, and temple to, democracy--these are all prime examples of nihilism.
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@nuqwestr ~ No assumption, the audio tape is very clear on what she said. No, she wasn't "debating;" as a top administrator, the Executive Director for Curriculum and Instruction, Gina Peddy was there instructing the teachers about how they were expected to comply with the new Texas SB3 law that had gone into effect. However, her disgraceful, despicable statement was actually misinformed about the requirements of the law which is certainly, as you say, problematic. Here is the direct quote:
Gina Peddy: "Make sure that if you have a book on the Holocaust, that you have one that has opposing, that has different perspectives."
I did confuse Gina Peddy as being the Superintendent, who was actually the one who issued the public apology, sending a letter to all the parents in the district, instead of the administrator Gina Peddy, who should have been the one apologizing.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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Robert Murrell ~ Repeatedly advise people to ignore the Russian sock puppets littering our discourse in MSM news outlet online platforms. Their methods may be crude and transparent, but they can still be effective in dividing and weakening America. One of their obvious methods is to crap in the pool, trying to spoil things so as to make people leave, no longer engage in speaking their mind. Believe they get paid extra for eliciting responses, as it demonstrates effectiveness. Tell people that not only will they accomplish more by ignoring, not playing into the hands of our enemies, but they will actually feel a whole lot happier! Which is all true.
Alternatively, if that strongly compelled to respond, do not respond directly, but leave a factual general reply to the initial user comment, instead of to them. Like adults talking to each other over the clamor of the unruly children seeking attention.
If and when we do engage with them, will call them out, exposing them, and will often turn the tables on them, pointing out how Putin is hurting them and Russia by using them in such a manner. Tell them how they may be clever and cunning, but they're not very smart, asking them if the money they get is enough for selling their souls. Very few Republican cult morons come to YouTube MSM news videos, as it tells them things they don't wish to know, so the assumption should automatically be that the trolls here are foreign agitators, imposters. Tag them with #moreRussiasanctions -- which can prove useful later to those capable of shutting them down.
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Agree that Mueller conducted himself appropriately with honor, while Barr disgraced himself and the DOJ. However, Mueller had an obligation to more fully support his work in the aftermath of his investigation and report, and he failed the American people in that regard. Also agree with Holder on the need for Democrat's current strategy, using courts to set precedent and help check Executive overreaches while overcoming this administration's obstruction, so that evidence, witnesses, and testimony can be obtained to further accountability and critically enhance the prospect for impeachment success. Fast and Furious was a Republican witch hunt, and Holder should never have been held in contempt of Congress for protecting a necessary Constitutional principle (not Obama). Holder is right about Comey being wrong, as well, but more forgiving than warranted. However, sharply disagree that Nixon should have been pardoned, or that Trump should be pardoned or not prosecuted. If Holder had his way, the Civil War wouldn't have been fought, because it "was too damaging to the nation!"
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Beginning to think that President Biden needs to declare martial law to get Covid-19 under control. It's appalling and sad that it's gotten to this point because of corrupt Republican leaders who care only about their political ambitions and nothing about their constituent's health or lives, and a bunch of anti-science morons lacking basic decency and even a modicum of common sense.
In a sane America----one where a third of the population wasn't programmed into a mindless, fascist Republican cult----we would have universal Covid-19 vaccine passports, masks and social distancing required wherever and whenever deemed necessary by public health officials, and mandatory vaccinations for all those able to receive it. Actually, in a sane America, none of that would be necessary, because everyone able would be voluntarily getting vaccinated, and everybody would be faithfully following CDC guidelines like wearing masks and socially distancing. They would be doing so because it is in there own best interest; because it is the moral and ethical thing to do to protect our fellow citizens; because we need to prevent the creation of new, more deadly variants; because it is the best way to recover the economy; because it is the best way to get things back to normal; because it is the civic, patriotic thing to do; and because it is just plain old-fashioned common sense.
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@migorpan2051 ~ False. According to the IRS, in 2017 the top 1% paid contributed only about 38% of federal revenue, which was before their tax burden went down significantly afterwards with Trump and Republican's tax cut for the wealthy. And while some people in the lowest tax bracket do see a net positive, most do not when factoring in ALL the taxes paid, whether through state and local taxes in addition to federal, sales tax, and other government fees. When looking at the whole picture, how is that many of the very richest can avoid paying any tax, or pay less tax in actual dollars than working middle-class folks? It's not equitable, especially when considering that income above a certain level is disposable; a person only needs so much money to pay for essentials such as food, housing, clothing, medical care, transportation, etc. Moreover, it isn't really good for our economy, and it creates a powerful class of plutocrats, which is unhealthy for our democracy. America experienced some of its greatest expansion in the 50's, when tax rates on the wealthy were far higher.
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--Instead of striving to bring out the best in people, Toxic Trump reveled in bringing out the very worst.
--Instead of uniting the country, Toxic Trump sought to divide us.
--Instead of abiding by and honoring our Constitution and the rule of law, Toxic Trump held them in disdain, disregarded them, and degraded them.
--Instead of strengthening democracy and our cherished institutions, Toxic Trump worked to diminish and destroy them.
--Instead of confronting a serious threat to Americans with a deadly global pandemic, Toxic Trump lied to the American people about it, ignored it, and refused to take any responsibility for his gross homicidal negligence.
--Instead of creating jobs, Toxic Trump was the first President since the Great Depression to preside over a net loss of jobs over his tenure.
--Instead of raising our standing and security in the world, Toxic Trump lowered and weakened it.
--Instead of draining the swamp, Toxic Trump turned into an overflowing sewer.
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** ~ Bad Vibration, Grave Reverberation ~ **
So much frustration and aggravation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Sick fascination, no reservation
Brutalization, victimization
Race relation identification
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation, only stagnation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Abomination seeks domination
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cooperation, collaboration!!!
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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From the video, it was made abundantly clear that the real problem lies with the voters who elect the politicians. But it's always easier to blame someone else, isn't it? I'm a Democrat, and although opposed to the idea of "not in my backyard" and the hypocrisy present in that mindset, I recognize that blame can't be placed solely on Republicans, that Democratic voters need to take responsibility for the laws and policies enacted, especially on the local, county, and state level where they enjoy heavy majorities.
I'm glad that this video exposes Democratic hypocrisy, I welcome the criticism, find it valid, but I think this video, despite a few sparse caveats, critically omits the inequalities in Republican majority states, towns, and districts. If a person is lower middle-income or poor, especially if a minority, it is my experience they generally fare far better where Democrats are in power than Republicans. This video also omits other forms of inequality and how Republicans at the national level and overall are the prime drivers of inequality. Most critically, it ignores how the GOP has abdicated its duty and responsibility to act as LOYAL opposition, instead descending into a fascist, nihilistic hyper-partisan cult. By failing to take into account the big picture, this opinion video fails to see the forest for the trees, which does the public a disservice.
“Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a President and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt
“Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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The American workplace isn't ready for an epidemic. Many Americans have no insurance, many others can ill-afford deductibles, still more can't afford to take off work when not feeling well; more than a third of jobs don't offer sick days, and even where available, they may have been already used, or employees try saving them for more serious illness--all making us extremely vulnerable to epidemics such as COVID-19. Many jobs in America involve low-paying work in the service industry, where employees are in constant contact with, and exposed to, a huge swath of the public on a daily basis. These folks typically don't get sick days or insurance benefits, and can ill-afford to miss any work because of loss of money and the threat of losing their job. Many are ill-educated, and may not pay sufficient heed to health warnings, further exacerbating the spread of the epidemic facing us all.
In plausible worst-case-scenarios given the pattern of the outbreak thus far, the country could experience acute shortages not just in ventilators but also health workers to operate them and care for patients; hospital beds; and masks and other protective equipment. Trump administration facing increasing criticism for not using these many weeks after learning of COVID-19 to prepare increased hospital capacity, stockpile medications, obtain adequate amounts of respirators and other equipment that will be vitally needed in the U.S..
“Even during mild flu pandemics, most of our I.C.U.s are filled to the brim with severely ill patients on mechanical ventilation,” said Dr. Eric Toner, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and an expert on health care preparedness. “I hope and pray Covid-19 turns out to be a moderate pandemic, but if not, we’re in serious trouble,” he said.
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"Republican Witness" in the title refers to a witness for the Republicans, not the political affiliation of the witness, doofus! Typical Republican, sees problems where none exist, can't see the problems that do exist! BTW, not judging Turley on political affiliation, but on content and substance of his words.
If you're not very sophisticated, know little about the Constitution and impeachment, and didn't listen objectively to the other three expert witnesses on Constitutional law, then you might come away with the wrong idea that Professor Turley was credible. You do realize that Turley's whole testimony ADVOCATES impeachment, simply asking for more witnesses, which Democrats very much want to have testify, but refuse to let Trump run out the clock in the courts with baseless legal appeals blocking evidentiary materials and their testimony?
Professor Turley disgraced himself and his employer, Georgetown University, getting taken to the mat repeatedly and completely outclassed by three experts from other universities. While clearly knowledgeable about Constitutional law and history, Professor Turley failed to present any rational academic argument against impeachment, choosing instead to turn a blind eye to high crimes, unprecedented total obstruction of Congress oversight and impeachment powers, this President's penchant for perversions and abuses of power, and dire national security concerns...while making false allegations, engaging in false equivalencies, projecting undue bias and playing coy. Although much value and greatly appreciate opposing perspectives, Professor Turley's performance was an act of bad faith and intellectual dishonesty, demonstrating a critical lack of integrity, of which Georgetown University, its students, and its alumni should all be ashamed, as it reflects very poorly on them and their fine institution. This was a fool willingly made a Republican cult tool, and the motivation appears more self-interest than altruistic--at a time when all sane, loyal hands are crucially required on deck.
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@stefanjakubowski8222 ~ Attempting to falsely equivocate both sides is increasingly becoming the latest Reich-wing tactic, because they can't make any rational defense for Trump and the GOP. The strategy is to get people to vote Republican because they're no worse than the other side-----which is a complete crock, of course. They say both sides are bad, but then they only want to switch the subject to denigrate Democrats. They say both sides are bad, but you know damn well they're all about voting Republican. They're the fools that think they're fooling people, but are foolishly only fooling their own fool selves.
The Fallacy (and Laziness) of Both-Sides-ism
By Anthony B. Robinson -April 5, 2020
This week I had a response from a reader in the mid-west that I want to build on for this post. This brother, whom I respect for reading my writing though we disagree with some regularity, pleaded,
“Please Tony, stop the Trump and Hannity and Right Wing bashing. The ‘shouting’ you mention . . . comes equally from both sides. As ugly as Fox News gets, MSNBC is just as ugly and noisy and lying . . . The Republican leadership is no better or no worse than the Democrats. Neither side is any cleaner than the other and, if you think so, you are only kidding yourself.”
He argued that this was a time for unity, and not a time for launching zingers at the other side. I get that, heck, I’ve written the same thing here, more or less.
But here’s where we part company. The Republicans and the Democrats are not the same. Underlying too much of contemporary reporting is a “false equivalency,” which posits that by representing “both sides” balance and objectivity are attained.
The popularized equivalent holds, “they’re (R’s and D’s) all the same.” Or “both sides (parties) are corrupt.”
As mentioned previously I’ve been reading Ezra Klein’s Why We’re Polarized. At the same time that I was pondering my reader’s response I happened to read Klein’s chapter, “The Difference Between Democrats and Republicans.”
Klein begins by talking about the scholarly team of Thomas Mann and Norm Ornstein. The two political scientists have been well-known, even famous in their world, for collaboration despite difference. Mann works for the liberal-leaning Brookings Institution. Ornstein for the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute. They have teamed up on books and regularly appeared on news shows, lending to their hosts the air of balance and fair-play. Then the duo became to feel qualms. These were expressed in their 2012 book, It’s Even Worse Than It Looks. Here’s an excerpt quoted by Klein:
“Today’s Republican Party . . . is an insurgent outlier. It has become ideologically extreme; contemptuous of the inherited social and economic policy regime; scornful of compromise; unpersuaded by conventional understandings of fact, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of it’s political opposition, all but declaring war on the government. The Democratic Party, while no paragon of civic virtue, is more ideologically centered and diverse, protective of the government’s role as it developed over the course of the last century, open to incremental changes in policy fashioned through bargaining with the Republicans and less disposed to or adept at take-no-prisoners conflict between the parties.
“This asymmetry between the parties, which journalists and scholars often brush aside or whitewash in a quest for ‘balance,’ constitutes a huge obstacle to effective governance.”
While there are individual exceptions, the Republicans as a political party have shown themselves less interested in actual governance than in throwing spanners in the works — or simply eliminating “the works,” as in the National Security Council office focused on global health and pandemics. This becomes a real problem in a crisis like the current one.
In the balance of Klein’s chapter he discusses structural factors that have kept the Democratic Party closer to accepted civic norms and established institutions (an argument borne out by Biden being their leading candidate for the nomination). Their language is restrained. But their point is clear — the two parties aren’t the same. To act as if they are is false.
The “Trumpification” of the GOP since 2016 is both a confirmation of Mann/Ornstein’s point, and a further reason to reject the “they’re all the same,” “both political parties are corrupt” argument. Today’s Trump-led Republican Party is, as my friend Tommy might put it, “a different breed of cat,” and it’s feral.
Anthony B. Robinson
Tony is a writer, teacher, speaker and ordained minister (United Church of Christ). He served as Senior Minister of Seattle’s Plymouth Congregational Church for fourteen years. His newest book is Useful Wisdom: Letters to Young (and not so young) Ministers.
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Should have been a nationwide lockdown March 1, with US population isolating as much as possible. The lack of testing necessitated it, but Trump administration had another major malfunction in leadership, which will directly senselessly cause the suffering and deaths of many more Americans who could have been spared. (First posted weeks ago; new study estimates 83% percent could have been saved if March 1 lockdown. Instead, in the absence of any rational coordinated national pandemic response due to Trump's criminal negligence, we now have states ignorantly reopening despite rising infection rates, in defiance of medicine, science, and common sense--despite 100,000 dead in less than three months from COVID-19. Another study has found that had the U.S. followed Taiwan's example, which allowed only SEVEN deaths, U.S. deaths would have been limited to only one-hundred. Instead of 100, we have over 100,000. That's just not acceptable.)
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**MEDIA FAIL** -- So, Krystal Ball is now universally declaring that Republicans are the elite! Remember, most big corporations run by Republicans, Republicans control Executive, Senate, and Judiciary in federal government, hold majority of states governorships and legislatures! Wow! Interesting! That is quite the assertion for Ms. Ball to make! Kind of agree, though why is she hiding behind a bunch of sophistry; why didn't she just come out and say so in plain English to make that point "Krystal clear" (TM)?
Taking a look below at the definition of elite(s) and the context, we find that Ms. Ball's usage shows she is using the fourth description in the first definition of the word (1. d). Obviously, it is really Republicans holding power in this country, they are the TRUE elite! Which is precisely why Ms. Ball would be wise to refrain from carelessly throwing out words meaninglessly, mindlessly parroting right-wing propaganda, adding to the confusion and problem! In truth, the reality is that all of America is the elite--from richest to poorest--and we all need to change! Blaming the politicians when it is we who elected them (setting aside for a moment the antiquated, undemocratic electoral college which should have been abolished long ago!) is not correctly identifying the problem, meaning the solution proposed is therefore likely to be unproductive, too.
Some words--such as elite--are easy to misuse and abuse, and it seems proper care should be taken when using them. Not all elites are necessarily part of the problem, either--no matter how elite is defined below, many can actually be a valued part of the solution! Moreover, there will always be a 'ruling' elite in any organized society, so just throwing the word out there means little or nothing on its own. Are they good rulers; good elected officials; altruistic public servants; dedicated to honoring human rights, the rule of law, and our Constitution? Or, are they bad?
Definition of elite (noun)
1. a) singular or plural in construction : the choice part : cream
Example: the elite of the entertainment world
b) singular or plural in construction : the best of a class
Example: superachievers who dominate the computer elite
c) singular or plural in construction : the socially superior part of society
Example: how the French-speaking elite … was changing
d) a group of persons who by virtue of position or education exercise much power or influence:
Example: members of the ruling elite
e) a member of such an elite —usually used in plural:
Example: the elites …, pursuing their studies in Europe
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Republicans constitute the minority, can't win on their merits, have sunk so low that they cheat to win elections. Under the Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, they've even taken to pushing Russian propaganda crackpot conspiracies to smear Democrats, using the DOJ and Congress to conduct phony investigations in an effort to unethically, if not illegally, influence elections. Most disturbing and troubling is the Republican cult that not only tolerates such nefarious aberrations, but encourages it, in short-sighted mindless tribalism willing to flush America down the toilet if perceived to benefit their power-obsessed partisan purpose of the moment. This reflects an abject failure not only in GOP so-called "leadership," but among that minority Republican electorate that enables such highly destructive damage to our democratic Republic.
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
― Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again." ― Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney
More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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Republicans are willing to gain and hold power at any cost...even if the price is our democracy!
Farmer wakes up one morning, goes outside to milk his cows, and discovers his entire herd is missing! So, he then walks over nest door to where the Republican cult lives, notices them grinding a whole bunch of beef into hamburger, and asks them, "Did you see what happened to all my cows?"
Republican cult: "Yeah, they jumped over the moon."
Farmer: "Do you have any actual evidence of that?"
Republican cult: "No, because they landed on the dark side, and you can't see them over there. But we're conducting a bunch of investigations and fraudits, and we're confident evidence will soon emerge to prove it!"
Farmer: "You know, that sounds like a load of manure!"
Republican cult: "Well, that's what we all choose to believe!"
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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@vonfloryanzia7176 ~Came up with this SUPER idea, really hoping it goes VIRAL! Dr. Osterholm's prescription for COVID-19 mandates leadership as its first priority. So, why don't Republicans just impeach Toxic Trump, like they should have done long ago after the Mueller Report, and again after the Ukraine shakedown? Then, afterward, all those Congressional Republicans can resign, as well.
Toxic Trump: "I'm the BEST, just absolutely CRUSHING the competition, with over one point three MILLION cases and 78,000 COVID-19 deaths! Nobody else even comes close! More than a third of the world's cases and a quarter of deaths--can you even imagine? Believe it or not, I accomplished in EIGHT WEEKS what it took the Vietnam War TWELVE YEARS to do! Those other weaklings and losers don't stand a chance, because we're going to keep right on winning as long as I'm in charge! Let's keep America great--get rid of all the excess baggage!"
A short-lived, perilous endeavor, the Toxic Trump University Med school program sadly went under preemptively with the premature demise of its proprietor, Professor Perish Pointlessly, whose pontifications upon, and predilections for, outside-the-box presumptuous presuppositions on poisonous prescriptions was so far ahead of his time...that he ran out of time, putting himself in a box! Pity. The precocious Professor Perish Pointlessly presented such a pleasing paradigm of parody!
VACATION-CRAZED TRUMPETTE SUICIDE TERRORISTS ARE STORMING STATE CAPITOLS ARMED TO THE TEETH!!!
They are bound and determined--come hell or high water--to kill themselves and as many other Americans as possible, masquerading as protestors, while using a deadly biological agent with no known antidote!
Democrats: Put the least among us first to make us all strong.
Republicans: Put themselves first, prey upon the weak, pretending to be Christian and patriotic, while they weaken and destroy us with their ignorance, malevolence, and avarice.
CDC to DHS: "We have a new COVID-19 epicenter, now located in the White House, requiring immediate quarantine and eradication!"
Toxic Trump, at coronavirus press briefing 04/20/20, "We're looking at maybe "only" 50-60,000 deaths in the U.S.!" Just three days later, the toll surpassed 50,000; six days after that, it went over 61,000. On 05/04/20--a mere two weeks after Trump's delusional pronouncement--the U.S. reached 70,000 deaths. Now, because of some state and local governments opening up their economies too soon is blatant disregard of Trump administration's own guidelines, the CDC Mayday report projects new highs of 3,000 deaths and 200,000 new cases per DAY by June. That would put us at 100-150,000 deaths--just by the end of June, alone. That's acceptable, here in America? Since when?
04/22/20 saw a new worst of nearly 2,700 COVID-19 deaths in a single day, topping the nearly 2,400 Americans lost on 04/14/20. Trump's claim was simply more of his wishful thinking, lies, and bogus claims. Clueless, disinterested, deranged, disengaged, and detached from reality are not the qualities you want in a leader during a major global pandemic crisis. That's a lethal combination that has already cost more American lives in just eight weeks than the Vietnam War in its entire twelve-year span.
It's like rowing or paddling upstream, or into a stiff wind--if you ease-up too much or stop, you will only have to paddle twice as hard to make up all the previous hard-earned progress that was quickly lost. Failing to maintain isolation and other measures for sufficient time to stop the spread of COVID-19 transmission will cost U.S. more in time, effort, money, and LIVES. Reopening and relaxing measures too early in defiance of the science and data is the ultimate in colossal ignorance, greed, ruthlessness, and arrogance.
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If you're not very sophisticated, know little about the Constitution and impeachment, and didn't listen objectively to the other three expert witnesses on Constitutional law, then you might come away with the wrong idea that Professor Turley was credible. You do realize that Turley's whole testimony ADVOCATES impeachment, simply asking for more witnesses, which Democrats very much want to have testify, but refuse to let Trump run out the clock in the courts with baseless legal appeals blocking evidentiary materials and their testimony?
Professor Turley disgraced himself and his employer, Georgetown University, getting taken to the mat repeatedly and completely outclassed by three experts from other universities. While clearly knowledgeable about Constitutional law and history, Professor Turley failed to present any rational academic argument against impeachment, choosing instead to turn a blind eye to high crimes, unprecedented total obstruction of Congress oversight and impeachment powers, this President's penchant for perversions and abuses of power, and dire national security concerns...while making false allegations, engaging in false equivalencies, projecting undue bias and playing coy. Although much value and greatly appreciate opposing perspectives, Professor Turley's performance was an act of bad faith and intellectual dishonesty, demonstrating a critical lack of integrity, of which Georgetown University, its students, and its alumni should all be ashamed, as it reflects very poorly on them and their fine institution. This was a fool willingly made a Republican cult tool, and the motivation appears more self-interst than altruistic--at a time when all sane, loyal hands are crucially required on deck.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast would soon come to consume them.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of corruption, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their deal with the Devil.
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'IMMIGRATION FOR DUMMIES' -- by Activated Head of Fatherland Security, Kevin K. McAleenan
"So...What I did was I worked really hard with Trump administration to make draconian changes to immigration policies that creates bottlenecks, backlogs, and a HUGE increase in detention rates. So...We did this despite knowing that our lack of capabilities could only lead to greatly overcrowded facilities (concentration camps, if you prefer); poor conditions; human rights abuses against children, refugees, and migrants of color; lasting traumatic damage done to the children; vastly increased costs to the American taxpayer; the demoralization, desensitization, destabilization, depletion and destruction of our vital government workforce securing our borders and dealing with immigration. So...Just to be clear here, at the end of the day, the only goal was to extort money from Congress by torturing children and innocent people we hold hostage. Call it kidnapping if you want. So...Then we take the money and hand it over to our crony friends running the "detention centers" that they may profit from all this misery! So...You can see how our diabolical plan worked to perfection, we got our ransom money for CBP. So...That's why I'm working with my Republican cohorts in Congress to run the same scam again for ICE! So...Yes, we were experiencing difficulties achieving the profit margins anticipated with our wall street, but that open-ended venture continues to pay dividends for our money men and sycophants, as well!"
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Doc 'Babbling' Brix: "I'm very scrupulous about washing hands, social distancing, protecting the most vulnerable amongst us. That's why we don't wear masks or social distance amongst ourselves or the President! Which is why so MANY Americans, states, counties, and municipalities are following my excellent example! Which is why we have EXPLODING coronavirus cases and deaths!"
First, it was President Trump's personal valet testing positive for COVID-19; now, it's V.P. Pence's press secretary with COVID-19--who is also the wife of Presidential advisor Stephen Miller! Plus, at least ELEVEN Secret Service agents and several other staff infected. Plus, heads of NAIC, FDA, CDC and VP Pence all exposed, isolating. Been watching those coronavirus "breeding" sessions by the White House with increasing incredulity and alarm, like a terrible trainwreck about to happen, speeding towards inevitable doom. Only now, five months after learning of this deadly pandemic, with the White House becoming an epicenter of disease, does the Trump administration FINALLY start taking this crisis seriously, following its own guidelines issued months ago.
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@emmawillard1261 ~The highly-coveted Top Prize for our contestants today is an all-funeral-expenses-paid romantic getaway for two aboard the magnificent Corona Queen, taking you for an exclusive extended cruise, to a secluded stay on the exotic, remote, tropical Isle of Covid-19, where the fevered fun is SUPER-contagious, and you will luxuriously bask in fabulous face masks and rejuvenating oxygen respirators, with the wonderful scent of disinfectant surrounding you! Sure to be a lifetime experience for some lucky few! Just remember--the couple that dies together, stays together!
BONUS SPECIAL CASES: Providing accompanying entertainment is Chief Jester Roberts and the entire Trump comedy team, featuring the Clown Commander, for laughs and coughs! There just ain't no cure, for them ocean cruise blues! Bon voyage!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwE7EFyQDm0 (audio version)
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@emmawillard1261 ~We got a MAJOR malfunction in the White House responsible for senselessly killing thousands of Americans, but Republicans don't care, want the killing of Americans to continue, want to give him a shot at four more years of chaos, confusion, mayhem, devastation, degradation, and destruction! America is in serious trouble with another disease besides coronavirus, with Trump just the glaring, flaring symptom! No vaccine for ignorance, unfortunately.
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This June, Rep. Anthony Gonzalez vote AGAINST establishing the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.
In August he voted AGAINST the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. In March he voted AGAINST the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act and AGAINST the For the People Voting Rights Act.
He also opposes environmental protection, financial sector regulation, humane immigration policy, labor rights and wages, LBGTIQ rights, avoiding default, countering Russian interference, and women's rights.
Gonzalez now avows he is not going to let our democracy fall, so he's going to retire, instead of staying in a position of power where he could do the most good? That makes absolutely no sense. His actions are incongruent with his words. His voting record, even recent, shows his disdain for democracy. He has been an enabler of Republican fascism throughout his career, and now he is bailing because he doesn't like the poisoned fruit from the tree he helped sow and cultivated? No admission of responsibility for his role in helping create the divisive, toxic environment and being silently complicit for so long? Sure, he is finally speaking the truth about the Big Lie and the evil being perpetrated against our Constitution by the GOP that most of us have been condemning for months, but his words ring hollow.
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@christopherclements7155 - Ironically, more established branches of Christianity, like Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, Episcopalian understand and appreciate the separation of church and state, as do many, if not most of their followers. Conversely, Baptists--which were largely instrumental in establishing that doctrine in America to keep their faith secure and themselves safe from persecution--and Evangelicals are the ones most wanting to blur or erase that demarcation line.
Just yesterday saw there was a group of such misguided individuals conducting a hate protest outside of a mosque, with signs also expressing religious bigotry against Mormons!
Both bigotry and gross ignorance (often willful) of American government and its history among the Republican cult is pervasive and highly destructive. America didn't even have a Catholic President until 1960 because of fears the Vatican would have too much influence upon our government! We've come a long way, baby...backwards!
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Hypocritical Republican cult whines about cancel culture...
--while making death threats against those disagreeing with them
--while conducting a terrorist attack against the nation's Capitol in insurrection, beating and killing police, intent on killing lawmakers and the Republican VP, attempting a coup to overthrow the results of a free and fair election...just because their candidate lost.
--while trying to cancel out the votes of millions of Democrats and minorities by objecting solely to their votes, enacting numerous voter suppression measures, and engaging in egregious gerrymandering.
--while labeling MSM "the enemy of the people."
--while censoring and moving to remove fellow Republicans of integrity who speak up for truth and decency, and against GOP lies, terrorism, and crackpot conspiracy theories.
--while Reich-wing media turns off comments yet rants against "censorship."
--while Faux News fires its news editor for truthfully reporting that Arizona had been called for Biden.
--while trying to run a Biden campaign bus off the road.
--while Rep. Marjorie Greene prevents press from covering town hall meetings where nobody wore a mask.
--after seriously injuring over 140 police officers and killing one in the Republican cult's seditious terrorist attack of insurrection against the nation's Capitol, Republican cult terrorists threaten to call the cops on reporters trying to get their side of the story.
--while canceling out the lives of hundreds of thousands of their fellow Americans by spreading lies about COVID-19, politicizing a deadly pandemic, and refusing to follow common sense health guidelines.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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"I have a chapter in the book on malignant narcissism as a characteristic of destructive cult leaders. These are people who have a deep need for grandiosity, to be the center of attention, who need to control others, and who lack empathy and lie without hesitation. These are psychological traits perfectly attuned to manipulation and projection.
But the malignant part is about sociopathic tendencies. Almost every cult leader thinks he’s above the law, which is why he’s allowed to persecute and harass or harm anyone he wants. When someone really believes this, they can rationalize all kinds of destructive behavior."
--Steven Hassan, The Cult of Trump
Narcissistic cult leaders like Trump thrive on chaos. They'll create crisis situations. When they walk in the room, you never know if they're going to be good and kind-hearted or be mean and call someone out or create some kind of dangerous situation.
A cult leader is also a master of manipulating information, so that his followers will only trust details that come from him. This is what Trump accomplishes every time he cries "fake news" or discredits a reporter as "terrible" or "nasty." He knows that Americans have access to all sorts of information, so he has to make his followers distrust other sources.
A cult environment like "Q" and Trumpism discourages critical thinking, making it hard to voice doubts, when everyone around you is displaying dogmatic faith and obedience to their leader. A process of indoctrination is in use that can be seen as coercive persuasion, or thought reform, commonly called "brainwashing". The resulting internal conflict, known as cognitive dissonance, keeps them trapped, as each compromise makes it more painful to admit that you've been deceived..
“Shared psychosis”—which is also called “folie à millions” [“madness for millions”] when occurring at the national level or “induced delusions”—refers to the infectiousness of severe symptoms that goes beyond ordinary group psychology.
When a highly symptomatic individual is placed in an influential position, the person’s symptoms can spread through the population through emotional bonds, heightening existing pathologies and inducing delusions, paranoia and a propensity for violence—even in previously healthy individuals.
Destructiveness is a core characteristic of mental pathology, whether directed toward the self or others. When mental pathology is accompanied by criminal-mindedness, the combination can make individuals far more dangerous than either alone.
In my textbook on violence, I emphasize the symbolic nature of violence and how it is a life impulse gone awry. Briefly, if one cannot have love, one resorts to respect. And when respect is unavailable, one resorts to fear. Trump is now living through an intolerable loss of respect: rejection by a nation in his election defeat.
Violence helps compensate for feelings of powerlessness, inadequacy and lack of real productivity."
--Bandy Lee
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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We all see the change, but some just don't want to admit it. Moved back north to southern Wisconsin in '84 after living in Arizona and Texas for seven years. Even back then, the change was noticeable, more warm summer nights, milder winters, and it was something I remarked upon at the time to family and friends. The temperatures even back then were more like that experienced about 200 miles south in northern Illinois where I spent the first eight years of my life. Since '84, the change has continued at what I estimate is about the same pace of warming as that noticed from the previous back in '84. Sure, we'll sometimes still get an arctic blast with a polar vortex, or a big snowfall. But the snow doesn't stay on the ground the way it used to do. We got a snow in late November or December before, it was there until spring, although sun, wind, compaction and evaporation would somewhat reduce it. Now, periodically all the snow melts during the winter as temperatures will rise above freezing long enough to melt all but the bigger compacted snow piles plowed or shoveled. Snowmobiling used to be a big thing, but now many no longer own them around here because there is less and less opportunity to use them, and those still fanatics are often now traveling to the upper half of the state to go snowmobiling. Now, the grass is staying green into December and even January sometimes. Growing up, we would experience only one or two nights out of the year when you could sleep outdoors without a sleeping bag in this part of Wisconsin, but now there are many such nights during the summer. Used to be you could get by without air conditioning here, it was more of a luxury than a necessity. Now, it's pretty much a necessity. Yeah, if you live up north, who doesn't like more warmer weather? But knowing AGW is leading us towards imminent and inevitable disaster, seeing some of the related disasters occurring from it, knowing how it is adversely affecting plants, animals and environments, it is a guilty pleasure, one that I personally don't believe is worth the trade-offs. Never thought I'd see the day when I'd say bring back colder weather, but here we are.
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@co7513 ~ You're cherry-picking a part of my reply to contest while ignoring the rest, Doc! Besides, we're talking here specifically about Mali, not all of Western Africa. According to a number of sources checked, yams are not listed as a significant part of Mali cuisine or diet.
Some tropical coastal West African nations and also Ethiopia do cultivate the indigenous yellow yam where growing conditions are more favorable to the species, and it's true that Mali does import some of those yams. However, cassava, another starchy root, is more suitable to environmental conditions in Mali and is more widely grown and consumed there than yams, as is true with many African nations. Nonetheless, millet, rice, and corn remain the major food crops in Mali, and are staples of their diet.
But back to your cherry-picking aspect, your narrow focus on what is likely an irrelevant particular at the expense of the larger picture:
--There is no credible evidence that yams or maca tubers contribute to hyperovulation.
--There is no evidence that the mother of the nonuplets consumed yams in quantity, or even that she consumed them at all.
--Other cultures consume significant quantities of yams, yet do not display high incidence rates of hyperovulation.
--Higher incidence rates of hyperovulation among women in certain ethnic groups may well be due to genetics rather than any dietary intake.
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@co7513 ~ Wasn't trying to put words in your mouth. Think that if you had explained yourself as you did in this last reply, you wouldn't have been misunderstood. All too often, there are those who try to disingenuously impugn others like that by cherry-picking certain things while ignoring everything else, particularly the more critical components of what is said.
Also, wasn't originally trying to suggest that yams were never eaten in Mali, so I think you misunderstood me, as well. As a native African, you surely must understand that all African----or even all West African----nations are not alike in terms of culture, cuisine, growing conditions, crops, and food staples. Many people in Africa are dependent upon the food they can grow, and this is especially true in Mali, a relatively impoverished nation which has undergone a security crisis for nearly a decade, where some 80% of the workforce is involved in food production, much of it for subsistence.
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While true, that's such a lame argument, because actions speak much louder than words. And what you're saying is that Thomas Jefferson was a first-class hypocrite, which isn't flattering or helping his case any.
We won't stop acknowledging that Jefferson was an integral and influential player in our nation's founding, but that must also be balanced against the fact that he was a slaveholder, who raped at least one of the slaves he owned, siring children by that Black slave that were thereupon born into slavery. So, he was a rapist who enslaved his own children. Is that something of which Americans should be proud? No matter what his good deeds, do his bad deeds justify setting him upon a pedestal as a model for Americans to emulate? Can't we respect the good he did, AND condemn the bad? Can't we accept that our nation's founding fathers were not infallible, and that we need not blindly idolize them? Moving a statue of him to a museum where it can be viewed by more people with his FULL history detailed to educate Americans about our checkered past is wholly appropriate.
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@iam3mondoot ~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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So we get more people like Matt Haetz, Jim-Gym Jordan, and Marjorie Greene? So we punish both sides for the faults of one side? So we lose all that valuable experience and accumulated institutional knowledge that takes many years to acquire in Congress? So we take away the choice of American voters? So we get more lame-duck politicians with nothing to lose and therefore no real accountability in their final term? No, thanks! Term limits are not the solution, they are anti-democratic. However, do agree with limiting Presidents to two terms because of the tremendous power wielded by one person in the Executive Branch, and to prevent de-facto kings.
The problem isn't lack of Congressional term limits. The problem is Citizens United, dark money, unlimited campaign financing. The problem is the voters who keep electing bad or corrupt elected officials. The problem is Reich-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats and politicians creating a mindless Republican cult. The problem is the gullibility and willful ignorance of American voters in that Republican cult allowing themselves to be manipulated and exploited at their own expense and the expense of the nation for the profit of those Reich-wing plutocrats, politicians, demagogues, and media outlets. The problem is the revolving door between government and industry. The problem is Reich-wing politicians placing personal and party interest over what is best for the country. Congressional term limits are a cosmetic fix that would do as much or more harm than good...while not actually addressing or fixing any of the root causes of the problems faced.
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Rep. Cheney gave a powerful and defiant speech speaking truth to the dysfunctional Republican party to which she belongs, which has abdicated its duty to be LOYAL opposition----except for one thing. Republicans did not end communism in the former USSR or cause its dissolution. A consistent foreign policy by both Democratic and Republican leaders in the Executive Branch and Congress (and our NATO allies, as well) over decades played a role, but it was the work and decisions of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev that were the decisive factor and which deserve most credit. He instituted policies of glasnost and perestroika, changed Soviet law to allow other parties to compete against the Communist Party, motivated because he saw clearly that Russia was dysfunctional, its costly imperialism, political and economic structure moribund and detrimental to Russia's progress. For his courage and actions, for speaking the truth to the Russian people, Gorbachev paid a much higher price politically than is Liz Cheney currently, who is displaying the same kind of courage as he did.
Gorbachev received the Nobel Peace prize in 1990 for all that he did for Russia and ending the Cold War, and it is wrong for Cheney to falsely attribute all credit to her Republican party for the results largely due to his independent decisions, engaging in history revisionism for the benefit of her political party. Isn't that exactly why the GOP----and Liz Cheney----find themselves in their present predicament in the first place? So, it is heavily ironic that Cheney does not extend the same due for his bravery and patriotism in telling the truth to the Russian people that she is exhibiting telling the truth about the 2020 election to the American people. It is also heavily ironic that the credit she is falsely attributing to the Republican party for the USSR becoming more democratic comes at a time when the Republican party is corroding democracy and seeking to make America less democratic.
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MEDIA FAIL -- If you like your news "safe," than CBS will take all the hard edges off for you, leaving you with half of a muddled story that leaves one more confused than informed. CBS, trying much, much TOO hard to be non-partisan, constantly fails to make the distinction between good and bad, right and wrong, in a way that is unhelpful to viewers and harmful to this nation. CBS has a long way to go to catch up with competitors MSNBC and CNN when it comes to presenting the news, and would do well to learn from them how to cut through being manipulated by the Republican B.S.! Ironically, like this host on Face the Nation, who can be very competent at times, but other times one is left just scratching their head! Which is why the frequency of using CBS as a trusted source personally keeps decreasing. CBS needs to stop trying to please everyone--which only winds up pleasing no one, anyway--and start taking their journalistic responsibilities more seriously. One can be fair and objective sticking to the facts and logical inferences, even when one side is completely in the wrong! No need to search for something to make both sides appear in the wrong, lending false moral equivalencies while media pats themselves on the back for being unfair and calling it "fair."
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We got Big Brag Daddy Baghdad Bob broadcasting direct from Washington, D.C. daily, with Toxic Trump and a revolving cast of his sycophantic minions! Happy talk, disinformation, empty promises, idle threats, vicious smears, bogus pandemic models, dog whistles, continuous crackpot conspiracies--they got it all, and more!
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and disturbing. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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Get big money out of politics, and get corrupt politicians like Manchin and Sinema sucking up to the corporate trough voted out.
• A summer sting operation by Greenpeace had an Exxon Mobil lobbyist reveal that he met with Manchin weekly to try to persuade him to weaken Biden’s climate agenda (and he’s not the only rich guy who gets Manchin regularly on the line). Manchin has received more donations than any other Senator from oil, gas, and coal industry.
• An August piece in Harper’s noted that the West Virginia Democratic Party, which the senator played no small role in gutting, remains entirely under Manchin’s influence and control. It also mentions how Manchin leveraged his influence within the Senate to get plush government appointments for people close to him, including his wife.
• A September report from Type Investigations and the Intercept revealed that Manchin is currently invested in multiple coal companies that are run by his son, and that, even though the elder Manchin’s investments are in a blind trust, he has personally made $4.5 million from them during the time he has spent in the Senate (11 years to date).
• This is likely the Manch’s last term. In this remaining time, he seems to be simply looking out for his sources of wealth, including the ones that come from his son’s coal incinerators. It wouldn’t be the first time a Manchin family member used conflicts of interest to their advantage. Joe’s wife, Gayle, previously served as head of the West Virginia Board of Education and used her position to try to require the state’s schools to purchase EpiPens. EpiPens are manufactured by the Big Pharma juggernaut Mylan, whose former CEO was Heather Bresch—Manchin’s daughter, who stepped down after it was revealed she helped fix the prices of EpiPens in collusion with Pfizer. Family helping family: It’s a highly lucrative graft.
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@nomic5921 ~ Rittenhouse's defense lawyers presented a far better case than you did, but you seem to think your narrative and glossing over of some key facts is supposed to convince me, otherwise you can accuse me of not being open minded about this. Is that about right?
Except my reply here wasn't about my position, per se, but about where in disagreement with the OP's comment. Obviously, you have strong convictions, but do you consider yourself to be open minded about this case? If not, do you automatically assume that everyone else is close minded and glued to what they already believe? If you didn't feel minds could be changed, then why are you here trying to influence how people think about this case, why try to change my mind? Your reply to me would seem to indicate that you disagree with the OP's comment, at least in that respect. The only other logical explanation is that you agree with the comment that you and everyone else is close minded about this case. But if the latter, even had you been successfully able to prove me not open minded, that wouldn't prove that everyone else is close minded.
Do you think that "everyone (including you) is acting like there are more facts to discover and more conclusions to be drawn?" Do you think the comment was drawing its own conclusions from this affair? What do you see as the implications of what happened and the verdict? Do you think everyone else will see those implications, or see the same implications as you?
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@anneshirley4942 ~ Grosskreutz is a certified paramedic and has been employed as such, so he actually was an EMT, not just a poser like Rittenhouse. Being in his mid-twenties, Grosskreutz was an adult at the time, also unlike Rittenhouse, so how could he have an illegal gun? Unlike Rittenhouse, Grosskreutz was never charged in this incident with possession of an illegal weapon. The point of the testimony cited, which you seem to be being deliberately obtuse about, was that the Daily Caller reporter had covered a number of these protests and other events, yet had never witnessed any EMT carrying an AR-15 or other long gun. That reporter did mention once before seeing an EMT that carried a handgun.
No evidence that anyone was 'pursuing" Rittenhouse right after he killed Rosenbaum. It wasn't until he fled the scene that he was pursued as an active shooter trying to escape justice. The same FBI video that showed Rosenbaum chasing Rittenhouse showed Rittenhouse first chasing Rosenbaum.
At any rate, as already explained to another here, this comment and my reply to it aren't really about debating this case, per se. While I wanted to be up front about where I stood, it was used as an example; my reply was really about where I agreed and disagreed with the comment. I would prefer here to discuss the topic at hand, which discusses the broader social overview, than get sidetracked in debating the particulars and merits of the verdict and morality involved with this case. Have debated and discussed those things extensively elsewhere, and will continue to do so where more appropriate.
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Maybe as high as 30% of hard-core Republican cult. Still, most Republicans in my conservative town have taken down their Trump-Pence campaign signs, conceding his defeat, so it may not even be that high. That said, the Republican cult isn't going away, and it's very vocal and active, belying its minority status. However, it should also be remembered that the political affiliation in America has become mostly those identifying as Independent, followed by Democrat, then Republican. Fortunately, most Independents tend to align themselves more with Democrats than Republicans. Personally, find most Independents to be apolitical, apathetic, or rather uninformed about politics and the issues, easily manipulated and swayed, vulnerable to GOP disinformation. It's how we got an election that wasn't the landslide for Biden and repudiation of Republicans that should have happened.
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Republican cult morons rail against the very "elite" they keep voting for, who give tax cuts to the rich and have created the greatest income inequality and wealth disparity in American history.
Why? They are driven by the divisive fear and bigotry programmed into them 24/7 by the Reich-wing media and propaganda owned or funded by the plutocracy. It's absolutely Orwellian, and it began around 1984 in America. What is witnessed now is just the rotten results from the poisoned tree bearing fruition. It's the disease killing America that existed long before COVID-19, and which is likely to persist long after.
Republican cult going to believe what the Republican cult wants to believe, whatever the truth, whatever proof, whatever anybody says. "Healing" the country means deprogramming the 30-40% of Americans deep in cultdom. That needs to be recognized, acknowledged, and acted upon if we truly wish to revive the patient, America, and restore it to glory.
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Hope for the best, but expect the worst. Don't think they will find anyone left alive at this point, sadly. This tragedy was completely avoidable. Apparently, the 9.1 million dollars projected for repairs nearly three years ago had risen to 15 million just before the collapse. Some or even many of the owners may have leased out units in the building, and because they didn't live there, suspect they balked at paying the large sum of money needed for repair, as the lessor may have been prohibited from passing those costs along to the leasee until the lease expired and a new lease drawn up, and may have also been reluctant in any case because the higher lease costs would translate to people moving elsewhere cheaper at the end of their lease to escape paying the higher lease, while also making it harder for condo owners to find tenants for any existing or resulting vacancies. It is often common practice, or at least not unusual, for people to buy one or more condo units as business investments, then lease them out to others. So, have to wonder how many of the condos were leased out by the owners. At any rate, that fateful, misguided decision to procrastinate will have cost owners not only more money, but has also cost some owners and blameless lessees their very lives.
It is the dead who will have paid the highest price. Surviving owners and any lessees are getting help in relocating and recovering. But as a result of the owners not having the needed repairs done in a timely manner, it is ultimately taxpayers who will be footing most of the bill for this avoidable tragedy.
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06/20/20 -- 2,331,000 confirmed cases; 122,000 deaths.
06/19/20 -- 2,297,000 confirmed cases; 121,400 deaths.
06/18/20 -- 2,264,000 confirmed cases; 120,700 deaths.
06/17/20 -- 2,235,000 confirmed cases; 119,900 deaths.
06/16/20 -- 2,199,000 confirmed cases; 118,800 deaths.
06/15/20 -- 2,182,000 confirmed cases; 118,200 deaths.
06/14/20 -- 2,162,000 confirmed cases; 117,800 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
06/13/20 -- 2,139,000 confirmed cases; 117,500 deaths. Latest projection has 200,000 Americans dead from COVID-19 before October.
06/12/20 -- 2,117,000 confirmed cases; 116,800 deaths.
06/11/20 -- 2,090,000 confirmed cases; 116,000 deaths.
06/10/20 -- 2,066,000 confirmed cases; 115,100 deaths.
06/09/20 -- 2,046,000 confirmed cases; 114,100 deaths.
06/08/20 -- 2,026,000 confirmed cases; 113,000 deaths.
06/07/20 -- 2,007,000 confirmed cases; 112,500 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
06/06/20 -- 1,976,000 confirmed cases; 111,900 deaths.
06/05/20 -- 1,949,000 confirmed cases; 111,000 deaths.
06/04/20 -- 1,924,000 confirmed cases; 110,100 deaths.
06/03/20 -- 1,902,000 confirmed cases; 109,100 deaths.
06/02/20 -- 1,881,000 confirmed cases; 108,000 deaths.
06/01/20 -- 1,860,000 confirmed cases; 107,000 deaths.
05/31/20 -- 1,837,000 confirmed cases; 106,200 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/30/20 -- 1,817,000 confirmed cases; 105,600 deaths.
05/29/20 -- 1,793,000 confirmed cases; 104,500 deaths.
05/28/20 -- 1,768,000 confirmed cases; 103,300 deaths.
05/27/20 -- 1,746,000 confirmed cases; 102,100 deaths.
05/26/20 -- 1,725,000 confirmed cases; 100,600 deaths.
05/25/20 -- 1,706,000 confirmed cases; 99,800 deaths.
05/24/20 -- 1,686,000 confirmed cases; 99,300 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/23/20 -- 1,667,000 confirmed cases; 98,700 deaths.
05/22/20 -- 1,645,000 confirmed cases; 97,600 deaths.
05/21/20 -- 1,621,000 confirmed cases; 96,400 deaths.
05/20/20 -- 1,593,000 confirmed cases; 94,900 deaths.
05/19/20 -- 1,571,000 confirmed cases; 93,500 deaths.
05/18/20 -- 1,550,000 confirmed cases; 92,000 deaths.
05/17/20 -- 1,528,000 confirmed cases; 91,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/16/20 -- 1,497,000 confirmed cases; 89,400 deaths.
05/15/20 -- 1,473,000 confirmed cases; 88,200 deaths.
05/14/20 -- 1,448,000 confirmed cases; 86,500 deaths.
05/13/20 -- 1,421,000 confirmed cases; 84,800 deaths.
05/12/20 -- 1,400,000 confirmed cases; 83,000 deaths.
05/11/20 -- 1,379,000 confirmed cases; 81,500 deaths.
05/10/20 -- 1,364,000 confirmed cases; 80,600 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/09/20 -- 1,344,000 confirmed cases; 79,700 deaths.
05/08/20 -- 1,318,000 confirmed cases; 78,200 deaths.
05/07/20 -- 1,289,000 confirmed cases; 76,500 deaths.
05/06/20 -- 1,260,000 confirmed cases; 74,500 deaths.
05/05/20 -- 1,233,000 confirmed cases; 72,000 deaths.
05/04/20 -- 1,208,000 confirmed cases; 69,600 deaths. CDC projects cases increasing to 200,000 per day with deaths rising to 3,000 per day by June because of states, localities and people not following guidelines and reopening their economies too soon.
05/03/20 -- 1,184,000 confirmed cases; 68,300 deaths. Every 44 seconds, another American dies from COVID-19. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/02/20 -- 1,158,000 confirmed cases; 67,000 deaths.
05/01/20 -- 1,129,000 confirmed cases; 65,500 deaths.
04/30/20 -- 1,094,000 confirmed cases; 63,600 deaths. The U.S. accounts for over a third of the world's cases, and over a quarter of COVID-19 deaths--despite possessing only 5% of the world's population. Yet--even now--we still lack the adequate testing capabilities that are critically needed to safely reopen the economy, and remain sorely lacking the necessary rational national leadership so vital to saving American lives and livelihoods.
04/29/20 -- 1,064,000 confirmed cases; 61,500 deaths. The U.S. now has as many COVID-19 deaths in just NINE WEEKS as there was for all TWELVE YEARS of the Vietnam War.
04/28/20 -- 1,034,000 confirmed cases; 59,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/27/20 -- 1,009,000 confirmed cases; 56,500 deaths.
04/26/20 -- 985,000 confirmed cases; 55,400 deaths.
04/25/20 -- 958,000 confirmed cases; 54,000 deaths.
04/24/20 -- 927,000 confirmed cases; 52,400 deaths.
04/23/20 -- 890,000 confirmed cases; 50,400 deaths.
04/22/20 -- 853,000 confirmed cases; 47,800 deaths (+2,674*)
04/21/20 -- 825,000 confirmed cases; 45,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/20/20 -- 788,000 confirmed cases; 43,200 deaths.
04/19/20 -- 760,000 confirmed cases; 41,700 deaths.
04/18/20 -- 735,000 confirmed cases; 39,900 deaths.
04/17/20 -- 702,000 confirmed cases; 37,000 deaths.
04/16/20 -- 671,000 confirmed cases; 33,100 deaths. Less COVID-19 testing performed this week than last, despite desperate need to ramp up volume to reopen economy.
04/15/20 -- 640,000 confirmed cases; 30,800 deaths. The United States recorded its first coronavirus fatality on Feb. 29. It took 38 days to reach 10,000 deaths and just nine more days to go from 10,000 fatalities to 30,000. An increase in fatalities over the last 48 hours was expected, but was also due to new CDC policy, starting on 04/14, to include probable COVID-19 deaths...finally.
04/14/20 -- 609,000 confirmed cases; 26,600 deaths (+2,364 - *New worst daily death toll)
04/13/20 -- 583,000 confirmed cases; 24,200 deaths
04/12/20 -- 558,000 confirmed cases; 22,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S. With just 4.25% of the world's population, the U.S. has 30% of the COVID-19 infections and 20% of the COVID-19 deaths. So far, the U.S. has the very WORST response of ANY nation, something formerly inconceivable, and inexcusable that it could now be allowed to happen here. In the U.S., we have 1.5 million seniors in 15,000 nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Despite forming only 0.45% of the U.S. population, they make up almost 10% of deaths, primarily because our federal government is not doing enough to protect them. Reported that many hospitals are no longer accepting COVID-19 patients from nursing homes, preferring they die there, instead. Our seniors, who helped build, grow and make America great, are being sacrificed, solely to ignorance.
04/11/20 -- 530,000 confirmed cases; 20,500 deaths.
04/10/20 -- 502,000 confirmed cases; 18,800 deaths.
04/09/20 -- 466,000 confirmed cases; 16,700 deaths.
04/08/20 -- 432,000 confirmed cases; 15,900 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S.
04/07/20 -- 400,000 confirmed cases; 13,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. Figures indicate a Covid-19 fatality rate for TESTED Americans at 3.25%.
04/06/20 -- 369,000 confirmed cases; 11,000 deaths.
04/02/20 -- 246,000 confirmed cases; 6,050 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/01/20 -- 217,000 confirmed cases; 5,150 deaths.
03/31/20 -- 190,000 confirmed cases; 4,200 deaths.
03/29/20 -- 143,000 confirmed cases; 2,450 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
(Update 5: Friday, 03/27/20, confirmed U.S. cases 105,000--which is 50% over NIH high-end estimate; deaths 1,700 by end of day. The perspective for cases is significantly skewed low and thus highly misleading, however, as just 0.17% of U.S. population has been tested to date.)
"As many as 70,000 Americans could be confirmed as infected with coronavirus by the end of next week, marking a “pretty dramatic” increase in the number of confirmed cases," the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, told his employees in an agency-wide conference call on 03/20/20.
Except 03/21/20 saw a 33% jump in U.S. cases, from 18,000 to over 24,000. If continuing at 33% every 24 hours, the number of confirmed cases is trending much higher than just 70,000 by 03/27/20. Suspect confirmed cases will be double that. Bear in mind, states hardest hit are not testing many people, saving the tests for those most in need. So the actual number of infected Americans is going to be far higher than just what limited testing of the population has so far confirmed. Don't think this fact is being given enough attention. More important than the number of cases confirmed is the number contracting the disease and not getting tested, spreading the disease, in many cases unknowingly. Hospital projections are for about 100 MILLION Americans to become infected, with about 500,000 dead from covid-19.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, John Eastman and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
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@shawncarter7188 ~ Tragically, sadly, the basic math to calculate one out of every 800 Americans is indisputable. It was projected that 420,000 Americans will die from COVID-19 by January 21, which at the current rising daily death rate appears quite likely. Even using a conservative sum of 415,000 COVID-19 fatalities translates to an even GREATER loss rate than 1/800:
U.S. population of 331,000,000 divided by 415,000 COVID-19 deaths = 797.59
Regardless if the final total by the 21st ends up being a few thousand more or less, the ratio would still be right AROUND 1/800. Such a death rate in the richest, most advanced nation in the world in only ten months is inexcusable, unacceptable, intolerable, shocking, sickening, and appalling. Denialism is not escapism; it's only silly and dangerous self-delusion. Because the facts won't change, the needless damage and suffering can't be undone, and all those Americans senselessly dead from COVID-19 won't come back.
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@shawncarter7188 ~ No, you're wrong, spreading a well-debunked lie. In fact, deaths increased in 2020 from the two previous years.
If the numbers of total deaths from 2020, 2019, and 2018 are similar, that would mean COVID-19 has not had as much of an impact as many scientists and politicians claim. If the number for 2020 is significantly higher, the difference would largely be explained by the coronavirus.
Our source for this information is the Centers for Disease Control. In its weekly flu report, it includes a dataset that lists the number of deaths from all causes each week going back more than seven years.
Using data provided through the 48th week of 2020: So far this year, the CDC reports that 2,877,601 people have died. At the same point in 2018, the number was 2,606,928, and in 2019, it was 2,614,950. The number of deaths to this point in 2020 is at least 260,000 greater than either of the past two years. But that number is an underestimate because the CDC publishes data based on the number of death certificates it has received. Since it can take a couple of weeks for all death certificates to be recorded, the numbers for the last two weeks, at least, will increase as time goes by. If the last two weeks produce a similar number of deaths as the weeks before, the margin to this point will actually be close to 310,000.
Another way to see the effect of COVID-19 is that more people have died already this year than did in the entirety of either 2018 or 2019. There were 2,831,836 deaths in all of 2018 and 2,845,793 in all of 2019.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the population of the United States has increased by .48-.73 percent over the last five years. The increase in deaths to this point in 2020 is 10%, far outpacing population growth.
Therefore, we can verify that the number of deaths from all causes is up in 2020 compared to years past.
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@haidagwaiiintel7696 No, it's a bunch of sophistry that really contributes nothing of real substance to the issue other than to confuse it. This issue really isn't all that complicated from a moral and ethical standpoint.
It's not about extremely rare false sex offender convictions, or about the sparse reporting of rape by women--just 0.7%--it's all about vindictive misogyny. Republicans are using women's VICTIMHOOD against them to prevent equal access in their workplaces. It really is that simple.
And it's extremely stupid. What if men and women in the workplace all began demanding those same protections? Companies would go under being forced to hire all that extra unnecessary labor--just to act as some kind of "chaperones" in the workplace? There goes the American economy, geniuses!
Fact is, every day in this country, men and women who are not in a relationship commute together and work together respectfully, without sexual assault, and without false allegations or charges. Our society can not operate or function without some level of basic trust amongst us. We don't need freaking chaperones, just a little more respect for the ladies, please. One more thing while on the point. In case you hadn't noticed, that basic level of trust critically essential to our government's and nation's function and security is being quickly eroded under this very divisive and lawless President. The impetus for the rising misogynistic attitudes seen is far more attributable to that than any victim's movement.
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@altrusianwolfdog2564 ~ Sure thing, Doc--that's why Toxic Trump and his gold-digging wife are planning on living at Mar-a-Lago Estate; that's why they stayed at Mar-a-Lago Estate for 30 days last year, violating the legal agreement he signed. The Mar-a-Lago Club is situated on Mar-a-Lago Estate, and the agreement he signed covers ALL of Mar-a-Lago Estate, including the private residence he built upon the land. Get a clue, not a cult. Besides, anyone siding with, or making excuses for, the Traitor-'n-Thief at this point is no patriot, is no Christian, has no "values," and is a complete moron.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance.
In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump left office, one out of every 800 Americans had died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 410,000 fatalities, as many American casualties as all of WWII. It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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It's like rowing or paddling upstream, or into a stiff wind--if you ease-up too much or stop, you will only have to paddle twice as hard to make up all the previous hard-earned progress that was quickly lost. Failing to maintain isolation and other measures for sufficient time to stop the spread of COVID-19 transmission will cost U.S. more in time, effort, money, and LIVES. Reopening and relaxing measures too early in defiance of the science and data is the ultimate in colossal ignorance, greed, ruthlessness, and arrogance.
We have a segment of Republican cult willfully ignorant, who malevolently seek to sabotage containment efforts. But many do not grasp how important it is that we treat ourselves and everyone else as being infected.
This is because people know that is very unlikely, especially outside dense urban areas, where incidence rates are low. Because of the delay in onset of the disease and asymptomatic carriers, COVID-19 is a stealth killer that uses Americans against each other as its foot soldiers, transporting it, keeping the disease and its train of transmission alive. This is further complicated because people cannot see a virus, see it attacking, see it spreading, until it is too late. For many of us, seeing is believing, and people are incapable or reluctant to make that leap of logic required to keep them and everyone safe--even with the massive public education efforts.
Of course, the problem becomes greatly exacerbated when the President refuses to wear a mask, and his administration works against itself in fighting this deadly global pandemic, sending conflicting messages to the public. Toxic Trump, his administration, and all the Republicans who have aided and abetted him, are directly responsible in our view for the senseless deaths of tens and thousands of Americans. The dead are the worst of it, but there is also the tremendous needless suffering and economic loss accompanying their wanton criminal negligence.
No national testing, no rational national coordinated pandemic response. Republican governors reopening too quickly in defiance of CDC guidelines are only following the President's lead. Democratic governors in many states likewise being adversely pressured by Toxic Trump's pandemic disinformation and Republican opposition to requisite lockdowns. Problem starts at the top. Don't fault even the worst Republican governors as much as this President. The President needed to take the lead, take the hit for the hard decisions--not put all the weight on governors as he as.
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If you're not very sophisticated, know little about the Constitution and impeachment, and didn't listen objectively to the other three expert witnesses on Constitutional law, then you might come away with the wrong idea that Professor Turley was credible. You do realize that Turley's whole testimony ADVOCATES impeachment, simply asking for more witnesses, which Democrats very much want to have testify, but refuse to let Trump run out the clock in the courts with baseless legal appeals blocking evidentiary materials and their testimony?
Professor Turley disgraced himself and his employer, Georgetown University, getting taken to the mat repeatedly and completely outclassed by three experts from other universities. While clearly knowledgeable about Constitutional law and history, Professor Turley failed to present any rational academic argument against impeachment, choosing instead to turn a blind eye to high crimes, unprecedented total obstruction of Congress oversight and impeachment powers, this President's penchant for perversions and abuses of power, and dire national security concerns...while making false allegations, engaging in false equivalencies, projecting undue bias and playing coy. Although much value and greatly appreciate opposing perspectives, Professor Turley's performance was an act of bad faith and intellectual dishonesty, demonstrating a critical lack of integrity, of which Georgetown University, its students, and its alumni should all be ashamed, as it reflects very poorly on them and their fine institution. This was a fool willingly made a Republican cult tool, and the motivation appears more self-interst than altruistic--at a time when all sane, loyal hands are crucially required on deck.
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@darthknightwingphoenix2081 ~ Thank-you for your kind praise. Don't recall if the reply here you reference was posted separately to this video, but have posted it many times in this present form and in previous incantations. Parts of it are virtually unchanged, dating over three years old, now.
As with all my original commentary, it is offered freely to educate, enlighten, and provoke thought. As always, people are encouraged to share and repost if found worthy as they wish--no accreditation even necessary. Personal recognition, popularity, subscribers, or YouTube profits are of no concern to me.
Since you appreciated our reply here, will submit a following separate reply to you consisting of another original companion piece, which you--or anyone else--may also repost or share if you see fit as you wish. Again, accreditation isn't even required.
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@darthknightwingphoenix2081 ~ As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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Merrick Garland: "Trump and Congressional Republicans screwed me out of a seat on the Supreme Court...that's why now as AG I can't prosecute them for the many crimes they've committed!"
Merrick Garland’s House Testimony Demonstrated the Failure of His Hyper-Cautious Approach to His Job
Despite Garland’s many efforts to not appear political by declining to investigate Trump and his cronies for possible crimes and by using DOJ resources to actively protect Trump from civil liability, Republicans are still portraying him as the most political attorney general in history.
The other weakness of Garland’s timid approach was on full view during his opening statement and responses to Democratic members of Congress. “The essence of the rule of law is that like cases are treated alike. That there not be one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans; one rule for friends, another for foes,” Garland stated grandly. But by declining to investigate Trump and his associates, Garland is enabling further attacks on our democracy. (While proving inequity by putting Republicans above the law.)
Crucially, the two parties are not the same. Garland’s standard sets up a false equivalency between the Democratic Party and a political party whose national leader, Donald Trump, incited and celebrated a violent assault on our nation’s Capitol to overthrow the results of a free and fair election and who continues to portray the insurrection as a glorious “protest.” To that end, in the middle of the attorney general’s testimony, Trump issued a statement highlighting Garland’s feebleness at failing to even investigate the organizers and leaders of the Jan. 6 events, declaring “the insurrection took place on November 3, Election Day. January 6 was the Protest!”
Garland’s efforts to depoliticize the DOJ have proved to be an abdication of his responsibility to protect the rule of law. Take just a few examples: Garland’s failure to reconsider the obstruction of justice case against the former president, his deferral of an investigation of possible financial crimes by Trump and his organization to local prosecutors in New York City and Westchester, his use of the DOJ to protect Trump from defamation allegations, and his deferral of a soliciting of voter fraud felony probe in Georgia to local prosecutors there. By abdicating his responsibility, Garland is also opening the door for Trump to commit these possibly criminal abuses all over again, this time with the full support of the Republican Party, and maybe ultimately return to power.
--Mark Stern
"Try as he may, Merrick Garland cannot perform boring independence fast enough to outrun GOP claims that he’s a wild-eyed, violent socialist. And while the GOP currently exists only to cast everything you thought you believed into doubt, the real endgame is vigilantism. The endgame is to ensure that people mistrust government, election systems, school boards, (teachers, health care officials) the media, and the justice system enough to lend a hand in their destruction."
--Dahlia Lithwick
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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@leok7193 ~ Basically, you can't defend the judge, so you chose to engage in Whataboutism with some fallacious arguments. According to you, because a person is suicidal, their life has no value. Try telling that to all the parents of teens who have committed or attempted suicide.
A victim's criminal past is irrelevant to judging whether they were murdered by another person. Nobody condones Rosenbaum's past crimes, but attempts by people to smear the victim using their past criminal record in order to defend Rittenhouse are depraved and despicable.
You seem to think it's alright to kill all these Reich-wing nuts making threats against people and their children because they disagree with them, stalking them, vandalizing their property, that those people threatened by all these Republican nut-jobs should then be able to claim self-defense, too. You're saying it's open season on them, too! Careful what you wish for.
For the record, Rosenbaum didn't start that dumpster fire, and Rittenhouse didn't put it out; in both cases video documents it was different people responsible for each.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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It's like rowing or paddling upstream, or into a stiff wind--if you ease-up too much or stop, you will only have to paddle twice as hard to make up all the previous hard-earned progress that was quickly lost. Failing to maintain isolation and other measures for sufficient time to stop the spread of COVID-19 transmission will cost U.S. more in time, effort, money, and LIVES. Reopening and relaxing measures too early in defiance of the science and data is the ultimate in colossal ignorance, greed, ruthlessness, and arrogance.
We have a segment of Republican cult willfully ignorant, who malevolently seek to sabotage containment efforts. But many do not grasp how important it is that we treat ourselves and everyone else as being infected.
This is because people know that is very unlikely, especially outside dense urban areas, where incidence rates are low. Because of the delay in onset of the disease and asymptomatic carriers, COVID-19 is a stealth killer that uses Americans against each other as its foot soldiers, transporting it, keeping the disease and its train of transmission alive. This is further complicated because people cannot see a virus, see it attacking, see it spreading, until it is too late. For many of us, seeing is believing, and people are incapable or reluctant to make that leap of logic required to keep them and everyone safe--even with the massive public education efforts.
Of course, the problem becomes greatly exacerbated when the President refuses to wear a mask, and his administration works against itself in fighting this deadly global pandemic, sending conflicting messages to the public. Toxic Trump, his administration, and all the Republicans who have aided and abetted him, are directly responsible in our view for the senseless deaths of tens and thousands of Americans. The dead are the worst of it, but there is also the tremendous needless suffering and economic loss accompanying their wanton criminal negligence.
No national testing, no rational national coordinated pandemic response. Republican governors reopening too quickly in defiance of CDC guidelines are only following the President's lead. Democratic governors in many states likewise being adversely pressured by Toxic Trump's pandemic disinformation and Republican opposition to requisite lockdowns. Problem starts at the top. Don't fault even the worst Republican governors as much as this President. The President needed to take the lead, take the hit for the hard decisions--not put all the weight on governors as he as.
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@michaelt779 ~ It was reported that according to the Sheriff Department's own data, just 3% of the illegal grows are on Hmong property. Not all of the Hmong there are involved, but all of the Hmong there are being harassed, profiled, and targeted by law enforcement and county government. That's racist, and it's wrong. Which is why the judge granted the Hmong an injunction against the laws denying them a basic human necessity: water.
Aside from that, the comment is about Vice not doing a good job, a point which your reply ignores, and you're not speaking for the Hmong people, or answering all the pertinent questions raised, either.
Marijuana cultivation uses the same amount of water as growing tomatoes. If marijuana is legal in California, why should it require a license for farmer's to grow? Contrary to your assertion, this California county bans ALL marijuana cultivation, unlike many other California counties. Then they use the law to only target the Hmong. And you don't see anything wrong with that?
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law?
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Toxic Trump: "It's a HOAX!"
Much later: …."I got this pandemic completely under control, we're safe!"
Shortly after: …."It's not my fault! States need to take charge! I don't take ANY responsibility! It's unsafe! You need to stay home!"
Next day: ...."The cure is worse than the disease, you need to go back to work!
Next week: ...."Don't listen to me! Listen to the CDC!"
Following days: ...."USA #1 in coronavirus cases--and now we're #1 in coronavirus DEATHS! We're the BEST! Thanks to my extremely stable genius wartime leadership, only 100,000-240,000 Americans will die! We're doing a TREMENDOUS job! I still don't take ANY responsibility!"
Last week: ... "I've anointed myself All Powerful Dear Leader and will soon order all my subjects back to work despite lack of vaccine, cure, testing, PPE, medical staffing, and the sure-fire massive resurgence resulting thereof, killing tens of thousands more Americans--because this pandemic is killing my lucrative Emoluments business, and even my Soviet-style election chances!"
Now: … "Scratch that; might have to actually do stuff. My greatest-ever new half-baked plan shifts all responsibility and blame back to governors! For now. Maybe. We'll be letting you know, hopefully!"
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@sdi1111 ~ We've long called him Toxic Trump, but it's important to understand that Toxic Trump is just the inevitable rotten produce from the poisoned tree.
The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. Sure, some of them truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Republican cult placing political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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Trump excluded the Afghan government from peace negotiations with the Taliban, legitimizing the Taliban by making a separate peace deal with them and delegitimizing the government we worked so long and hard at so much cost to build and support, while releasing 5,000 Taliban prisoners and agreeing to withdraw all U.S. forces by May 1, 2021, guaranteeing failure. Moreover, Trump eviscerated the refugee program for Afghan and Iraqi allies visa programs, creating a huge backlog over several years. A federal judge even ruled Trump's delaying of those visas illegal. Furthermore, Trump abandoned are Kurdish allies in Syria and Iraq. Trump and Pompeo could hardly have screwed up our foreign policy any worse, and the damage they did will take decades to repair. But the Republican cult morons are too stupid to know and too stupid to care; they'll just deny and try to shift blame, as usual.
Liz Cheney's right----it didn't have to happen this way: her father, Dick Cheney, and George Bush were responsible for the deterioration of affairs in Afghanistan by diverting troops and resources to conduct an illegal invasion of Iraq on the false premise of WMD and Iraq harboring terrorists. The situation in Afghanistan never recovered from that fatal mistake by Cheney and Bush; it allowed the Taliban to regroup and come back bigger and stronger than ever. Cheney and Bush's illegal war in Iraq also resulted in the emergence of ISIS.
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@come_on_now ~ "Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts."
~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
There have been a number of subsequent variants of this quote, but the above is the original form and author. The thing about truth is that it exists independent of any political ideology.
The other thing about truth is that without truth, there can be no trust. And, without trust, a breakdown in society occurs. From there nations fail, and fall.
Freedom of speech and the marketplace of ideas are certainly important. But even more important is truth and reason. Too many on the right engaging in lies big and small, various forms of intellectual dishonesty, crackpot conspiracy theories, an alarming lack of critical reasoning and logic, and willful ignorance. Decades of divisive Reich-wing media, demagogues, and politicians have created a Republican cult, polluting our political sphere, poisoning our nation.
Value and respect loyal opposition, regardless of whatever disagreement on issues or ideology. Good ideas are good ideas, whatever their origin--whether left, right, or center. However, the GOP has, sadly, abdicated its obligation of loyal opposition, placing greed, power, and party before truth, reason, and country.
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@Ken-so7kq ~ People like you who engage in false equivalence are not objective, are not really interested in truth, Doc. People like you who place themselves above the fray, pretending they are superior and somehow more sophisticated, are only proving their own arrogance and ignorance. Where do you stand? Nowhere? What is your position on Trump, the worst President in history, bar none, the Congressional Republicans and voters who enabled, aided, and abetted his absurdities, his malfeasance, his malpractice for four years? Don't have one? What is your philosophy? Nihilism?
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Republicans: "Right to life for zygotes and embryos!"
Also Republicans: "No right to life for children victims of school shootings!"
Before U.S. gun manufacturers bought off the NRA and the GOP to create a bogus political issue and instill fear, mass shootings weren't a thing in America and schools were much safer. Today, over 393 MILLION guns are owned by citizens, which translates to about 120 guns for every 100 citizens. A record number, 40 MILLION, were sold in 2020 alone. However, over 2/3 of Americans do NOT own ANY firearm; less than a third of U.S. citizens own all the firearms, which amounts to a whopping third of all civilian firearms owned in the world are in the U.S. The sheer number of firearms present in the U.S. makes accidental gun injury and death, rampant gun violence, and mass shootings a certainty. Ironically, the inescapable truth is that those purchasing and owning guns, mostly for self defense, are making America less safe for everyone.
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Got one American dead and more Americans dying from COVID-19, and who knows how many infected because this administration can't get its act together, still can't provide the requisite testing kits to keep the American people safe, still spreading extremely dangerous disinformation, dismissing a very real threat to public health as a "hoax." But all that's important to Trump and his ilk are getting laughs with vituperative, vindictive partisan demagoguery at their annual gala of gluttony CPAC conference--sticking it to the other side to assuage insecurities, so these losers can claim to be "winning." Pathetic, sickening, shocking, enraging, and highly alarming. BTW, the Presidency shouldn't be a stand-up comedian routine. We got a bad joke played upon us, instead of a real President. Big trouble is, Republicans just don't have what it takes to admit their mistakes--would rather bring the whole nation down.
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@steveandrews7434 ~Grifter Tony Spell in Loserannie uses voodoo religion to fleece his flock, offers up parishioners for COVID-19 sacrifice to the Almighty! Glory be, hallelujah--it's Darwinism at it's finest!
Posted awhile back, when busing parishioners from 50 miles around to his megachurch in the midst of a raging deadly pandemic. Don't know if that's still happening, or they shut him down, but the larger problem is that these idiots--be they religious or political ideologues--don't just infect each other. They also spread COVID-19 to their innocent kids, other family members, friends, relatives, acquaintances, co-workers, and people they come in contact with who don't share their ignorance and blind adherence to dubious ideologies. These Republican cult Trumpette morons protesting and defying common sense health advisories during a major global pandemic are literally walking time-bomb bioterrorists.
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#unfoxmycablebox Sorry to say, most of their revenue doesn't come from advertisers, but from the outrageous contracts they negotiate with cable providers. You really want to hit Faux News where it hurts, threaten cable TV providers that you will "drop the box" if they keep supporting and carrying Faux News. The good news is that cable TV providers have no desire to pay the outlandish sums Faux News demands, and would love to have us provide the excuse needed! There is already a non-profit organization out there pushing this, which can provide one more information if needed:
Pay for cable or satellite TV? You’re subsidizing Fox News whether you watch it or not.
Your cable or satellite TV provider pays a subscriber fee to carry Fox News. That cost is passed directly on to YOU.
Every network charges cable and satellite providers a small fee per subscriber; the one for Fox News is extraordinarily high. A typical household pays Fox News almost $2 per month—about $20 per year— via their cable or satellite provider, regardless of whether they actually watch the channel.
In 2021, a wave of big contracts between Fox News and TV providers for subscriber fees are set to expire. These contracts make up about 65% if Fox News’ subscriber fee revenue. If we want to stop paying the Fox News “tax,” now is the time to act.
Fox News makes approximately $1.8 billion per year from hidden subscriber fees–twice as much as CNN and three times as much as MSNBC.
The network's extra-high fees, which make up most of its revenue, protect Fox News from the advertisers that are quickly abandoning it.
https://unfoxmycablebox.com/
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Trump immigration policies endanger public health with coronavirus spread
Raul Reyes
As the Trump administration struggles to contain the spread of Coronavirus, its immigration policies may well exacerbate this crisis. The "public charge" rule discourages immigrants from accessing health care. The "Remain in Mexico" policy has created conditions ripe for a viral outbreak along the border. Immigration enforcement actions have sown distrust and fear in Latino communities. Taken together, these measures endanger the well-being of countless Americans.
Consider the administration's controversial "public charge" rule, which was implemented in February. It makes it harder for legal immigrants to obtain a green card if they access federal benefits for which they qualify, like Medicaid, food stamps, and housing vouchers.
In the ongoing litigation over this regulation, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) conceded that the rule could lead to "increased prevalence of communicable diseases, disenrollment from public programs, and increased use of emergency rooms as a primary care method."
Trump's "Remain in Mexico" policy is also potentially harmful to public health. Under this process, asylum-seekers are forced to wait on the Mexican side of the border while their cases are processed here. Nearly 60,000 migrants are currently waiting in Mexico, with thousands living in unsanitary, squalid conditions. As these vulnerable people await humanitarian relief, an outbreak of the virus in their shelters and camps could be devastating. Again, this would not only affect migrants: Due to its highly contagious nature, a coronavirus outbreak along the border would likely expose Border Patrol agents, U.S. troops, and aid workers to the virus too.
Within our borders, the Trump administration has created a less-than-ideal climate for battling a pandemic. The administration's aggressive immigration enforcement actions mean that millions of undocumented people are wary of any interaction with the government, which includes going to the hospital. Health advocates warn that there is a lack of information about coronavirus available in Spanish. And Trump has already demonstrated indifference to the suffering of Latinos; the administration basically ignored Puerto Rico during Hurricane Maria, and the president's response to the El Paso massacre was to stage an insensitive photo-op with a baby orphaned by the mass shooting. It's no wonder that advocacy groups are bracing for the administration to resort to more fear mongering and xenophobia about immigrants.
While any administration would be challenged by the Coronavirus outbreak, there are steps that the president can take that would mitigate its spread.
Trump could suspend the implementation of the "public charge" rule or temporarily halt immigration enforcement actions in and around hospitals and medical facilities. The administration could fund coronavirus outreach programs for Latinos. This would be especially useful as Latinos have the highest uninsured rate of any racial or ethnic group in the U.S., and are significantly affected by conditions that compromise the immune system, like asthma, diabetes, and HIV/AIDS. What the administration should not do is attempt to further politicize this crisis or use it as an excuse for closing our borders. The coronavirus does not discriminate based on immigration status and will not be stopped by a wall.
The coronavirus crisis demands a swift change in the administration's dangerous immigration policies. At stake is nothing less than the lives of immigrants, Latinos - and all Americans.
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@kathleenludricks3289 ~ You kind of point out the problem, how nobody knows what to believe anymore, because of Toxic Trump and GOP's pathological lies. Even the Walter Reed doctors become spin doctors, instead of being forthright with the American people. However, the latest announcement is White House Propaganda Secretary "Costly" McHeinous has COVID-19 symptoms and has tested positive. Christie checked himself into a hospital. Too much evidence that the Traitor-'n-Thief and his wife have finally contracted COVID-19, which should be obvious from their cavalier, careless attitudes and rejection of the science that it had to happen sooner than later. The only surprise is that it took so long. The luck of the dumb, that's all. The same applies to those like Barron and others around that managed so far to get lucky enough not to catch COVID-19.
Latest polling shows that almost three-quarters of Americans now think Toxic Trump's COVID-19 response has been a complete disaster. There is no political recovery from that less than one month before the election, regardless when he gets himself released from the hospital (which is highly unlikely to be today). And, no matter what you might wish to believe, getting checked into a hospital for COVID-19 is the WORST possible political strategy for him, a self-inflicted mortal blow, one from which there can be no recovery. Doesn't lessen the need to vote BLUE, and get out the vote BLUE, because we need to send a strong message, and we need to get rid of corrupt GOP politicians in addition to Trump, who are equally responsible for the death and devastation brought upon America. And because we have a Republican cult, who doesn't care, and will still vote for Trump and GOP. Still, they are the minority of Americans, and we have the power to take this country back, set this ship back on course before running aground.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It’s that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don’t care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn’t want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it’s more than hope—those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another four months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn’t really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
“The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.”
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump’s hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, John Eastman and all other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed? If Garland doesn't stand up for the rule of law, justice and democracy, this nation is soon doomed.
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
18 U.S.C. §2383 -- Rebellion or insurrection
Whoever incites, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof … shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.
18 U.S.C. §2384 -- Seditious conspiracy
If two or more persons … in any place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof, … they shall each be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.
18 U.S.C. §2385 -- Advocating overthrow of Government
Whoever knowingly or willfully advocates, abets, advises, or teaches the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying the government of the United States or the government of any State … by force or violence, ... they shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.
18 U.S. Code § 2331 -- Domestic Terrorism (Supplemental penalty of up to 17 years imprisonment)
(5) the term “domestic terrorism” means activities that—
(A) involve acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State;
(B) appear to be intended—
(i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population;
(ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or
(iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and
(C) occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States
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Don't know where you came up with "billions," which greatly exaggerates the $10 million allocated. Don't know why you didn't verify these Reich-wing memes before propagating lies. No surprise, then, to find that you're probably just another one of Putin's sock-puppet propaganda pawns, with a new YouTube account only a couple of months old. If you're not, you may just as well be working for America's enemies.
FACT CHECK: Does the recent legislation that funds aid to Americans economically hard-hit by the coronavirus pandemic also provide tax dollars for "gender studies" in Pakistan? No, that's not true: Though they were voted on as one package, the COVID relief measures were part of a separate bill that was then bundled together with others to streamline end-of-the-year votes in Congress. The legislation referred to in the claim funds $10 million in "gender programs," ranging from those focused on improving the health of mothers and their children to those tackling gender-based violence in Pakistan, according to the United States Agency for International Development, or USAID, which oversees much of the funding. In other words, the money is for real-world programs aimed at helping women in Pakistan, not for academic or sociological "gender studies."
Several claims on social media, directly or indirectly, expressed a common theme: The U.S. is funding a study in Pakistan while millions of Americans face hardship due to economic fallout from the pandemic. The claim was made in a Facebook post (archived here) published December 26, 2020, that contains a meme of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi seated at a long table that is covered in stacks of $100 bills. A sign laid on top of the money reads:
U.S. TAX DOLLARS FOR:
PAKISTANI GENDER STUDIES
The photo of Pelosi at a table covered with money is not real. The meme was assembled by pasting Pelosi's head onto a photo of professional boxer Floyd Mayweather that was published in 2019.
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Donald Trump, at White House press conference on 04/07/20:
And we’re going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO. We’re going to put a very powerful hold on it, and we’re going to see.
Trump later at that same press conference:
Q: Thanks. A quick follow-up on that. So is the time to freeze funding to the WHO during a pandemic of this magnitude?
THE PRESIDENT: No, maybe not. I mean, I’m not saying I’m going to do it, but we’re going to look at it.
Q: You did say that you’re going to —
THE PRESIDENT: We give a tremendous —
Q: You said you’d put a hold on it.
THE PRESIDENT: No, I didn’t.
Toxic Trump, one week later, on 04/14/20: "I'm withholding WHO funding!"
WHO held a important meeting on COVID-19 vaccines at the beginning of May, with all nations attending...except, unbelievably, no U.S. medical and scientific representatives sent by the Trump Administration, without any explanation. The absence particularly stunning in light that U.S. has half of world's cases and a quarter of the deaths, although possessing just 4% of the global population. Then, on May 29, Toxic Trump announced the U.S. was completely withdrawing from the World Health Organization!
ME, US, the world: WTF?? Why in HELL is that raving lunatic STILL in charge during this major pandemic health crisis?!? Hasn't he KILLED enough Americans, ALREADY?!?
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Amanda Carpenter is absolutely right--but so is Scott Jennings. Both are guilty, complicit in building the Republican cult beast, abandoning truth and reason, putting party before country.
Been saying it for a long time:
The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. Sure, some of them truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Republican cult placing political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance.
In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump left office, one out of every 800 Americans had died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 410,000 fatalities, as many American casualties as all of WWII. It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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What we are witnessing and experiencing is only just the beginning of the reckoning for human stupidity, greed, apathy, and short-sightedness. Pretty soon, with so many suffering, empathy will be in short supply. I fear what is to come for the human race, for our children, for their children, and all who follow after, and the sorrow I feel for them and our planet, for all that will be lost, overwhelms. Because this didn't have to happen. We knew decades ago that we were creating our own apocalypse and took no more than token measures to stop it. And humans continue to dawdle, fiddling while the planet burns.
Instead of embracing the reverence for nature and sustainability practiced by the America's indigenous peoples, we have entered into a death pact with capitalism, consumerism, greed, and selfishness, largely forced upon the common person by large businesses and the wealthy, who continue exploiting us for the own short-sighted, immediate benefit. We bear some responsibility for that, too. For taking part, for allowing it to happen, and for allowing it to continue as long as it has. Until enough of us average citizens wake up and become active in changing how our cultures and societies operate, the downward spiral of our environment will continue leading us into a dead-end death trap. Capitalism and consumerism can serve a purpose. However, they should be viewed and utilized as just one tool at our disposal in our toolbox, and not overly relied upon, like a hammer used for every job, which does more destruction than good.
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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You're absolutely correct, Doc, although obviously trying to be sarcastic. Guess you didn't get the memo, widely reported, that the IG debunks the Russian conspiracy theories Republicans have taken to promulgating in treasonous, moronic fashion. Just as Barr's other independent investigation with the former Connecticut AG came up completely empty. House Judiciary concerned with the big job of wrapping up impeachment Articles in timely manner, and no reason to fear IG report, regardless. Moreover, IG investigation had no bearing whatsoever on Trump's extortion of Ukraine, which is driving impeachment. So, not only are you barking up the wrong tree--you're not even in the right forest.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law?
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President Nero stoked racial animosities, igniting the embers, keeps feeding the flames. Lynching, murder of innocent civilians by law enforcement, followed by protests, riots, civil unrest, people hurt, property damaged--those were all inevitable with an arsonist in the Oval, even if his gross criminal negligence with COVID-19 wasn't presently so starkly highlighting the social and economic divides in this nation. You didn't see this coming, it's only because you refused to look.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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@kennethwright8927 ~ U.S. wrongs against the Iranian people actually began over 67 years ago, with an event which has continued to a constant source of Iranian distrust of the West. The U.S. has for too long never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity to make peace with Iran and its people, by refusing to take responsibility for the grievous wrongs it has committed against them. The nuclear arms deal made with Iran under Obama was actually a good agreement, opening the door for better relations, but played against those like Israel and Republicans, who profit from demonizing that nation.
How The CIA Overthrew Iran's Democracy In 4 Days
On Aug. 19, 2013, the CIA publicly admitted for the first time its involvement in the 1953 coup against Iran's elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh.
The documents provided details of the CIA's plan at the time, which was led by senior officer Kermit Roosevelt Jr., the grandson of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt. Over the course of four days in August 1953, Roosevelt would orchestrate not one, but two attempts to destabilize the government of Iran, forever changing the relationship between the country and the U.S.
Mohammad Mossadegh was a beloved figure in Iran. During his tenure, he introduced a range of social and economic policies, the most significant being the nationalization of the Iranian oil industry. Great Britain had controlled Iran's oil for decades through the Anglo-Iranian Oil Co. After months of talks the prime minister broke off negotiations and denied the British any further involvement in Iran's oil industry. Britain then appealed to the United States for help, which eventually led the CIA to orchestrate the overthrow of Mossadegh and restore power to Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran.
https://www.npr.org/2019/01/31/690363402/how-the-cia-overthrew-irans-democracy-in-four-days
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Alright, watched the video, prefer progressive over Biden, disagree slightly with some of the analysis, but this was not an endorsement of Biden or a disparagement of any other Dem candidate; it was simply an analysis of the Dem front runner status and strategy, and also an attempt to make a frank assessment of the nation's political outlook. Why all the negative comments, thumbs down, and attacks against CNN? As a frequent media critic, definitely not warranted for this video. This was a fairly objective piece, and it pains me to see Dems acting like Republicans to news they don't like. In this case, apparently just because the front-runner is getting publicity--and it isn't even flattering! We better than this, Dems! Better to save that criticism for when it is justified than using it unjustly to influence the refs! (Voted Bernie last time, like Warren better this time around, but would be quite pleased with either.)
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Seems only fair that the least Toxic Trump could do, after slaughtering over 78,000 Americans with his "greatest ever" ignorance, is to give the U.S. government his resort properties, to be quickly converted by the Army Corp of Engineers into public hospitals, medical facilities, and morgues. Too bad that's never going to happen--Turd Trump refuses to even sign order for FEMA to help fellow Americans out with OUR taxpayer money to bury their loved ones whom he killed, like they do in every other national emergency, despite repeated pleas to him, appealing for some shred of humanity, respect, and dignity be given for our dead.
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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You don't get denialism without nihilism. As life-long conservative Bill Kristol astutely pointed out, the Republican party has embraced nihilism. Republicans still labeling COVID-19 a "hoax;" Republicans still refusing to wear masks or social distance after over half-a-million American fatalities from COVID-19; Congressional Republicans obstructing a COVID-19 stimulus bill certain to pass just to delay vital and urgently needed relief to Americans desperate for help; not one Congressional Republican in either chamber voting for the badly needed stimulus bill; Republican governors dropping mask mandates and all restrictions on businesses, heedless of rising case counts in their states and deadly new variants of the virus; and Republican leaders continuing to push the Big Lie that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen without evidence and in disregard of plentiful evidence and facts to the contrary, even AFTER their Big Lie incited a terrorist attack by a mindless Republican mob against the nation's Capitol in insurrection against the government, attempting to overturn a legitimate election, sieging, storming, sizing, sacking, defiling, defacing and disgracing America's citadel of, and temple to, democracy--these are all prime examples of nihilism.
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BidentheAntiTrump ~ Old people, people with health conditions, Native Americans, Hispanics, Blacks, poor people are the majority of those dying from COVID-19, in order of greatest risk. Just to be clear. But, you are correct that, in true fascist Reich-wing fashion, they are regarded as surplus populations to be culled by Toxic Trump and the Republican cult. The irony is that many of the old and poor Whites belong to the Republican cult--a flock of fleeced sheep, now eager for sacrificial slaughter to the fool's gold God they idolize.
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WTF?!? 03/19/20, and many people exposed to or possibly sick with COVID-19 still can't get tested! Only 59,000 tested to date! Monday, 03/09/20, we had state governors speaking into the camera, desperately BEGGING the CDC on live TV to approve private labs and automated testing for COVID-19! While three months later the U.S. is still struggling to get enough test kits distributed! Problem is, the test kits samples need to be processed in the lab for results, and processing capacity at the CDC is extremely limited and far too slow. Even in conjunction with all U.S. state and private labs, processing capacity of test kit samples would be grossly insufficient for the vigorous survey of the American public vitally needed. Which is why it is CRITICALLY imperative these other private facilities IMMEDIATELY be brought online by the CDC. WTF is WRONG with this TRUMP ADMINISTRATION?!? Their incompetence is KILLING us!
WHO test kits are the model developed by Germany, a NATO ally, which were also available. The key point that needs hammering home: Trump administration could have--should have--obtained test kits and conducted diagnostic and protective testing on the U.S. population a couple of months ago! Especially once problems developed with the CDC test kits sent out. It was a no-brainer! Trump's gross incompetence is costing American lives. That simple.
Sick people across US being denied coronavirus test
NY Times - 03/12/20
Many who fear they have the virus have faced one roadblock after another as they try to get tested, according to interviews with dozens of people across the country.
Some have been rejected because they had no symptoms, even though they had been in proximity to someone who tested positive. Others were told no because they had not traveled to a hot spot abroad, even though they had fevers and hacking coughs and lived in cities with growing outbreaks. Still others were told a bitter truth: There simply were not enough tests to go around.
“The system is not really geared to what we need right now, what you are asking for. That is a failing,” said Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, who leads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, in testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform on Thursday. “It is a failing. I mean, let’s admit it.”
Dr. Fauci added: “The idea of anybody getting it easily the way people in other countries are doing it, we are not set up for that. Do I think we should be? Yes. But we are not.”
In some parts of the country, demand for the tests is low. Elsewhere efforts are underway to make testing easier. States like Colorado have even instituted drive-through testing to streamline the process.
But even there, demand has far outstripped supply. By 11 a.m. at one drive-through lab in the Denver neighborhood of Lowry on Thursday, a three-hour line of cars had formed. The clinic had to stop allowing more vehicles.
The inability to test widely in the United States — which is far behind other countries in this regard — has severely hampered efforts to contain the outbreak. An early test rolled out to states by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was flawed, and delays have continued ever since. Public health experts have warned that each day people do not know whether they have the virus, they risk spreading it more widely.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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The American workplace isn't ready for an epidemic. Many Americans have no insurance, many others can ill-afford deductibles, still more can't afford to take off work when not feeling well; more than a third of jobs don't offer sick days, and even where available, they may have been already used, or employees try saving them for more serious illness--all making us extremely vulnerable to epidemics such as COVID-19. Many jobs in America involve low-paying work in the service industry, where employees are in constant contact with, and exposed to, a huge swath of the public on a daily basis. These folks typically don't get sick days or insurance benefits, and can ill-afford to miss any work because of loss of money and the threat of losing their job. Many are ill-educated, and may not pay sufficient heed to health warnings, further exacerbating the spread of the epidemic facing us all.
In plausible worst-case-scenarios given the pattern of the outbreak thus far, the country could experience acute shortages not just in ventilators but also health workers to operate them and care for patients; hospital beds; and masks and other protective equipment. Trump administration facing increasing criticism for not using these many weeks after learning of COVID-19 to prepare increased hospital capacity, stockpile medications, obtain adequate amounts of respirators and other equipment that will be vitally needed in the U.S.
“Even during mild flu pandemics, most of our I.C.U.s are filled to the brim with severely ill patients on mechanical ventilation,” said Dr. Eric Toner, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and an expert on health care preparedness. “I hope and pray Covid-19 turns out to be a moderate pandemic, but if not, we’re in serious trouble,” he said.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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You don't get denialism without nihilism. As life-long conservative Bill Kristol astutely pointed our just recently in a tweet, the Republican party has embraced nihilism. Republicans still labeling COVID-19 a "hoax;" Republicans still refusing to wear masks or social distance after over half-a-million American fatalities from COVID-19; Congressional Republicans obstructing a COVID-19 stimulus bill certain to pass just to delay vital and urgently needed relief to the American people; Republican governors dropping mask mandates and all restrictions on businesses, heedless of rising case counts in their states and deadly new variants of the virus; and Republican leaders continuing to push the Big Lie that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen without evidence and in disregard of plentiful evidence and facts to the contrary, even AFTER their Big Lie incited a terrorist attack by a mindless Republican mob against the nation's Capitol in insurrection against the government, attempting to overturn a legitimate election, sieging, storming, sizing, sacking, defiling, defacing and disgracing America's citadel and temple to democracy--these are all prime examples of nihilism.
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@marydurham5976 -- Oddly, my first thought after hearing Jeffries make that statement was that he left out the 'C' word 'cult,' which is integral to understanding what is happening! 'Collusion' is already included under corruption and criminality, though!
Confronted with a conundrum contrary or conflicting, the Republican instinct for self-preservation induces a shut down of blood flow to the cranium, causing confusion, chaos, crisis, corruption, and criminality!
Hypocrisy knows no bounds
For rotten GOP clowns
With them phony outrage hounds
Their flimflam no more astounds
Betraying US for king's crowns
If bribed in dollars not pounds
Claim for impeachment no grounds
Care not for the laws he downs
Block out all objection sounds
Do not see disgusted frowns
Just pack courts with goons in gowns
Souls forfeit as deceit mounds
Fear the contempt which surrounds
And the loathing that abounds
In each city and all towns
But taking too many rounds
From nasty GOP clowns
Must end now--ran out of nouns!
May peace and better days find us, Mary!
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of conspiracy theories, the party of hate, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of corruption, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, don't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their deal with the Devil.
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Meesta Meesta Oh, no, Doc! Not yet another Republican pathetic partisan projection push play to propagate! As if it wasn't your guy getting impeached, your guy not stepping into his own turd pile, asking foreign nations for assistance in his election bids. Wasn't your guys in Congress throwing their principles and reputations out the window, slavish sycophants covering up the crimes for some silly N.Y. grifter who'd sell them all out in a N.Y. minute!
Funny thing is, my magic eight-ball predicted the Republican cult, and something exactly like this Republican shit show, years ago, before Trump ever entered the picture. Course, it didn't take any genius to read the writing on the wall.
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@richardreese8038 ~ Yeah, because when law enforcement does surveillance of potential criminals it's called being "spied on???" You really don't have a clue, do you? Besides, the surveillance was on Trump associates involved in shady dealings, not Trump--many of which ended up pleading guilty and getting convicted of felony crimes, some of them further admitting their guilt by accepting a Trump pardon. So, you got your facts wrong, too. You obviously didn't read the Mueller Report, because you're gaslighting Trump's obstruction and the collusion between his campaign and Russian intelligence. Then, the fact that you use a disreputable source like Project Veritas demonstrates just how far from reality you've become detached, and how low you've sunk.
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@user-ij6vg8xq2r ~ Ratings for Faux News are a disingenuous, misleading statistic, because the viewership sums of major conservative cable and television opinion and "entertainment" outlets is less than than major more objective mainstream news. Conservatives mostly flock to Faux news, while moderates and liberals watch a variety of MSM news, so their share of that market is more divided amongst them.
For instance, most Democrats I know get their news from a variety of sources, not just MSNBC or CNN. Many don't even have cable news, so they watch ABC, CBS, NBC, and PBS. Or, like me, they may read most of their news from various print media. And just because I periodically watch far-right conservative outlets like Faux News and OAN to track their latest propaganda doesn't mean I should be taken as supporting their yellow, hyper-partisan journalism.
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@michaeld9682 ~ Nothing "partial" about it. I was totally right. The meaning and scope of the 10th Amendment was settled over 200 years ago by the Supreme Court and has been repeatedly affirmed since. You are wrong; the federal government's powers are not enumerated or limited. What the 10th Amendment says is that states can pass additional laws where they do not interfere or contradict federal law. You and some other Republicans may not like it because you can't have fiefdoms where you can discriminate and infringe upon the rights of others, but it is fact, nonetheless. Besides, when it comes to "States rights," Republicans are hypocrites who only apply their narrow interpretation of that doctrine where it suits their rather unsavory political aims.
Yeah, if only we could go back to those simpler times, before there was 331 million Americans, and we killed Native Americans and stole their land, we bought, owned, and sold slaves imported from Africa, when women were treated like chattel and not allowed to vote, when science, medicine, housing and transportation were primitive. Yeah, those were the good old days, weren't they? Oh, wait, no they really weren't. Things were actually pretty fucked up and ignorant back then. Well, our nation grew and progressed, our society became more complex and advanced, and as that happened, government was forced to keep pace. The government that is us, we the people -- of the people, by the people, and for the people.
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“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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America's enemies don't need to spread disinformation, doubt, discord, and division to weaken America, kill Americans--Republican politicians, Reich-wing demagogues, Faux News, OAN, Newsmax, Breitbart and the rest of the Reich-wing media do that so effectively for them, already. More Americans need to realize that the GOP has abdicated it's duty as loyal opposition, and that its prioritization of party over country diminishes both our government and our national security, endangering ALL Americans, as well as weakening and endangering America itself.
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“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Elmer Fudd's always trying to convince me he just wants unity.
What he really means is that he wants to eat me.
Unity and compromise is a two-way street that only works if both parties operate in good faith. Republicans have a long history of failing to do that--or even try. Recent history since Biden won the election shows no indication of them changing their divisive, destructive words, attitudes, and acts. Tyrant Trump incited a terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol to overthrow an election, endangering his VP and members of Congress, sat by and gleefully reveled in watching it happen for hours, ignoring desperate pleas for help, and only a very few Republican are willing to speak out, impeach him, convict him, and prevent him from holding public office again? That's not loyal opposition; that's a dangerous terrorist political cult of fascists.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It’s that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don’t care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn’t want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it’s more than hope—those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another four months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn’t really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
“The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.”
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump’s hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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I ran the White House pandemic office. Trump closed it.
Beth Cameron -- 03/13/20 -- Washington Post
Beth Cameron is vice president for global biological policy and programs at the Nuclear Threat Initiative. She previously served as the senior director for global health security and biodefense on the White House National Security Council.
When President Trump took office in 2017, the White House’s National Security Council Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense survived the transition intact. Its mission was the same as when I was asked to lead the office, established after the Ebola epidemic of 2014: to do everything possible within the vast powers and resources of the U.S. government to prepare for the next disease outbreak and prevent it from becoming an epidemic or pandemic.
One year later, I was mystified when the White House dissolved the office, leaving the country less prepared for pandemics like covid-19.
The U.S. government’s slow and inadequate response to the new coronavirus underscores the need for organized, accountable leadership to prepare for and respond to pandemic threats.
In a health security crisis, speed is essential. When this new coronavirus emerged, there was no clear White House-led structure to oversee our response, and we lost valuable time. Yes, we have capable and committed global and national disease-prevention and management organizations, as well as state and local health departments, all working overtime now. But even in prepared cities like Seattle, health systems are struggling to test patients and keep pace with growing caseloads. The specter of rapid community transmission and exponential growth is real and daunting. The job of a White House pandemics office would have been to get ahead: to accelerate the response, empower experts, anticipate failures, and act quickly and transparently to solve problems.
It’s impossible to assess the full impact of the 2018 decision to disband the White House office responsible for this work. Biological experts do remain in the White House and in our government. But it is clear that eliminating the office has contributed to the federal government’s sluggish domestic response. What’s especially concerning about the absence of this office today is that it was originally set up because a previous epidemic made the need for it quite clear.
The U.S. government worked hard to fight the 2014 Ebola epidemic. Unlike Central Africa, Ebola was not a usual occurrence in West Africa; the necessary elements of community trust and public health decision-making weren’t in place to detect and stop it. Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone were blind spots for disease surveillance. The cost was thousands of lives, billions of dollars and years of economic recovery for countries already torn by decades of war.
So in 2016, after the formidable U.S.-led Ebola response, the Obama White House established the global health security office at the National Security Council and asked me to lead the team. We were to prepare for and, if possible, prevent the next outbreak from becoming an epidemic or pandemic.
Our team reported to a senior-level response coordinator on the National Security staff who could rally the government at the highest levels, as well as to the national security adviser and the homeland security adviser. This high-level domestic and global reporting structure wasn’t an accident. It was a recognition that epidemics know no borders and that a serious, fast response is crucial. Our job was to be the smoke alarm — keeping watch to get ahead of emergencies, sounding a warning at the earliest sign of fire — all with the goal of avoiding a six-alarm blaze.
We partnered with federal departments and agencies as they monitored evolving outbreaks, triggering alarms for decision-makers when those outbreaks began to take on unusual or worrisome characteristics. Shortly before Trump took office, we were watching many health security threats, including a rising number of cases in China of H7N9 influenza, a deadly strain with high mortality but low transmissibility between people. Earlier, we had been tracking a large outbreak of yellow fever in Angola that threatened to sap the limited global supply of that vaccine, affecting the local population, international travelers, deployed citizens and troops. We were focused on naturally occurring diseases and potential bioterrorism — any and every biological threat that could cause a major global health and security emergency.
My office was also tasked with preparing — at home and around the world — for the next health emergency, no matter its origin. In 2014, even before the first cases of Ebola came to light in Guinea, the Obama administration launched the Global Health Security Agenda, which now includes more than 60 countries, to accelerate epidemic preparedness. That effort, bolstered by $1 billion from the U.S. government in an emergency spending bill to fight Ebola, led to major gains in global capability to combat the Ebola outbreak and prepare for the next pandemic, which turned out to be covid-19. We began building, measuring and tracking capacities each country had, such as the strength of their national laboratory systems and their abilities to detect and report disease, stand up emergency operation centers, build an epidemiology workforce and maintain safe and secure practices. We spurred the use of transparent, measurable assessments of progress, and we leveraged our diplomacy with other countries to finance and fill gaps. At the same time, we strengthened international biosurveillance networks to help alert us to future potential pandemics.
Another critical task came in early 2017, when we began transitioning pandemic preparedness to the incoming Trump administration. As a civil servant and the head of the directorate, I remained at the White House for several months after the transition. I attended senior-level meetings and directly briefed the homeland security adviser and the national security adviser. After I left the White House that March, pandemic preparedness remained on the agenda; my office remained intact under the leadership of my well-respected successor, Rear Adm. Tim Ziemer; and the national security adviser was tracking H7N9 and other emerging threats.
It’s unclear whether the decision to disband the directorate, which was made in May 2018, after John Bolton became national security adviser, was a tactical move to downgrade the issue or whether it was part of the White House’s interest in simplifying and shrinking the National Security Council staff. Either way, it left an unclear structure and strategy for coordinating pandemic preparedness and response. Experts outside government and on Capitol Hill called for the office’s reinstatement at the time.
Its absence now is all too evident. In his remarks Wednesday night, the president talked about travel bans and the resilience of the U.S. economy but made little specific mention of the public health crisis unfolding across America — exactly the kind of detail a dedicated NSC pandemics infrastructure would have pushed to address. A directorate within the White House would have been responsible for coordinating the efforts of multiple federal agencies to make sure the government was backstopping testing capacity, devising approaches to manufacture and avoid shortages of personal protective equipment, strengthening U.S. lab capacity to process covid-19 tests, and expanding the health-care workforce.
The office would galvanize resources to coordinate a robust and seamless domestic and global response. It would identify needs among state and local officials, and advise and facilitate regular, focused communication from federal health and scientific experts to provide states and the public with fact-based tools to minimize the virus’s spread. The White House is uniquely positioned to take into account broader U.S. and global security considerations associated with health emergencies, including their impact on deployed citizens, troops and regional economies, as well as peace and stability. A White House office would have been able to elevate urgent issues fast, so they didn’t linger or devolve to inaction, as with covid-19 testing in the United States. It would be in charge of sharing information and coordinating our public health and humanitarian response with partners and allies. And it would work now to prepare the United States and the world for the next pandemic, including by developing incentives for global leaders and governments to rapidly finance and fill identified gaps.
Pandemics, like weapons of mass destruction and climate change, are transnational threats with potentially existential consequences. No single department or agency can be responsible for handling them. Pandemic threats may not arise every year, but the White House should constantly prepare for them. We can’t afford for federal decision-makers to waste time relearning old lessons when they should be innovating and acting.
Covid-19 wasn’t preventable, but it was predictable. Hopefully, its impact can still be limited. But it is well past time for the U.S. government to show the leadership required for an effective domestic and global response. We need to start sprinting. Come April and May, no one will wish the United States had done less.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/i-ran-the-white-house-pandemic-office-trump-closed-it/ar-BB1192Xy
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"Republican Witness" in the title refers to a witness for the Republicans, not the political affiliation of the witness, doofus! Typical Republican, sees problems where none exist, can't see the problems that do exist! BTW, not judging Turley on political affiliation, but on content and substance of his words.
If you're not very sophisticated, know little about the Constitution and impeachment, and didn't listen objectively to the other three expert witnesses on Constitutional law, then you might come away with the wrong idea that Professor Turley was credible. You do realize that Turley's whole testimony ADVOCATES impeachment, simply asking for more witnesses, which Democrats very much want to have testify, but refuse to let Trump run out the clock in the courts with baseless legal appeals blocking evidentiary materials and their testimony?
Professor Turley disgraced himself and his employer, Georgetown University, getting taken to the mat repeatedly and completely outclassed by three experts from other universities. While clearly knowledgeable about Constitutional law and history, Professor Turley failed to present any rational academic argument against impeachment, choosing instead to turn a blind eye to high crimes, unprecedented total obstruction of Congress oversight and impeachment powers, this President's penchant for perversions and abuses of power, and dire national security concerns...while making false allegations, engaging in false equivalencies, projecting undue bias and playing coy. Although much value and greatly appreciate opposing perspectives, Professor Turley's performance was an act of bad faith and intellectual dishonesty, demonstrating a critical lack of integrity, of which Georgetown University, its students, and its alumni should all be ashamed, as it reflects very poorly on them and their fine institution. This was a fool willingly made a Republican cult tool, and the motivation appears more self-interest than altruistic--at a time when all sane, loyal hands are crucially required on deck.
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@helveticaification ~No need...Toxic Trump IS the disease!
The highly-coveted Top Prize for our contestants today is an all-funeral-expenses-paid romantic getaway for two aboard the magnificent Corona Queen, taking you for an exclusive extended cruise, to a secluded stay on the exotic, remote, tropical Isle of Covid-19, where the fevered fun is SUPER-contagious, and you will luxuriously bask in fabulous face masks and rejuvenating oxygen respirators, with the wonderful scent of disinfectant surrounding you! Sure to be a lifetime experience for some lucky few! Just remember--the couple that dies together, stays together!
BONUS--SPECIAL CASES: Providing accompanying entertainment is Chief Jester Roberts and the entire Toxic Trump comedy crew, featuring the Clown Commander, for laughs and coughs! There just ain't no cure, for them ocean cruise blues! Bon voyage!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwE7EFyQDm0 (exclusive Mardi Gras spectacular A/V version)
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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"We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
~ How Fascism Works, The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(Reference also Father Charles E. Coughlin and Henry Ford in regards to the first America First movement.)
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
Malcolm Nance: We Are In A Neo-Fascist Era In American Politics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_RxUAe2zeM
Political Analyst Tells Joy Reid: Forget Trumpism, IT’s Neo-Fascism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IgNp84JA4A
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@paradisepipeco ~ "We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
~ How Fascism Works, The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(Reference also Father Charles E. Coughlin and Henry Ford in regards to the first America First movement.)
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
Malcolm Nance: We Are In A Neo-Fascist Era In American Politics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_RxUAe2zeM
Political Analyst Tells Joy Reid: Forget Trumpism, IT’s Neo-Fascism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IgNp84JA4A
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@paradisepipeco ~ Got a good laugh out of it! Same with your poems 'MAGA' and 'MAGALAND,' which are hilarious! For a chuckle or two, visit my channel some time, should be right up your alley.
I replied to you here just previously with that historical and commentary piece of mine containing the quotes after seeing you had likewise employing the Walt Kelly quote. Thought you might appreciate that also.
I got through some of your playlist, and I really liked the lyrics to 'Bar-cuda!' Actually, they're all pretty good, at least so far, and your musical talent is pretty good, too. You play the guitar much better than I, that's for sure. Anyway, a verse from your 'Bar-cuda' brought to mind a little poem had written a few years back:
~The Funky Monkey~
It began with the monkey
Then Nature let humans be
Really disturbing to see
Just because of Russian flea
Republicans up a tree
Devolved into Trumpanzee
The Strange Tale of the Insemination, Gestation, and Birth of Trump
Fox News and The Republican Party are like two drunk frat boys who got a little too drunk at a party one night and woke up the next morning to find that at some point in their drunken haze they'd become attached at the dick by way of a Chinese Finger Trap. Now, rather than work together and figure out that the solution to their dilemma is to temporarily in a totally not gay way they swear push their dicks closer together, they've determined that they're going to push each other away with all of their might until the trap explodes or (more likely) until one them gets their dick ripped off.
~ Tommy Two Tacos
One last thought occurred that had resurfaced from our discussion here. Have you ever noticed how most conservatives seem to lack creativity?
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@paradisepipeco ~ We think much alike. Have been posting a similar "diatribe" for about four years, which has gone through a few updates:
The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over four decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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If you're not very sophisticated, know little about the Constitution and impeachment, and didn't listen objectively to the other three expert witnesses on Constitutional law, then you might come away with the wrong idea that Professor Turley was credible. You do realize that Turley's whole testimony ADVOCATES impeachment, simply asking for more witnesses, which Democrats very much want to have testify, but refuse to let Trump run out the clock in the courts with baseless legal appeals blocking evidentiary materials and their testimony?
Professor Turley disgraced himself and his employer, Georgetown University, getting taken to the mat repeatedly and completely outclassed by three experts from other universities. While clearly knowledgeable about Constitutional law and history, Professor Turley failed to present any rational academic argument against impeachment, choosing instead to turn a blind eye to high crimes, unprecedented total obstruction of Congress oversight and impeachment powers, this President's penchant for perversions and abuses of power, and dire national security concerns...while making false allegations, engaging in false equivalencies, projecting undue bias and playing coy. Although much value and greatly appreciate opposing perspectives, Professor Turley's performance was an act of bad faith and intellectual dishonesty, demonstrating a critical lack of integrity, of which Georgetown University, its students, and its alumni should all be ashamed, as it reflects very poorly on them and their fine institution. This was a fool willingly made a Republican cult tool, and the motivation appears more self-interest than altruistic--at a time when all sane, loyal hands are crucially required on deck.
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@rickeyclaiborne5521 ~ Got family in Texas, know that it's not back to normal. Saw backed-up lines of people in Texas waiting to get tested for Covid. That's not "normal." Some people want to think they're done with Covid, if they don't think about it then it will just go away -- but Covid isn't done with us.
You don't seem to understand about Omicron, either. Just because as many people don't get severely ill or die does NOT mean that people are not getting severely ill and dying from Omicron. And while the original variants had a transmissibility rate of about 2.5, Delta about 7, the rate for Omicron is 10, or about the same as measles, which is highly contagious. Which means that the sheer volume of cases that are being experienced and will be experienced once again translating to overflowing hospitals, overstressed medical personnel, and more injuries and deaths from Covid.
Nor do you seem to understand that the more Covid is transmitted, the more likelihood for new variants, some of which could prove more virulent and deadly.
You also seem to be one of those selfish people who doesn't think about anyone else but yourself. Some people can't get the vaccine for medical reasons. Some people have compromised immune systems. Some people have health conditions that make them vulnerable. And some are perfectly healthy, including children and people of all ages. Because not only is Covid an opportunistic killer, it's also a random killer.
Regardless, they are all our fellow Americans. When I was in the service, it was understood that we would go to extraordinary lengths to leave no American behind. Now, to see so many Americans' callous indifference and disregard for their own lives and the lives of others makes me fear for the future of this country and wonder what happened to our sense of civic-mindedness, compassion and patriotism. So far, one out of every 400 Americans has died from Covid in less than 21 months. That's far too many who shouldn't have had to die.
Moreover, it's not just Omicron; the Delta variant is still out there, too. Yesterday, we had over 2,000 American fatalities from Covid. Three days ago, the same. A week ago, it was over 3,000. It's like repeated 9/11 attacks, but too many want to ignore that we are war with an invisible enemy. To any sane, humane, patriotic person, that amount of loss of life should be unacceptable.
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regurgitation
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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***MEDIA FAIL*** ---- Manchin IS the problem! He's not even representing the voters in his state, who overwhelmingly favor the programs in the reconciliation package. Manchin is corrupt. Nearly every Democrat I know loathes him and Sinema for sinking democracy, America, the American people, and the Democratic party. Schumer is pointing out the lack of bipartisanship in the Senate, because the GOP has turned into a fascist, nihilistic cult, and Manchin is covering his face because he wants to pretend that Republicans are interested in bipartisanship so he can selfishly milk corporate donors for millions while Republicans burn down government and the nation.
Gee, the problem I've been screaming about for decades with the media! "Both-sidesism" aka "false balance" is a media bias that is a logical fallacy which does a disservice to the truth and is a source of disinformation and misinformation. It's little different than false equivalency or the logical fallacy argument to moderation (Latin: argumentum ad temperantiam)—aka false compromise, argument from middle ground, fallacy of grey, and the golden mean fallacy—which is the fallacy that the truth is a compromise between two opposing positions. The former editor of the Chicago Tribune is correct in pointing out that the MSM has been complicit in helping to create and enabling the corrupt, Orwellian fascist Republican cult, but the process was already well under way by the time Trump exploited it for his own sociopathic narcissism and selfish ends.
As a voter, I expect political parties to hold each other accountable. No, CNN, that isn't just the job of the media, alone, and Senate Leader Schumer is correct to hold Senate Republicans accountable for failing to raise the debt ceiling, for only allowing a vote on a temporary measure, which required all Democrats to vote for, with no Republicans in support. So, now, we have to hang on the edge of precipice a few months down the road for another high-stakes game with the nation's economic health and well-being hanging in the balance because Republicans want to hold our economy hostage, don't want to pay for their own spending under the Trump administration, just so REPUBLICANS can have a bogus Reich-wing talking point in the next election cycle? What, CNN, you're too STUPID and WILLFULLY BLIIND to see that it is REPUBLICANS playing politics??? You're too STUPID and WILLFULLY BLIND to see that you are once again helping to enable REPUBLICAN misinformation and disinformation??? You're too STUPID and WILLFULLY BLIND to see that you are helping REPUBLICANS destroy democracy and our country??? Media BE better, WE be better!
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
Democrats, Independents, others: WTF?!?
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Trump’s False Claims About His Response to the Coronavirus
Linda Qiu - The New York Times - Friday, March 13, 2020
As he declared a national emergency over the coronavirus outbreak, President Trump attempted to deflect criticisms of his administration’s response to the virus with inaccurate claims. Here’s a fact-check.
what the facts are
Mr. Trump wrongly blamed the Obama administration for coronavirus testing shortages and falsely said it “didn’t do testing” during the swine flu epidemic of 2009.
What Mr. Trump Said
“I don’t take responsibility at all because we were given a set of circumstances and we were given rules, regulations, and specifications from a different time.”
False. The Food and Drug Administration issued a “draft guidance” in 2014 in which it sought to extend its authority to regulate laboratory-developed tests. But it’s wrong to blame that effort for the scattered and insufficient delivery of coronavirus tests as the guidance was not particularly relevant to emergency situations and was never finalized or generally enforced.
A law enacted in 2004 created the process and requirements for the use of unapproved products in public health emergencies. Under the law and guidance set by the Trump administration itself, the Food and Drug Administration requires developers of laboratory-developed tests to submit information and to comply with certain procedures.
The agency said in early March that it would permit unapproved tests for the coronavirus for 15 days while developers are preparing their emergency authorization request. Neither the 2004 law nor subsequent amendments restricted the Trump administration from doing so, nor did it hamper previous administrations in fast-tracking testing for other health crises.
What Mr. Trump Said
“If you go back to the swine flu, it was nothing like this. They didn’t do testing like this, and actually they lost approximately 14,000 people, and they didn’t do the testing. They started thinking about testing when it was far too late.”
False. This is blatantly wrong. Diagnostic tests for the swine flu were approved and shipped out less than two weeks after the H1N1 virus was identified and a day before the first death in the United States.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identified the first case of the virus on April 14, 2009. The Obama administration declared swine flu a public health emergency on April 26. The Food and Drug Administration approved a rapid test for the virus two days later. At the time, the C.D.C. had reported 64 cases and zero deaths. The C.D.C. began shipping test kits to public health laboratories on May 1 (at 141 cases and one death) and a second test was approved in July. From May to September 2009, the agency shipped more than 1,000 kits, each one able to test 1,000 specimens.
To be sure, researchers found flaws and limitations in the tests but testing was conducted. A vaccine became available in early October but, amid reports of shortages, President Obama declared the outbreak a national emergency later that month. The estimated death toll in the United States from the H1N1 epidemic was 12,469 from April 2009 to April 2010.
What the Facts Are
Mr. Trump inaccurately described a website in development to mitigate the outbreak.
What Mr. Trump Said
“I want to thank Google. Google is helping to develop a website, it’s going to be very quickly done, unlike websites of the past, to determine whether a test is warranted and to facilitate testing at a nearby convenient location.”
This is misleading. Mr. Trump misstated the company developing the website and exaggerated its scope. After Mr. Trump spoke, Google issued a statement on Twitter from Verily, a separate subsidiary of Google’s parent company.
“We are developing a tool to help triage individuals for Covid-19 testing. Verily is in the early stages of development, and planning to roll testing out in the Bay Area, with the hope of expanding more broadly over time,” the statement read.
A spokeswoman for Verily said it had originally intended for the website to be used only by health care workers. Mr. Trump’s statement prompted the company to make it available to the public. The site will direct people to “pilot sites” for testing in the Bay Area, the spokeswoman said.
what the facts are
Mr. Trump again mischaracterized travel restrictions imposed on certain European countries.
What Mr. Trump Said
“As you know, Europe was just designated as the hot spot right now and we closed that border a while ago.”
This is misleading. Mr. Trump imposed some travel restrictions on 26 European countries on Wednesday night, but those restrictions do not go into effect until midnight on Friday and do not amount to a total shutting down of the border.
The restrictions bar the entry of foreign nationals who have been to any of the 26 countries that make up Europe’s Schengen Area of open borders within 14 days. That area does not include more than 20 other European countries, including Britain. The proclamation also does not apply to American citizens, permanent residents, their immediate families, or those who are members of air or sea crews.
what the facts are
Mr. Trump described telemedicine technology as “fairly new,” though it’s been used for decades.
What Mr. Trump Said
“This includes the following critical authorities — the ability to waive laws to enable telehealth, a fairly new and incredible thing that has happened in the not-so-distant past.”
This is exaggerated. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services expanded access to telehealth services — for example, virtual check-ins and telephone consultations with doctors — for Medicare beneficiaries this week. But these technologies have beenin usesince the 1960s.
The University of Nebraska used video links to provide exams and diagnoses with a state hospital 112 miles in 1964. Three years later, the University of Miami and a local fire department transmitted cardiac rhythms using radio channels. Federal agencies initiated a host of other services in the 1970s and 1980s.
A 1997 government report noted a severely injured sailor aboard the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln was able to be treated by a doctor in San Diego 6,000 miles away through telemedicine. By 2014, “more than 20 federal agencies were engaged in some aspect of telehealth,” according to the Congressional Research Service, with the Department of Veterans Affairs providing more than 2.1 million telehealth consultations in the 2015 fiscal year.
what the facts are
Mr. Trump said he was not responsible for disbanding the White House’s pandemic team.
what Mr. Trump said
“When you say me, I didn’t do it. We have a group of people I could ask — perhaps my administration — but I could perhaps ask Tony about that because I don’t know anything about it.”
This is misleading. The top White House official tasked with leading the country’s response to a pandemic left the administration in May 2018 and his team was disbanded by Mr. Trump’s national security adviser at the time, John R. Bolton, The Washington Post has reported.
While there is no evidence that Mr. Trump personally directed the ousting of these officials, he also did not replace them in the nearly two years since, despite repeated bipartisan urgings from lawmakers and experts.
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Let's just call January 6 what it actually was -- a Republican smash and grab, an act of violent larceny against democracy and our government, sedition employing domestic terrorism right out in open sight. It was just one of Trump's failed attempts to achieve an autogolpe.
"Without accountability, an attempted autogolpe and insurrection is just practice."
"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ― Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
So, why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. Because our democracy, our institutions, and our very security is seriously endangered. And because rule of law and justice for all really does matter.
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@apostlevictoriaalston2560 ~ You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It’s that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don’t care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn’t want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it’s more than hope—those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another five months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn’t really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
“The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.”
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump’s hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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Many Republicans ignorantly think the "right" to overthrow the government is in the Constitution. While it is mentioned in the Declaration of Independence, that document is not part of the Constitution or U.S. law, it only constitutes our formal declaration of separation from England. They fail to grasp the critical distinction between throwing off the tyranny of British colonial rule to our current democracy, wherein we may peaceably assemble to petition our government, and we elect our representative and leaders, enabling us to change laws, make Amendments to our Constitution, and thereby even have the ability to change our form of government, if desired. They ignore that the Declaration advocates for "the consent of the governed," and would overthrow the government to impose their minority rule over the majority against the consent of the governed. And they ignore or are ignorant about the federal statutes making overthrow of the government illegal:
Rebellion or insurrection. Whoever incites, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof … shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both…. 18 U.S.C. §2383.
Seditious conspiracy. If two or more persons … in any place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof, … they shall each be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both. 18 U.S.C. §2384.
Advocating overthrow of Government. Whoever knowingly or willfully advocates, abets, advises, or teaches the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying the government of the United States or the government of any State … by force or violence, * * * Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both…. 18 U.S.C. §2385.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian nationalism religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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Who'd have ever equated voting in America with survival? But that's pretty much what it has boiled down to, hasn't it? Survival of ourselves, survival of our democracy, survival of our nation, and survival of our planet. The irony is that Republicans have always tried to falsely paint Democrats as an existential threat...but in doing so it is actually they who have become exactly that.
Democrat voters need an even greater turnout in '22 and '24, put the final fork in Trumpism! Republicans want to engage in Jim Crow voter suppression laws, voter intimidation, and egregious gerrymandering? Republicans want to engage in corruption, gaslight their corruption, coverup their corruption? Republicans want to turn a blind eye to Russian election interference and knowingly disseminate Russian propaganda for Putin? Republicans want to instigate and sanction Reich-wing domestic terrorist insurrection? Republicans want to live in delusion and denial about the major problems confronting the nation and planet? Let's just prove that's fuel for the fire, and make their fascist antidemocratic corruption backfire on them!
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--Instead of striving to bring out the best in people, Toxic Trump reveled in bringing out the very worst.
--Instead of uniting the country, Toxic Trump sought to divide us.
--Instead of abiding by and honoring our Constitution and the rule of law, Toxic Trump held them in disdain, disregarded them, and degraded them.
--Instead of strengthening democracy and our cherished institutions, Toxic Trump worked to diminish and destroy them, inciting a terrorist insurrection against his own government, attempting a coup to steal an election.
--Instead of insuring a peaceful transfer power after losing the election, Toxic Trump kept insisting against all evidence that he won, continuously repeating the Big Lie that resulted in the terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol.
--Instead of confronting a serious threat to Americans with a deadly global pandemic, Toxic Trump lied to the American people about it, ignored it, and refused to take any responsibility for his gross homicidal criminal negligence that resulted in one out of every 800 Americans dying from COVID-19--over 400,000 lives in just ten months, as many casualties as all of WWII.
--Instead of confronting the ever-increasing existential crisis from climate change and its harmful effects, Toxic Trump gutted regulations, exacerbating the problem and poisoning citizens.
--Instead of creating jobs, Toxic Trump was the first President since the Great Depression to preside over a net loss of jobs over his tenure.
--Instead of lowering the national deficit, Toxic Trump increased it from 19.2 trillion to 27 trillion.
--Instead of building bridges, humane immigration reform, and infrastructure, Toxic Trump built walls and cages, separated children from mothers, allowed American infrastructure to decline and deteriorate, rejected economic opportunity.
--Instead of raising our standing and security in the world, Toxic Trump lowered and weakened it.
--Instead of draining the swamp, Toxic Trump turned it into a noxious overflowing Republican sewer.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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FINAL SHOWDOWN ROUND INTER-GOVERNMENTAL MATCHUP: CBP/ICE versus Secret Service/U.S. Marshals
WHEN: High noon.
WHERE: OK Corral and Cage Them All Up, somewhere on the U.S. southern border.
THE STAKES: Rule of Law, sanity, America, future of humanity.
THE PRIZE: Justice, hopefully.
The long-awaited, much anticipated showdown is finally here, the nation anxiously perched at the edge of its seat! CBP/ICE team can be identified by their Confederate grey uniforms, swastikas, and white pointy hats. Secret Service/Marshals dressed in red, white, and blue. It's looking to be a short and very punishing affair for CBP/ICE, their opponents possessing all the advantages on their side. Expectations are CBP/ICE will attempt to compensate using child abuse, rape, torture, and other dirty tricks, sealing its own doom.
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Bush v. Gore, Citizens United, Shelby County v. Holder, Rucho v. Common Cause, Chief Jester Roberts smiling and nodding along while presiding over sham Senate impeachment trial, Assassination Goon B.S. Barr butchering the law, slaughtering justice, politicizing and weaponizing the DOJ. So, now, thanks to conservative Justices on SCOTUS, we have partisan Republican judges deciding elections instead of voters; a return to Jim Crow laws promoting voter suppression; unlimited dark money in elections buying off politicians; a lack of accountability enabling the Executive Branch to blackmail and coerce foreign governments into interfering in our elections, severely degrading our national security; and legalization of even the most egregious Republican gerrymandering. In essence, a deck stacked heavily in favor of corrupt, racist, anti-democratic Republican minority rule over the majority. It's why we lost all respect for these conservative Supreme Courts, the law, and the justice system in this country. Congratulations, Republicans, on turning our nation into a banana Republic, making America an object lesson to the world on how to destroy democracy!
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over four decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, nihilistic, hyper-partisan fascist cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, John Eastman and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
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@carmenhorn1620 - Exactly. Never underestimate the danger of the Republican cult!
You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It's that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don't care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another five months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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There has never been a graceful exit for the losing side in any war.
Truth is, our hasty withdrawal from Vietnam was even worse if you look at the numbers and the whole picture. Only 7,000 were evacuated from Vietnam during the fall of Saigon, with many more left behind, including two dead American soldiers----the last to die in the Vietnam War----left behind in a hospital and not returned until a year later by the Vietnamese. That evacuation occurred under hostile NVA and Vietcong fire. Since August 14, over 70,000 have already been evacuated from Afghanistan despite the complete capitulation of the Afghan government and Afghan Army, with no hostile fire upon American troops by the Taliban so far. 75,000 have been evacuated since July. Moreover, the January 27, 1973 peace agreement signed by the Americans with the North Vietnamese ended all direct U.S. military involvement in Vietnam, and provided sixty days for troop removal. Just as with Afghanistan, all troops were removed. However, it was over two years later, on April 30, 1975, when the fall of Saigon occurred. So, the U.S. had nearly two-and-a-half years to evacuate everyone else before the fall of the South Vietnamese government and armed forces, instead of just the two weeks like in Afghanistan so far.
The other thing in stark contrast between Vietnam and Afghanistan is that no Democrats----including Carter, who was running against Ford for President----tried to use the situation for political gain like Republicans are so desperately and depravedly doing now. That, despite the fact that it was the previous Trump administration which bears the brunt of the blame for the current situation.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of conspiracy theories, the party of hate, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of corruption, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their deal with the Devil.
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Not a minority, but this is a classic example of white privilege and "exceptionalism." Both things being ignorant and morally reprehensible, indefensible. You make an excellent point, which with we fully sympathize.
If you hitched your wagon to a dying beast and got stranded, whose fault is that? And if you knew that dying beast was killing and sickening people, spewing poison into our air and water, but chose to hitch your wagon to it, anyway, what kind of person does that make you? One worthy of sympathy for losing that killer job? Besides, it isn't as if these people and communities are unable to learn new job skills, build a cleaner and more moral job base.
In addition to being one of the dirtiest hydrocarbon fuels to burn, contributing significantly to climate change and harmful air pollution, after coal is burned what remains in the ash includes lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium, arsenic, and selenium, all in levels that may threaten human health. In just 2014 alone, the U.S. produced 130 MILLION TONS of coal ash.
For decades, utilities have disposed of coal ash dangerously, dumping it in unlined ponds and landfills where the toxins leak into groundwater. According to the industry’s own data, more than 95% of the coal ash ponds in the United States are unlined. 738 coal ash units in 43 states and Puerto Rico have reported information in compliance with federal coal ash safeguards since 2015. More than 550 units — at 265 plants — reported groundwater monitoring data. Based on that data, 91% of these plants are contaminating groundwater with toxic substances at levels exceeding federal safe standards.
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@KingThrillgore ~ Republican cult morons rail against the very "elite" they keep voting for, who give tax cuts to the rich and have created the greatest income inequality and wealth disparity in American history.
Why? They are driven by the divisive fear and bigotry programmed into them 24/7 by the Reich-wing media and propaganda owned or funded by the plutocracy. It's absolutely Orwellian, and it began around 1984 in America. What is witnessed now is just the rotten results from the poisoned tree bearing fruition. It's the disease killing America that existed long before COVID-19, and which is likely to persist long after.
Republican cult going to believe what the Republican cult wants to believe, whatever the truth, whatever proof, whatever anybody says. "Healing" the country means deprogramming the 30-40% of Americans deep in cultdom. That needs to be recognized, acknowledged, and acted upon if we truly wish to revive the patient, America, and restore it to glory.
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Republican cult morons rail against the very "elite" they keep voting for, who give tax cuts to the rich and have created the greatest income inequality and wealth disparity in American history.
Why? They are driven by the divisive fear and bigotry programmed into them 24/7 by the Reich-wing media and propaganda owned or funded by the plutocracy. It's absolutely Orwellian, and it began around 1984 in America. What is witnessed now is just the rotten results from the poisoned tree bearing fruition. It's the disease killing America that existed long before COVID-19, and which is likely to persist long after.
Republican cult going to believe what the Republican cult wants to believe, whatever the truth, whatever proof, whatever anybody says. "Healing" the country means deprogramming the 30-40% of American electorate deep in cultdom. That needs to be recognized, acknowledged, and acted upon if we truly wish to revive the patient, America, and restore it to glory.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It’s that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don’t care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn’t want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it’s more than hope—those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another three months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn’t really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
“The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.”
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump’s hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic hyper-partisan Republican cult placing political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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For trees? How so? The analysis is that Sarkozy would get three years suspended, with the remaining year LIKELY under house arrest. Yes, would agree that does seem too lenient, and probably is a double-standard being applied when compared to criminals accused of similar crimes IN FRANCE. However, "likely" is no guarantee that Sarkozy will not serve prison time, particularly if he is hereafter convicted of the main charges of corruption pending against him. Would also agree that America's incarceration rate is far too high, with many of those imprisoned serving long sentences for non-violent crimes, which is unjust, costly, and stupid. But the comparison should be apples to apples, not apples to oranges.
So, you're conflating things, and also inflating things, as the U.S. incarceration is nowhere near half the population. If you really care about the high incarceration in America, you shouldn't be exaggerating the problem, for it only destroys the credibility of all of us advocating for reforms. The facts: The U.S. incarceration rate peaked in 2007 and has been steadily declining every year since. Still, as of 2018, there was a reported 2.2 million in U.S. prisons and jails (which, just to note, includes a fairly significant number unable to make bail, people who would otherwise not be incarcerated in the system at any one given time). As of 2019, the incarceration rate in the U.S. was 655 per 100,000, a rate nearly double that of Russia, and almost six times that of China. However, as high as incarceration rates are in the U.S., as can easily be discerned they're still a long, long way from "half the population," with a rate of less than 7%, rather than the 50% figure you stated. All figures were sourced from The Sentencing Project, a non-partisan research and advocacy organization for criminal justice reform.
While people of all races in the U.S. are incarcerated at a high rate, it is minorities and the poor who are particularly hardest hit. One thing that would help decrease incarceration rates and inequities in our justice system is doing away with cash bail. But, if you'll recall, when VP Kamala Harris spearheaded an effort to provide bail to people arrested at BLM protests, Republicans and their Reich-wing propaganda machine lambasted her for "coddling criminals, unleashing criminals upon society, and not caring about law enforcement or blue lives" (while at the same time accusing her of locking too many people up as an AG and DA). Keep in mind that judges do not allow bail if a suspect is deemed a threat to the community; that all suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law; that most of the BLM arrests were for minor civil disobedience offenses; and that when a judge showed unusual leniency in allowing a white woman charged in the seditious terrorist attack against our nation's Capitol January 6 who was out on bail to travel outside the country to Cancun, Mexico on a non-essential trip, Republicans were universally silent.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It’s that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes have to KNOW at some level he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don’t care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn’t want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it’s more than hope—those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another two months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn’t really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
“The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.”
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump’s hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic hyper-partisan Republican cult placing political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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@avi763 ~A bit wrong. We got peaceful law-abiding protestors composing the vast majority. We got some protestors acting out their rage in the immediate aftermath--a small minority. We got some agitators from the extreme left and right, along with anarchists, exploiting and exacerbating the situation--again, a small minority. We got criminals exploiting the situation to loot, with some protestors opportunistically adding to the looting on their own and as a result of criminal breaches. The major problem in all cities appears to be the criminal exploitation of legitimate protests. Unlike anarchists and white supremacists on the right, anti-fascist groups are generally opposed to violence, looting, and destruction. Your mom and dad were anti-fascists, as were their grandparents. Most of us are anti-fascists, unless you like Hitler and Mussolini. The term "ANTIFA" is bandied about on the right in ignorance solely to smear their political opponents. Those familiar with counterintelligence in this country know that anti-fascists aren't much on the radar, since it is extreme right and white-supremacist groups overwhelmingly forming most of the domestic threat to national security.
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Feel this woman's grief, feel for their kids and their families and friends their loss. Am glad that this woman, this wife, this mother, Katie, chose to bravely share her pain with us fellow Americans, that those not taking this deadly global pandemic seriously enough, endangering themselves and others, would take heed of the terrible cost of their ignorance. Mostly, though, feel anger and resolve, because so many Americans need not have become sick and died. How did we ever allow the senseless, preventable deaths of so many Americans to happen here?
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or "the Wall") is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle's name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called "leaders" in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 -- than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to--and a barrier against--our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It's design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge--and help teach--people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see...if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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The Molotov cocktail recipe:
Mix in equal parts of mental illness, willful ignorance, fear, hate, greed, decades of 24/7 Reich-wing disinformation, misinformation, and crackpot conspiracy programming by Republican politicians, plutocrats, media and demagogues, add supplemental divisive Russian propaganda attacking and weakening America, stir well, garnish with COVID-19, and you have the mindless Republican cult descending into fascism, committing terrorism and sedition. Then, grab a stiff drink--you'll need it.
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Putin is posturing. He's not stupid, isn't about to kill the goose that lays the golden egg, which is the corrupt regime he runs that enriches him and appointed oligarchy friends. If he thought he could get away with taking Ukraine, he would do it, but he knows it would be too costly, and could well prove his downfall.
NATO nations border Russia now, just as they have since the days of the USSR. NATO is a defensive organization, as Putin well knows. The U.S. and other NATO allies have no intention or interest whatsoever of employing offensive military forces against Russia in aggression, as Putin also well knows. NATO was formed at the request of European nations in conjunction with the U.S. as a hedge against Russian aggression, another thing of which Putin is well aware.
And there's no mistaking that Russia is the aggressor, with its annexation of the Ukranian territory of Crimea, its military operation in eastern Ukraine, and its ongoing efforts to destabilize Ukraine.
Which is not because Ukraine poses any threat to Russia. It's because Putin promotes Russian nationalism and a return to the supposed "glory" of the former communist Soviet Union as a way to gain support to prop up his corrupt regime, much as Hitler did.
Putin runs a brutal, repressive regime, and while there is resistance and protests, they are met with harsh crackdowns by security forces and often heavy punishment handed down to those involved. What Putin fears is not the U.S. or NATO, but his fellow citizens.
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WT F - Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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@lizafield9002 ~ Doubt they even bothered to read the comment. They're all just Russian and Reich-wing propagandists, agitators, and trolls. When's the last time you were able to have a rational discussion with someone from the other side on YouTube? I've had some pretending to be reasonable, but after engaging it quickly becomes apparent they're just Reich-wing propagandists, after all. Personally, can't remember the last time here was able to have a reasonable debate with anyone from the other side. Where's the reasonable Republicans in the comments here, people like the conservative Bulwark editor-in-chief, Charlie Sykes, or the former head of the RNC, Michael Steele? I know there's other Republicans like them out there, I know there's some things upon which we would disagree, but they don't come here posting crap. If they really think CNN is fake news, then why would they come here? The answer is obvious, the one already given. They're like children acting out and being raucous at the dinner table, seeking attention while the adults are trying to have a serious substantive discussion: best just ignored.
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@sanketshirodkar1978 ~ You don't comprehend things too well, do you, Doc? You apparently worship Modi like some kind of god, so stupidly took things personally and started personally attacking me like some mindless idiot. The examples cited weren't chosen because of their politics, it was because they were the leaders of their countries, and they chose to disregard the science and experts, with their ignorance and failure in leadership leading to the catastrophic, senseless deaths of thousands of their citizens.
It's not about "nitpicking" on politicians. It's about holding leaders accountable for their bad decisions and/or gross negligence. As you were reminded in the last reply, my initial response here places some culpability on the citizens, too. Are all the citizens in India right-wing? No. So, it's not about politics or singling out any particular political ideology. In any case, the right-wing ideologies among those nation's leaders varies quite widely; they are not all the same. In fact, Trump was a corrupt grifter and sociopathic narcissist who didn't really have any political philosophy of which to speak, other than promoting himself by telling ignorant people what they wanted to hear, while scamming his supporters and taxpayers. The Brazilian leader appears to be little different than Trump.
You're Whataboutism is a logical fallacy, as whatever opposition leaders are doing, they were not the leader of the country, and even if everyone is doing something wrong it still doesn't make any of them right. Do you understand the concept of "the buck stops at the top?" Leaders get the credit for the good things that happen under their watch, but the flip side of the coin is that they take responsibility for the bad things, too. Apparently, your own politics cloud your view, because you don't want Modi to be held accountable as a leader for his own responsibility in contributing to the dire situation with COVID-19 in India.
You're also making fallacious arguments. Trump was held accountable by the press and voters, getting booted from office largely due to his horrific mismanagement of this pandemic. In the middle of a dire situation is exactly the time when leaders need to be held accountable most for their poor decisions. So, if a drunk ship's captain lands his ship on a reef because of his poor decision and gross negligence, you wouldn't criticize him, instead leaving the captain at the helm...because the ship is in the middle of a crisis??? Ridiculous.
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@seaoftranquility7228 ~ Social Media Content Creator is a well-known propaganda troll. Same actors, same old song and dance. Are they Russian? Are they Reich-wing? It becomes a distinction lacking any difference. The modus operandi remains the same: attack the truth, denigrate reputable journalism, Whataboutism, projectionism, false equivalencies, crackpot conspiracy theories, lies. Sowing disinformation, discord and division to weaken America, kill Americans.
Here, the propaganda troll dishonestly attacks the messenger to deflect, divert, and digress, because is has no real defense against the message--other than dumb denial. Propaganda trolls subscribe to the theory that the best defense is a good offense. Rather than getting put on defense, prefer attacking them for their dishonesty, by pointing out their use of logical fallacies and lies. Simply ignoring them is also effective, for they are like the little child squabbling offensive nonsense for attention at the dinner table while the grown-ups are trying to speak.
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@LiberalSoldier1 ~ GOP has gone rogue, doesn’t want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
“The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.”
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump’s hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
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Marcus Olofzon ~ (cont.)
Section III: Democracy and Rule of Law
The United States and Ukraine are bound by the universal values that unite the free people of the world: respect for democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. Strengthening the rule of law, promoting reform of the legal system and of law enforcement structures, and combating corruption are crucial to the prosperity of Ukraine and its people.
The United States acknowledges the progress made by Ukraine in strengthening its democratic institutions and welcomes the important steps taken by Ukraine to develop an effective national justice and anti-corruption system. The United States and Ukraine recognize the need for Ukraine to further pursue a comprehensive reform agenda to keep transforming the country and ensure a bright future for all people in Ukraine.
The United States intends to continue to support Ukraine’s commitment to strengthen efforts to combat corruption, including through independent media and journalism, and empower institutions that prevent, investigate, prosecute, and adjudicate corruption cases to bolster faith in rule of law, build a competitive economy, and to integrate Ukraine fully into European and Euro-Atlantic structures.
The United States recognizes Ukraine’s progress on reforms, including steps forward on defense and defense industry reforms, the establishment of independent anti-corruption institutions, land reform, local governance and decentralization, and digitalization. The United States intends to continue supporting further law enforcement and justice sector reforms in line with international best practices to strengthen public trust in the institutions responsible for upholding the rule of law in Ukraine.
The United States and Ukraine intend to continue to cooperate closely to promote remembrance, including increased public awareness of the Holodomor of 1932-1933 in Ukraine, and other brutalities committed within and against Ukraine in the past.
The United States and Ukraine confirm the importance of advancing respect for human rights, and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international commitments and obligations, as well as fighting racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, and discrimination, including against Roma and members of the LGBTQI+ communities.
The United States and Ukraine share a desire to strengthen our people-to-people ties and enhance our cultural, educational, and professional exchanges that promote innovation, scientific research, entrepreneurship and increase mutual understanding between our people.
Section IV: Economic Transformation
The United States and Ukraine intend to expand cooperation to support economic reform, enhance job creation, foster economic growth, support efforts under United States-Ukraine Trade and Investment Council to expand market access for goods and services and to improve the investment environment, including through enhanced protection and enforcement of intellectual property. Ukraine’s continued adoption and implementation of reforms are critical to ensuring that its economy delivers for all of its people. The United States supports the ambitious transformation plan for Ukraine’s economy aimed at reforming and modernizing key sectors and promoting investments. The United States and Ukraine recognize the need to advance Ukraine’s energy security and to take urgent action to tackle climate change through sustainable, effective, and durable policy solutions underpinned by ongoing corporate governance reform.
The United States and Ukraine intend to strengthen economic and commercial ties, promote liberalization of trade conditions and facilitate access to markets for goods and services. The United States intends to support Ukraine’s efforts to create a robust investment environment built on the principles of rule of law, a fair judiciary, transparency, respect for workers’ rights, innovations and digitalization, and strong protections for intellectual property.
Ukraine pledges to prioritize efforts to reform corporate governance in its state-owned enterprises and banks, which are intended to promote robust and inclusive economic growth in the Ukrainian economy and the bilateral U.S.-Ukrainian economic relationship. The United States intends to continue working with Ukraine in these efforts. The United States intends to also expand its support to privatization initiatives, work with Ukraine to create an environment that attracts U.S. investment in these initiatives, support private sector development, and strengthen financial sector supervision.
The United States is committed to the energy security of Ukraine and intends to support Ukraine’s efforts to become energy independent, decarbonize its economy, deregulate its energy sector, diversify energy supplies, integrate with Europe’s energy grid, modernize its nuclear sector, manage a just transition from coal, and prevent the Kremlin’s use of energy as a geopolitical weapon. The Strategic Energy and Climate Dialogue is designed to accelerate these efforts.
The United States and Ukraine intend to work together to promote commercial partnership between Ukrainian and U.S. companies to significantly increase their participation in both economies, particularly, projects in energy, agriculture, infrastructure, transportation, safety and security, healthcare, and with a special focus on digitalization.
The United States and Ukraine intend to continue cooperation in the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes, and in implementing other mutually beneficial initiatives within bilateral science and technology cooperation.
The United States and Ukraine reaffirm the need to strengthen Ukraine’s healthcare infrastructure and its capacity to react to and manage pandemics, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The United States intends to continue to explore pathways for providing Ukraine with assistance to advance these objectives.
This Charter replaces the U.S.-Ukraine Charter on Strategic Partnership, signed at Washington on December 19, 2008. The United States and Ukraine intend to revise this Charter every ten years or earlier if both sides believe that changes are needed.
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Hypocritical Republican cult whines about cancel culture...
--while making death threats against those disagreeing with them
--while censuring any Republican leaders daring to speak the truth about January 6.
--while conducting a terrorist attack against the nation's Capitol in insurrection, viciously beating police, intent on killing lawmakers and the Republican VP, attempting a coup to overthrow the results of a free and fair election...just because their candidate lost.
--while trying to cancel out the votes of millions of Democrats and minorities by objecting solely to their votes, enacting numerous voter suppression measures, and engaging in egregious gerrymandering.
--while labeling MSM "the enemy of the people."
--while censoring and moving to remove fellow Republicans of integrity who speak up for truth and decency, and against GOP lies, terrorism, and crackpot conspiracy theories.
--while Reich-wing media turns off comments yet rants against "censorship."
--while Faux News fires its news editor for truthfully reporting that Arizona had been called for Biden.
--while trying to run a Biden campaign bus off the road.
--while Rep. Marjorie Greene prevents press from covering town hall meetings where nobody wore a mask.
--after seriously injuring over 140 police officers in the Republican cult's seditious terrorist attack of insurrection against the nation's Capitol, Republican cult terrorists threaten to call the cops on reporters trying to get their side of the story.
--after canceling out millions of American's jobs under George W. Bush's recession and the largest loss of jobs since the great Depression under Toxic Trump due to his gross incompetence, lies, and willful criminal negligence in responding to a global pandemic.
--while canceling out the lives of hundreds of thousands of their fellow Americans by spreading lies about COVID-19, politicizing a deadly pandemic, and refusing to follow common sense health guidelines.
--while threatening to cancel baseball's anti-trust exemption for exercising their right to free speech
--while canceling out a bipartisan January 6 commission, despite initially agreeing to it and Democrats acceding to all Republican demands for the commission
--while criminal Michael Flynn is gifted an assault rifle IN A CHURCH and then talks about "using it in Washington"
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Mohsen ? ~ Actually, the quote has a history, and Goebbels has a part in it, but is apparently not the actual author. This is a false quote which has been frequently paraphrased, wrongly attributed and / or taken out of context.
The idea of a 'big lie' is found in Mein Kampf where Hitler used to accuse the Jews of using this technique. This was then picked up by Goebbels who then applied it to the English, emphasizing the idea of repeating it. In 1941, Goebbels wrote:
"The English follow the principle that when one lies, one should lie big, and stick to it. They keep up their lies, even at the risk of looking ridiculous."
This appeared in an article he wrote titled Aus Churchills Lügenfabrik (Churchill's Lie Factory).
On the 'big lie', Goebbels is alleged to have said:
If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.
This also appears to be a false quote. The article False Nazi Quotations says that (in 2010), none of the internet sites or books using this quote gave a source.
The origin of the Hitler misquote may well be Walter Langer's 1943 OSS report A Psychological Analysis of Adolph Hitler where the author writes that one of Hitler's "primary rules" was, "people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it."
Langer is not quoting Hitler here. He is simply providing an analysis based on the evidence available to him.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, John Eastman and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance.
In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 – than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump leaves office, the one out of every 800 Americans will have died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 400,000 fatalities. It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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@marthariddlegarcia2991 - ~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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That's because you failed to notify the voter registry in your district about your move, which would have prevented unwanted ballots being sent to your old address. Evidently, you formerly lived in a state that has mail-in voting, but it should be noted that most states don't typically mail out ballots unless requested. Most people fail to notify the voter registry of moves, which is one reason why voter rolls are routinely checked and purged every few years. The difference here being that there are legitimate purges and then there are Republican purges targeting minorities that are not legitimate, but racist, undemocratic, and rather blatant attempts to cheat. Also, the instances of people fraudulently misusing another person's ballot to vote is so rare that it isn't even a real issue. The payoff for the crime just isn't worth the fines, lawyers fees, and prison time faced, which the vast majority of Americans seem to realize. The fact that the very few idiots attempting to fraudulently vote invariably get caught and convicted is further testimony to the security of our electoral process.
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A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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There has never been a graceful exit for the losing side in any war.
Truth is, our hasty withdrawal from Vietnam was even worse if you look at the numbers and the whole picture. Only 7,000 were evacuated from Vietnam during the fall of Saigon, with many more left behind, including two dead American soldiers----the last to die in the Vietnam War----left behind in a hospital and not returned until a year later by the Vietnamese. That evacuation occurred under hostile NVA and Vietcong fire. Since August 14, over 120,000 have already been evacuated from Afghanistan despite the complete capitulation of the Afghan government and Afghan Army, with no hostile fire upon American troops by the Taliban so far. Over 125,000 have been evacuated since the end of July. Moreover, the January 27, 1973 peace agreement signed by the Americans with the North Vietnamese ended all direct U.S. military involvement in Vietnam, and provided sixty days for troop removal. Just as with Afghanistan, all troops were removed. However, it was over two years later, on April 30, 1975, when the fall of Saigon occurred. So, the U.S. had nearly two-and-a-half years to evacuate everyone else before the fall of the South Vietnamese government and armed forces, instead of just the two weeks like in Afghanistan so far.
The other thing in stark contrast between Vietnam and Afghanistan is that no Democrats----including Carter, who was running against Ford for President----tried to use the situation for political gain like Republicans are so desperately and depravedly doing now. That, despite the fact that it was the previous Trump administration which bears the brunt of the blame for the current situation.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over four decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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Donald Trump, at White House press conference on 04/07/20:
And we’re going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO. We’re going to put a very powerful hold on it, and we’re going to see.
Trump later at that same press conference:
Q: Thanks. A quick follow-up on that. So is the time to freeze funding to the WHO during a pandemic of this magnitude?
THE PRESIDENT: No, maybe not. I mean, I’m not saying I’m going to do it, but we’re going to look at it.
Q: You did say that you’re going to —
THE PRESIDENT: We give a tremendous —
Q: You said you’d put a hold on it.
THE PRESIDENT: No, I didn’t.
Toxic Trump, one week later, on 04/14/20: "I'm withholding WHO funding!"
WHO held a important meeting on COVID-19 vaccines at the beginning of May, with all nations attending...except, unbelievably, no U.S. medical and scientific representatives sent by the Trump Administration, without any explanation. The absence particularly stunning in light that U.S. has half of world's cases and a quarter of the deaths, although possessing just 4% of the global population. Then, on May 29, Toxic Trump announced the U.S. was completely withdrawing from the World Health Organization!
ME, US, the world: WTF?? Why in HELL is that raving lunatic STILL in charge during this major pandemic health crisis?!? Hasn't he KILLED enough Americans, ALREADY?!?
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@Bunkerdwarfputin ~ Another piece of related commentary of mine more topical you may also appreciate (reference also Father Charles E. Coughlin):
"We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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@IndependentMind115 ~ Wasn't buying that everyone always lets you down, or that your belief in a person that may have lived and died over 2000 years ago has been your only salvation. The sarcasm wasn't intended as an insult, but as a reflection of your own hyperbole. Sometimes holding up a mirror allows others to see themselves more clearly. I'm a Jeffersonian, in that I find the majority of people to be basically good. Now, I may think much of the Republican party has been transformed into a nihilistic, fascist partisan cult, but I know that underneath all that stupidity and willful ignorance many of them are still decent people, if misguided.
I have no interest in "converting" people from their spiritual beliefs. If they find comfort there, companionship amongst others of their faith, derive strength and wisdom fom it and strive to adhere to what is good in their religion, then all the more power to them. I am tolerant of other people's religious beliefs up to the point it becomes intolerant of others. Likewise, I support individual freedoms up until it infringes upon the freedom of others. I support secular government and secular public education because it promotes both freedom of religion and freedom from religion, and because as a multicultural society with people of all races, ethnicities, creeds, and sexual orientations, it breeds cohesion, harmony, and peace.
I do, however, have no problem with questioning my own beliefs and the beliefs of others. As someone born when Eisenhower was President, grew up in an era when people freely questioned each other's beliefs, be they religious or political. Americans were more open about their beliefs, more open-minded, and more honest, rational, and civil in discussion. It was an age of hope and enlightenment in America; we had learned the lessons of McCarthyism, and the far-right movement of Barry Goldwater in the early 60's was small and short-lived, rejected by the vast majority of moderate Republicans. That isn't to say that everything was perfect in America; there were divisions, strife, and problems. While progress has continued its inevitable advance, that all began to change about four decades ago, when the GOP first began to become dysfunctional and overly obsessed with power at any cost. Which is all just a rather long-winded way to say that it was quite refreshing to discover you to be fairly open-minded, even if I do think you hold some narrow-minded and misinformed ideas. I may find some of your arguments irrational, but I do truly appreciate that you clearly have attempted to be rational, honest, and civil in our discussion, which is to your credit and reflects well upon you.
I will leave you with a recommendation that is a good antidote for hocus pocus and share a little relevant personal history you may perhaps find of interest.
Introducing Skeptical Inquirer Presents, live online presentations from leading experts in science, skepticism, medicine, media, activism, and advocacy, all devoted to the cause of advancing science over pseudoscience, media literacy over conspiracy theories, and critical thinking over magical thinking.
skepticalinquirer.org has features available online free, but for full content you would need to subscribe or check out issues at your local library.
Growing up in a religious family, like most Americans, was a pious lad for the most part. My first few years of schooling were in a religious grade school, but an expanding family and move to a new town some 200 miles distant meant finishing out my primary education in a public school. Perhaps the most inspirational person in my life was the pastor at the new church my family had joined, who was completely selfless and only interested in helping others. Unfortunately, he was with us only several years, before moving to a nearby major city, a move he had requested so that he could help more people than present in our small congregation. My father was religiously well-versed and had struck up a close friendship with the pastor, and we would visit him at his modest rectory adjacent to the church, and continued to occasionally go to worship and visit him at the new church to which he had been assigned in the city. Nonetheless, I greatly respected him, and hoped to emulate his devotion to the faith and others. Which is why I asked my family to allow me to go to a high school religious seminary, to study to become a servant to the faith and its followers. I liked the school, liked my classmates, liked all the teachers and classes, liked participating in the sports and plentiful other activities available there on the beautiful campus. However, there was one problem. As deeply as I wished to have faith, I had always questioned my beliefs, had always had some degree of skepticism about religion and the existence of any "god." Now, I suppose I was a somewhat precocious child in that I was a voracious reader that hungered for knowledge, but I've never considered myself to be any genius. (My moniker was adopted when the internet was born, taken in homage to Bugs indefatigable, indominable spirit, not his mental acumen, which was more about common sense.) But I have always had a very logical and analytical mind, excelling at chess, puzzles, and the like, and I've always been very honest with myself. The longer I attended the seminary, the more my skepticism grew about my faith, and frank talks with religious leaders there about my doubts did little to assuage or dimiish them. Long story short, to be true to myself, I left he seminary before graduating, returning to public high school. I became an agnostic atheist before turning 18, and have been one ever since. I don't regret at all my religious upbringing or religious schooling. There is much good and wisdom to be found in most religions, not just Christianity. But do I think religion is necessary to learn that good and wisdom? No; I know it is not, because I have had great admiration and respect for others I have met who were not religious and not raised with religion, who are much like that pastor I wished to emulate in my youth.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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To those not wearing masks, social distancing, or following guidelines: Your willful ignorance does not mask your wanton disregard for human life, your appalling lack of humanity and humility, your supremely selfish inconsideration of others. Despite absolutely loathing wearing a mask, it's also the reason it's worn. The sooner we all start wearing masks, social distancing, and taking this deadly pandemic seriously, the sooner we get to take them off, the less time they'll need to be worn. Not to mention, the sooner we can go back to a normal that is more like normal, the sooner we can get our jobs back and our economy rolling, again. And, of course, most importantly, the more lives we can save--which might even be your own life, or the life of a friend or loved one.
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GOP cult is NOT the party of law and order, NOT the party of the Constitution and patriots, NOT the party of "values," NOT the party of fiscal responsibility, NOT the party of clean government, NOT the party of freedom. It's the party of terrorism, lawlessness, corruption, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry, misogyny, Big Lies, unmitigated greed, gross hypocrisy, socialized taxpayer payouts for plutocrats, sedition, traitors, and tyranny.
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@Mrguy-ds9lr ~One final, fatal miscalculation on your part, Doc! You're trying to compare apples to oranges! No nation isolates for weeks on end to mitigate the common flu like they have been required to do to contain COVID-19. If so, very few would die from the flu every year. We don't do that, because the mortality rate for the common flu is relatively low, which can be reduced further with available vaccines, making drastic measures unnecessary. Furthermore, while seeming to ignore the lack of vaccine for COVID-19, you're also failing to factor in that COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. would have continued to peak without mitigation, raising the death toll and rate, making comparisons with the common flu that much more useless and misleading.
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GOP cult: “Democracy is great…only so long as we can subvert it with lies, cheating, a multitude of Jim Crow voter suppression laws, egregious gerrymandering, obstruction, coups, election interference, sedition, and terrorism to gain power and maintain our corrupt, plutocratic, minority fascist rule!”
Yes to making Election Day a Federal Holiday; new Voting Rights Act; universal mail-in voting and E-voting (like in Switzerland, where very few use polling places); independently drawn voting districts; non-partisan primaries; ranked or cardinal choice voting; abolishment of the antiquated, undemocratic Electoral College; reform of U.S. Senate to make it more democratic; abolishment or major reform of the filibuster, expanding SCOTUS to 15 justices with 12-year term limits; and overturning horrendous, corrupt Republican SCOTUS Citizens United decision; enacting campaign finance limits that get dark money and big money out of elections!
(Propose changing the Senate to every State given one Senate seat, with additional Senators, up to a maximum of six per State, proportionate to population.)
It's a game of asymmetrical warfare the Republicans are playing, as they don't care if they burn the government down if they can't have minority rule, while Democrats value democracy----win or lose----and want to make government work for the American people. It's clear that this situation with Republicans isn't something Democrats want or with which they are comfortable but find themselves forced to deal with as best they can. I do fault Democrats like Charlie Brown Manchin and Silly Sinema, who want to play pretend that the situation is normal, when it's more than obvious that Republicans are unwilling to operate in good faith or practice bipartisanship in any serious way, and the GOP is embracing nihilism and fascism. Both Congressional Democrats and Garland's DOJ need to start playing hardball, or we may not have a democracy for much longer. They urgently need to hold those most responsible for January 6 to account, protect the voting franchise, and deliver for the American people. There is no time to waste.
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@fergus247 -- Confronted with a conundrum contrary or conflicting, the Republican cult instinct for self-preservation induces a shut down of blood flow to the cranium, causing confusion, chaos, crisis, corruption, and criminality! Cult for cult, con for con, convolution after convolution, concocted crackpot conspiracy after concocted crackpot conspiracy, cover-up after cover-up, the GOP is alone, in a league all its own!
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@benjaminpauley7823 ~ No, ruling otherwise would have gone against precedent, opening the door to preventing schools from mandating vaccines for schoolchildren, preventing colleges from mandating the meningitis vaccine for students. Barrett has been on the bench less than a year, and she isn't stupid. She wasn't about to put herself out on a limb by going against precedent and two lower court decisions on this. See also my reply above to this comment.
The practice of Constitutional interpretivism (not "interpretist") has typically been used by conservative judges and justices to achieve their desired partisan and ideological ends through a very narrow reading of the Constitution. And when or where in conflict with those conservative aims, the practice is abandoned on the basis of various flimsy justifications that don't stand up to close scrutiny, displaying the hypocrisy at work. Moreover, how people interpret the Constitution and our founder's intent varies quite widely----just as it does with religious texts like the Christian Bible.
There are five basic sources that have guided interpretation of the Constitution: (1) the text and structure of the Constitution, (2) intentions of those who drafted, voted to propose, or voted to ratify the provision in question, (3) prior precedents (usually judicial), (4) the social, political, and economic consequences of alternative interpretations, and (5) natural law.
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@shoko2816 ~ So, you only did a bare minimum of research because you got called out on your lack thereof. You could have done more to find answers to your questions, but you failed again miserably. You got proven wrong, you don't respond to my points and arguments, can't explain why you're engaging in dishonest Whataboutism to deflect and attempt to rationalize. Yet, you somehow expect me to do all the research for you, and answer YOUR questions? Doesn't work that way, Doc.
You're acting like a typical deceitful hasbara propaganda tool, which doesn't reflect well on either you or Israel at all. But you're too stupid apparently to figure that out for yourself. The question is, will you learn anything from this? If past experience is any guide in dealing with people like you, the answer will be no, unfortunately.
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Let's just call January 6 what it actually was -- a Republican smash and grab, an act of violent larceny against democracy and our government, sedition employing domestic terrorism right out in open sight. It was just one of Trump's failed attempts to achieve an autogolpe.
"Without accountability, an attempted autogolpe and insurrection is just practice."
"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ― Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
So, why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. Because our democracy, our institutions, and our very security is seriously endangered. And because rule of law and justice for all really does matter.
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Because dropping 2,000lb, 5,000lb, and MOAB's with B-52's from high altitudes is better? Because tank, artillery, and rocket fire is so much more accurate? Because the Taliban made friends by its indiscriminate killing and terrorizing of civilians?
Yes, extraordinary effort needs to be taken to prevent civilian deaths, and not just because it risks alienating the very people we are trying to help or hurts our own efforts, which are only secondary reasons. But this comment is a gross oversimplification displaying little thought. Drones are not robots acting on their own; they are UAV's controlled by humans. Nearly all of our military hardware is automated to some extent. If you're on the battlefield risking your life, would you want the latest military advantages available to help save the lives of you and your fellow soldiers, to help you prevail against the enemy in defense of your country? I'm not a fan of drones, but the ethics and issues involved are much deeper and more complex than what you are attempting to portray.
Beyond that the comment is also a gross oversimplification of the U.S. failure in Afghanistan, because civilian deaths from drone strikes don't even begin to compare with civilian deaths from Taliban terrorist operations. The reasons for the failure are varied and numerous, and can't be blamed on any one single cause, or solely upon the U.S.
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Baby Hunn ~ You seem to be clueless because you have a reading comprehension problem, Doc! You're also being selective in your response, which is dishonest. My reply had already pointed out most Afghanis support Sharia law. In fact, the figure for Afghanistan is 99% support for Sharia law. But why is that? Is it not because they have had little reason to trust their governments? In other more modern Islamic nations with better governments, there are only small minorities supporting Sharia law.
By the same token, why do many Muslims in the Middle East have majorities that favor the death penalty for apostasy? Isn't it because of a long tradition in Islam about leaving the faith? Outside of Islamic culture, one may disagree with the practice and find it a barbaric violation of human rights, but how many Muslims in Afghanistan are abandoning Islam altogether, switching faiths? It's a rare occurrence, and those who do leave the faith or practice different faiths in Muslim nations with extremist views hide their conversions and different faith, so as not to be put to death.
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Freedoms can exist only up to the point they infringe upon the freedom of others. Religious tolerance can be practiced only up to the point it becomes intolerant of others. Our Constitution is a secular document, not a religious one, and it was certainly never intended to be a suicidal death pact. Getting vaccinated and following CDC guidelines brings freedom from preventable illness or injury, and a senseless premature death, but the mindless fascist Republican cult only believes in freeDUMB. Just as they don't understand or would deny the Constitution is as much about the common good as personal liberties, and that those two things are intrinsically and inextricably intertwined.
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge." ~ Ben Franklin, from Poor Richard's Almanack
Those who scorn public health guidelines during a deadly global pandemic and confuse a grievous public health issue with "essential" liberty to kill and harm themselves and their fellow citizens--as well as their nation--sorely lack both care and knowledge. They are also sorely lacking in common sense, something else about which Mr. Franklin was quite keen. Mr. Franklin was also one our nation's first scientists--yet these modern-day knuckleheads who ought know better refute science! Were he alive today, he would be rather dismayed, disgruntled, and disgusted with the fascist anti-science Republican cult, that much is crystal clear.
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@luzatheredskinsfan6807 ~How about just everyone in the U.S. that died yesterday, even? It's a bit silly, isn't it? It's not the media's fault, because they're expected to report the passing of notable figures--whether good, bad, or somewhere in between. Of course, we SHOULD mourn deaths around the world, even though not possible on an individual basis. But not all earn honor, or are deserving of undue glorification.
None really deserved to die; no one other than perhaps his victims really wished him dead, but we mourn more for the other four innocents. Like most of us, he made mistakes, hurt others, if in some ways more hurtful and harmful. He possessed good, as well as bad. We grieve the lack of justice, and the problems in our culture, as much as the sins of one man. We are not fanatics who overly glorify athletes and celebrities based upon their talent. Nor should we allow our recognition of their failing to diminish ourselves with vindictiveness and resentments.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Sounds like Moscow on the line again, calling impeachment a coup, now! OMG, stop the presses, man the trenches, lock the wives and kids in the closet--Republicans are following Putin's marching orders!!!
1) Putin is playing U.S. population, gaming elections.
2) Trump is playing U.S. population, gaming elections.
3) Republicans are playing U.S. population, gaming elections.
4) Republicans are willfully and knowingly spreading Putin's debunked propaganda in aid of both their own and Russia's aforementioned efforts.
5) Republicans are willfully and knowingly protecting a President that has compromised himself with our chief foreign adversary, Russia, despite clear and overwhelming evidence of criminality of the highest order threatening our elections, democracy, and national security.
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What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil. They are either actively or silently complicit in fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorist violence, Reich-wing insurrection, and Reich-wing undermining of our democracy and Constitution.
It's crystal clear that Trump, Boebert, Greene, Gosar and other Republicans like them are fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorism. The GOP has become radicalized to such an extent that it has essentially become a fascist terrorist organization, with members that fantasize and promote violence against their fellow Americans. While those Republican elected officials must be condemned and sanctioned, they are only a symptom of the disease poisoning a third of America, the most visible part of the cancer infecting our nation.
The GOP has been mainstreaming radicalization of their voter base for decades, ALLOWING Reich-wing media and Reich-wing demagogues to take over the party, to the point it has become a fascist, nihilistic cult. Because just as now, Republican politicians and their plutocratic masters have always seen it as the ends justifying whatever means to win power. Remember the Republican Tea Party? This catastrophe with the GOP didn't start with Trump, who just exploited what Republicans had already built.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle for graft and to grift their voters and us taxpayers. You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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@Ew-wth ~ Thanks for posting, saving me the trouble of debunking racist Republicans xenophobic propaganda. Studies have shown that while there are costs to illegal immigration, those costs are recouped in a number of ways. Bottom line is that there is no significant cost to the taxpayer----unless wasting billions on building a wall that can be quickly and easily breached with a $100 Sawzall.
Another dishonest argument is the suggestion that Democrats want to do nothing, which just isn't true. Truth is, there are no simple, easy solutions to the problem, which requires meaningful immigration reform legislation and a multi-faceted, flexible approach.
Last, but not least, is the fact that the influx now involves mostly asylum seekers, which are seeking legal entry. It is not illegal to cross into the U.S. and apply for asylum here. So, the racists and xenophobes are dishonestly attempting to conflate illegal immigration with asylum-seeking refugees, most of whom do not want to leave their home nations, choosing to make the long, arduous, and dangerous journey to America with their children only because situations in their native lands have become so dire and untenable.
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From the video, it was made abundantly clear that the real problem lies with the voters who elect the politicians. But it's always easier to blame someone else, isn't it? I'm a Democrat, and although opposed to the idea of "not in my backyard" and the hypocrisy present in that mindset, I recognize that blame can't be placed solely on Republicans, that Democratic voters need to take responsibility for the laws and policies enacted, especially on the local, county, and state level where they enjoy heavy majorities.
I'm glad that this video exposes Democratic hypocrisy, I welcome the criticism, find it valid, but I think this video, despite a few sparse caveats, critically omits the inequalities in Republican majority states, towns, and districts. If a person is lower middle-income or poor, especially if a minority, it is my experience they generally fare far better where Democrats are in power than Republicans. This video also omits other forms of inequality and how Republicans at the national level and overall are the prime drivers of inequality. Most critically, it ignores how the GOP has abdicated its duty and responsibility to act as LOYAL opposition, instead descending into a fascist, nihilistic hyper-partisan cult. By failing to take into account the big picture, this opinion video fails to see the forest for the trees, which does the public a disservice.
“Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a President and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt
“Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-‘n-‘Thief, Toxic Trump, so much—although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages—as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption, a man compromised by foreign nations, including our principle adversary, through his tremendous debt, presenting our most serious national security threat. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself, mental illness, and his upbringing, who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth and justice--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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@thewafflez_73 ~Better late than never. Meant to post this surprising and rather bizarre article excerpt for you last night, as you would, no doubt, greatly appreciate its relevance to our discussion here...
The U.S. was beset by denial and dysfunction as the coronavirus raged
Yasmeen Abutaleb, Josh Dawsey, Ellen Nakashima and Greg Miller -- Washington Post -- 04/05/20
Thirty-three times Toxic Trump minimized, denied, and downplayed this pandemic.
By the time Donald Trump proclaimed himself a wartime president — and the coronavirus the enemy — the United States was already on course to see more of its people die than in the wars of Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq combined. The United States will likely go down as the country that was supposedly best prepared to fight a pandemic but ended up catastrophically overmatched by the novel coronavirus, sustaining heavier casualties than any other nation.
It did not have to happen this way. Though not perfectly prepared, the United States had more expertise, resources, plans and epidemiological experience than dozens of countries that ultimately fared far better in fending off the virus.
The failure has echoes of the period leading up to 9/11: Warnings were sounded, including at the highest levels of government, but the president was deaf to them until the enemy had already struck.
The Trump administration received its first formal notification of the outbreak of the coronavirus in China on Jan. 3. Within days, U.S. spy agencies were signaling the seriousness of the threat to Trump by including a warning about the coronavirus — the first of many — in the President’s Daily Brief.
And yet, it took 70 days from that initial notification for Trump to treat the coronavirus not as a distant threat or harmless flu strain well under control, but as a lethal force that had outflanked America’s defenses and was poised to kill tens of thousands of citizens. That more-than-two-month stretch now stands as critical time that was squandered.
Trump’s baseless assertions in those weeks, including his claim that it would all just “miraculously” go away, sowed significant public confusion and contradicted the urgent messages of public health experts.
It may never be known how many thousands of deaths, or millions of infections, might have been prevented with a response that was more coherent, urgent and effective. But even now, there are many indications that the administration’s handling of the crisis had potentially devastating consequences.
Even the president’s base has begun to confront this reality. In mid-March, as Trump was rebranding himself a wartime president and belatedly urging the public to help slow the spread of the virus, Republican leaders were poring over grim polling data that suggested Trump was lulling his followers into a false sense of security in the face of a lethal threat.
The poll showed that far more Republicans than Democrats were being influenced by Trump’s dismissive depictions of the virus and the comparably scornful coverage on Fox News and other conservative networks. As a result, Republicans were in distressingly large numbers refusing to change travel plans, follow “social distancing” guidelines, stock up on supplies or otherwise take the coronavirus threat seriously.
“Denial is not likely to be a successful strategy for survival,” GOP pollster Neil Newhouse concluded in a document that was shared with GOP leaders on Capitol Hill and discussed widely at the White House. Trump’s most ardent supporters, it said, were “putting themselves and their loved ones in danger.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/the-us-was-beset-by-denial-and-dysfunction-as-the-coronavirus-raged/ar-BB12akzb?ocid=spartanntp
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Despite knowing of the emergence of COVID-19 in November, and it threat to world health shortly thereafter, Trump did virtually nothing to prepare for the inevitable coming health crisis of a pandemic. Trump administration has had MONTHS to get its act together, yet public health system and hospital networks are NOT prepared for the kind of outbreaks seen in China, South Korea and Italy. We do NOT have the respirators and ventilators needed for the expected numbers. We do NOT have enough oxygen equipment and medications stockpiled. We do NOT have enough medical personnel to handle the expected numbers. We do NOT have enough medical facilities for those kinds of numbers. We do NOT yet even have the training programs in place to handle this epidemic for either health professionals or the the public. There should have been a massive national mobilization by our Federal government started months ago to begin preparation of needed medical equipment, supplies, and drugs. Instead, Trump has peddled delusions and denials of the realities, wasting weeks, which will result in the senseless, unforgivable loss of more American lives due directly to his gross ignorance and incompetence.
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This reporter doesn't make the critical distinction that the version of the Mueller report referred to is being offered under very restricted conditions where they are not allowed to discuss with anyone, and that many of the redactions remain. It is not the fully unredacted version requested by the House. The reporter's interviewing question mischaracterizes and neglects to educate the public by omitting these important facts. This is a big fail on her part in glossing things over.
The question was why Congressional Republicans aren't more concerned about their sabotaging and setting bad precedent with House oversight, and Byron York evades the question to talk about Pelosi and Dems. Anyone that reads the Mueller report has to know that Trump needs to be impeached; this is the elephant in the room Republicans pretend not to see. This is implicit in what the question addresses, yet Byron York does not want to talk about any of that. Why? Because it shows Congressional Republicans to be highly hypocritical, hyper-partisan, cowardly, power-obsessed, and traitors to their sworn duty to faithfully defend our Constitution and country? But isn't that what we need to be talking about at this point?
Additionally, it is essential to address the growing rot in our society. The Republican cult is a sickness, a disease upon our nation. Molding their cult through right-wing propaganda, Trump is the fruit of the poisoned tree Republicans sowed. I'm not suggesting killing the Republican party, but the disease needs to be treated, and measures taken to prevent recurrence. Else Americans face demise at our own hands from extremists who would seek to substitute blind fealty for independent thought and critical reasoning, gathering citizens into their Orwellian realities for money and political power.
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Whole trouble is that the U.S. still doesn't have any rational national pandemic response, nor the prerequisite adequate testing capabilities. That's why the U.S. STILL remains the epicenter of this pandemic after four months. It's why we now need the whole nation to lock down with only truly essential workers, until we bring the raging inferno down to a few small brush fires. Thing is, if EVERYONE followed the simple guidelines during lockdown, we could probably have COVID-19 under firm control with proper testing and tracing within just six weeks. Even if not everyone cooperates, we'd still have saved countless Americans, and put ourselves in a much better position to begin slowly reopening the economy. Unfortunately, because of Toxic Trump, irresponsible, corrupt Congressional Republicans, and a mindless Republican cult, we're ALL stuck in a disaster zone for the near foreseeable future.
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Whataboutism, projectionism, obfuscations, deflections, deceptions, ad hominem, Big Lies, disinformation, misinformation, gaslighting and other assorted deceits have been a hallmark of the Republican cult for decades, now. Therefore, the latest example from Republicans should come as no surprise--but S.E. Cupp is right in calling it out, as we all must every time Republicans engage in such dishonest, highly destructive behavior.
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@MetalstoMoney ~ Cherry-picking the data, Doc, which is misleading. Many aren't tested for the specific Covid-19 variant they died from. PCR and antigen tests don't distinguish variants, they can only tell if a person has Covid-19. Samples have to be genome sequenced to determine variant type, and that takes time and resources. It's like polling; representative samples are sent to a lab to be processed for genome sequencing, and that is used to extrapolate the rate of presence of a variant present in the population. The specimens submitted are identified only by zip code. Through partnerships with state and local public health agencies CDC requests up to 750 total specimens per week from all states and jurisdictions for sequencing and further characterization of representative viruses.
Furthermore, while just announced that the Omicron variant is now estimated to be over 90% of new cases, the remainder is nearly all the Delta variant, and the U.S. is still averaging over 1,200 Covid-19 deaths a day. While the Omicron variant appears to cause less severe disease and therefore fewer deaths, the huge spike in cases in just beginning, and there is always a lag between the surge, hospitalizations and deaths. And even with this less virulent Omicron, its extremely high transmissibility rate driving this huge surge can cause hospitals and ICU's to be overrun and medical workers overstressed with an influx of patients, particularly with those unvaccinated. For instance, even if individual Omicron cases result in only half the hospitalizations of Delta, the exponential growth of cases is more than double that of Delta, so collectively it's possible there could be even more people in hospitals and dying. However, there is no definitive hospitalization and death rates for Omicron yet, which can vary from country to country depending on a number of factors, such as vaccination rates and adherence to public health guidelines, which is why it is better to be cautious until learning more. But we do know, regardless, that the more Americans who get vaccinated, boosted, and follow public health guidelines, the less people will end up in the hospital or ICU, and the less deaths.
Also, the argument you are trying to make is bogus. Just because more people die each year from heart disease than car accidents, does not mean people shouldn't wear seat belts. Unless you are proposing getting rid of all guns in America?
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Hypocritical Republican cult whines about cancel culture...
--while making death threats against those disagreeing with them
--while conducting a terrorist attack against the nation's Capitol in insurrection, beating and killing police, intent on killing lawmakers and the Republican VP, attempting a coup to overthrow the results of a free and fair election...just because their candidate lost.
--while trying to cancel out the votes of millions of Democrats and minorities by objecting solely to their votes, enacting numerous voter suppression measures, and engaging in egregious gerrymandering.
--while labeling MSM "the enemy of the people."
--while censoring and moving to remove fellow Republicans of integrity who speak up for truth and decency, and against GOP lies, terrorism, and crackpot conspiracy theories.
--while Reich-wing media turns off comments yet rants against "censorship."
--while Faux News fires its news editor for truthfully reporting that Arizona had been called for Biden.
--while trying to run a Biden campaign bus off the road.
--while Rep. Marjorie Greene prevents press from covering town hall meetings where nobody wore a mask.
--after seriously injuring over 140 police officers and killing one in the Republican cult's seditious terrorist attack of insurrection against the nation's Capitol, Republican cult terrorists threaten to call the cops on reporters trying to get their side of the story.
--after canceling out millions of American's jobs under George W. Bush's recession and the largest loss of jobs since the great Depression under Toxic Trump due to his gross incompetence, lies, and willful criminal negligence in responding to a global pandemic.
--while canceling out the lives of hundreds of thousands of their fellow Americans by spreading lies about COVID-19, politicizing a deadly pandemic, and refusing to follow common sense health guidelines.
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@agf1700 ~ "We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
~ How Fascism Works, The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(Reference also Father Charles E. Coughlin and Henry Ford in regards to the first America First movement.)
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
Malcolm Nance: We Are In A Neo-Fascist Era In American Politics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_RxUAe2zeM
Political Analyst Tells Joy Reid: Forget Trumpism, IT’s Neo-Fascism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IgNp84JA4A
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast would soon come to consume them.
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Insane stuff from an insane man, that describes Traitor Trump to a "T." What it constitutes is an attempted coup and an insurrection. So, why hasn't Trump and his accomplices been arrested for those and all his other crimes, yet? Why is Merrick Garland and his DOJ failing to do their duty? If Trump is not prosecuted, it sets a terrible precedent enabling the next wannabe authoritarian President. This is no time for playing nice.
Expect these documents from the National Security Archives to produce even more incriminating evidence of Traitor Trump's autogolpe. Also expect the House Select Committee to pass them on to the DOJ, along with a referral for criminal charges against Trump and his accomplices. Merrick Garland MUST prosecute Trump for his many crimes, or our justice system and democracy will be destroyed.
Delay, delay, delay is Traitor Trump's legal MO to keep the truth from the American people and to escape justice. Trump's claim of "Executive Privilege" is a farce and what amounts to a frivolous lawsuit and an abuse of the court system. SCOTUS should decline to hear the case, but this conservative SCOTUS is the most partisan, biased and corrupt in modern history, so they can't be trusted to do the right thing.
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Freedoms can exist only up to the point they infringe upon the freedom of others. Religious tolerance can be practiced only up to the point it becomes intolerant of others. Our Constitution is a secular document, not a religious one, and it was certainly never intended to be a suicidal death pact. Getting vaccinated and following CDC guidelines brings freedom from preventable illness or injury, and a senseless premature death, but the mindless fascist Republican cult only believes in freeDUMB. Just as they don't understand or would deny the Constitution is as much about the common good as personal liberties, and that those two things are intrinsically and inextricably intertwined.
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge." ~ Ben Franklin, from Poor Richard's Almanack
Those who scorn public health guidelines during a deadly global pandemic and confuse a grievous public health issue with "essential" liberty to kill and harm themselves and their fellow citizens--as well as their nation--sorely lack both care and knowledge. They are also sorely lacking in common sense, something else about which Mr. Franklin was quite keen. Mr. Franklin was also one our nation's first scientists--yet these modern-day knuckleheads who ought know better refute science! Were he alive today, he would be rather dismayed, disgruntled, and disgusted with the fascist anti-science Republican cult, that much is crystal clear.
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Biggest Loser shreds Iran nuclear deal for no good reason, other than blind malice and pure ignorance. Feeling neglected by the Clown-in-Chief, Boo Boo Bolton mounts massive Iran operation to help boss distract the public from the Mueller Report and impending impeachment, while satisfying fetish for bloody wars. But Coward-in-Chief not want war -- cuts into golf time too much -- so whole operation called off, to tremendous relief of nation. To relieve increasing pressure, Cheater-in-Chief takes a dump on Congress, releasing 12-page turd declaring Constitution invalid. Boo Boo Barr and Republicans continue chipping away at foundation, our Constitution, and sacred institutions, simultaneously multitasking undermining both justice and American security. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court remains out to lunch, likely to distance itself from the overripe, corrupt stench permeating the White House.
Just another close call in a terrifying rollercoaster ride, with America passenger to a lunatic, narcissistic, power-drunk driver.
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@groggydoggy6730 ~Heard a rumor going around faster than this COVID-19 thing that laughter is the best medicine. Time to open-up, take your medicine, now, be a big boy!
As long as the rest of us are in the control group, perhaps having a trial run with Trump on his new experimental COVID-19 disinfectant treatment to kill toxins wouldn't be such a bad idea! Like they say, "Put your Lysol where your mouth is, Toxic Trump!"
Trump at coronavirus briefing: "I got the best...you know what!"
Joe the Plumber: "Did you see that? Toxic Trump thought his penis was in his cranium! That's because he knows his brains are leaking out his ass!"
The single, MOST important thing we can do with COVID-19 is to isolate the President.
Toxic Trump's sin-in-law, Shared "Too Much" Kushner: "The NATIONAL federal government is not supposed to take charge when we declare a NATIONAL federal emergency. We are at war, and the states must each fend for themselves. Nevermind that we signed legislation from the UNITED States Congress that authorized us to spend over two TRILLION dollars of UNITED States TAXPAYER money to fight this pandemic. Does that make any more sense than my genocidal stillborn Israeli "peace" plan and policy?"
Toxic Trump: "Pandemic? What pandemic? Nobody told me anything about any pandemic!"
Shared "Too Much" Kushner: "Time for me to disappear, again."
Seems only fair that the least Toxic Trump could do, after killing 50,000 Americans with his ignorance, is to give the U.S. government his resort properties, to be quickly converted by the Army Corp of Engineers into public hospitals.
Toxic Trump: "It's a HOAX!"
Much later: …."I got this pandemic completely under control, we're safe!"
Shortly after: …."It's not my fault! States need to take charge! I don't take ANY responsibility! It's unsafe! You need to stay home!"
Next day: ...."The cure is worse than the disease, you need to go back to work!
Next week: ...."Don't listen to me! Listen to the CDC!"
Following days: ...."USA #1 in coronavirus cases--and now we're #1 in coronavirus DEATHS! We're the BEST! Thanks to my extremely stable genius wartime leadership, only 100,000-240,000 Americans will die! We're doing a TREMENDOUS job! I still don't take ANY responsibility!"
Last week: ... "I've anointed myself All Powerful Dear Leader and will soon order all my subjects back to work despite lack of vaccine, cure, testing, PPE, medical staffing, and the sure-fire massive resurgence resulting thereof, killing tens of thousands more Americans--because this pandemic is killing my lucrative Emoluments business, and even my Soviet-style election chances!"
Now: … "Scratch that; might have to actually do stuff. My greatest-ever new half-baked plan shifts all responsibility and blame back to governors! For now. Somewhat. Maybe. We'll be letting you know, hopefully!"
Nevermind about baptism; whole trouble is, Trumpettes were duly "anointed" before birth in the Holy gene pool of Our Lady of Perpetual Ignorance. For some, it's 'Forgive them, for they know not what they do.' But, for most, it's more about willful ignorance...than it is the choice they could NOT make.
Governors: "WE NEED HELP!"
Toxic Trump: "Relax, I've got covert Agent 19 working on the cases!"
Officially endorsed in American's blood on each stimulus check: AMERICA'S #1 KILLER -- Toxic Trump!
News anchor: "In just ONE month, we got over 800,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in America with OVER 40,000 deaths because of Trump shirking responsibility, refusing to take a global pandemic seriously, prepare, and defend our nation! Now, that lunatic has turned pandemic press briefings into macabre Dear Leader campaign rallies where he belittles and berates any and all who question him! Can you tell us just WTF the situation is at the moment in the White House?"
White House correspondent: "Situation unchanged--still hopeless. Completely, totally FUBAR, as usual. Don't expect any help or change from this dystopian, dysfunctional Branch..."
Trump: "As President, my power is absolute! I can kill as many Americans as I want!"
Grifter Tony Spell in Loserannie uses voodoo religion to fleece his flock, offers up parishioners for sacrifice to the Almighty! Glory be, hallelujah--it's Darwinism at it's finest!
Trump in pandemic briefing: "These model projections of hundreds of thousands of American pandemic deaths due to my gross negligence, ignorance, and incompetence remind me so much of the models I've dated!"
Toxic Trump: "I'm the BEST, just absolutely CRUSHING the competition, with over 830,000 cases and 52,000 COVID-19 deaths! Nobody else even comes close! Those other weaklings and losers don't stand a chance, because we're going to keep right on winning as long as I'm in charge! Let's keep America great--get rid of all the excess baggage!"
USA was caught flat-footed by covid-19...only because Toxic Trump pulled the rug out from under American's feet.
Turns out, the only thing Toxic Trump really excels at is getting Americans killed!
Who knew?
Came up with this SUPER idea, really hoping it goes VIRAL! Dr. Osterholm's prescription for COVID-19 mandates leadership as its first priority. So, why don't Republicans just impeach Toxic Trump, like they should have done long ago after the Mueller Report, and again after the Ukraine shakedown? Then, afterward, all those Congressional Republicans can resign, as well.
Toxic Trump just filling up the coffins so he can fill up his coffers! "That's all, folks!"
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@jaydoggy456 ~ I guess you can keep deluding yourself, Doc! Traitor Trump is telling all his Republican cult sheep not to vote! The only way Republicans can win is by cheating and lying. Regardless, Republicans are a shrinking minority in America. Republican voter registration has been dropping while Democratic voter registration is increasing.
But we all know Republicans don't want democracy; they want fascist minority rule. So, even should Republicans win, they still wouldn't have the support of the vast majority of Americans. See, us REAL Americans don't support taxation without equal representation, so Republican control of any federal government branch, like SCOTUS, is considered illegitimate. Thus, even if Republicans win a prize, they will have destroyed it in the process, turned it into a turd. Apparently, you Republicans like the BS, you keep eating it up, swallowing it whole, then regurgitating it. But keep shilling for the plutocrats while getting fleeced and then slaughtered for sacrifice! That's a good sheep!
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@nevannarence6542 ~ Winston's quote is based upon Santayana's earlier quote, and prefer giving credit to the originator of the idea, using their original version of the quote. Am open to making the occasional exception to that personal rule, however, where a subsequent similar quote more fully develops and better expresses the idea. Some background for you on that famous quote you brought up that may interest you:
"For evil to flourish, it only requires good men to do nothing." ~ Simon Wiesenthal
(Weisenthal, an Austrian Jew, survived five Nazi concentration camps and a death march, afterwards becoming a Nazi hunter and writer.)
However, Wiesenthal is not the originator of this quote:
Edmund Burke died in 1797, and John Stuart Mill died in 1873. Both produced apothegms that are loosely similar to the quotation under investigation but are unmistakably distinct. The earliest known citation showing a strong similarity to the modern quote appeared in October of 1916. The researcher J. L. Bell found this important instance. The maxim appeared in a quotation from a speech by the Reverend Charles F. Aked who was calling for restrictions on the use of alcohol:
"It has been said that for evil men to accomplish their purpose it is only necessary that good men should do nothing."
The earliest attribution of the modern saying to Edmund Burke was found by top researcher Barry Popik. In July of 1920 a man named Sir R. Murray Hyslop delivered an address at a Congregational church conference that included the following:
"Burke once said: 'The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men should do nothing.'”
The actual quotes of Burke and Mill:
"When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle." ~ Edmund Burke, 1770
"Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing." ~ John Stuart Mill, 1867
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Agree that Mueller conducted himself appropriately with honor, while Barr disgraced himself and the DOJ. However, Mueller had an obligation to more fully support his work in the aftermath of his investigation and report, and he failed the American people in that regard. Also agree with Holder on the need for Democrat's current strategy, using courts to set precedent and help check Executive overreaches while overcoming this administration's obstruction, so that evidence, witnesses, and testimony can be obtained to further accountability and critically enhance the prospect for impeachment success. Fast and Furious was a Republican witch hunt, and Holder should never have been held in contempt of Congress for protecting a necessary Constitutional principle (not Obama). Holder is right about Comey being wrong, as well, but more forgiving than warranted. However, sharply disagree that Nixon should have been pardoned, or that Trump should be pardoned or not prosecuted. If Holder had his way, the Civil War wouldn't have been fought, because it "was too damaging to the nation!"
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STRONGLY support House taking extreme measures, including holding up portions of the budget and other legislation until Executive and Judiciary make available witnesses and documents about not only what happened with Ukraine, but other legitimate House oversight blocked and delayed in courts by the Executive and Judiciary Branches. With Executive, Senate, and DOJ refusing to abide by the Constitution--harming and degrading it, the rule of law, justice, democracy, the delicate sharing of power vital to our system of checks and balances, and our national security--it falls upon the House as the refuge of last resort to once again act to defend America, our Constitution, and the sacred rights of the American people.
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Not every American needs to get tested everyday, and the percentage of Americans exposed and recovered is still far, far too low to staff businesses with the employees needed for them to operate profitably. The key is timely RANDOMIZED testing and CONTACT TRACING testing.
Unfortunately, the U.S. currently STILL lacks the capability to test all the Americans working on the front lines (not just health-care workers) and getting sick. Still Americans with suspected COVID-19 suffering mild symptoms being told tests unavailable, unable to get tested, can only quarantine themselves, not even knowing for sure if they have COVID-19, or something else.
The key to reopening the economy is testing, testing, testing. But, Republican cult morons don't want to listen to the science, the experts, and the data. Worse, they blind themselves to all the dead American bodies stacking up--more Americans lost in EIGHT WEEKS than all TWELVE YEARS of the Vietnam War.
The U.S. will soon fix the problems with lack of testing--even without the national coordinated response so desperately needed from Trump. With randomized and contact tracing used in conjunction with lockdowns and other measures, the number of tests needing to be done daily is but a small fraction of the population. So, the testing capacities needed are feasible, will soon be available to us, and constitutes the only sane strategy for a quicker recovery--for both public health and our economy.
The BIG problem with trying to take shortcuts in a pandemic is the needless sacrifice of human life. Businesses can be restarted, but dead Americans are gone, forever. Another thing is that reopening too soon only exacerbates the problem and delays recovery, forcing more and longer mitigation efforts, hurting us MORE. Not to mention the HUGE economic cost of all those Americans getting sick, missing work, suffering lasting debilitating, life-long conditions as a result of contracting the disease, all the associated added medical costs for hospital stays and the like, and all the economic costs associated with longer mitigation efforts that will be needed.
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'IMMIGRATION FOR DUMMIES' -- by Activated Head of Fatherland Security, Kevin K. McAleenan
"So...What I did was I worked really hard with Trump administration to make draconian changes to immigration policies that creates bottlenecks, backlogs, and a HUGE increase in detention rates. So...We did this despite knowing that our lack of capabilities could only lead to greatly overcrowded facilities (concentration camps, if you prefer); poor conditions; human rights abuses against children, refugees, and migrants of color; lasting traumatic damage done to the children; vastly increased costs to the American taxpayer; the demoralization, desensitization, destabilization, depletion and destruction of our vital government workforce securing our borders and dealing with immigration. So...Just to be clear here, at the end of the day, the only goal was to extort money from Congress by torturing children and innocent people we hold hostage. Call it kidnapping if you want. So...Then we take the money and hand it over to our crony friends running the "detention centers" that they may profit from all this misery! So...You can see how our diabolical plan worked to perfection, we got our ransom money for CBP. So...That's why I'm working with my Republican cohorts in Congress to run the same scam again for ICE! So...Yes, we were experiencing difficulties achieving the profit margins anticipated with our wall street, but that open-ended venture continues to pay dividends for our money men and sycophants, as well!"
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@Joe-hg9yi ~Nevermind all the Russian bots and their sock-puppets trying to sow doubt and disinformation to kill Americans. It's what they do. REAL Republicans don't come to MSM news videos, don't want the truth--only watch FAUX News OAN, want to be willfully ignorant. The bots just trying to waste people's time. They're a hoax. Distract, deflect, divert. Try to change the subject away from Trump and Republicans, turn everything around onto BLM, Democrats, whatever. Don't let them, don't take the poisonous bait, don't help them succeed. This video isn't about BLM or racism, and our Voltaire comment references the video, not those things. Advise calling them out, or simply ignore: #moreRussiasanctions
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@ivang.668 ~Don't need the proselytization that makes the platitudes seem insincere, but somewhat agree with the first, secular part. Better than proselytizing would be to encourage everyone to follow CDC guidelines, use common sense and the brain with which they were provided when born. If you want to let Jesus save your soul, that's fine. But neither Jesus or God will save you from your own folly, or the folly, corruption, hate, ignorance, and greed of Republican cult morons in the U.S. We need to get real, and you seek escapism. Peace and love.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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@steve2468 ~ Sorry to break it to you, Doc, but it is you who hasn't yet mastered basic elementary school math. First of all, U.S. population is about 331,000,000. Multiply that by 0.18% and the result is 595,800. Given how the rate is actually a bit above the rounded-off figure of 0.18%, naturally the total here will be just a little under the slightly over 600,000 COVID-19 deaths in the U.S., but close enough to show it to be accurate.
How the hell did you manage to get 59 MILLION from 0.18% of the U.S. population? Using your own 328 million and 0.18% figures, the sum is actually much less than 59 million; only 590,400. You apparently mistakenly used 1.8% instead of 0.18%, and didn't bother checking your math, which you should have known the total you arrived at was wrong, anyway, if you knew much about math. You just got schooled, but it's all on you to learn.
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“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Dr. "Babbling" Birx is laying bricks, lying and dissembling! Says she trusts churches and churchgoers to make it safe, not go to church if sick--knowing asymptomatic people don't know they're sick, and can't be detected! Then, there's the fact that many religious people gather at religious shrines and places of worship hoping to be "healed" when sick. Moreover, she knows "Pastor" Tony Spelling in Louisiana was packing his megachurch during the middle of a severe outbreak, busing them in from a 50-mile radius; she knows all about the devastating spread in South Korea from religious services, she knows about the superspreader event at the church in Oregon defying state lockdown orders. Dr. Birx KNOWS how Toxic Trump has ignorantly politicized a global pandemic, sent conflicting messages to the public. Dr. Birx KNOWS a good proportion of Americans are NOT following basic CDC guidelines; NOT wearing masks, NOT social distancing. And she knows without detailed specific CDC federal guidelines, we got chaos, sickness, and MORE senseless deaths. Birx needs to have her medical license revoked. She can be the next SmellyAnne Con-Her-Way, that's what she wants.
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Let's face it; this American fall towards fascism didn't just happen overnight. Since before the '70s Republicans have engaged in dog whistles and pursued a racist agenda, hidden behind various facades. Reagan helped Goldwater using dog-whistles; Nixon was infamous for his use of them. Roger Ailes micromanaged Nixon's appearances, and stoked racial fears and resentments. Reagan employed them getting elected governor of California. Lee Atwater, who greatly admired Nixon's 'Southern strategy,' worked on Reagan's Presidential campaign, teaming up with Ailes. A year after Reagan's victory, Atwater gave what was then an anonymous interview, and perhaps lulled by the anonymity, he offered an unusually candid response to a question about Reagan, the Southern strategy, and the drive to attract the Wallace voters:
"You start out in 1954 by saying, "N------, N------, N-------." By 1968 you can't say "N-------," that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states' rights and all that stuff. You're getting so abstract now, you're talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you're talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is, blacks get hurt worse than whites. And subconsciously maybe that is part of it. I'm not saying that. But I'm saying that if it is getting that abstract, and that coded, that we are doing away with the racial problem one way or the other. You follow me; because obviously sitting around saying, "We want to cut taxes and we want to cut this," is much more abstract than even the busing thing, and a hell of a lot more abstract than "N------, N------." So anyway you look at it, race is coming on the back burner."
Humiliated and stunned by Nixon's forced resignation, Republicans anointed Reagan their hero, and have long insisted on regarding him as such, despite his repeated use of racial dog-whistles and his mediocre record. In 1980, Reagan characterized food stamp recipients as, "That strapping young buck in front of you at the checkout buying T-bone steak, while you wait in line to buy hamburger," and kicked off his campaign outside Philadelphia, Mississippi--notorious for the KKK lynching of four volunteer civil rights workers just 16 years earlier--by delivering the promise that, "I believe in state's rights!" Reagan returned in 1984 to another cheering crowd, this time endorsing the neo-Confederate slogan, "The South shall rise again!"
Lee Atwater went on to work with Roger Ailes on George H.W. Bush's Presidential campaign, which shamelessly stoked racial fear through the infamous Willie Horton political ad and other means. Roger Ailes would go on to head Fox News for Rupert Murdoch, until numerous allegations of sexual harassment and improprieties, along with related lawsuits against Fox, forced his removal. Ailes was a polarizing influence, who has been called the most destructive force in American politics in 50 years.
Conservative plutocrats and the GOP created the beast over decades with round-the-clock propaganda, but were swallowed whole by their own mutated creations of daily outrage, white grievance politics, and phony populism; first by the Tea Party, then by Trump. Unable to go back, and clearly having no way forward, they remain planted in their own muck and mire, trapped by the cult of their own making. The pundits and conservatives rejecting Trump are trying to salvage their party, but any person of principle and sense ought to know enough to defect the rotten machine.
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@SandySilvie36 ~ Don't particularly care for Hillary, don't care for family dynasties in Presidencies, didn't like "Third Way" democrats, thought her too quick to compromise at times, didn't vote for her in any of the primaries...but her voting record as Senator marked her as a progressive and made her more progressive than some of those Democrats calling themselves progressives. Her stances on a number of issues are progressive. But don't take my word for it--do the research for yourself. You'll discover it's true. When the rubber hits the road, its not what politicians say--it's how they actually vote that matters most. By that standard, Hillary Clinton is definitely in the progressive camp. But her days are done, anyway, so why should Democrats denigrate one of their own who has been so maliciously maligned already by sleazy Republicans?
The same goes for purity tests by progressives in opposition to Neera Tanden. In 2011, the Washington Post's Jason Horowitz described the Center for American Progress as "Washington’s leading liberal think tank," and "an incessant advocate for a broad progressive agenda and as such, a sharp thorn in President Obama’s left side. Horowitz further concluded that the Center, more broadly, had since become one of "Washington’s leading liberal think tanks." While glad that Tanden has honorably withdrawn because her nomination became a lightning rod and distraction, under her leadership the Center for American Progress has been a boon for both liberals and progressives. She was well-qualified for the position, knowledgeable on the issues, and it's a shame that Republicans and Democrats like Sen. Manchin are hypocrites applying a double-standard when it comes to cabinet nominees. And it's a shame that the "mean tweets" she apologized for, yet is being faulted for and abandoned by Democrats because of, were in cause of advancing liberal and progressive positions. Democrats apparently like knifing their own in the back, and it's killing us.
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@Bhubnipz ~ Found your comment rather vague, felt it could be wrongly taken as confirmational by some, so was glad to see you further elucidate the point in your reply. There is much truth in what you say, but the internet is like any other tool at our disposal----we each have an individual responsibility to use it properly. The internet is neither all good, nor all bad.
In fact, for those who use it responsibly, there is much more good to be derived from it than bad. Like a hammer, it's a powerful tool, but just as we shouldn't overly rely upon a hammer for every purpose, which would prove more destructive than constructive, neither should we allow ourselves to become too dependent upon the internet. Nor should we allow ourselves to become too immersed in the digital world, be it the internet, cell phones, or video games, at the expense of interacting with the physical world surrounding us; family and friends, books, art, live performances, nature, exercise, meeting new people in the everyday world outside of digital platforms, etc.
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GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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** ~ Bad Vibration, Grave Reverberation ~ **
So much frustration and aggravation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Sick fascination, no reservation
Brutalization, victimization
Race relation identification
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation, only stagnation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Abomination seeks domination
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cooperation, collaboration!!!
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@Tymbus ~ In this democracy, a large majority of the America's citizens chose:
--truth, knowledge, and reason over Toxic Trump and Republican cult's absurd lies and supreme ignorance;
--freedom over Toxic Trump and Republican cult's fascist tyranny;
--the Constitution and rule of law over Toxic Trump and Republican cult's sedition, lawlessness, wanton disregard for human life, and terrorism;
--unity and light over Toxic Trump and Republican cult's divisiveness and darkness;
--functional, constructive, clean government over Toxic Trump and Republican cult's incompetence, gross negligence, destructiveness, and completely corrupt, chaotic, and dysfunctional governance.
In other words, more Americans thankfully chose to heed the wisdom of sages than not.
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@KathrynLee5456 ~ Anti-fascist is what America is all about--it's why we fought against Hitler and Mussolini in WWII. The fascists in America today and their Republican enablers try to turn it into a dirty word, to project their own evil upon others. Look what the lack of democracy has wrought, with too many people not voting in 2016, a good portion of it due to Republican voter suppression. Don't let them confuse you, don't get sleepy; get angry, get active, vote BLUE, and GET OUT THE VOTE BLUE!!! Our very lives and country depend upon it! This will likely be the most important election of our lifetime, arguably the most important ever in our nation's history.
Big money, Republicans, and the Reich-wing media created a fascist cult, a cult of sheep eager and willing to be fleeced, then slaughtered. They promoted ignorance, fear, and hate to line their corrupt pockets, putting profits before people. But the beast to which they chained themselves has consumed them, thus becoming slaves to their own creation.
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Critically, Trump's withholding of aid from the three Central American nations where the refugees are coming from exacerbates the problem greatly. Plus, withholding aid from Puerto Rico has caused an influx from that island, albeit they are American citizens (though still not good from Trump and his nationalist/white-supremacist base perspective). Ironically, the number of Mexican immigrants had dropped dramatically, now it is asylum seekers from those other nations; but this will change if Trump carries through with what is probably just his usual bullying threats. Moreover, International Law prevents Mexico from stopping asylum seekers, so there isn't much they can do that they weren't already trying to do. That's the other thing, too. Mexico was hiring many of these asylum seekers because of a shortage of workers, so if these tariffs were to take effect, that would mean additional immigrants coming to the U.S. that may have remained in Mexico.
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Republicans can't handle reality, would rather traffic and believe in lies. The GOP has become a fascist, nihilistic cult that would destroy democracy and America if given sufficient opportunity. And THAT, folks, is your reality check.
What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil. They are either actively or silently complicit in fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorist violence, Reich-wing insurrection, and Reich-wing undermining of our democracy and Constitution.
It's crystal clear that Trump, Boebert, Greene, Gosar and other Republicans like them are fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorism. The GOP has become radicalized to such an extent that it has essentially become a fascist terrorist organization, with members that fantasize and promote violence against their fellow Americans. While those Republican elected officials must be condemned and sanctioned, they are only a symptom of the disease poisoning a third of America, the most visible part of the cancer infecting our nation.
The GOP has been mainstreaming radicalization of their voter base for decades, ALLOWING Reich-wing media and Reich-wing demagogues to take over the party, to the point it has become a fascist, nihilistic cult. Because just as now, Republican politicians and their plutocratic masters have always seen it as the ends justifying whatever means to win power. Remember the Republican Tea Party? This catastrophe with the GOP didn't start with Trump, who just exploited what Republicans had already built.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle for graft and to grift their voters and us taxpayers. You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A quarter of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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'Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America' by Kathleen Belew (Harvard University Press, 2018)
The movement “brought together members of the Klan, militias, radical tax resisters, white separatists, neo-Nazis, and proponents of white theologies such as Christian Identity, Odinism, and Dualism” (ix). What was it about the movement that brought these ideologies together?
The promise of violence — rather, the promise that members would get to inflict violence on other people. Belew writes that as the white power movement matured, it became more violent, and “[as] violence came to the fore of the movement, distinctions among white power factions melted away” (60). Belew calls this process “violent community formation” (34). Yet as a social movement, Belew makes a distinction between the white power movement’s “revolutionary violence” and the Ku Klux Klan’s “vigilante violence.”
Vigilante violence “served to constitute, shore up, and enforce systemic power” (106). Given that the U.S. government has a long history of “defending vigilante violence by refusing to enforce the law” (99), law enforcement inaction and vigilante violence may be understood together as a case of one hand washing the other. Revolutionary violence, however, sought to overthrow the state. It is the white power movement’s goal of overthrowing the federal government that sets it apart in the history of white supremacy in the U.S.
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To protect our health care and front-line workers, it is critical to protect ourselves and others! Protecting those most vulnerable groups among us--like the elderly, homeless, prisoners, minorities, and migrants--is one of the best ways of protecting ourselves! It's a win-win situation, folks--even without a global pandemic, but now especially! Conversely, it is actually Trump and the GOP's fear-mongering, stigmatization, bigotry, xenophobia, racism, cruelty and lack of compassion which endangers Americans. Ignorance kills.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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@dolphinguam9552 ~ DONALD TRUMP’S CAMPAIGN to change the subject from the coronavirus pandemic took a bizarre turn May 21, 2020, as the president paused during a speech at a Ford Motor Company plant in Michigan to praise the “good bloodlines” of the family descended from the firm’s founder, Henry Ford, a notorious anti-Semite and favorite of Adolf Hitler.
In an apparent ad-lib, Trump looked up from his prepared remarks — which praised the firm for teaming up with General Electric to produce ventilators and face shields for medical workers — to observe that Henry Ford’s descendants, like the current chairman, Bill Ford, who had introduced the president, have “good blood.”
“The company founded by a man named Henry Ford,” Trump’s prepared text appeared to say, “teamed up with the company founded by Thomas Edison — that’s General Electric.” But when Trump came to Ford’s name, he looked up from the text and observed: “good bloodlines, good bloodlines — if you believe in that stuff, you got good blood.”
Trump has made no secret of his own belief that he inherited everything from intelligence to an ability to withstand pressure through the “great genes” passed on to him by his parents and grandparents. He has also frequently compared the importance of “good bloodlines” in humans to the breeding of champion racehorses, a view that overlaps in uncomfortable ways with those of eugenicists and racists like Ford.
“I’m proud to have that German blood,” Trump once told an interviewer. “You’ve all got such good bloodlines,” Trump reportedly told British business leaders at a dinner in 2018. “You’ve all got such amazing DNA.”
Trump also suggested that Ford and Edison were both in heaven, “looking down right now.” The president’s belief that Ford, the only American singled out for praise in Hitler’s “Mein Kampf,” should be in heaven was a stark contrast to his sarcastic comment during a visit to Michigan in December that the late Democratic congressman, John Dingell, might be “looking up” from hell.
Among the many reasons to believe that Henry Ford does not deserve a place in heaven is the fact that, as the writer Matthew Wills noted, starting in 1920, “Ford’s newspaper, the weekly Dearborn Independent, which was distributed through Ford dealers and sent free to schools and libraries around the country, published 90 anti-Semitic articles, later collected and distributed as a book called ‘The International Jew.'”
Victoria Saker Woeste, the author of “Henry Ford’s War on Jews and the Legal Battle Against Hate Speech,” explained that “the first article staked out the familiar anti-Semitic trope of ‘The Jew’ as ‘the world’s enigma. Poor in his masses, he yet controls the world’s finances,’ and was, ‘the power behind many a throne.'” The articles recapitulated and excerpted the notorious anti-Semitic forgery, “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” for nearly 700,000 readers.
The collected articles were sold as a pamphlet, which was subsequently translated into German, and inspired Hitler’s praise for Ford in “Mein Kampf.” “It is Jews who govern the stock exchange forces of the American Union,” Hitler claimed, “only a single great man, Ford, to their fury, still maintains full independence.”
The New York Times reported in 1922 that Ford’s importance to Hitler was very obvious. “The wall beside his desk in Hitler’s private office is decorated with a large picture of Henry Ford,” the newspaper’s Berlin correspondent observed. “In the ante-chamber there is a large table covered with books, nearly all of which are a translation of a book written and published by Henry Ford.”
Although Ford was eventually forced to sign a public apology for the articles in 1927, after being sued for libel in federal court by Aaron Sapiro, a Jewish-American activist smeared by his newspaper, he remained an anti-Semite and a favorite of the Nazis. In 1938, Ford accepted the Grand Cross of the German Eagle, the Nazi regime’s highest honor for foreigners, on the occasion of his 75th birthday. The two Nazi diplomats who pinned the medal on his chest also brought a personal message of congratulations from Hitler.
In 1940, Steven Watts recounted in “The People’s Tycoon: Henry Ford and the American Century,” Ford told the automobile editor of The Associated Press that he blamed the Jews, not Hitler, for the war in Europe. “I still think this is a phony war made by the international Jewish bankers,” Ford said, in remarks later reported by the automaker’s former personal secretary.
Trump’s praise of Ford on Thursday prompted Jonathan Greenblatt, the chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, to demand an apology from the president for hailing a man who was “an anti-Semite and one of America’s staunchest proponents of eugenics.” “If he doesn’t know why,” Greenblatt added, the president should read his organization’s history of Ford’s role as an anti-Jewish propagandist.
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@rhondabeamish8652 ~ As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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@dolphinguam9552 ~ Thank-you for the interesting bio info! Nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head again in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but a battle from which we must never shrink.
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Very disappointing. What really bothered Harris wasn't Biden; it was his share of African-American voters to which she apparently feels entitled without yet having earned -- so, seeing how Castro had elevated himself, sought to manipulatively do the same with Biden by exploiting race issues disingenuously against a friend and veteran civil rights fighter, instead of directing a legitimate attack against Trump, a racist demagogue. Had Huge Hypocrite Harris #2, but also discovered her to be a political chameleon whose own civil rights record is rather abysmal. Oh, well, plenty of other well-qualified candidates from which to choose, who hopefully don't stab their friends in the back publicly to advance themselves. Harris could redeem herself with some sincere remorse and honesty about her stupid and unjust attack, but not seeing any evidence of that, yet.
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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"As many as 70,000 Americans could be confirmed as infected with coronavirus by the end of next week, marking a “pretty dramatic” increase in the number of confirmed cases," the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, told his employees in an agency-wide conference call on 03/20/20.
Except 03/21/20 saw a 33% jump in U.S. cases, from 18,000 to over 24,000. If continuing at 33% every 24 hours, the number of confirmed cases is trending much higher than just 70,000 by 03/27/20. Suspect confirmed cases will be double that. Bear in mind, states hardest hit are not testing many people, saving the tests for those most in need. So the actual number of infected Americans is going to be far higher than just what limited testing of the population has so far confirmed. Don't think this fact is being given enough attention. More important than the number of cases confirmed is the number contracting the disease and not getting tested, spreading the disease, in many cases unknowingly. Hospital projections are for about 100 MILLION Americans to become infected, with about 500,000 dead from covid-19.
(Update 5: Friday, 03/27/20, confirmed U.S. cases 105,000--which is 50% over NIH high-end estimate; deaths 1,700 by end of day. The perspective for cases is significantly skewed low and thus highly misleading, however, as just 0.17% of U.S. population has been tested to date.)
03/29/20 -- 143,000 confirmed cases; 2,450 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
03/30/20 -- 165,000 confirmed cases; 3,250 deaths.
03/31/20 -- 190,000 confirmed cases; 4,200 deaths.
04/01/20 -- 217,000 confirmed cases; 5,150 deaths.
04/02/20 -- 246,000 confirmed cases; 6,050 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/03/20 -- 278,000 confirmed cases; 7,150 deaths.
04/04/20 -- 312,000 confirmed cases; 9,400 deaths.
04/05/20 -- 338,000 confirmed cases; 9,700 deaths.
04/06/20 -- 369,000 confirmed cases; 11,000 deaths.
04/07/20 -- 400,000 confirmed cases; 13,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. Figures indicate a Covid-19 fatality rate for TESTED Americans at 3.25%.
04/08/20 -- 432,000 confirmed cases; 15,900 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S.
04/09/20 -- 466,000 confirmed cases; 16,700 deaths.
04/10/20 -- 502,000 confirmed cases; 18,800 deaths.
04/11/20 -- 530,000 confirmed cases; 20,500 deaths.
04/12/20 -- 558,000 confirmed cases; 22,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S. With just 4.25% of the world's population, the U.S. has 30% of the COVID-19 infections and 20% of the COVID-19 deaths. So far, the U.S. has the very WORST response of ANY nation, something formerly inconceivable, and inexcusable that it could now be allowed to happen here. In the U.S., we have 1.5 million seniors in 15,000 nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Despite forming only 0.45% of the U.S. population, they make up almost 10% of deaths, primarily because our federal government is not doing enough to protect them. Reported that many hospitals are no longer accepting COVID-19 patients from nursing homes, preferring they die there, instead. Our seniors, who helped build, grow and make America great, are being sacrificed, solely to ignorance.
04/13/20 -- 583,000 confirmed cases; 24,200 deaths
04/14/20 -- 609,000 confirmed cases; 26,600 deaths (+2,364* - New worst daily death toll)
04/15/20 -- 640,000 confirmed cases; 30,800 deaths (4,200*) The United States recorded its first coronavirus fatality on Feb. 29. It took 38 days to reach 10,000 deaths and just nine more days to go from 10,000 fatalities to 30,000. An increase in fatalities over the last 48 hours was expected, but was also due to new CDC policy, starting on 04/14, to include probable COVID-19 deaths...finally.
04/16/20 -- 671,000 confirmed cases; 33,100 deaths. Less COVID-19 testing performed this week than last, despite desperate need to ramp up volume to reopen economy.
04/17/20 -- 702,000 confirmed cases; 37,000 deaths.
04/18/20 -- 735,000 confirmed cases; 39,900 deaths.
04/19/20 -- 760,000 confirmed cases; 40,700 deaths.
04/20/20 -- 788,000 confirmed cases; 42,200 deaths.
04/21/20 -- (Incomplete) 825,000+ confirmed cases; 45,300+ deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
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GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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@mimzyjinx8142 ~ You want to defend hate, bigotry, and willful ignorance? Fascism, terrorism, and sedition? You want to defend, excuse, or ignore decades of Reich-wing programming by GOP politicians, demagogues, and media that deliberately and predictably created the toxic brew that is the Republican cult?
You sure don't speak out against it, and neither have the vast majority of those like you sucked into the Republican cult. Instead, you perpetuate and propagate the poison, attacking others, unwilling to take responsibility and accountability for yourself and your political party. You want to continue being part of the problem, instead of part of the solution. You don't respond to the arguments presented to you, unwilling to debate honestly, instead trying to change the subject through scurrilous attacks. Not looking to silence you; looking to reason with you, looking for some integrity from you.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Republican cult placing political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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Caught a bit of 'The View' on TV today, and the subject under discussion was Republican gaslighting and history revisionism of January 6. All of the panelists condemned what Congressional Republicans were engaging in, with Joy Behar saying that she and many people she knew were scared for our democracy and country by what the Republicans were doing----except for one, Meghan McCain. She started by saying that she was against Trump's Big Lie and the insurrection, but she did not condemn Congressional Republicans for their deceitful and dangerous behavior perpetuating the lie and removing Rep. Cheney from her leadership role for telling the truth. Instead, McCain resorted to House Leader McCarthy's right-wing talking point that "we don't need to relitigate this, we need to look forward," trying to sweep it under the rug. Then, McCain proceeded to dishonestly engage in Whataboutism, trying to change the subject by attacking Biden and blaming the media for focusing on Republicans instead of Biden's supposed faults, like the cyberattack against the gas pipeline (which was already back online by then), which she claimed was scaring people.
WTF? How is January 6 being relitigated when most of the perpetrators are still at large, only several hundred apprehended charged, with all of those either awaiting trial or a plea bargain? How is it being relitigated when January 6 is still being investigated by authorities, with no commission yet established by Congress to investigate? How are we supposed to look forward when Republican leadership is trying to gaslight and revise history with January 6, won't publicly denounce the Big Lie, causing most Republican voters to still look back at the last election, refusing to accept Biden's win, the combination creating a severe domestic terrorism threat against the U.S.? McCain of all people should know better and taken Rep. Cheney's position, yet she is a perfect example of what is wrong with Republicans, who continue placing party before country.
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@Bleyluige ~ "To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize." There is no evidence that Voltaire ever said this. It originated with white nationalist writer Kevin Alfred Strom. The quote actually comes from a 1993 radio broadcast by Strom, but the wording varies slightly, according to etymologist Barry Popik. Strom also confirmed in a 2017 post online that it originated with him, not Voltaire. Strom (born August 17, 1956) is an American white nationalist, neo-Nazi, Holocaust denier, white separatist and associate editor of National Vanguard. Strom resigned from National Vanguard in July 2006, but rejoined in 2012. In 2008, Strom pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography and was sentenced to 23 months in prison
.
You appear to be just another Russian bot spreading disinformation to divide and weaken America, kill more Americans, Doc. In America, we can criticize whomever we want. The only people in America whom one might have to fear retribution from for criticizing someone like Trump is from the the very same Republican white-supremacist radical extremists you quote. However, they're invariably cowards, only acting out violence in mobs or other isolated situations where they think they can get away with bullying and beating people smaller and weaker than they. #moreRussiasanctions
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@SkillUpMobileGaming ~ Don't be fooled; calculate 90-95% of the trolls on MSM news sites are Russian trolls and their sock-puppets. Even if not, they're doing Putin's bidding, so it's a distinction without any real difference, anyway.
Usually just ignore, or make general factual response to original comment, so as not to engage or encourage. Appears they get paid extra $$$ for eliciting responses. When we do call them out, use #moreRussiasanctions to aid moderators and U.S. counterintelligence. It actually does deter them to some extent.
Of course, they know the burden of proof lies with the person making the claim, but twisting things, projection, and Whataboutism are their primary propaganda tools. It's all designed to sow disinformation, discord, disgust, and division to weaken America, kill Americans.
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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Sure, Toxic Trump ordered the hit on peaceful demonstrators, but we all knew he is a thoroughly despicable person, and we know he is just trying to distract and incite. While alarming and worrisome, most troubling is the behavior of the police, national guard, and active military who brutalized innocent, peaceful protestors, journalists, and even clergy providing humanitarian aid--on their own church property!--during their disgusting surprise blitzkrieg shock-and-awe ambush attack. Those law enforcement and military are responsible for their own behavior, and must be held to account. We don't need brown-shirt Gestapo here in America, blindly following orders they know to be immoral and unethical. The lack of leadership displayed at all levels below is particularly horrifying.
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Let's just call January 6 what it actually was -- a Republican smash and grab, an act of violent larceny against democracy and sedition employing domestic terrorism right out in open sight.
"Without accountability, an attempted autogolpe and insurrection is just practice."
"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ― Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
So, why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. Because our democracy, our institutions, and our very security is seriously endangered. And because rule of law and justice for all really does matter.
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@lambro4014 ~ No, you're wrong, Doc! We got former Republicans--some admittedly formerly in that cult, some not who disassociated themselves with it--who are working individually and together to deprogram other members of the Republican cult. And, we don't call it a cult merely to denigrate and discredit the GOP; we call it a cult because we got eyes that can see, ears that can hear, a brain that can still think independently.
The country isn't 50/50, either; it's more like 60/40, with Republicans the minority. Don't be fooled just because they are louder, make themselves more visible, and are more active voting. Don't be fooled, either, by the Electoral College (which is still likely to show Biden winning by the substantial margin of 306 to 234) when Trump lost by over five million votes, with Biden winning the most popular votes in American history.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic hyper-partisan Republican cult placing political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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@ryanmacholz5793 ~ You are clearly an idiot if you think that all ideologies are created equal. So, we should respect and value the ideology of a Jeffery Dahmer or David Duke? Get a clue.
Besides, you're merely dishonestly projecting your own failing, as it is Democrats who operate a big tent with diverse views, cultures, and people; while Republicans are the party of demagoguery, bigotry, and racism. It has been Republicans like Trump dividing the nation into "red" states and "blue" states, instead of trying to be a President for everyone, uniting Americans together, working to promote themselves instead of--and at the expense of--the common good.
Read the last paragraph of our reply to Lam Bro here in this thread, which also debunks your baseless allegations.
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We got Big Brag Daddy Baghdad Bob broadcasting direct from Washington, D.C. daily, with Toxic Trump and a revolving cast of his sycophantic minions! Happy talk, disinformation, empty promises, idle threats, vicious smears, bogus pandemic models, dog whistles, continuous crackpot conspiracies--they got it all, and more!
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@arcdecibel9986 ~ You got nothing but denials and more fallacious Reich-wing talking points and senseless rage. For someone not trying to convince me, you sure do try awful hard. Unfortunately, you allowed yourself to be brainwashed with ignorance, fear and hate, which you allow to control you. You are part of the fascist cult destroying the GOP and America, but the ignorance, fear, and hate that you were fed and willingly swallowed blinds you from seeing that truth.
So, to you, your fellow Americans who reject that ignorance, fear, and hate, who see it for what it is and refuse to allow themselves to be ruled by it, who are not part of your dystopian Orwellian lunatic fringe, are the "enemy," to be demonized as socialists, communists, pedophiles, cannibalistic baby killers and whatever other nonsense you can come up with. It's quite sad, really, and while alarmed that so many could allow themselves to be brainwashed into the fascist Republican cult and fully aware of the danger posed, I don't fear or hate you; I pity you. Because the poison you swallowed that is destroying the GOP and America is killing you, too.
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Woobie Make it a carrot and we got a deal, Doc. I'll even give you a peek at the goods:
Belly up to the bar for a Barr Bananananza...
By Barr's very own definition and, thus, admission, the three investigations investigating investigators instigated by himself and Republicans are all witch-hunts! Something already transparently obvious, anyway...
Barr chastises about the law being used as a political weapon...
while using the law as a political weapon.
The only thing omitted from Barr's summary of the Mueller Report...
The disclaimer about selling his soul.
The Devil initially offered Barr unlimited power and wealth...
But after closer examination of the dung heap,
gave him a $6.66 take-it-or-leave-it offer.
Barr immediately accepted.
Three-way between Trump-Barr-Graham spins off three investigations to stop the completed investigation!
Now, that is kinky, guys!
And, most definitely, perverted justice...
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tamperresistant mind - You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It's that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don't care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another five months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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@jamesderekmann6554 - It's not that the rich and powerful always escape justice, it's that the deck is stacked in their favor, so that too often they can escape, and too often the justice served is inequitable.
Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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@DonnieIsNotAmerican ~ Wealthy or powerful criminals don't always escape justice or responsibility, although would agree it happens too often. As for your second reply to another, we are in complete agreement:
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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Freedoms can exist only up to the point they infringe upon the freedom of others. Religious tolerance can be practiced only up to the point it becomes intolerant of others. Our Constitution is a secular document, not a religious one, and it was certainly never intended to be a suicidal death pact. Getting vaccinated and following CDC guidelines brings freedom from preventable illness or injury, and a senseless premature death, but the mindless fascist Republican cult only believes in freeDUMB. Just as they don't understand or would deny the Constitution is as much about the common good as personal liberties, and that those two things are intrinsically and inextricably intertwined.
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge." ~ Ben Franklin, from Poor Richard's Almanack
Those who scorn public health guidelines during a deadly global pandemic and confuse a grievous public health issue with "essential" liberty to kill and harm themselves and their fellow citizens--as well as their nation--sorely lack both care and knowledge. They are also sorely lacking in common sense, something else about which Mr. Franklin was quite keen. Mr. Franklin was also one our nation's first scientists--yet these modern-day knuckleheads who ought know better refute science! Were he alive today, he would be rather dismayed, disgruntled, and disgusted with the fascist anti-science Republican cult, that much is crystal clear.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
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Tucker Carlson and Faux News: mainstreaming American fascism purely for profit.
America's enemies don't need to spread disinformation, doubt, discord, and division to weaken America, kill Americans--Republican politicians, Reich-wing demagogues, Faux News, OAN, Newsmax, Breitbart and the rest of the Reich-wing media do that so effectively for them, already. More Americans need to realize that the GOP has abdicated it's duty as loyal opposition, and that its prioritization of party over country and welcoming embrace of violent radical Reich-wing extremists diminishes both our government and our national security, endangering ALL Americans, as well as weakening and endangering America itself.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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You're foolish to be drawing such a conclusion without knowing all the facts. A good majority of scientific experts still find a natural cause more likely. But even they aren't drawing any conclusions yet, because all the facts are not known. Had not Trump and Republicans politicized the matter, it's possible China would have been more cooperative, and we could have gotten answers. Now, because it's been over a year and tracing the original people with antigens in China to find out where the virus originated has become so difficult that it may be impossible, and the origination of Covid-19 will probably never be known.
All you're doing is just further politicizing the issue by making unsubstantiated allegations suggesting the Chinese government is at fault. You're part of the problem, and it's obvious that people like you would rather continue making baseless allegations bashing the Chinese than discovering the truth. What you're doing is stupid and counter-productive, because China deserves to be condemned for a lack of transparency, but when people like you try unduly scapegoating China, you're just providing them with the rational excusing that lack of transparency. Potentially even worse, that kind of scapegoating makes it less likely the next time we need answers that we will get cooperation and transparency from a foreign government.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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***MEDIA FAIL*** -- Questions were answered, just not with a 'yes' or 'no.' CNN making mountains out of molehills, trying to stir controversy, jack ratings, mesmerize the masses for more mega-moola. It's all about the "SOUND BITE," right, CNN, not the substance of the issue here? Fact is, DCCC and AOC may have their differences, but the common ground between them is vast, far more than any petty disagreements. We all know that, but CNN not going to let the truth get in the way of fabricating a fiction for followers of such foolery.
DCCC's Bustos didn't do herself any favors, either. We expect politicians to speak diplomatically and to parse their words to please the largest proportion of people. However, here the affirmative admission was made in both instances, anyway, so a simple straightforward 'yes' answer to both questions would be appropriate, reflecting both on her and Democrats favorably. Instead, Bustos comes off as being less than honest, reflecting poorly on both herself and Democrats--pointlessly, for no good reason, whatsoever! In fact, she was being honest, if also reserved and reticent, in her answers.
The bottom line here is the reporter kept redundantly asking the same questions, despite being supplied the same AFFIRMATIVE answers each time. That's on the reporter, not the DCCC chair. Doggedly determined to dig dirt and dominate, but denied going down in the ditch, diatribe dip at the CNN desk deserved to be dangled and dissed.
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Exactly. Media needs to step-up its game big time, for a long time, act like the adult for these Republican children playing silly games with the American public paying their purse. They have the power, USE IT....CUT THE DAMN MIC, ALREADY!!!
Such a silly, ludicrous spectacle! The barn door was open, all the horses escaped, the barn burned to the ground, but goofy Congressional Republican goons continue play-pretending mucking out the stalls for Nero-in-Chief and their audience of fools, who love a good Blaze and hope to see it all burn!
~*hyGOPricy*~
Hypocrisy knows no bounds
For rotten GOP clowns
With them phony outrage hounds
Their flimflam no more astounds
Betraying US for king's crowns
If bribed in dollars--not pounds
Claim for impeachment no grounds!
Care not for the laws he downs
Block out all objection sounds
Do not see disgusted frowns
Just pack courts with goons in gowns
Caring their cozen confounds
As public outrage resounds
When their vile dream scheme rebounds
Souls forfeit as deceit mounds
Fear the contempt that surrounds
And that loathing which abounds
In each city and all towns
But taking too many rounds
From nasty GOP clowns
Must end now....ran out of nouns!
~*~*~*~*~
Audio version for the blind of hyGOPrisy, narrated by author, freely available here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dFYRskt-Ls
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@anonymoususer7602 ~ Yes, some Republicans did vote for Biden. Not a lot, but at least some. However, criticism from elected Republicans has been from a very small minority, selective in substance and limited in scope. Mostly, the silence has been deafening. Romney voted for impeachment, but only on one of the articles. DeWine spoke out against Trump mishandling the pandemic, but then proceeded to be a speaker at the RNC in support of Trump's reelection. Go figure.
Having closely watched multi-party systems in other nations for decades, they have the same problems as our two-party system in America, as well as creating additional problems. The number of parties has very little to do with how a system works, rather it is all about the electorate; how polarized, how educated, how informed, how involved. It doesn't matter how many political parties are added or subtracted--if people research the candidates, or if they don't, either way, they will get the government they deserve.
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@anonymoususer7602 ~ Thanks, and you're quite welcome, of course. Always happy to share. There is a bit more to the Republican cult than described. Things are seldom as simplistic as we tend to think. Didn't touch directly upon the anti-science aspect, or the anti-intellectualism resentment, or the culture backlash, or the fears of a dwindling White majority, or the feedback loop between those exploiting and those exploited--both becoming subsumed by, and all of which are part and parcel of, the whole. There are undoubtedly aspects we are forgetting or missing. What was offered should, hopefully, provide enough core understanding of the mechanism and structure of the Republican cult.
Always value and appreciate honest discussion and debate, prefer being shown where wrong than proven right. In that vein, noticed that we neglected to give some of your replies to us an upvote, which was not intentional, merely an oversight sometimes prone to making, thinking more about how to respond than mindful of etiquette. Now corrected. Keep yourself safe and well, my friend.
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@trixiemcfly8584 What you are talking about is isolationism, which is no longer a viable option in today's world. Moreover, you appear ignorant that our nation fights multiple injustices at home AND abroad--every single day. Additionally, many problems are not amenable to quick resolution, so we have policies that work over time to solve those problem in a manageable, feasible way. Your reply also ignores that the U.S supports Israel, a developed industrial nation, with more aid than any other nation in the world, to the tune of billions of dollars, which incurs a U.S. responsibility to pressure Israel to end the occupation and its apartheid-like policies. You sound kind of like hasbara, which have become the Israeli propagandists for apartheid. Wouldn't be surprised, as they are usually all over stories like this in the comments with anti-Palestinian rhetoric, and this story is certainly no exception, as can be seen plainly by all. Before there were Russian bots, there was hasbara manipulating American politics for decades. Is THAT important enough for you, or do you like foreign interference in our elections and government?
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@muchoed5119 That's the hasbara nonsense they spoon feeding you, Doc! Not the way the rest of the world views it, even the U.S. officially acknowledges the Occupied Palestinian Territories (the OPT in official documents). Trump may have moved the embassy to Jerusalem, but he hasn't changed long-standing U.S. State Dept. policy. Even if Trump were to announce that we are not to believe our eyes, long-standing American policy, and historical facts that well establish Israel's military occupation, it won't erase Israel's brutal military occupation of Palestinian territories. The world (and many Americans) won't simply start pretending the Moon is on Mars just because Trump says so. What planet are you on, anyway?
Excellent documentary here on YouTube produced just last year called 'The Occupation of the American Mind.' Highly recommend you get educated, instead of brainwashed by Russian and Israeli foreign agents working against America.
By the way, Israel is a multi-ethnic state predominated by Jews and Palestinians. To my view, it is just as racist to call Israel a "Jewish" nation as it is racist to call America a "white" nation.
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“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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@christhaitech2363 ~ I share your hope, Chris, comforted by the fact that there are more of us than those lost down the fascist Republican cult rabbit hole. However, our individual and national well-being requires more than hope:
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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Freedoms can exist only up to the point they infringe upon the freedom of others. Religious tolerance can be practiced only up to the point it becomes intolerant of others. Our Constitution is a secular document, not a religious one, and it was certainly never intended to be a suicidal death pact. Getting vaccinated and following CDC guidelines brings freedom from preventable illness or injury, and a senseless premature death, but the mindless fascist Republican cult only believes in freeDUMB. Just as they don't understand or would deny the Constitution is as much about the common good as personal liberties, and that those two things are intrinsically and inextricably intertwined.
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge." ~ Ben Franklin, from Poor Richard's Almanack
Those who scorn public health guidelines during a deadly global pandemic and confuse a grievous public health issue with "essential" liberty to kill and harm themselves and their fellow citizens--as well as their nation--sorely lack both care and knowledge. They are also sorely lacking in common sense, something else about which Mr. Franklin was quite keen. Mr. Franklin was also one our nation's first scientists--yet these modern-day knuckleheads who ought know better refute science! Were he alive today, he would be rather dismayed, disgruntled, and disgusted with the fascist anti-science Republican cult, that much is crystal clear.
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No question that Toxic Trump wants to manipulate the data to paint a rosy picture, sacrificing American lives for his own personal gain. But states are doing nearly all the testing, not the feds. State and private labs are doing nearly all the test processing. The big failure regarding this aspect of the catastrophically failed pandemic response is Putin puppet-pie President Nero's criminal negligence in failing to authorize the Defense Production Act to build capacity for testing and TIMELY processing.
It's not just about quantity of tests. More important is quality. Most critically, it is taking TWO WEEKS or more to obtain the TEST RESULTS unless hospitalized. Due to the long lab processing times due to lack of capability and backlog, the contact tracing needed to contain and control the spread becomes no longer practical or tenable, creating an untenable situation of contagion, hospitalizations, and subsequent avoidable deaths. While some infected people waiting for test results may quarantine themselves, many others taking routine tests, who may be positive and asymptomatic, will not, unwilling or unable to wait that long for their results to come back. This latter group is spreading the disease in their communities. Until we have TIMELY TEST RESULTS, the quantity of tests administered is a largely MEANINGLESS figure. While true the U.S. is STILL only performing just a fraction of the COVID-19 testing needed, ramping up testing won't help unless or until the turnaround processing time problem is fixed and ALL test results can be obtained within less than 48 hours.
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The U.S. was beset by denial and dysfunction as the coronavirus raged
Yasmeen Abutaleb, Josh Dawsey, Ellen Nakashima and Greg Miller -- Washington Post -- 04/05/20
Thirty-three times Toxic Trump minimized, denied, and downplayed this pandemic.
By the time Donald Trump proclaimed himself a wartime president — and the coronavirus the enemy — the United States was already on course to see more of its people die than in the wars of Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq combined. The United States will likely go down as the country that was supposedly best prepared to fight a pandemic but ended up catastrophically overmatched by the novel coronavirus, sustaining heavier casualties than any other nation.
It did not have to happen this way. Though not perfectly prepared, the United States had more expertise, resources, plans and epidemiological experience than dozens of countries that ultimately fared far better in fending off the virus.
The failure has echoes of the period leading up to 9/11: Warnings were sounded, including at the highest levels of government, but the president was deaf to them until the enemy had already struck.
The Trump administration received its first formal notification of the outbreak of the coronavirus in China on Jan. 3. Within days, U.S. spy agencies were signaling the seriousness of the threat to Trump by including a warning about the coronavirus — the first of many — in the President’s Daily Brief.
And yet, it took 70 days from that initial notification for Trump to treat the coronavirus not as a distant threat or harmless flu strain well under control, but as a lethal force that had outflanked America’s defenses and was poised to kill tens of thousands of citizens. That more-than-two-month stretch now stands as critical time that was squandered.
Trump’s baseless assertions in those weeks, including his claim that it would all just “miraculously” go away, sowed significant public confusion and contradicted the urgent messages of public health experts.
It may never be known how many thousands of deaths, or millions of infections, might have been prevented with a response that was more coherent, urgent and effective. But even now, there are many indications that the administration’s handling of the crisis had potentially devastating consequences.
Even the president’s base has begun to confront this reality. In mid-March, as Trump was rebranding himself a wartime president and belatedly urging the public to help slow the spread of the virus, Republican leaders were poring over grim polling data that suggested Trump was lulling his followers into a false sense of security in the face of a lethal threat.
The poll showed that far more Republicans than Democrats were being influenced by Trump’s dismissive depictions of the virus and the comparably scornful coverage on Fox News and other conservative networks. As a result, Republicans were in distressingly large numbers refusing to change travel plans, follow “social distancing” guidelines, stock up on supplies or otherwise take the coronavirus threat seriously.
“Denial is not likely to be a successful strategy for survival,” GOP pollster Neil Newhouse concluded in a document that was shared with GOP leaders on Capitol Hill and discussed widely at the White House. Trump’s most ardent supporters, it said, were “putting themselves and their loved ones in danger.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/the-us-was-beset-by-denial-and-dysfunction-as-the-coronavirus-raged/ar-BB12akzb?ocid=spartanntp
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Bush v. Gore, Citizens United, Chief Jester Roberts smiling and nodding along while presiding over sham Senate impeachment trial, Assassination Goon B.S. Barr butchering the law, slaughtering justice, politicizing and weaponizing the DOJ. It's why we lost all respect for the Supreme Court, the law, and the justice system in this country. Congratulations, Republicans, on turning our nation into a banana Republic, making America an object lesson to the world on how to destroy democracy!
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of crackpot conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of greed, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of plutocrats, the party of corruption, the party of anti-democracy, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their pact with the Devil.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance.
In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump leaves office, the one out of every 800 Americans will have died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 400,000 fatalities, about as many American casualties as WWII. It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of crackpot conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of greed, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of plutocrats, the party of corruption, the party of anti-democracy, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their pact with the Devil.
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Worst economic downturn in American history, catastrophically botched COVID-19 pandemic response with over 160,000 senseless American deaths (at the time) . TWENTY straight weeks of over ONE MILLION new unemployment claims. Deaths projected to double by the end of year due to most corrupt, incompetent, racist, and ignorant President in U.S. history. A treasonous President that compromised himself with Russia, who refuses to hold the U.S. principle foreign adversary accountable for its attacks on America, who won’t even speak out against Russian bounties on U.S. soldiers. Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy: “Toxic Trump is doing a helluva job!” Rabid right-wing cult media is DESTROYING America!
What’s really confusing America is Newsmax, Faux News, and all the other rabid right-wing media outlets propagating and spreading disinformation. Without the supporting cast of willing supplicant proto-fascist right-wing media exploiting and profiting from them, the lies and distortions of Toxic Trump and Republicans would hold very little power, and could not persist.
Anyone really all that surprised that the CEO of Newsmax, Chris Ruddy, is a dishonest partisan hack with no character or integrity whatsoever? If so, that’s only because you’ve never seen Newsmax.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It’s that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don’t care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn’t want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it’s more than hope—those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another four months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn’t really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
“The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.”
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump’s hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-‘n-‘Thief, Toxic Trump, so much—although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages—as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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Let's just call January 6 what it actually was -- a Republican smash and grab, an act of violent larceny against democracy and our government, sedition employing domestic terrorism right out in open sight. It was just one of Trump's failed attempts to achieve an autogolpe.
"Without accountability, an attempted autogolpe and insurrection is just practice."
"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ― Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
So, why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. Because our democracy, our institutions, and our very security is seriously endangered. And because rule of law and justice for all really does matter.
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@damienneimad6044 ~Factually wrong, again, Doc! Only House has sole power to impeach; your debunked argument ignores that if the House has to wait four to six years for court decisions, then the House no longer has the power of impeachment, the Judiciary branch would have usurped that power. Contrary to our Constitution and the clear intent of our founding fathers who framed it.
To determine cause for impeachment, witnesses, documents, evidence must be gathered and evaluated by Congress. You present another debunked argument in that you ignore Trump's TOTAL and UNPRECEDENTED obstruction of Congress, preventing it from doing its proper oversight function. The very reason he earned the Obstruction of Congress Impeachment Article. Which, by the way, he was warned would happen if he continued stonewalling Congress. But, he didn't listen, did he? That's because he never listens!
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Republican SCOTUS and Republican politicians want to pretend systemic racism doesn't exist in America....so they can keep perpetuating it!
Meet the new ugly face of white supremacy in America! Funny--it looks just like the old ugly face. Except this time they got their Imperial Wizard installed as Chief Jester of the Supreme Court, where he magically declared racism somehow no longer a problem in America, paving the way for thousands of new Jim Crow laws and egregious gerrymandering suppressing and disenfranchising millions of American voters. Of course, harsh realities will continue to exist irrespective of any blind eye or pretentious, capricious edicts by some Supreme Court. And Roberts' conservative SCOTUS decisions only confirm how the white supremacist problem and its perpetual "fix" on the American judicial branch and justice system has never gone away, as America continues to struggle with overcoming a racist history of colonialism, slavery, and discrimination.
"...we must recognize that one of the two political parties is routinely engaged in sabotaging free elections with voter-suppression efforts aimed at the minority voters it cannot win over at the ballot box. These anti-democratic power grabs became a GOP staple decades before Donald Trump, culminating in the actions of a George W. Bush–anointed chief justice, John Roberts, whose Supreme Court shredded the Voting Rights Act of 1965. As Roberts famously put it in his 2007 opinion for the plurality, “The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.” Since then, discrimination on the basis of race has only expanded in states like Georgia and Florida, where Black voting rights have been cavalierly undermined and trashed." ~ Frank Rich, November 9, 2020 (Written well before the rash of new Jim Crow laws now being proposed and passed by Republicans in many states.)
Chief Justice Roberts and his fellow conservative SCOTUS justices: the architects of a new era of Jim Crow in America. Need to expand SCOTUS to 15 justices, do away with the filibuster, pass a new Voting Rights Act, and let Biden appoint six new justices to bring sanity and justice back to the Supreme Court.
Three current Republican SCOTUS justices worked on Bush's legal team in Bush v. Gore, where a Republican SCOTUS made a partisan decision along partisan lines in what is widely regarded as one of the worst SCOTUS decisions ever, handing Bush the election.
Chief Justice John Roberts: Roberts flew to Florida in November 2000 to assist Bush's legal team. He helped prepare the lawyer who presented Bush's case to the Florida state Supreme Court and offered advice throughout. After Bush became president, he nominated Roberts to the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit (the Senate confirmed him in 2003); Bush then elevated Roberts to the chief justice position in 2005, to succeed William Rehnquist. During his Senate confirmation hearing, Roberts declined to reveal his view of the justices' 2000 decision.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh: He was also in private practice in 2000 and helped the Bush legal team. After the election, Bush hired Kavanaugh to be a counsel and then staff secretary. In the West Wing, Kavanaugh met his future wife, Ashley, who was Bush's personal secretary. Bush appointed Kavanaugh to the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, where Roberts had first served. In 2018, Trump elevated Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Judge
Amy Coney Barrett: Barrett wrote on the questionnaire she submitted to the Senate for her Supreme Court confirmation review, "One significant case on which I provided research and briefing assistance was Bush v. Gore. I did work on Bush v. Gore. I did work on behalf of the Republican side."
Roberts wrote the briefings Sandra Day O'Conner used in Bush v Gore to deny FL their vote. He was then nominated when she retired. She denied FL the vote so she could retire with a pro-lifer in the WH. She gasped in front of witnesses "That can't be" when FL was called for Gore.
On the very last day of its term before Independence Day, 2021, Republican SCROTUM (Supreme Court of Odious Treasonous Unhinged Maggots) dropped a turd on America, legalizing discrimination against people of color, modernizing Jim Crow, and turning the former SCOTUS into the new KKK headquarters, with Chief Jester Roberts appointing himself the Grand Imperial Wizard.
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The U.S. was beset by denial and dysfunction as the coronavirus raged
Yasmeen Abutaleb, Josh Dawsey, Ellen Nakashima and Greg Miller -- Washington Post -- 04/05/20
Thirty-three times Toxic Trump minimized, denied, and downplayed this pandemic.
By the time Donald Trump proclaimed himself a wartime president — and the coronavirus the enemy — the United States was already on course to see more of its people die than in the wars of Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq combined. The United States will likely go down as the country that was supposedly best prepared to fight a pandemic but ended up catastrophically overmatched by the novel coronavirus, sustaining heavier casualties than any other nation.
It did not have to happen this way. Though not perfectly prepared, the United States had more expertise, resources, plans and epidemiological experience than dozens of countries that ultimately fared far better in fending off the virus.
The failure has echoes of the period leading up to 9/11: Warnings were sounded, including at the highest levels of government, but the president was deaf to them until the enemy had already struck.
The Trump administration received its first formal notification of the outbreak of the coronavirus in China on Jan. 3. Within days, U.S. spy agencies were signaling the seriousness of the threat to Trump by including a warning about the coronavirus — the first of many — in the President’s Daily Brief.
And yet, it took 70 days from that initial notification for Trump to treat the coronavirus not as a distant threat or harmless flu strain well under control, but as a lethal force that had outflanked America’s defenses and was poised to kill tens of thousands of citizens. That more-than-two-month stretch now stands as critical time that was squandered.
Trump’s baseless assertions in those weeks, including his claim that it would all just “miraculously” go away, sowed significant public confusion and contradicted the urgent messages of public health experts.
It may never be known how many thousands of deaths, or millions of infections, might have been prevented with a response that was more coherent, urgent and effective. But even now, there are many indications that the administration’s handling of the crisis had potentially devastating consequences.
Even the president’s base has begun to confront this reality. In mid-March, as Trump was rebranding himself a wartime president and belatedly urging the public to help slow the spread of the virus, Republican leaders were poring over grim polling data that suggested Trump was lulling his followers into a false sense of security in the face of a lethal threat.
The poll showed that far more Republicans than Democrats were being influenced by Trump’s dismissive depictions of the virus and the comparably scornful coverage on Fox News and other conservative networks. As a result, Republicans were in distressingly large numbers refusing to change travel plans, follow “social distancing” guidelines, stock up on supplies or otherwise take the coronavirus threat seriously.
“Denial is not likely to be a successful strategy for survival,” GOP pollster Neil Newhouse concluded in a document that was shared with GOP leaders on Capitol Hill and discussed widely at the White House. Trump’s most ardent supporters, it said, were “putting themselves and their loved ones in danger.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/the-us-was-beset-by-denial-and-dysfunction-as-the-coronavirus-raged/ar-BB12akzb?ocid=spartanntp
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“I'm not scared of the Maos and the Stalins and the Hitlers.
I'm scared of the thousands or millions of people that hallucinate them to be "authority", and so do their bidding, and pay for their empires, and carry out their orders.
I don't care if there's one looney with a stupid moustache. He's not a threat if the people do not believe in "authority".” ― Larken Rose
Setting aside the sleazy immoral Reich-wing grifters at the top -- people like Trump, Congressional Republicans, Reich-wing demagogues and media -- the rank-and-file of the GOP has become a fascist cult. To be clear, Trump did not create the cult, it existed before him. He merely served as a unifying figure they chose to rally around and worship as their fool's gold god. Trump appealed to their basest nature and told them what they wanted to hear. Now, those Reich-wing grifters may have cultivated their cult to exploit for their own greed, power and vanity, but at least to some extent the Republican cult in turn seeks to exploit the GOP for their own various misguided purposes. They CHOOSE to be willfully ignorant, to believe or espouse the lies, because as a political calculus they shortsightedly see it as expedient to their ends.
What must also be taken into consideration are the characteristics of a cult. Why do people join a cult? Why do they choose to remain in a cult? No need to go into detail; the answers are largely common knowledge or easily researched. But it should be pointed out that in a complex world, the simplistic and rigid beliefs embraced by cults can be very alluring, no matter how fantastical and removed from reality. It should also be acknowledged that the Republican cult is not a monolithic entity, but an amalgamation of sects, including White supremacists, Christian nationalists, libertarians, sovereign nationals, anarchists, tax resistors, Qanon and other extremist fringe groups. Of course, not every Republican is an extremist, a fascist, or untethered from reality. But this latter more benign group is nevertheless part of the fascist Republican cult, complicit in their support of the whole, whether through their silent acquiescence and votes or willing assistance.
It's a very dangerous feedback loop, a vicious circle, one that as it sinks further into depravity its threat correspondingly rises, for as the Republican cult has over time been becoming increasingly more radicalized, we witness the election of more radical politicians to represent them, more radicalized Reich-wing media and demagogues to feed them propaganda. While some Republicans are leaving the GOP and some others are speaking out and trying to save their party, they constitute a weak minority, unfortunately.
In a normal, sane world, the Republican cult would have ended or been marginalized after the Mueller Report, after Trump's Ukraine shakedown and impeachment, after Trump's horrendous handling of a deadly global pandemic, after his election defeat, or after January 6th and his second impeachment. But that hasn't happened. Instead, the Republican cult continues to become increasingly more radicalized and extreme. As President Biden says, "We are in a battle for the soul of this nation." And that battle is far from over.
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MEDIA FAIL -- Why is it the CBS host and everyone on her panel know so surprising little about the Trump's G7/Doral scandal? According to the former ethics chief and a number of legal experts, Trump would have likely been violating several laws. Moreover, nobody goes to south Florida in June to get eaten alive by mosquitoes, suffocated by the heat and humidity, and subjected to the beginning of hurricane season, unless they just can't avoid it! Doral normally only gets about 38% occupancy in June, and business at Doral has particularly fallen off, because of Trump's own damage to his brand. Thus, Trump profits from the event by not losing money, even would he have donated all profits (which we all know good and well he was never going to do, anyway) to charity! Then, after they put the required helipads needed for G7 on his golf course, he gets the government to pay hundreds of millions for their removal he charges while remodeling the golf course to remove the helipads! Quite the potential scam, but CBS apparently wants to hide the truth from the American people just how corrupt the scheme is! Why? If you're going to cover the issue, don't we Americans deserve to know ALL the facts, not just the ones YOU select?
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GOP cult: “Democracy is great…only so long as we can subvert it with lies, cheating, a multitude of Jim Crow voter suppression laws, egregious gerrymandering, obstruction, coups, election interference, election fraud, sedition, insurrection and terrorism to gain power and maintain our corrupt, plutocratic, minority fascist rule!”
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@blingbling2841 ~ Well, Doc, such a distinction doesn't make a wit of difference, since if you were being a big boy, you wouldn't have gotten triggered and offended by the truth. Plus, your reply wasn't addressed to the OP, it was addressed to our comment. So, just as Republicans constantly do, you're being disingenuous, besides. Get a clue, not a cult.
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RL West ~ Last checked, 78 million outnumbers 72 million, we're still a democracy, votes still count. But you got an upvote, because you make a valid point, although it's Congressional Republicans, GOP leaders, Republican governors and state legislatures, and rank-and-file Republicans--not just Senate Republicans who enabled, aided, and abetted a fascist authoritarian President.
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If you're not very sophisticated, know little about the Constitution and impeachment, and didn't listen objectively to the other three expert witnesses on Constitutional law, then you might come away with the wrong idea that Professor Turley was credible. You do realize that Turley's whole testimony ADVOCATES impeachment, simply asking for more witnesses, which Democrats very much want to have testify, but refuse to let Trump run out the clock in the courts with baseless legal appeals blocking evidentiary materials and their testimony?
Professor Turley disgraced himself and his employer, Georgetown University, getting taken to the mat repeatedly and completely outclassed by three experts from other universities. While clearly knowledgeable about Constitutional law and history, Professor Turley failed to present any rational academic argument against impeachment, choosing instead to turn a blind eye to high crimes, unprecedented total obstruction of Congress oversight and impeachment powers, this President's penchant for perversions and abuses of power, and dire national security concerns...while making false allegations, engaging in false equivalencies, projecting undue bias and playing coy. Although much value and greatly appreciate opposing perspectives, Professor Turley's performance was an act of bad faith and intellectual dishonesty, demonstrating a critical lack of integrity, of which Georgetown University, its students, and its alumni should all be ashamed, as it reflects very poorly on them and their fine institution. This was a fool willingly made a Republican cult tool, and the motivation appears more self-interst than altruistic--at a time when all sane, loyal hands are crucially required on deck.
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@farrahalmond1149 ~ Agreed. (Would have replied sooner, but YouTube never sent a notification of your reply.) Some other commentary of mine frequently posted you may also appreciate given your reply:
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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--Instead of striving to bring out the best in people, Toxic Trump reveled in bringing out the very worst.
--Instead of uniting the country, Toxic Trump sought to divide us.
--Instead of abiding by and honoring our Constitution and the rule of law, Toxic Trump held them in disdain, disregarded them, and degraded them, running the most corrupt administration in U.S. history..
--Instead of strengthening democracy and our cherished institutions, Toxic Trump worked to diminish and destroy them, inciting a terrorist insurrection against his own government, attempting a coup to steal an election.
--Instead of insuring a peaceful transfer power after losing the election, Toxic Trump kept insisting against all evidence that he won, continuously repeating the Big Lie that resulted in the terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol.
--Instead of confronting a serious threat to Americans with a deadly global pandemic, Toxic Trump lied to the American people about it, ignored it, and refused to take any responsibility for his gross homicidal criminal negligence that resulted in one out of every 800 Americans dying from COVID-19--over 400,000 lives in just ten months, as many casualties as all of WWII.
--Instead of confronting the ever-increasing existential crisis from climate change and its harmful effects, Toxic Trump gutted regulations, exacerbating the problem and poisoning citizens.
--Instead of creating jobs, Toxic Trump was the first President since the Great Depression to preside over a net loss of jobs over his tenure.
--Instead of lowering the national deficit, Toxic Trump increased it from 19.2 trillion to 27 trillion.
--Instead of helping out the least among us, Toxic Trump widened the wealth and income disparity gap. 50% of his $1.9 trillion tax cut went to the top 5%; 65% went to the top 20%, with the top 40% benefiting next most, and the bottom 20% only receiving 1%.
--Instead of building bridges, humane immigration reform, and infrastructure, Toxic Trump built walls, cages, and concentration camps, separated children from mothers, allowed American infrastructure to decline and deteriorate, rejected economic opportunity.
--Instead of raising our standing and security in the world, Toxic Trump lowered and weakened it.
--Instead of draining the swamp, Toxic Trump turned it into a noxious overflowing sewer of Republican corruption.
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@JP-vs7jf - To counter some of the other stupid Russian bot-Republican cult troll arguments here:
--Living in a swing state, my vote has far more influence than voters in any non-swing state--red or blue. Maybe good for me and my state, but bad for the vast majority of other voters not in swing states who are disenfranchised, bad for democracy, and bad for the nation.
--The U.S. became a nation because of "no taxation without equal representation," and the electoral college is a prime example of unequal representation.
--Our Republic thrives on democracy, can not exist without robust democracy. The less democratic the Republic is, the weaker it becomes.
--Red states and Blue states are not homogenous political entities; all states contain some mix of ideologies and political affiliations. So, no, the most populous states don't determine the outcome of any Presidential election, the candidate with the most votes from ALL states wins--every person's vote counts equally. The way it should be. No more red or blue people getting left out, no more purple states and their people getting outsized influence and preferential treatment over red and blue states.
--Voting patterns and demographics in America are constantly in flux. There are no guarantees that a state will remain red or blue, as has been amply demonstrated historically. Current trends actually have the electoral college soon advantaging Democrats, disadvantaging Republicans.
--Presidents lacking a popular mandate have been traditionally weak and effective, and the current occupant is certainly no exception. That's not good for any of us, or for our beloved Republic.
--America is about its ideals and people, about coming together--not about land masses and arbitrary state lines that divide us.
--The U.S. already has a Senate and Amendment ratification process capable of adequately protecting a reasonable amount of state sovereignty.
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Republicans can't handle reality, would rather traffic and believe in lies. The GOP is a fascist, nihilistic cult that would destroy democracy and America if given sufficient opportunity. And THAT, folks, is your reality check.
What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil. They are either actively or silently complicit in fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorist violence, Reich-wing insurrection, and Reich-wing undermining of our democracy and Constitution.
It's crystal clear that Trump, Boebert, Greene, Gosar and other Republicans like them are fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorism. The GOP has become radicalized to such an extent that it has essentially become a fascist terrorist organization, with members that fantasize and promote violence against their fellow Americans. While those Republican elected officials must be condemned and sanctioned, they are only a symptom of the disease poisoning a third of America, the most visible part of the cancer infecting our nation.
The GOP has been mainstreaming radicalization of their voter base for decades, ALLOWING Reich-wing media and Reich-wing demagogues to take over the party, to the point it has become a fascist, nihilistic cult. Because just as now, Republican politicians and their plutocratic masters have always seen it as the ends justifying whatever means to win power. Remember the Republican Tea Party? This catastrophe with the GOP didn't start with Trump, who just exploited what Republicans had already built.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle for graft and to grift their voters and us taxpayers. You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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Republican cult morons rail against the very "elite" they keep voting for, who give tax cuts to the rich and have created the greatest income inequality and wealth disparity in American history.
Why? They are driven by the divisive fear and bigotry programmed into them 24/7 by the Reich-wing media and propaganda owned or funded by the plutocracy. It's absolutely Orwellian, and it began around 1984 in America. What is witnessed now is just the rotten results from the poisoned tree bearing fruition. It's the disease killing America that existed long before COVID-19, and which is likely to persist long after.
Republican cult going to believe what the Republican cult wants to believe, whatever the truth, whatever proof, whatever anybody says. "Healing" the country means deprogramming the 30-40% of Americans deep in cultdom. That needs to be recognized, acknowledged, and acted upon if we truly wish to revive the patient, America, and restore it to glory.
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GOP cult: “Democracy is great…only so long as we can subvert it with lies, cheating, a multitude of Jim Crow voter suppression laws, egregious gerrymandering, obstruction, coups, election interference, sedition, and terrorism to gain power and maintain our corrupt, plutocratic, minority fascist rule!”
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Another clueless knucklehead swallowing fallacious Reich-wing propaganda and regurgitating it. We don't owe China "trillions" of dollars. China has invested about $1.1 trillion in U.S. Treasury notes, about the same as Japan. Whether an American retiree or a Chinese bank, U.S. debt is considered a sound investment. The Chinese yuan, like most currencies, is tied to the U.S. dollar. Therefore, any move by China to try to devalue or destabilize the U.S. dollar would hurt China equally or more. Moreover, the vast majority, $28.4 trillion in U.S. debt, is owned by Americans or the U.S. government itself.
As far as foreign policy goes, what do you want the U.S. to do? Start a conventional or nuclear war with China? You can't be THAT dumb. You like to criticize, but you offer no solutions for addressing human and civil rights abuses by the Chinese government. This step taken by Biden is actually an appropriate measure, as it keeps the pressure and the spotlight on those problems with China.
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@odyoddeller ~ Wrong again, Doc! Everyone stops buying McDonalds crap, they're out of business. Don't buy McDonalds, don't buy Chinese propaganda and cheap goods, and I don't buy Reich-wing propaganda and fear-mongering, either. So, you're barking up the wrong tree.
In my conservative town, I watch the same people extolling the virtues of the free market, fear-mongering about China, and whining about the loss of good-paying American manufacturing jobs loading up at stores with cheap Chinese goods. If only more Americans were willing to put their money where their mouth is... But it's always easier to point fingers at someone else for the problems we ourselves create, isn't it?
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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@larrythao1414 You don't have a clue, Doc! Our hypocrisy doesn't help control nuclear proliferation--just the opposite. You are either incapable, or refuse to see beyond your own little narrow confines of your nationalism. Other nations do possess nuclear weapons since the U.S. dropped nuclear bombs on population centers of innocent non-combatants, killing millions. Human race still here. U.S. not the only nation facing threat--all nations face threat from nuclear capabilities. Either we work together, and all play by the same set of rules that are fair and just, or we resign ourselves to nuclear proliferation. You don't want to work together with other nations and play by the same set of rules, so you evidently want nuclear proliferation. Because that's what we've been getting with our hypocritical strategy! Why not just try honoring our own commitments under the NNPT, and quit engaging in double-standards all over the place? The only sure way to prevent nuclear Armageddon is to destroy ALL the nukes--including ours! You want to pretend that America is perfect, never makes mistakes, never goes to war unjustly, never arms and trains terrorists, never breaks international laws and standards, never elects ignorant, incompetent sociopaths like Trump! We humans just like all the other nations, though, and just as capable of evil as the next. Numerous examples of this, slavery and Trump's Kiddy Koncentration Kamps being just two of such. You looking at the little picture, not seeing the big picture--missing the forest for the trees!
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Anti-abortion movement is all about cruelty to women -- it is not about the fetus, or human life.
That must be kept in mind foremost. It is about taking away women's freedom, and taking away their basic human rights to control their own bodies. That is not the American way. It is a war on women.
Even if stripped away of the punitive nature against women laws restricting and criminalizing abortion have, I find more, and better, moral arguments to be made for pro-choice. On the other side, I do not find the moral arguments as persuasive; in fact, they are often based upon fallacies and deception. Moreover, anti-abortion proponents typically engage in such fallacies and deception, and are hypocritical to their stated aims. Their lack of ethics does not argue well for their moral standing. Anti-abortionists tend to be close-minded to being objective, while taking a very narrow view, overall.
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@ODST_Republic ~ As the FDR quote says, education is the key to choosing wisely.
May disagree with the political ideology of conservatism, but my problem with the current GOP is that it has been radicalized to such an extent that it can no longer be termed conservative or called loyal opposition. A number of staunch conservatives that have been lifelong Republicans have made similar observations, so this isn't to denigrate the opposition merely for partisan gain:
"The Republican party has embraced nihilism." ~ Bill Kristol
"The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." ~ Mark McKinnon
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
It's not just about taxes, but what value received in return. For example, if taxes are increased to pay for universal health care, but in return one receives better, comprehensive coverage for half the price paid formerly. A significant net savings with increased benefits because of greater collective bargaining power and cutting out the middle men is gained. Another example is making investments in ourselves, such as with infrastructure, both physical and social, which translates into better quality of life and a net economic gain in the long term. Failure to make such investments can prove more costly to us in the final analysis, while quality of life is degraded.
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@danke1150 ~ In the first place, I was the only here who supplied ANY context for the quote----something which you seem to be deliberately overlooking. Furthermore, the context I supplied demonstrates how the quote was made in regards to a specific issue, which is important to understanding. Mosley was a career politician; was his quote intended to denigrate himself as one who spoke but did not act, too? That seems highly doubtful.
Aside from that, taken out of context, the quote is overly simplistic. When politicians act too quickly, it can create just as many or more problems than it solves, e.g. the PATRIOT Act and the Iraq war. The quote neglects how politicians typically reflect the desires of their constituencies, how the electorate can be divided on issues and hesitant to accept needed changes.
Secondly, you're deliberately ignoring the context of the comment to the video, which is misplaced, as the video focus is on the hypocrisy of the voters who elect the politicians, not politicians, per se.
Third, you're making erroneous unwarranted presumptions about my knowledge of Oswald Mosley, while ignoring his shifting political ideologies. Mosley started out as a conservative in 1922, then became an Independent, then was with the Labour Party, before founding his fascist party in 1932. So, in the span of just ten years he went from the right, to the center, to the left, and then to the far right. He did enjoy a fair amount of popularity when with Labour, which dwindled when he left the party, and he had very little support post-WWII.
Fourth, you appear to be defending fascists and fascism. It wasn't until eight years later, at the beginning of WWII when at war with the fascists, that the UK government banned his party. Mosley's second wife that he married in 1936 was an apologist for the Nazis. Mosley was the founder and leader of the British Union of Fascists from 1932 to 1940 and of its successor, the Union Movement, from 1948 until his death in 1980. Those groups were known for distributing anti-Semitic propaganda, conducting hostile demonstrations in the Jewish sections of East London, and wearing Nazi-style uniforms and insignia. Mosley's notorious fascist Blackshirts were the British equivalent of Nazi Brownshirts. Mosley was a key pioneer in the emergence of Holocaust denial. While not denying the existence of Nazi concentration camps, he claimed that they were a necessity to hold "a considerable disaffected population", where problems were caused by lack of supplies due to "incessant bombing" by the Allies, with bodies burned in gas chambers due to typhus outbreaks, rather than being created by the Nazis to exterminate people, and sought to discredit pictures taken from places like Buchenwald and Belsen. He also claimed that the Holocaust was to be blamed on the Jews and that Hitler knew nothing about it. He criticized the Nuremberg trials as "a zoo and a peep show".
Finally, you are once again deliberately ignoring the context of my raising the point of Mosley's ugly past. Why did this comment omit proper attribution for the quote? Was it because of Mosley's ugly past as a fascist? Regardless of some of Mosley's more forward leaning pro-worker ideas, those were legitimate questions to be raised.
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--Instead of striving to bring out the best in people, Toxic Trump reveled in bringing out the very worst.
--Instead of uniting the country, Toxic Trump sought to divide us.
--Instead of abiding by and honoring our Constitution and the rule of law, Toxic Trump held them in disdain, disregarded them, and degraded them, running the most corrupt administration in U.S. history..
--Instead of strengthening democracy and our cherished institutions, Toxic Trump worked to diminish and destroy them, inciting a terrorist insurrection against his own government, attempting a coup to steal an election.
--Instead of insuring a peaceful transfer power after losing the election, Toxic Trump kept insisting against all evidence that he won, continuously repeating the Big Lie that resulted in the terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol.
--Instead of confronting a serious threat to Americans with a deadly global pandemic, Toxic Trump lied to the American people about it, ignored it, and refused to take any responsibility for his gross homicidal criminal negligence that resulted in one out of every 800 Americans dying from COVID-19--over 400,000 lives in just ten months, as many casualties as all of WWII.
--Instead of confronting the ever-increasing existential crisis from climate change and its harmful effects, Toxic Trump gutted regulations, exacerbating the problem and poisoning citizens.
--Instead of creating jobs, Toxic Trump was the first President since the Great Depression to preside over a net loss of jobs over his tenure.
--Instead of lowering the national deficit, Toxic Trump increased it from 19.2 trillion to 27 trillion.
--Instead of helping out the least among us, Toxic Trump widened the wealth and income disparity gap. 50% of his $1.9 trillion tax cut went to the top 5%; 65% went to the top 20%, with the top 40% benefiting next most, and the bottom 20% only receiving 1%.
--Instead of building bridges, humane immigration reform, and infrastructure, Toxic Trump built walls, cages, and concentration camps, separated children from mothers, allowed American infrastructure to decline and deteriorate, rejected economic opportunity.
--Instead of raising our standing and security in the world, Toxic Trump lowered and weakened it.
--Instead of draining the swamp, Toxic Trump turned it into a noxious overflowing sewer of Republican corruption.
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Let's just call January 6 what it actually was -- a Republican smash and grab, an act of violent larceny against democracy and sedition employing domestic terrorism right out in open sight.
"Without accountability, an attempted autogolpe and insurrection is just practice."
"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ― Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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Once again, another Congressional hearing, this time Kellyanne subpoena, same sickening, disgusting, rampant Republican projectionism, Whataboutism, misdirection, deflection, hypocrisy, and obfuscation all on full display by these slimy, traitorous GOP scum. These Republican cover-up bozos got no problem understanding the Hatch Act, never have! AOC shreds these bottom-feeders, exposing their nauseating little charade for public show. This is the New Orwellian Republican State of the Union; finding excuses for criminals. Pathetic cult!
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Sure, we believe in challenging the system...but not throwing your vote away, allowing true evil to win. Don't believe it fair to characterize Democrats as 'evil,' either. About 90% of Blacks who vote Democrat, many of them actively supporting Democrats of all race, creed, sexual orientation, creed, and social class, might beg to differ with that misguided assessment, as well. His vote and others like him who chose supporting a third-party candidate instead of the only viable alternative to Toxic Trump had real world consequences that were detrimental overall to the people and causes for which he claims to advocate. Just goes to show how intelligent people can make stupid choices, too. Now, after four years of a racist President, and a nation upon the precipice of fascist authoritarianism, this joker needs to be "wooed" to make the only logical, sensible choice, or he will do what? Help Trump win AGAIN by throwing his vote away again on a third-party candidate? Repeat the same mistake, hoping for a different result? Simply unbelievable.
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"We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
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Fact is, Trump has wantonly broken laws, gravely compromised our national security. Fact is, Trump in incapable of acting even in his own best interests, much less the best interests of the American people. Fact is, no reasonable jury would find Trump not guilty--and even were a jury to find him so, it couldn't change the established facts that he repeatedly and egregiously committed numerous violations of our laws. Fact is, Congressional Republicans have been continuously violating their sacred Oath of Office in becoming complicit in the cover-up of crimes by Trump and his administration, obstructing justice and Democrats from obtaining the full truth and holding them accountable. Fact is, Congressional Republicans are aiding and abetting Russia's goal of weakening and destroying America with their corruption, severely degrading our national security, by parroting Putin's propaganda, and in failing to hold this Russian-compromised asset in the Oval accountable.
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Except it was sold to the State of Florida, so it isn't a National Preserve, it's a State Preserve. Toxic Trump can't touch it, but current Florida governor not much different than the grifter in the Oval. However, sale was made to state with protections for the land in perpetuity, which should make it very difficult, if not impossible, for any Florida government executive current or future to surmount those legal barriers. You got the right idea; just off-base a bit here. Sometimes, good things do happen, despite the constant Republican ignorance, malevolence, and avarice standing in our way.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian nationalism religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast would soon come to consume them.
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How many climate change warnings before they are heeded and aggressive actions taken to tackle the problem?
Instead of embracing the reverence for nature and sustainability practiced by the America's indigenous peoples, we have entered into a death pact with capitalism, consumerism, greed, and selfishness, largely forced upon the common person by large businesses and the wealthy, who continue exploiting us for the own short-sighted, immediate benefit. We bear some responsibility for that, too. For taking part, for allowing it to happen, and for allowing it to continue as long as it has. Until enough of us average citizens wake up and become active in changing how our cultures and societies operate, the downward spiral of our environment will continue leading us into a dead-end death trap. Capitalism and consumerism can serve a purpose. However, they should be viewed and utilized as just one tool at our disposal in our toolbox, and not overly relied upon, like a hammer used for every job, which does more destruction than good.
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The Tulsa blue upholstery highly visible when so many seats starkly empty, exponentially increasing the stinging rebuke to Toxic Trump's ignorance, arrogance, avarice, malevolence, incompetence, negligence, lawlessness, and ineptness! It's an ominous omen for Trump and his criminal cohorts, but a welcome sight for the rest of us, promising better days ahead once the apprentice is fired.
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Republican cult morons rail against the very "elite" they keep voting for, who give tax cuts to the rich and have created the greatest income inequality and wealth disparity in American history.
Why? They are driven by the divisive fear and bigotry programmed into them 24/7 by the Reich-wing media and propaganda owned or funded by the plutocracy. It's absolutely Orwellian, and it began around 1984 in America. What is witnessed now is just the rotten results from the poisoned tree bearing fruition. It's the disease killing America that existed long before COVID-19, and which is likely to persist long after.
Republican cult going to believe what the Republican cult wants to believe, whatever the truth, whatever proof, whatever anybody says. "Healing" the country means deprogramming the 30-40% of Americans deep in cultdom. That needs to be recognized, acknowledged, and acted upon if we truly wish to revive the patient, America, and restore it to glory.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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*MEDIA FAIL* -- We only get one side of the story, so, naturally, the presentation is very one-sided. That's not objective reporting. Both sides should have been presented, as well as an assessment of the situation from a neutral third-party observer. Also, the volume is so low on the upload, you can't hear half of what is being said, which is difficult enough to understand already because of the foreign accents. In contrast, the YouTube commercials are blaring, annoyingly loud. Media BE better, WE be better!
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@marclewis1199 ~ You didn't do any independent research so you could find out the truth, Doc! Instead, you willingly swallowed the Reich-wing Kool-Aid and lies so you could regurgitate the poison the spoon-feed you. Because you don't care about the truth.
Pelosi was only responsible for appointing the House Sargent-At-Arms. Moscow McCoverup, as Senate Leader, was responsible for appointing the Senate Sargent-At-Arms. As Republicans in Congress well know, neither Sargent-At-Arms is directly responsible for the overall security of Congress or the Capitol Building; their primary function serves to preserve order within their respective chamber. The responsibility for overall security falls to the Capitol Police. Besides, it was the Senate chamber that was breeched by terrorist insurrectionists----not the House chamber, so this deliberate lie blaming Pelosi by Republicans is particularly galling and illogical.
It is the Capitol police chief who is responsible for the overall security of Congress and the Capitol building, along with the Architect of the Capitol, an agency run by the President. One of the primary departments involved with security at the Architect of the Capitol:
Office of the Chief Security Officer is responsible for the maintenance, care and operation of the buildings, grounds and security enhancements of the U.S. Capitol Police and more.
The Capitol Police Board consists of the Sergeant at Arms of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper of the U.S. Senate, and the Architect of the Capitol appointed by the President. The Chief of the United States Capitol Police serves in an ex-officio non-voting capacity. The Chairmanship alternates annually between the House and Senate Sergeants at Arms. The Capitol Police Board does the hiring and firing of the Capitol Police Chief and other executive positions serving under the Chief.
Three out of those four on the Capitol Police Board were Republican sanctioned officials. Only one was Democrat sanctioned. So, if anyone is to be blamed for security lapses on January 6, it is Republicans. Moreover, it was the Trump Republican administration which held up the National Guard from being deployed for hours after requested by Congressional leadership and the Capitol police. And, most critically, it was Trump and Republicans who incited the terrorist insurrection against the Capitol.
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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@Naomi Ogle--You are engaging in a propaganda technique first widely used by Lenin and his Soviet minions in the 1920's called "Whataboutism." This disingenuous technique is used multiple times nearly every day on Fox News. It is used to switch the subject, or the focus of the subject, and is a misguided attempt to equate moral relevance. This conversation isn't about judging anything Hillary did, it is about judging what Trump did. Regardless of anything Hillary did or didn't do, Trump's actions can and should be judged on their own merits. Trump's wrongdoing cannot be eliminated or diminished by someone else's wrongdoing, making this a fallacious argument. Why did you do that? This response also mischaracterizes and omits relevant parts of the story, and appears to contain several misconceptions. In sum, it really confuses the issue. One is forced to ask, is it deliberate, motivated out of partisanship, or is this person that uninformed of the facts? Moreover, thanks in large part to Trump, now one must also ask is this person real (e.g., a clueless Trump supporter), or are they merely a Russian apparatchik attacking our country through our electoral system and by trying to divide us through online forums like this one? The FBI investigation began long before Christopher Steele, a reputable, respected investigator formerly with British intelligence, was alarmed enough by what he was hearing from his sources (only some of whom were Russian informers, although it is always possible when dealing with Russia that some of those could have been active agents, co-opted accomplices, or unwitting dupes used to spread disinformation by the GRU) about Russian interference in the American election that he felt compelled as a security professional of a country very closely allied to the U.S. to report what he was hearing to the U.S. intelligence community as a courtesy. Steele actually emerges as somewhat of a hero in these events, as unlike Trump, a U.S. citizen who knew about Russian interference and understood that he would benefit from their illegal assistance, kept his knowledge of that secret from the authorities, whereas Steele was a British national who did the right thing. A few things to keep in mind: the tip from Steele corroborated what our intelligence services were already discovering and hearing from other sources. The core allegations contained in the Steele report have proven to be accurate. The Steele report consisted of what the intelligence community calls "raw" intelligence. What this means is that the information contained within may be of questionable veracity and require additional verification. Such reports are not taken or intended to be taken as necessarily definitive or conclusive. They are often simply a gathering of raw information which may contain some analysis of that data. This is typical and routine for intelligence agencies; there is nothing nefarious about this aspect whatsoever.Steele was contracted by a U.S. company, Fusion GPS, which first provided opposition research to Republicans in their primary, before being hired by the Clinton campaign. There is nothing illegal or untoward or unusual about candidates for major government offices conducting opposition research to learn their opponents strengths and weaknesses. The practice of using these firms has become more the norm, and is used extensively by both political parties. Nor is it unusual or unethical for such firms to contract work to qualified individuals that are not citizens in the absence of any conflicting interest. The claims made don't make much sense and sound exactly like the nutty, extremist right-wing conspiracy theories found on Infowars. How could Hillary challenge an election before its outcome? Fusion GPS was contracted by the Clinton campaign long before the election was decided. Exactly what lie did Hillary supposedly tell for over a year about the report Steele compiled for Fusion GPS? That is simply just nonsense, as far as can be ascertained. Unlike Trump, she did nothing illegal or unethical regarding Fusion GPS, thus there is no reason for any lies in this regard. Rather than this transparently partisan attempt at baselessly slinging mud in the vain hope that some might stick to unjustly slander and sully another, why not open your eyes to the slime encasing our President? And a little more introspection might not hurt, either. The crisis Trump has created that we face transcends partisanship, and for true patriots who care more about their country than their political affiliation, it is a time for speaking out for the rule of law and the President to be held accountable for his egregious behavior.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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@faithlesshound5621 ~ You're not conceding the points you where you were shown wrong or how your reply to me was beside the point of my reply to the comment. You're still not addressing it. Instead, you're going off on a tangent, wanting to use this thread to deflect and as a soapbox against intellectual property rights using disingenuous and flawed arguments.
It's not just what I personally call intellectual property rights, it's a widely understood and accepted term and practice. There are examples of it tracing back to 600 BCE.
Your flawed argument here ignores the time, effort, and money (sometimes millions or even billions of dollars invested) to create something----whether it be the years someone spent writing a piece of literature that people will enjoy for generations, or all the money a company spent to design the next great gadget or technology. It ignores how innovation and progress is impeded without any incentive to spend that time, effort, and money.
In fact, China has for decades now had its own laws respecting intellectual property rights, and seeks to protect its own developments from others infringing upon those rights. The expectation is for China not to have a double standard, and to live up to its own laws and international agreements.
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@faithlesshound5621 ~ So, to sum up your response: more shilling for the Chinese, more proselytizing for your narrow-minded view of intellectual property rights, more disingenuous arguments, and no actual coherent or cogent rebuttal to any of my replies.
Tea didn't just originate in China, it is also native to Myanmar. You're deliberately disingenuously conflating and confusing a biological plant and a biological insect with intellectual property. Even were that not so, you're dishonestly engaging in Whataboutism, a logical fallacy. As if somehow, things that happened hundreds and thousands of years ago has actual relevance to this discussion. You want to bring back slavery, because people did it hundreds and thousands of years ago? Oh, wait, that's essentially what China is doing today with the Uighurs in their forced labor camps, and in their prisons.
Your attempt to portray China as some kind of victim ignores cultural exchanges China had with India and Western nations that were to its own benefit throughout ancient times, its own appropriation of others plants and ideas. You want to talk about the distant past, but you don't want to talk about how the Communist Chinese government tightly controls the media and inhibits the freedoms of its own citizens in modern times. That is the very antithesis of letting "a hundred flowers flourish."
Thing is, I may be opposed to modern-day Chinese government, but am sympathetic to the Chinese people, and generally an admirer of much, though not all, of their history. Like the histories of most any people, the more you know, the more you realize it is a mixed bag, neither all good, nor all bad. I am also an advocate of reasonable limits on intellectual property rights. However, you would do well to realize that your dishonest propaganda efforts on behalf of China here only work against that which you might hope to achieve.
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@faithlesshound5621 ~ All you got is dishonesty and Whataboutism, Doc! Now, you're trying to justify, rationalize, and normalize slavery! You still fail to provide any cogent and coherent rebuttal to my replies, continue to shill for the Chinese government, and continue to engage in sophistry. You're not an interlocutor, you're just a propaganda troll that has been exposed as such, which no amount of your sophistry can hide. Now that you have been revealed, debunked, and discredited, any further "discussion" with such as you becomes pointless.
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@wsmcke ~ Right about that! Propaganda trolls can't win the debate on merit, so resort to dishonesty. Like claiming that plants are intellectual property. Sure, if someone breeds a new kind of plant, a hybrid, or a genetically modified strain, but that isn't the same as patenting a dandelion or tea plant that already existed in nature. It was yet another example of their deliberately being disingenuous, misleading, disseminating misinformation, and intellectual dishonesty.
After demonstrating numerous other fallacies the person was engaging in here, didn't even bother with pointing that out, because it was all too clear by then that this person wasn't operating in good faith, and had repeatedly proven themselves unwilling to do so. It amuses me to expose these frauds, allowing them to sink their own boat, but they quickly become a bore, and further interaction with them just a pointless waste of time.
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We already have term limits for elected officials...they're called voters. Term limits would be undemocratic for elected officials, and I support more democratic government, not less. Proponents of term limits on elected officials ignore how the problem is not the Constitution, but some voters, how it fails to distinguish between good and bad politicians, punishing both equally without regard, how it fails to properly value experience and institutional knowledge, and how it could actually encourage more corruption.
I think the Senate has too much power and is too undemocratic, and that needs to be looked at and reformed. I support abolishing the Electoral College, which is an archaic and undemocratic relic. I support making Election Day a federal holiday, a new voting rights act, universal mail-in voting, non-partisan primaries, ranked or cardinal choice voting, and campaign finance reform, including overturning the horrendous and corrupt Republican SCOTUS partisan Citizens United decision. I support Democrats expanding the Supreme Court to 15 justices, to bring equilibrium and more bipartisan decisions back to SCOTUS. While not necessarily against all lifetime appointments, think appointed SCOTUS justices should be limited to a single 12-year term, helping to limit and prevent potential damage being done by the highest, most powerful court in the land. In contrast to other elected officials, that is the identical reason why I support a limit of two terms for the most power position in our government, the Presidency.
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Trump and Republicans are like Jack and his band of boys in 'Lord of the Flies' who went native and turned barbaric. Ralph, Simon, Piggy and the other group of boys represent the rest of us who value civilization and order. Just as Jack and his band turned savage, killing and cannibalizing their fellow students on the deserted island they landed upon, Trump and Republicans, manically obsessed with power, money and vanity, have also turned savage, rejecting responsibility, reason, civility, morality, and science, killing their fellow Americans and cannibalizing our government. Except there will be no adults arriving to save those of us trying to do the right thing, like in the classic tale. We are the adults, and it is strictly up to us to save ourselves and this country from the fascistic, nihilistic impulses of Trump and Republicans.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
― Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a serious threat to our very security.
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again." ― Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney
More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They have essentially become a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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@accountclosed8569 ***NEW CDC UPDATE***
TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome)
Fortunately, the disease and contagion has confined itself solely to the two Trump supporter sects, Trumputin and Trumpturd. All others possess natural immunity. Expecting some casualties from this disease among the cult following Trump demise, but the general population is safe, the nation should survive, albeit with a stain upon it.
Any remaining Trumpezoids should be rendered mostly harmless, although the possibility exists of continued recurring cross-contamination. Treatment is simple and relatively painless. Trumpezoids must be kept from spoon-fed Russian government/Republican propaganda for an extended period, until returning back to normal.
Yes, Doc, it seems the ugly stain will remain upon the nation. But the cure was always there. Republicans are choking to death from their own propaganda, having copiously binge gorged until they became sick, and a sickness upon society. No Grecian legend foretold this tale (well, OK, maybe the lust for power, narcissism, abandonment of reason, obsession with wealth, vanity, and doomed ending parts), but a lesson shouldn't have been required. Only common sense.
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"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-‘n-‘Thief, Toxic Trump, so much—although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages—as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, homophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, divisive, anti-democratic raving lunatic and his corruption, a man compromised by foreign nations, including our principle adversary, through his tremendous debt. Between that, his catastrophic, irresponsible handling of COVID-19, and his incitement of anti-democratic violent Reich-wing groups, Trump has made himself America's #1 most serious national security threat. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself, mental illness, and his upbringing, who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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STRONGLY support House taking extreme measures, including holding up portions of the budget and other legislation until Executive and Judiciary make available witnesses and documents about not only what happened with Ukraine, but other legitimate House oversight blocked and delayed in courts by the Executive and Judiciary Branches. With Executive, Senate, and DOJ refusing to abide by the Constitution--harming and degrading it, the rule of law, justice, democracy, the delicate sharing of power vital to our system of checks and balances, and our national security--it falls upon the House as the refuge of last resort to once again act to defend America, our Constitution, and the sacred rights of the American people.
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It's like rowing or paddling upstream, or into a stiff wind--if you ease-up too much or stop, you will only have to paddle twice as hard to make up all the previous hard-earned progress that was quickly lost. Failing to maintain isolation and other measures for sufficient time to stop the spread of COVID-19 transmission will cost U.S. more in time, effort, money, and LIVES. Reopening and relaxing measures too early in defiance of the science and data is the ultimate in colossal ignorance, greed, ruthlessness, and arrogance.
We have a segment of Republican cult willfully ignorant, who malevolently seek to sabotage containment efforts. But many do not grasp how important it is that we treat ourselves and everyone else as being infected.
This is because people know that is very unlikely, especially outside dense urban areas, where incidence rates are low. Because of the delay in onset of the disease and asymptomatic carriers, COVID-19 is a stealth killer that uses Americans against each other as its foot soldiers, transporting it, keeping the disease and its train of transmission alive. This is further complicated because people cannot see a virus, see it attacking, see it spreading, until it is too late. For many of us, seeing is believing, and people are incapable or reluctant to make that leap of logic required to keep them and everyone safe--even with the massive public education efforts.
Of course, the problem becomes greatly exacerbated when the President refuses to wear a mask, and his administration works against itself in fighting this deadly global pandemic, sending conflicting messages to the public. Toxic Trump, his administration, and all the Republicans who have aided and abetted him, are directly responsible in our view for the senseless deaths of tens and thousands of Americans. The dead are the worst of it, but there is also the tremendous needless suffering and economic loss accompanying their wanton criminal negligence.
No national testing, no rational national coordinated pandemic response. Republican governors reopening too quickly in defiance of CDC guidelines are only following the President's lead. Democratic governors in many states likewise being adversely pressured by Toxic Trump's pandemic disinformation and Republican opposition to requisite lockdowns. Problem starts at the top. Don't fault even the worst Republican governors as much as this President. The President needed to take the lead, take the hit for the hard decisions--not put all the weight on governors as he as.
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Let's face it; this American fall towards fascism didn't just happen overnight. Since before the '70s Republicans have engaged in dog whistles and pursued a racist agenda, hidden behind various facades. Reagan helped Goldwater using dog-whistles; Nixon was infamous for his use of them. Roger Ailes micromanaged Nixon's appearances, and stoked racial fears and resentments. Reagan employed them getting elected governor of California. Lee Atwater, who greatly admired Nixon's 'Southern strategy,' worked on Reagan's Presidential campaign, teaming up with Ailes. A year after Reagan's victory, Atwater gave what was then an anonymous interview, and perhaps lulled by the anonymity, he offered an unusually candid response to a question about Reagan, the Southern strategy, and the drive to attract the Wallace voters:
"You start out in 1954 by saying, "N------, N------, N-------." By 1968 you can't say "N-------," that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states' rights and all that stuff. You're getting so abstract now, you're talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you're talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is, blacks get hurt worse than whites. And subconsciously maybe that is part of it. I'm not saying that. But I'm saying that if it is getting that abstract, and that coded, that we are doing away with the racial problem one way or the other. You follow me; because obviously sitting around saying, "We want to cut taxes and we want to cut this," is much more abstract than even the busing thing, and a hell of a lot more abstract than "N------, N------." So anyway you look at it, race is coming on the back burner."
Humiliated and stunned by Nixon's forced resignation, Republicans anointed Reagan their hero, and have long insisted on regarding him as such, despite his repeated use of racial dog-whistles and his mediocre record. In 1980, Reagan characterized food stamp recipients as, "That strapping young buck in front of you at the checkout buying T-bone steak, while you wait in line to buy hamburger," and kicked off his campaign outside Philadelphia, Mississippi--notorious for the KKK lynching of four volunteer civil rights workers just 16 years earlier--by delivering the promise that, "I believe in state's rights!" Reagan returned in 1984 to another cheering crowd, this time endorsing the neo-Confederate slogan, "The South shall rise again!"
Lee Atwater went on to work with Roger Ailes on George H.W. Bush's Presidential campaign, which shamelessly stoked racial fear through the infamous Willie Horton political ad and other means. Roger Ailes would go on to head Fox News for Rupert Murdoch, until numerous allegations of sexual harassment and improprieties, along with related lawsuits against Fox, forced his removal. Ailes was a polarizing influence, who has been called the most destructive force in American politics in 50 years.
Conservative plutocrats and the GOP created the beast over decades with round-the-clock propaganda, but were swallowed whole by their own mutated creations of daily outrage, white grievance politics, and phony populism; first by the Tea Party, then by Trump. Unable to go back, and clearly having no way forward, they remain planted in their own muck and mire, trapped by the cult of their own making. The pundits and conservatives rejecting Trump are trying to salvage their party, but any person of principle and sense ought to know enough to defect the rotten machine.
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It's like rowing or paddling upstream, or into a stiff wind--if you ease-up too much or stop, you will only have to paddle twice as hard to make up all the previous hard-earned progress that was quickly lost. Failing to maintain isolation and other measures for sufficient time to stop the spread of COVID-19 transmission will cost U.S. more in time, effort, money, and LIVES. Reopening and relaxing measures too early in defiance of the science and data is the ultimate in colossal ignorance, greed, ruthlessness, and arrogance.
We have a segment of Republican cult willfully ignorant, who malevolently seek to sabotage containment efforts. But many do not grasp how important it is that we treat ourselves and everyone else as being infected.
This is because people know that is very unlikely, especially outside dense urban areas, where incidence rates are low. Because of the delay in onset of the disease and asymptomatic carriers, COVID-19 is a stealth killer that uses Americans against each other as its foot soldiers, transporting it, keeping the disease and its train of transmission alive. This is further complicated because people cannot see a virus, see it attacking, see it spreading, until it is too late. For many of us, seeing is believing, and people are incapable or reluctant to make that leap of logic required to keep them and everyone safe--even with the massive public education efforts.
Of course, the problem becomes greatly exacerbated when the President refuses to wear a mask, and his administration works against itself in fighting this deadly global pandemic, sending conflicting messages to the public. Toxic Trump, his administration, and all the Republicans who have aided and abetted him, are directly responsible in our view for the senseless deaths of tens and thousands of Americans. The dead are the worst of it, but there is also the tremendous needless suffering and economic loss accompanying their wanton criminal negligence.
No national testing, no rational national coordinated pandemic response. Republican governors reopening too quickly in defiance of CDC guidelines are only following the President's lead. Democratic governors in many states likewise being adversely pressured by Toxic Trump's pandemic disinformation and Republican opposition to requisite lockdowns. Problem starts at the top. Don't fault even the worst Republican governors as much as this President. The President needed to take the lead, take the hit for the hard decisions--not put all the weight on governors as he as.
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil. They are either actively or silently complicit in fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorist violence, Reich-wing insurrection, and Reich-wing undermining of our democracy and Constitution.
It's crystal clear that Trump, Boebert, Greene, Gosar and other Republicans like them are fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorism. The GOP has become radicalized to such an extent that it has essentially become a fascist terrorist organization, with members that fantasize and promote violence against their fellow Americans. While those Republican elected officials must be condemned and sanctioned, they are only a symptom of the disease poisoning a third of America, the most visible part of the cancer infecting our nation.
The GOP has been mainstreaming radicalization of their voter base for decades, ALLOWING Reich-wing media and Reich-wing demagogues to take over the party, to the point it has become a fascist, nihilistic cult. Because just as now, Republican politicians and their plutocratic masters have always seen it as the ends justifying whatever means to win power. Remember the Republican Tea Party? This catastrophe with the GOP didn't start with Trump, who just exploited what Republicans had already built.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle for graft and to grift their voters and us taxpayers. You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
'Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America' by Kathleen Belew (Harvard University Press, 2018)
The movement “brought together members of the Klan, militias, radical tax resisters, white separatists, neo-Nazis, and proponents of white theologies such as Christian Identity, Odinism, and Dualism” (ix). What was it about the movement that brought these ideologies together?
The promise of violence — rather, the promise that members would get to inflict violence on other people. Belew writes that as the white power movement matured, it became more violent, and “[as] violence came to the fore of the movement, distinctions among white power factions melted away” (60). Belew calls this process “violent community formation” (34). Yet as a social movement, Belew makes a distinction between the white power movement’s “revolutionary violence” and the Ku Klux Klan’s “vigilante violence.”
Vigilante violence “served to constitute, shore up, and enforce systemic power” (106). Given that the U.S. government has a long history of “defending vigilante violence by refusing to enforce the law” (99), law enforcement inaction and vigilante violence may be understood together as a case of one hand washing the other. Revolutionary violence, however, sought to overthrow the state. It is the white power movement’s goal of overthrowing the federal government that sets it apart in the history of white supremacy in the U.S.
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***NEW CDC UPDATE***
TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome)
Fortunately, the disease and contagion has confined itself solely to the two Trump supporter sects, Trumputin and Trumpturd. All others possess natural immunity. Expecting some casualties from this disease among the cult following Trump demise, but the general population is safe, the nation should survive, albeit with a stain upon it.
Any remaining Trumpezoids should be rendered mostly harmless, although the possibility exists of continued recurring cross-contamination. Treatment is simple and relatively painless. Trumpezoids must be kept from spoon-fed Russian government/Republican propaganda for an extended period, until returning back to normal.
Yes, Doc, it seems the ugly stain will remain upon the nation. But the cure was always there. Republicans are choking to death from their own propaganda, having copiously binge gorged until they became sick, and a sickness upon society. No Grecian legend foretold this tale (well, OK, maybe the lust for power, narcisism, abandonment of reason, obsession with wealth, vanity, and doomed ending parts), but a lesson shouldn't have been required. Only common sense.
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@bryanatwku ~ Most people understand that not all people in a political party think exactly alike. Putting Trump behind the Republican party means accepting accountability for him and rejecting him, though. Yet, 85% of Republicans are still supporting him--despite his being the absolute worst President in U.S. history. And the Republican party leadership--outside of a few outliers--shows no real interest in holding him or themselves accountable, or in condemning him, because they care more about power and their own personal interests than the best interests of the country--or even the best interests of their own party. Value and respect loyal opposition, but the GOP has abdicated that duty and responsibility.
Truth is, Trump was not some aberration, but the inevitable product of four decades of Republican propaganda by right-wing media, demagogues, and politicians, funded by plutocrats. He was the rotten fruit of the bad seed Republicans planted and have cultivated for many years. The Republican cult they created existed before Trump, and was exploited by Trump, a grifter, to the point it has metastasized into a malignant cancer upon our society. Wish I saw a way to save the Republican party, but I honestly don't think it can be saved unless the Republican minority retaining their common sense and decency leave and form another party--after which the GOP either becomes marginalized enough to eventually become reborn in a form capable of once again being the loyal opposition, or dies altogether. Which wouldn't necessarily mean that conservatism dies.
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@theodorehaskins3756 ~ Most welcome, of course. Posted the analysis to make clear that the disease rotting the GOP existed well before Trump, and continues beyond Trump, who is but a symptom and the latest malignant manifestation of that disease.
GOP cult: “Democracy is great…only so long as we can subvert it with lies, cheating, a multitude of Jim Crow voter suppression laws, egregious gerrymandering, obstruction, coups, election interference, election fraud, sedition, insurrection and terrorism to gain power and maintain our corrupt, plutocratic, minority fascist rule!”
Republicans are willing to gain and hold power at any cost...even if the price is our democracy!
Farmer wakes up one morning, goes outside to milk his cows, and discovers his entire herd is missing! So, he then walks over nest door to where the Republican cult lives, notices them grinding a whole bunch of beef into hamburger, and asks them, "Did you see what happened to all my cows?"
Republican cult: "Yeah, they jumped over the moon."
Farmer: "Do you have any actual evidence of that?"
Republican cult: "No, because they landed on the dark side, and you can't see them over there. But we're conducting a bunch of investigations and fraudits, and we're confident evidence will soon emerge to prove it!"
Farmer: "You know, that sounds like a load of manure!"
Republican cult: "Well, that's what we all choose to believe!"
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@korReeS2 ~ Couldn't really have explained it any clearer or better. The question asked by the reporter is not in dispute. But it seems it was misinterpreted to mean the reporter didn't know what the phrase meant, which is an unreasonable assumption to make. No, the reporter didn't spell out he was looking for background, because he didn't have to; that was implied in the question. The reporter is merely providing an opening for the mother to tell her story.
These types of questions are asked by reporters all the time, they really are not that unusual. In fact, it's typical for reporters to ask a question where the answer is already known. It is done to get people on the record, to provide a first-hand account, and to allow an opportunity for people to expound upon the answer.
Either some people are misunderstanding the question by taking it too literally, or they are looking for fault where none exists because they have an agenda to discredit CNN. I assume the best in people until proven otherwise, therefore my presumption for this comment and your reply is that it's just a simple misunderstanding.
So, I ask you to have an open mind and consider the following. The phrase used is self-explanatory; do you really think that a reporter who has been around and has a good education didn't understand the phrase? How could he not? Is it not far more likely that the innocuous reason I explained is the reason? Having watched this reporter for some time, I know that he is a good reporter with a sharp mind; he didn't fall off the hay wagon yesterday.
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@dennismoon6693 ~ Exactly. It's just another fallacious Reich-wing talking point, using cherry-picked dates, selective data, fuzzy math, and false interpretation to misrepresent the truth. But even just by the raw numbers, the death rate has been lower under Biden. Covid-19 deaths didn't begin until March 2020. There were 411,000 Covid-19 deaths by the time Trump left the White House in disgrace January 20, 2021. That's over 41,000 deaths per month for Trump. By January 20, 2022, there will be approximately an additional 440,000 deaths under Biden, a period which covers 12 months. That works out to less than 37,000 deaths per month under Biden.
The same Reich-wing morons disseminating Covid-19 disinformation, refusing to get vaccinated, refusing to wear masks, refusing to follow CDC guidelines, opposing closings and shutdowns when deemed necessary are now trying to blame Biden for the results of their unwillingness to be personally and socially responsible.
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We have a big, BIG problem, and it's REAL serious. We have a crisis of leadership in a time of great crisis and threat. The Trump administration has misled and lied to the American people so much and so often about so many things, big and small--already. Currently, their ongoing deceptions and lies about this national and global emergency health crisis has already cost America very dearly in both kin and coin. Things only worsen under present leadership; ignoring, or failing to address that is no different than ignoring pandemics. Trump administration's gross incompetence and rampant corruption are fomenting panic, instability, and a breakdown of society, when calm unity, a clear sense of direction, and a steady hand on the rudder guiding the nation forward are RIGHT NOW absolutely, vitally essential. Trump is incapable of acting even in his own best interests, much less ours.
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David Straight is just one of many grifters working this scam. Anna von Rietz is another one. They're all very similar, albeit each have slightly different twists. The different groups mostly interact with those in their respective group, but also communicate with and relate to each other. They use legal harassment and legal chicanery to clog up judicial and governmental systems, a tactic designed to make them unpalatable to legal and civic enforcement of the law. Besides being detrimental and destructive to our society, people within the sovereign citizen movement can be violent and dangerous. Terry Nichols and Timothy McVeigh of the Oklahoma City Federal Building bombing were closely associated with and motivated by this movement.
The reason I know all of this is because my brother got involved in the sovereign citizen movement over five years ago. It's actually a movement that has been around for 50 years, although I had never heard of it before then. I asked him some questions about it, had him show me the mission statement of the group to which he was engaged with, and told him right away that it was obviously a scam, pointing out a number of problems and flaws with what they were preaching. He wasn't convinced, so I took time to do the research on the movement, and presented him with key facts about it that I though should surely be enough to dissuade him and disassociate himself from the movement. Unfortunately, regardless of any facts or reason presented, he refused to be convinced, and is still a "true believer" to this day, no matter what additional arguments and evidence provided since. To demonstrate how insidious this movement is, I should note that my brother is a very generous, reserved, and nice person, one who is not racist or right-wing, someone who is never violent, of fair intelligence, and has always had his head on straight.
The concept of a sovereign citizen originated in 1971 in the Posse Comitatus movement as a teaching of Christian Identity minister William P. Gale. The concept has influenced the tax protester movement, the Christian Patriot movement, and the redemption movement—the last of which claims that the U.S. government uses its citizens as collateral against foreign debt.
~ Wikipedia
The "sovereign citizen" movement is a loosely organized collection of groups and individuals who have adopted a right-wing anarchist ideology originating in the theories of a group called the Posse Comitatus in the 1970s. Its adherents believe that virtually all existing government in the United States is illegitimate and they seek to "restore" an idealized, minimalist government that never actually existed. To this end, sovereign citizens wage war against the government and other forms of authority using "paper terrorism" harassment and intimidation tactics, and occasionally resorting to violence. The key distinguishing characteristic of the sovereign citizen movement is its extreme anti-government ideology, couched in conspiratorial, pseudohistorical, pseudolegal and sometimes racist language.
Beginning in the late 1960s, a number of right-wing fringe groups formed that questioned the authority and nature of the federal government. Most grew out of a recently emergent right-wing tax-protest movement: arguments about the illegitimacy of income tax laws were easily expanded or altered to challenge the legitimacy of the government itself. The most important of these groups was the Posse Comitatus, which originated in Oregon and California around 1970.
Members of the Posse Comitatus believed that the county was the true seat of government in the United States. They did not deny the legal existence of federal or state governments, but rather claimed that the county level was the "highest authority of government in our Republic as it is closest to the people." The basic Posse manual stated that there had been "subtle subversion" of the Constitution by various arms and levels of government, especially the judiciary. There was, in fact, a "criminal conspiracy to obstruct justice, disfranchise citizens and liquidate the Constitutional Republic of these United States."
The ideology of the sovereign citizen movement had matured and crystallized by the 1980s as an unusual form of right-wing anarchism that focuses, on the one hand on the importance of local control and, on the other hand, on the avoidance of virtually all forms of authority and obligation.
Sovereign citizen ideology justifies these goals by claiming that at one time there was an American utopia governed by English "common law," a utopia in which every citizen was a "sovereign," and there were no oppressive laws, taxes, regulations or court orders. However, a conspiracy gradually subverted this system, replacing it with an illegitimate successor. Different sovereign citizen theorists have varying versions of this progression, but most include the following elements: the alleged suppression of a "missing" 13th Amendment that would have disallowed citizenship for attorneys; the Reconstruction amendments; the 16th Amendment (allowing an income tax); the 17th Amendment (allowing popular election of senators); the Federal Reserve Act and the 1933 removal of United States currency from the gold standard. By that time, many sovereign citizen theorists agree, the United States government was completely illegitimate, using emergency war powers and other unlawful measures to rule unconstitutionally.
Among the various subjects of energetic sovereign citizen revisionism, perhaps none is more important than the 14th Amendment. Ratified in 1868, the Amendment had several aims, including the guaranteeing of United States citizenship for the ex-slaves. But to sovereign citizens it did much more; they claim that before its ratification, virtually no one was a "citizen of the United States."
~ ADL (Anti-Defamation League)
Domestic Terrorism
The Sovereign Citizen Movement
Sovereign citizens are anti-government extremists who believe that even though they physically reside in this country, they are separate or “sovereign” from the United States. As a result, they believe they don’t have to answer to any government authority, including courts, taxing entities, motor vehicle departments, or law enforcement.
This causes all kinds of problems—and crimes. For example, many sovereign citizens don’t pay their taxes. They hold illegal courts that issue warrants for judges and police officers. They clog up the court system with frivolous lawsuits and liens against public officials to harass them. And they use fake money orders, personal checks, and the like at government agencies, banks, and businesses.
That’s just the beginning. Not every action taken in the name of the sovereign citizen ideology is a crime, but the list of illegal actions committed by these groups, cells, and individuals is extensive (and puts them squarely on our radar). In addition to the above, sovereign citizens:
Commit murder and physical assault;
Threaten judges, law enforcement professionals, and government personnel;
Impersonate police officers and diplomats;
Use fake currency, passports, license plates, and driver’s licenses; and
Engineer various white-collar scams, including mortgage fraud and so-called “redemption” schemes.
~ FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation)
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Insane stuff from an insane man, that describes Traitor Trump to a "T." What it constitutes is an attempted coup and an insurrection. So, why hasn't Trump and his accomplices been arrested for those and all his other crimes, yet? Why is Merrick Garland and his DOJ failing to do their duty? If Trump is not prosecuted, it sets a terrible precedent enabling the next wannabe authoritarian President. This is no time for playing nice.
Expect these documents from the National Security Archives to produce even more incriminating evidence of Traitor Trump's autogolpe. Also expect the House Select Committee to pass them on to the DOJ, along with a referral for criminal charges against Trump and his accomplices. Merrick Garland MUST prosecute Trump for his many crimes, or our justice system and democracy will be destroyed.
Delay, delay, delay is Traitor Trump's legal MO to keep the truth from the American people and to escape justice. Trump's claim of "Executive Privilege" is a farce and what amounts to a frivolous lawsuit and an abuse of the court system. SCOTUS should decline to hear the case, but this conservative SCOTUS is the most partisan, biased and corrupt in modern history, so they can't be trusted to do the right thing.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 – than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian nationalism religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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America's enemies don't need to spread disinformation, doubt, discord, and division to weaken America, kill Americans----because Republican politicians, Reich-wing demagogues, Faux News, OAN, Newsmax, Breitbart and the rest of the Reich-wing media do that so effectively for them, already. More Americans need to realize that the GOP has abdicated it's duty as loyal opposition, and that its prioritization of party over country and welcoming embrace of violent radical Reich-wing extremists diminishes both our government and our national security, endangering ALL Americans, as well as weakening and endangering America itself.
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Hypocritical Republican cult whines about cancel culture...
--while making death threats against those disagreeing with them
--while conducting a terrorist attack against the nation's Capitol in insurrection, beating and killing police, intent on killing lawmakers and the Republican VP, attempting a coup to overthrow the results of a free and fair election...just because their candidate lost.
--while trying to cancel out the votes of millions of Democrats and minorities by objecting solely to their votes, enacting numerous voter suppression measures, and engaging in egregious gerrymandering.
--while labeling MSM "the enemy of the people."
--while censoring and moving to remove fellow Republicans of integrity who speak up for truth and decency, and against GOP lies, terrorism, and crackpot conspiracy theories.
--while Reich-wing media turns off comments yet rants against "censorship."
--while Faux News fires its news editor for truthfully reporting that Arizona had been called for Biden.
--while trying to run a Biden campaign bus off the road.
--while Rep. Marjorie Greene prevents press from covering town hall meetings where nobody wore a mask.
--after seriously injuring over 140 police officers and killing one in the Republican cult's seditious terrorist attack of insurrection against the nation's Capitol, Republican cult terrorists threaten to call the cops on reporters trying to get their side of the story.
--after canceling out millions of American's jobs under George W. Bush's recession and the largest loss of jobs since the great Depression under Toxic Trump due to his gross incompetence, lies, and willful criminal negligence in responding to a global pandemic.
--while canceling out the lives of hundreds of thousands of their fellow Americans by spreading lies about COVID-19, politicizing a deadly pandemic, and refusing to follow common sense health guidelines.
--while threatening to cancel baseball's anti-trust exemption for exercising their right to free speech
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@annettewolf9322 ~ Thanks for answering! Some states reported as high as 88% this year for turnout, but believe that figure only reflects registered voters. Surprising, how your 219 million quoted and 66% participation was very close to the figures we calculated independently recently:
About a quarter of the population is under voting age. Perhaps as much as half of the 10% of the U.S. population consisting of those over age 75 may not be expected to vote, due to dementia or other health issues. There are also those between the ages of 18 and 75 incarcerated, unable to vote in their state because of felonies, with mental health issues, or health conditions like Down's syndrome and the like that prevent them from voting.
Thus, a conservative estimate of those capable of voting might reach only 65% of the population. Based on a U.S. population of 331 million, 65% calculates to about 215 million citizens who should be expected to perform their basic civic privilege and duty. With roughly 161 million voting in this election, that leaves a balance of just 54 million expected voters not voting. Which is just slightly more than 16% of the population. If calculating using those 215 million able to vote, the proportion is roughly 70% participation.
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@fredarroyo7429 ~ So, Jesus, a Jew, was for neo-Nazis, white supremacists, authoritarian fascists, and other assorted bigots and haters?
BTW, you're obviously no Christian, because Jesus didn't care about politics; saw us all as one flock. "Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's, render unto God that which is God's." You're much more like the Muslim Ayatollahs, Doc; you want a theocracy, not a democracy.
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
― Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a serious threat to our very security.
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again." ― Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney
More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They have essentially become a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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@ww2remembered983 ~ “If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
~ How Fascism Works, The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(Reference also Father Charles E. Coughlin and Henry Ford in regards to the original America First movement.)
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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@jvs333 - You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It's that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don't care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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America's enemies don't need to spread disinformation, doubt, discord, and division to weaken America, kill Americans--Republican politicians, Reich-wing demagogues, Faux News, OAN, Newsmax, Breitbart and the rest of the Reich-wing media do that so effectively for them, already. More Americans need to realize that the GOP has abdicated it's duty as loyal opposition, and that its prioritization of party over country diminishes both our government and our national security, endangering ALL Americans, as well as weakening and endangering America itself.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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Republicans can't handle reality, would rather traffic and believe in lies. The GOP has become a fascist, nihilistic cult that would destroy democracy and America if given sufficient opportunity. And THAT, folks, is your reality check.
What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil. They are either actively or silently complicit in fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorist violence, Reich-wing insurrection, and Reich-wing undermining of our democracy and Constitution.
It's crystal clear that Trump, Boebert, Greene, Gosar and other Republicans like them are fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorism. The GOP has become radicalized to such an extent that it has essentially become a fascist terrorist organization, with members that fantasize and promote violence against their fellow Americans. While those Republican elected officials must be condemned and sanctioned, they are only a symptom of the disease poisoning a third of America, the most visible part of the cancer infecting our nation.
The GOP has been mainstreaming radicalization of their voter base for decades, ALLOWING Reich-wing media and Reich-wing demagogues to take over the party, to the point it has become a fascist, nihilistic cult. Because just as now, Republican politicians and their plutocratic masters have always seen it as the ends justifying whatever means to win power. Remember the Republican Tea Party? This catastrophe with the GOP didn't start with Trump, who just exploited what Republicans had already built.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle for graft and to grift their voters and us taxpayers. You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A quarter of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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The question should be, why aren't we teaching an introduction to CRT in high schools, and why isn't it a course offered in every college and university?
Critical race theory examines social, cultural and legal issues as they relate to race and racism, particularly institutionalized and systemic racism. America has been racist since before ever becoming America. While we have struggled to make our society less racist over the centuries, there remains vestiges of our racist past. CRT doesn't mean that all white people are overtly racist, but it does help us to think about how racism still persists in society and people, knowingly or unknowingly, willingly or unwillingly. This is merely the latest culture war for the Reich-wing is trying to gin up, making CRT the bogeyman for their flock of fascist sheep to fear. Evidently, Mr. Potato Head and Dr. Seuss couldn't gain much traction as wedge issues. Unwittingly, they are demonstrating and proving the whole point of CRT and the need for it to be studied.
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Merrick Garland: "Trump and Congressional Republicans screwed me out of a seat on the Supreme Court...that's why now as AG I can't prosecute them for the many crimes they've committed!"
Merrick Garland’s House Testimony Demonstrated the Failure of His Hyper-Cautious Approach to His Job
Despite Garland’s many efforts to not appear political by declining to investigate Trump and his cronies for possible crimes and by using DOJ resources to actively protect Trump from civil liability, Republicans are still portraying him as the most political attorney general in history.
The other weakness of Garland’s timid approach was on full view during his opening statement and responses to Democratic members of Congress. “The essence of the rule of law is that like cases are treated alike. That there not be one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans; one rule for friends, another for foes,” Garland stated grandly. But by declining to investigate Trump and his associates, Garland is enabling further attacks on our democracy. (While proving inequity by putting Republicans above the law.)
Crucially, the two parties are not the same. Garland’s standard sets up a false equivalency between the Democratic Party and a political party whose national leader, Donald Trump, incited and celebrated a violent assault on our nation’s Capitol to overthrow the results of a free and fair election and who continues to portray the insurrection as a glorious “protest.” To that end, in the middle of the attorney general’s testimony, Trump issued a statement highlighting Garland’s feebleness at failing to even investigate the organizers and leaders of the Jan. 6 events, declaring “the insurrection took place on November 3, Election Day. January 6 was the Protest!”
Garland’s efforts to depoliticize the DOJ have proved to be an abdication of his responsibility to protect the rule of law. Take just a few examples: Garland’s failure to reconsider the obstruction of justice case against the former president, his deferral of an investigation of possible financial crimes by Trump and his organization to local prosecutors in New York City and Westchester, his use of the DOJ to protect Trump from defamation allegations, and his deferral of a soliciting of voter fraud felony probe in Georgia to local prosecutors there. By abdicating his responsibility, Garland is also opening the door for Trump to commit these possibly criminal abuses all over again, this time with the full support of the Republican Party, and maybe ultimately return to power.
--Mark Stern
"Try as he may, Merrick Garland cannot perform boring independence fast enough to outrun GOP claims that he’s a wild-eyed, violent socialist. And while the GOP currently exists only to cast everything you thought you believed into doubt, the real endgame is vigilantism. The endgame is to ensure that people mistrust government, election systems, school boards, (teachers, health care officials) the media, and the justice system enough to lend a hand in their destruction."
--Dahlia Lithwick
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@2Chronicles714_ ~ Not sure why you responded twice to my same single reply five days apart, both replies containing Covid-19 disinformation. It gives the appearance of trolling. Regardless, will take the time to correct your misconceptions (really, lies).
Many vaccines are NOT a one-time thing, as you claim. Children are given multiple shots of the same vaccine growing up, which is required to build up the necessary immunity. Even as adults, booster shots are recommended for certain diseases, such as with the DPT vaccines (aka DTP, DTaP, Tdap). CDC recommends:
--DTaP at 2, 4, and 6 months, at 15 through 18 months, and at 4 through 6 years.
--Tdap for children ages 7 through 10 years who are not fully vaccinated (those children who did not receive all their scheduled vaccinations noted above, which may include a catch-up schedule for those that had missed more than one).
--Tdap as a single dose for those 11 through 18 years of age with preferred administration at 11 through 12 years of age.
--Any adult 19 years of age or older who has never received a dose of Tdap should get one as soon as feasible. This should be followed by either a Td or Tdap shot every 10 years. When feasible, Boostrix® (GSK) should be used for adults 65 years and older; however, either vaccine product administered to a person 65 years or older provides protection and may be considered valid. You should not miss an opportunity to vaccinate persons aged 65 years or older with Tdap. Therefore, you may administer the Tdap vaccine you have available.
--Pregnant women should get a dose of Tdap during each pregnancy, preferably during the early part of gestation weeks 27 through 36. By getting Tdap during pregnancy, maternal pertussis antibodies transfer to the newborn, providing protection against pertussis in early life, before the baby starts getting DTaP vaccines. Tdap will also help protect the mother at time of delivery, making her less likely to transmit pertussis to her infant.
The reason for seeing some elected officials in Congress now getting mild cases of Covid-19 is because they were among the first to get the vaccine at the very beginning of 2021, and thus some of the strong immunity obtained from the vaccine begins to wane. This is especially true for older people (like many in Congress) because as people age, their immune systems typically become less robust. That's just a fact.
Vaccines are administered through a shot. "Shot," "jab," or vaccine----they all mean the same thing. Unclear why you would be confused about that, jumping to the unwarranted conclusion that something nefarious must be going on. You sound overly paranoid, and may want to seek help for that.
You are grossly misinformed, as vaccines do not contain any live disease. One can not catch the disease from the vaccine. One can not shed the disease from a vaccine. Vaccines are merely a safe way to stimulate an immunological response to certain diseases, creating antibodies or antigens that help protect people from those diseases. Over time, the amount of antibodies or antigens in the body can decline, which is why booster shots are given with some vaccines.
You are also grossly misinformed about natural immunity, as there has been numerous cases of unvaccinated people who had Covid-19 getting it again, often developing into a worse manifestation of the disease. It is not yet known how long natural immunity lasts, but the data seems to indicate it may last less time than vaccines, and could vary quite widely among individuals, depending upon age and other factors.
You are also grossly misinformed about the survival rate. The survival rate for Covid-19 is actually unknown. An accurate figure can't be calculated until this pandemic is over. Moreover, that survival rate would be much lower and the death rate much higher without vaccines and all the other mitigation efforts like mask wearing and social distancing, so we shouldn't be fooled by even that number into thinking the chances of survival are "good."
People like you are misinterpreting the survival rate, which is a fatal mistake you DON'T want to make. Imagine despite being extra careful only being able to drive in your car only 998 out of 1000 times before you would likely die. Imagine despite being extra careful you could only take a bath or shower only 998 out of 1,000 times before you would likely die. You are severely underestimating the danger of Covid-19. If 600,000 Americans were dropping dead from Ebola or some other disease every year, would you feel "safe?" If so, you would be a fool.
Moreover, you are overlooking and discounting how about a third of those contracting Covid-19 can suffer long-term debilitating conditions. Yeah, you survived Covid-19, but now you can't walk up a few steps without being out of breath and exhausted. Or, now you have erectile dysfunction. Or, now you have marked cognitive decline. Do you really want to risk your health like that?
You're also overlooking and discounting how those getting severe cases of Covid-19 that require hospitalization can suffer serious permanent injury to vital organs.
And, you're overlooking and discounting how we don't yet know all that much about Covid-19 and if there will be other future long-term affects from catching Coivd-19 that don't show up until later, because this is a new disease and we don't have that data yet. For example, after contracting and recovering from chicken-pox as a child, a secondary infection of scabies can result decades later from the dormant disease in your body. Believe me, you don't want to have scabies (there is now a vaccine to help prevent that, thankfully). And you probably wouldn't want to suffer the potential decline in quality of life later on down the road because of catching Covid-19, either.
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@2Chronicles714_ ~ So, you can't refute anything I told you, and you're going to ignore everything I said, just so you can spread more Covid-19 disinformation (lies), Doc? You're obviously either an anti-vaxxer, or you're working with America's enemies to kill more Americans. Little difference between the two, really. Either way, you're trying to get people killed.
Yes, Israel is experiencing a heavy surge in cases. But why? The following information explains the reasons, reinforcing everything I said, while contradicting your conclusions and nearly everything else you say, further debunking your Covid-19 disinformation and lies, while exposing you as a fraud:
Israel had fully vaccinated slightly over half its population by March 25. Infections waned, venues reopened to the vaccinated and the prime minister told Israelis to go out and have fun. By June, all restrictions, including indoor masking, were abolished.
But Israel paid a price for the early rollout. Health officials, and then Pfizer, said their data showed a dip in the vaccine's protection around six months after receiving the second shot. It was a perfect storm: The vaccine's waning protection came around the same time the more infectious delta variant arrived in Israel this summer. Delta accounts for nearly all infections in Israel today. "The most influential event was so many people who went abroad in the summer — vacations — and brought the delta variant very, very quickly to Israel," said Siegal Sadetzki, a former public health director in Israel's Health Ministry.
If you get infected, being vaccinated helps. The good news is that among Israel's serious infections on Thursday of this week, according to Health Ministry data, the rate of serious cases among unvaccinated people over age 60 (178.7 per 100,000) was nine times more than the rate among fully vaccinated people of the same age category, and the rate of serious cases among unvaccinated people in the under-60 crowd (3.2 per 100,000) was a little more than double the rate among vaccinated people in that age bracket.
The bad news, doctors say, is that half of Israel's seriously ill patients who are currently hospitalized were fully vaccinated at least five months ago. Most of them are over 60 years old and have comorbidities. The seriously ill patients who are unvaccinated are mostly young, healthy people whose condition deteriorated quickly. Israel's daily average number of infections has nearly doubled in the past two weeks and has increased around tenfold since mid-July, approaching the numbers during Israel's peak in the winter. Deaths increased from five in June to at least 248 so far this month. Health officials say that currently 600 seriously ill patients are hospitalized, and they warn they cannot handle more than 1,000 serious infections at the same time.
Israel's high vaccination rate isn't high enough. The country jumped out ahead of all other countries on vaccines, and 78% of eligible Israelis over 12 years old are vaccinated. But Israel has a young population, with many under the eligible age for vaccination, and about 1.1 million eligible Israelis, largely between the ages of 12 and 20, have declined to take even one dose of the vaccine. That means only 58% of Israel's total citizenry is fully vaccinated. Experts say that's not nearly high enough. "We have a very large fraction of our population who are paying the price for a small fraction of the population who did not go to get the vaccine," said Eran Segal of the Weizmann Institute of Science, who advises the Israeli government on COVID-19.
Unvaccinated people helped fuel the rapid spread of the virus while the country remained open for business in recent months with few serious restrictions.
"That will lead to mass infection, which is exactly what we are seeing now," said Segal. Vaccinations are key, but they are not enough. Israel is trying to slow the wave without resorting to a new lockdown, which Prime Minister Naftali Bennett says would take an economic toll and "destroy the future of the country." The country is placing caps on gatherings, increasing hospital staff and pleading for unvaccinated people to get immunized.
Booster shots offer more protection — if you are one of the world's lucky few to get them. Israel is the first country to offer a third shot of the Pfizer vaccine in a nationwide booster campaign. Preliminary research in Israel suggests booster shots significantly increase protection against the coronavirus a week after a person receives the third dose. Israeli national HMO Maccabi Healthcare Services, which conducted the preliminary study of 149,144 Israelis who received three Pfizer shots, said for Israelis above age 60, a Pfizer booster shot reduced the chances of infection by 86% and reduced the chances of severe infection by 92%.
The early data reflects studies by vaccine-makers Pfizer and Moderna and provides a glimpse at boosters' effects in a real-world setting. After reviewing data on breakthrough infections in Israel, the U.S. announced a booster shot campaign beginning in late September for anyone eight months after their second shot. The U.K. has promised boosters soon, and Turkey is offering Pfizer shots to those immunized with the Sinovac vaccine to help citizens planning to travel, since some countries will not recognize the Chinese vaccine. Israel has lowered the minimum age for boosters to 40. "The triple dose is the solution to curbing the current infection outbreak," Anat Ekka Zohar of Maccabi said in a statement.
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@2Chronicles714_ ~ You pretend you know more than all the doctors, epidemiologists, virologists, and public health experts. You got nothing but lies, fiction, fables, fantasies, and delusions. You're the one got caught regurgitating anti-vax nonsense, so you try to project your own inability to think rationally and critically for yourself onto others. You can't refute a single thing I've said, so you just keep resorting to more ignorance, hoping that will somehow disguise how you've been exposed as a fraud and moron. Hate to break it to you, Doc, but your sorry act is a total bust and just not working for you!
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Trump immigration policies endanger public health with coronavirus spread
Raul Reyes
As the Trump administration struggles to contain the spread of Coronavirus, its immigration policies may well exacerbate this crisis. The "public charge" rule discourages immigrants from accessing health care. The "Remain in Mexico" policy has created conditions ripe for a viral outbreak along the border. Immigration enforcement actions have sown distrust and fear in Latino communities. Taken together, these measures endanger the well-being of countless Americans.
Consider the administration's controversial "public charge" rule, which was implemented in February. It makes it harder for legal immigrants to obtain a green card if they access federal benefits for which they qualify, like Medicaid, food stamps, and housing vouchers.
In the ongoing litigation over this regulation, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) conceded that the rule could lead to "increased prevalence of communicable diseases, disenrollment from public programs, and increased use of emergency rooms as a primary care method."
Trump's "Remain in Mexico" policy is also potentially harmful to public health. Under this process, asylum-seekers are forced to wait on the Mexican side of the border while their cases are processed here. Nearly 60,000 migrants are currently waiting in Mexico, with thousands living in unsanitary, squalid conditions. As these vulnerable people await humanitarian relief, an outbreak of the virus in their shelters and camps could be devastating. Again, this would not only affect migrants: Due to its highly contagious nature, a coronavirus outbreak along the border would likely expose Border Patrol agents, U.S. troops, and aid workers to the virus too.
Within our borders, the Trump administration has created a less-than-ideal climate for battling a pandemic. The administration's aggressive immigration enforcement actions mean that millions of undocumented people are wary of any interaction with the government, which includes going to the hospital. Health advocates warn that there is a lack of information about coronavirus available in Spanish. And Trump has already demonstrated indifference to the suffering of Latinos; the administration basically ignored Puerto Rico during Hurricane Maria, and the president's response to the El Paso massacre was to stage an insensitive photo-op with a baby orphaned by the mass shooting. It's no wonder that advocacy groups are bracing for the administration to resort to more fear mongering and xenophobia about immigrants.
While any administration would be challenged by the Coronavirus outbreak, there are steps that the president can take that would mitigate its spread.
Trump could suspend the implementation of the "public charge" rule or temporarily halt immigration enforcement actions in and around hospitals and medical facilities. The administration could fund coronavirus outreach programs for Latinos. This would be especially useful as Latinos have the highest uninsured rate of any racial or ethnic group in the U.S., and are significantly affected by conditions that compromise the immune system, like asthma, diabetes, and HIV/AIDS. What the administration should not do is attempt to further politicize this crisis or use it as an excuse for closing our borders. The coronavirus does not discriminate based on immigration status and will not be stopped by a wall.
The coronavirus crisis demands a swift change in the administration's dangerous immigration policies. At stake is nothing less than the lives of immigrants, Latinos - and all Americans.
Lotus Ruan, a researcher with Citizen Lab, said such information controls can be particularly dangerous during a public health emergency, because they can prevent people from getting accurate information.
“The broad censorship of the coronavirus we found is significant because blocking general information during a health crisis can limit the public’s ability to be informed and protect themselves,” she said.
Trump’s coronavirus response puts his authoritarian instincts on full view
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/opinions-trumps-coronavirus-response-puts-his-authoritarian-instincts-on-full-view/ar-BB10KoIW
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again." ― Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney
More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They have essentially become a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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"We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
~ How Fascism Works, The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(Reference also Father Charles E. Coughlin and Henry Ford in regards to the first America First movement.)
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
Malcolm Nance: We Are In A Neo-Fascist Era In American Politics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_RxUAe2zeM
Political Analyst Tells Joy Reid: Forget Trumpism, IT’s Neo-Fascism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IgNp84JA4A
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@robertdickerson8195 ~ The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over four decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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Elmer Fudd's always trying to convince me he just wants unity.
What he really means is that he wants to eat me.
Unity and compromise is a two-way street that only works if both parties operate in good faith. Republicans have a long history of failing to do that--or even trying. Recent history since Biden won the election shows no indication of them changing their divisive, destructive words, attitudes, obstruction and other acts. Tyrant Trump incited a terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol to overthrow an election, endangering his VP and members of Congress, sat by and gleefully reveled in watching it happen for hours, ignoring desperate pleas for help, and only a very few Republican were willing to speak out, impeach him, convict him, and prevent him from holding public office again? That's not loyal opposition--that's a dangerous terrorist political cult of fascists.
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You have a very naïve view of this, just like CNN, except I expected CNN to know better. Senate Leader Schumer was simply speaking the truth. Not one Republican actually voted for the temporary measure, and only 11 Republicans out of 50 voted to allow the measure to come to the floor for a vote, so that the Democrats could pass it with a 50 (D) - 48 (R) vote. The only reason Republicans allowed the vote is because their corporate donors let McConnell know they would be blamed for destroying the economy, costing them billions. But Republicans just kicked the can down the road a few months, so they can play politics once again by taking our economy hostage, and once again forcing Democrats to take the heat for raising the debt ceiling. It's beyond disgraceful and destructive, and Schumer was exactly right to give them hell. Yet you fell for the Republican flimflam, and ignorantly claim that both parties were working together on this? Republicans haven't been operating in good faith for decades, and have repeatedly rejected bipartisanship, choosing party over country time and again. Why didn't CNN mention or consider any of this?
***MEDIA FAIL*** ---- Manchin IS the problem! He's not even representing the voters in his state, who overwhelmingly favor the programs in the reconciliation package. Manchin is corrupt. Nearly every Democrat I know loathes him and Sinema for sinking democracy, America, the American people, and the Democratic party. Schumer is pointing out the lack of bipartisanship in the Senate, because the GOP has turned into a fascist, nihilistic cult, and Manchin is covering his face because he wants to pretend that Republicans are interested in bipartisanship so he can selfishly milk corporate donors for millions while Republicans burn down government and the nation.
Gee, the problem I've been screaming about for decades with the media! "Both-sidesism" aka "false balance" is a media bias that is a logical fallacy which does a disservice to the truth and is a source of disinformation and misinformation. It's little different than false equivalency or the logical fallacy argument to moderation (Latin: argumentum ad temperantiam)—aka false compromise, argument from middle ground, fallacy of grey, and the golden mean fallacy—which is the fallacy that the truth is a compromise between two opposing positions. The former editor of the Chicago Tribune is correct in pointing out that the MSM has been complicit in helping to create and enabling the corrupt, Orwellian fascist Republican cult, but the process was already well under way by the time Trump exploited it for his own sociopathic narcissism and selfish ends.
As a voter, I expect political parties to hold each other accountable. No, CNN, that isn't just the job of the media, alone, and Senate Leader Schumer is correct to hold Senate Republicans accountable for failing to raise the debt ceiling, for only allowing a vote on a temporary measure, which required all Democrats to vote for, with no Republicans in support. So, now, we have to hang on the edge of precipice a few months down the road for another high-stakes game with the nation's economic health and well-being hanging in the balance because Republicans want to hold our economy hostage, don't want to pay for their own spending under the Trump administration, just so REPUBLICANS can have a bogus Reich-wing talking point in the next election cycle? What, CNN, you're too STUPID and WILLFULLY BLIIND to see that it is REPUBLICANS playing politics??? You're too STUPID and WILLFULLY BLIND to see that you are once again helping to enable REPUBLICAN misinformation and disinformation??? You're too STUPID and WILLFULLY BLIND to see that you are helping REPUBLICANS destroy democracy and our country??? Media BE better, WE be better!
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@johnmartin4233 ~ Reich-wing sites are twisting what happened, you're just spewing out the B.S. you're fed, because that's what you like to eat. The TRUTH and the REAL, ACTUAL facts:
No, There Isn't a ‘Glitch’ in Michigan Election Software That Flipped Thousands of Trump Votes
FAKES
Dispelling every bullshit election conspiracy that’s inundated the internet this week would be a full-time job in and of itself, but one particularly insidious theory has blown up to such a ridiculous degree that it deserves to be set straight.
Michigan GOP Chairwoman Laura Cox claimed at a press conference Friday that an election software “glitch” in one Michigan county switched thousands of votes for President Donald Trump to votes for Democratic challenger (now President-Elect) Joe Biden. Sounds like a pretty big scandal, right? Well, it very well might be if any portion of that statement was true. But though this conspiracy theory has been thoroughly debunked by Michigan election officials, that hasn’t stopped Trump supporters from sounding alarms about supposed voter fraud in many of the 28 states where the software’s manufacturer, Dominion Voting Systems, supplies election tech.
The theory, which has “no merit” according to a statement from Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, claims that an Antrim County clerk reported a glitch in the county’s ballot tabulating software that miscounted 6,000 Trump votes as Biden votes, resulting in officials having to recount all ballots by hand. Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel later parroted this theory along with several other unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud in her call for recounts in several battleground states.
...
https://gizmodo.com/no-theres-isnt-a-glitch-in-michigan-election-softwar-1845607896
RUMOR ALERT: Dominion Voting Systems Fraud Claims
Isolated incidents that were quickly rectified were used to imply widespread voter fraud was occurring in 2020.
Various rumors alleging voter fraud focused on the Electronic voting company Dominion Voting Systems.
On Nov. 7, 2020, the Associated Press, the New York Times, Fox News, and several other major news outlets called the 2020 presidential election and projected that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris had defeated U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. As news of President-elect Biden’s victory spread on social media, so did unsupported claims alleging voter fraud. Many of these claims were centered around Dominion Voting Systems, a company that sells voting machines and software in the United States and Canada. We will examine a few of these claims below.
Did a software glitch cause thousands of Republican votes to be marked for Democrats in Michigan? A human error resulted in a temporary miscalculation in Antrim County, Michigan, but this issue was quickly remedied.
One of the most prevalent voter fraud claims to emerge in the days following the election was the accusation that a computer glitch in a software program from Dominion Voting Systems had mistakenly counted thousands of votes for President Trump as votes for President Biden. This claim was based on a half-truth: a tabulation error did occur in Antrim County, but the problem was a result of a human error, and the mistake was quickly caught and corrected.
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson disputed claims of deliberate election fraud in a statement:
In response to the false claims made by Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, the Michigan Department of State issues the following statements of fact:
--Michigan’s elections were conducted fairly, effectively and transparently and are an accurate reflection of the will of Michigan voters.
--The erroneous reporting of unofficial results from Antrim county was a result of accidental error on the part of the Antrim County Clerk. The equipment and software did not malfunction and all ballots were properly tabulated. However, the clerk accidentally did not update the software used to collect voting machine data and report unofficial results.
--Like many counties in Michigan, Antrim County uses the Dominion Voting Systems election management system and voting machines (ballot tabulators.) The county receives programming support from Election Source. Tabulators are programmed to scan hand marked, paper ballots. When machines are finished scanning the ballots, the paper ballots are retained and a totals tape showing the number of votes for each candidate in each race is printed from the machine.
--In order to report unofficial results, county clerks use election management system software to combine the electronic totals from tabulators and submit a report of unofficial results. Because the clerk did not update software, even though the tabulators counted all the ballots correctly, those accurate results were not combined properly when the clerk reported unofficial results.
--The correct results always were and continue to be reflected on the tabulator totals tape and on the ballots themselves. Even if the error in the reported unofficial results had not been quickly noticed, it would have been identified during the county canvass. Boards of County Canvassers, which are composed of 2 Democrats and 2 Republicans, review the printed totals tape from each tabulator during the canvass to verify the reported vote totals are correct.
--The software did not cause a misallocation of votes; it was a result of user human error. Even when human error occurs, it is caught during county canvasses.
--It is also completely false that the county had to or will have to hand count all their ballots. The ballots were properly counted by the tabulators. The county had to review the printed tabulator results from each precinct, not each individual ballot.
--As with other unofficial results reporting errors, this was an honest mistake and did not affect any actual vote totals. Election clerks work extremely hard and do their work with integrity. They are human beings, and sometimes make mistakes. However, there are many checks and balances that ensure mistakes can be caught and corrected.
On a related note, Benson also disputed claims that Republicans weren’t allowed to observe the vote count, asserting that “hundreds of challengers from both parties were inside their absent voter counting board all afternoon and evening.”
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/rumor-alert-dominion-voting-systems-fraud-claims/
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
― Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a serious threat to our very security.
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again." ― Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney
More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They have essentially become a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Scott Guy ~ As we know from the experts, having caught it once does not preclude Barrett (or her kids) catching it again. No one can predict how long any one person's immunity lasts after catching it.
REVEREND John Jenkins, the President of Notre Dame, a religious college, didn't care about human suffering and life, was there at Amy "COVID" Barret's nomination, not wearing a mask, not social distancing, interacting closely with others. Afterwards, he has tested positive for COVID-19. He also infected a colleague with whom he was subsequently in close contact. How many others did he spread this deadly disease to, how many others will suffer because of his supreme ignorance and lack of humanity? The nominee, Barret, is a professor at that same institution, and likewise ignorantly refused to wear a mask or social distance. This, despite Barrett reportedly contracting COVID-19 over the summer, which one would presume should have taught her something. Yet, this is a person that is supposed to have judgment fit to sit on the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land? She should withdraw herself from consideration. They both brought disgrace upon Notre Dame. This wasn't the first time Jenkins flouted CDC guidelines, and apologized before. Now, he once again claims he made "an error in judgment." Students of Notre Dame are calling for his resignation.
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Even worse than the deplorable, despicable rudeness, arrogance, adolescence, and disrespect displayed by some Senate Republicans during Trump's second impeachment trial is their gaslighting, conferencing with and advising Trump's defense team, and hiding behind the fallacious process argument of "no jurisdiction" for Senate impeachment trial, when the Traitor-'n-Thief Trump was impeached BEFORE leaving office. For comparison, as long as a person is indicted for a crime before the statute of limitations had expired for their alleged crime, it matters not that the trial takes place after that expiration date--the criminal does not get a "free pass." Moreover, this isn't a criminal trial, it's merely a disciplinary employment measure. Think of someone resigning, then the company determining that employee had committed crimes or other egregious behavior, thereby deciding at some point afterward that that person could not be rehired, and is also deprived of any post-employment rewards. Besides, there is ample precedent for impeaching after someone has left office, anyway.
Moreover, the fact is, the House and Senate determine their own rules for impeachment and trial--something confirmed already previously by SCOTUS decisions. Given that the Senate voted that this Senate trial of Toxic Trump is Constitutional, that is the ruling ALL Senators are bound by. What these Republican Senators hiding behind the fallacious "jurisdiction" argument are essentially doing is refusing to abide by their own Senate rules and laws, placing themselves above the law. So much for Republicans being the party of "law and order," taking personal responsibility, supporting law enforcement, and setting a good example for Americans.
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@minitanksandchairs ~Russian bots just trying to get more Americans killed, that's all, folks! And, even when not Russian, they are essentially working for Putin, anyway. Their whole game is wasting people's time, inciting bitter division amongst Americans, and creating an illusion that the minority of crackpots in this country is greater than the reality. Came to the conclusion long ago that very few of these flamers are actual regular Republican voters. The vast majority appear to be Russian bots, with RNC operative's sock puppets making up the bulk of the remainder. As you pointed out, most Republicans don't come to CNN and the like--they DON'T want to hear the truth. And, of course, we all observe how the same Russian-Republican posters keep trolling the comments, and will continuously keep posting the same inane nonsense that had already been debunked numerous times. Been posting for years, and there's always been a few right-wing wackos posting to MSM and left-wing sites, but it was only after the Russians got involved back in 2015 that we got the numbers we now see.
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@harryjohnstone1306 ~ Thank-you for your kind words, Harry; that's a mighty fine compliment. As with all my original commentary, it is offered freely to educate, enlighten, and provoke thought. As always, people are encouraged to share and repost any found worthy as they wish--no accreditation even necessary. Personal recognition, popularity, subscribers, or YouTube profits are of no concern to me.
The way we figure it, the more people posting it, the better! Can't be everywhere, don't have the time or inclination for every news story or YouTube video, so appreciate others spreading the good word where relevant. Consider it an honor whenever someone reposts my commentary, with or without accreditation. Will post separately here to this space some other original commentary you may also like; feel free to share or repost that too if you like, as well.
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@harryjohnstone1306 ~ As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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TRUM_PLANNED_EMIC!
Given plenty of advance warnings about COVID-19, Toxic Trump chose not to heed the sound advice provided. We could have been Taiwan, with a comparative 100 deaths in the U.S.; or South Korea, with a comparative 1500 deaths here, after adjusted for population size. Taiwan had just seven deaths; South Korea less than 300. We got over 150,000 deaths already, with the count still rapidly rising, while we remain, still, firmly mired in the first wave of the disease. Even worse, after six months, we STILL lack the adequate testing and rational national response to contain the disease.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance.
In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump leaves office, the one out of every 800 Americans will have died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 400,000 fatalities, about as many American casualties as WWII. It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Trade wars are like military wars; there are no winners, only lots of losers. Moreover, military wars are much more likely to have a clear-cut victor than trade wars. Trump's trade war with China is ill-advised in its approach and strategy, and thus doomed to achieving little success, and making it highly improbable there will be any clear-cut victor in this trade war, either. One thing appears certain, and that is that it will have been a costly lesson to Americans. Will they learn anything from it, and make it costly for Trump? If they haven't learned yet that Biggest Loser is the worst thing to happen to America, then there is little hope for them, or us. While these issues need to be discussed, we should also be mindful these should not in any way distract from the urgency and import of the central issues of Traitor Trump's malfeasance and perfidy staining the Oval Office, but serve as further evidence of his gross incompetence and unfitness for that office.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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The fate of the nation rests on Georgia's U.S. Senate runoff elections. Who could've ever imagined? The fight to make things right isn't over Democrats; we must get out the vote BLUE again! And again in 2022...and again in 2024...etc., etc.! To set our nation back on the path of decency, democracy, and progress, keeping it there, will require serious dedication and commitment from us; we MUST NOT allow ourselves to become complacent, anymore! Too much is at stake. To be clear, it isn't all about campaign money, although that does play a role, much as we may wish otherwise. It's as much, or more, about getting out the vote, grassroots campaigning for the candidates on the ground and over the phone. Furthermore, electing Democrats, who support limits on campaign finance and eliminating dark money, is essential to making all our politicians more responsive and accountable to voters.
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"Peace is not a very big thing to ask for, is it?" ~ Fatima Gailani, Afghan activist and negotiator, pleading for continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan
It is when asking the Taliban, who do not seek peace or to bargain in good faith, but total domination once again. U.S. has spent 20 years and $2 trillion trying to achieve peace in Afghanistan, losing over 4000 American lives (military and civilian contractors), with tens of thousands of Americans wounded there.
"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials … have given Afghans little reason to support their government," Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the commander of U.S. forces in the country, wrote in a 2009 memorandum. "This crisis of confidence, coupled with a distinct lack of economic and educational opportunity, has created fertile ground for the insurgency."
That was 11 years ago, and little has changed since. Thought the invasion of Afghanistan by Bush was a mistake that would lead to a quagmire, and have been proven correct. Still, initially supported efforts to bring peace and stability there, along with basic human and civil-rights, because after invading felt we had an obligation to rebuild. However, while U.S. blunders there have contributed to a failure, Afghans are their own worst enemy, and no one can help them until enough of them are willing to help themselves.
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@617edoub ~Possibly misunderstood you! If so, apologies. Got a bunch of bots running all over the boards. The word you wanted was 'worse,' not 'worst,' which cast some suspicion, because of the bad English usage typical of bots--although, that is an easy mistake to make. You weren't specific about who exactly was being criticized, which is sometimes another tip-off, because bots and trolls often try just to confuse things.
Anyway, sorry if we got it wrong, but still not quite sure what it is you were getting at with the comment; whom were you referencing specifically for each involved? If it was about you thought media pundits were making too much of squabbles among Democratic candidates--a healthy part of the electoral primary process--we fully agree, and will promptly give your comment a thumbs-up, pleased to see you pointing that out!
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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GOP and Trump administration: Where the hard reality of COVID-19 pierces the Republican cult bubble world of delusional fantasies, denialism, deceit, supreme ignorance, utter incompetence, and Orwellian governance, exposing them all as charlatans and frauds. Much as needed, we're hoping that doesn't happen; that America escapes the ravages of this disease, and we don't suffer thousands of American citizens dying, with many more becoming critically ill. Tragically, that doesn't seem very likely, and the Trump administration hardly inspires confidence, with all indications to date CONTRARY that they can capably handle such a catastrophe occurring here.
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"We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
~ How Fascism Works, The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(Reference also Father Charles E. Coughlin and Henry Ford in regards to the first America First movement.)
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
Malcolm Nance: We Are In A Neo-Fascist Era In American Politics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_RxUAe2zeM
Political Analyst Tells Joy Reid: Forget Trumpism, IT’s Neo-Fascism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IgNp84JA4A
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@gordonstrong5232 ~ Farmer wakes up one morning, goes outside to milk his cows, and discovers his entire herd is missing! So, he then walks over nest door to where the Republican cult lives, notices them grinding a whole bunch of beef into hamburger, and asks them, "Did you see what happened to all my cows?"
Republican cult: "Yeah, they jumped over the moon."
Farmer: "Do you have any actual evidence of that?"
Republican cult: "No, because they landed on the dark side, and you can't see them over there. But we're conducting a bunch of investigations and fraudits, and we're confident evidence will soon emerge to prove it!"
Farmer: "You know, that sounds like a load of manure!"
Republican cult: "Well, that's what we all choose to believe!"
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05/10/20 -- (Incomplete) 1,363,000+ confirmed cases; 80,600+ deaths.
05/09/20 -- 1,344,000 confirmed cases; 79,700 deaths.
05/08/20 -- 1,318,000 confirmed cases; 78,200 deaths.
05/07/20 -- 1,289,000 confirmed cases; 76,500 deaths.
05/06/20 -- 1,260,000 confirmed cases; 74,500 deaths.
05/05/20 -- 1,233,000 confirmed cases; 72,000 deaths.
05/04/20 -- 1,208,000 confirmed cases; 69,600 deaths. CDC projects cases increasing to 200,000 per day with deaths rising to 3,000 per day by June because of states, localities and people not following guidelines and reopening their economies too soon.
05/03/20 -- 1,184,000 confirmed cases; 68,300 deaths. Every 44 seconds, another American dies from COVID-19. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/02/20 -- 1,158,000 confirmed cases; 67,000 deaths.
05/01/20 -- 1,129,000 confirmed cases; 65,500 deaths.
04/30/20 -- 1,094,000 confirmed cases; 63,600 deaths. The U.S. accounts for over a third of the world's cases, and over a quarter of COVID-19 deaths--despite possessing only 5% of the world's population. Yet--even now--we still lack the adequate testing capabilities that are critically needed to safely reopen the economy, and remain sorely lacking the necessary rational national leadership so vital to saving American lives and livelihoods.
04/29/20 -- 1,064,000 confirmed cases; 61,500 deaths. The U.S. now has as many COVID-19 deaths in just NINE WEEKS as there was for all TWELVE YEARS of the Vietnam War.
04/28/20 -- 1,034,000 confirmed cases; 59,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/27/20 -- 1,009,000 confirmed cases; 56,500 deaths.
04/26/20 -- 985,000 confirmed cases; 55,400 deaths.
04/25/20 -- 958,000 confirmed cases; 54,000 deaths.
04/24/20 -- 927,000 confirmed cases; 52,400 deaths.
04/23/20 -- 890,000 confirmed cases; 50,400 deaths.
04/22/20 -- 853,000 confirmed cases; 47,800 deaths (+2,674*)
04/21/20 -- 825,000 confirmed cases; 45,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/20/20 -- 788,000 confirmed cases; 43,200 deaths.
04/19/20 -- 760,000 confirmed cases; 41,700 deaths.
04/18/20 -- 735,000 confirmed cases; 39,900 deaths.
04/17/20 -- 702,000 confirmed cases; 37,000 deaths.
04/16/20 -- 671,000 confirmed cases; 33,100 deaths. Less COVID-19 testing performed this week than last, despite desperate need to ramp up volume to reopen economy.
04/15/20 -- 640,000 confirmed cases; 30,800 deaths. The United States recorded its first coronavirus fatality on Feb. 29. It took 38 days to reach 10,000 deaths and just nine more days to go from 10,000 fatalities to 30,000. An increase in fatalities over the last 48 hours was expected, but was also due to new CDC policy, starting on 04/14, to include probable COVID-19 deaths...finally.
04/14/20 -- 609,000 confirmed cases; 26,600 deaths (+2,364 - *New worst daily death toll)
04/13/20 -- 583,000 confirmed cases; 24,200 deaths
04/12/20 -- 558,000 confirmed cases; 22,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S. With just 4.25% of the world's population, the U.S. has 30% of the COVID-19 infections and 20% of the COVID-19 deaths. So far, the U.S. has the very WORST response of ANY nation, something formerly inconceivable, and inexcusable that it could now be allowed to happen here. In the U.S., we have 1.5 million seniors in 15,000 nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Despite forming only 0.45% of the U.S. population, they make up almost 10% of deaths, primarily because our federal government is not doing enough to protect them. Reported that many hospitals are no longer accepting COVID-19 patients from nursing homes, preferring they die there, instead. Our seniors, who helped build, grow and make America great, are being sacrificed, solely to ignorance.
04/11/20 -- 530,000 confirmed cases; 20,500 deaths.
04/10/20 -- 502,000 confirmed cases; 18,800 deaths.
04/09/20 -- 466,000 confirmed cases; 16,700 deaths.
04/08/20 -- 432,000 confirmed cases; 15,900 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S.
04/07/20 -- 400,000 confirmed cases; 13,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. Figures indicate a Covid-19 fatality rate for TESTED Americans at 3.25%.
04/06/20 -- 369,000 confirmed cases; 11,000 deaths.
04/05/20 -- 338,000 confirmed cases; 9,700 deaths.
04/04/20 -- 312,000 confirmed cases; 9,400 deaths.
04/03/20 -- 278,000 confirmed cases; 7,150 deaths.
04/02/20 -- 246,000 confirmed cases; 6,050 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/01/20 -- 217,000 confirmed cases; 5,150 deaths.
03/31/20 -- 190,000 confirmed cases; 4,200 deaths.
03/30/20 -- 165,000 confirmed cases; 3,250 deaths.
03/29/20 -- 143,000 confirmed cases; 2,450 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
(Update 5: Friday, 03/27/20, confirmed U.S. cases 105,000--which is 50% over NIH high-end estimate; deaths 1,700 by end of day. The perspective for cases is significantly skewed low and thus highly misleading, however, as just 0.17% of U.S. population has been tested to date.)
"As many as 70,000 Americans could be confirmed as infected with coronavirus by the end of next week, marking a “pretty dramatic” increase in the number of confirmed cases," the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, told his employees in an agency-wide conference call on 03/20/20.
Except 03/21/20 saw a 33% jump in U.S. cases, from 18,000 to over 24,000. If continuing at 33% every 24 hours, the number of confirmed cases is trending much higher than just 70,000 by 03/27/20. Suspect confirmed cases will be double that. Bear in mind, states hardest hit are not testing many people, saving the tests for those most in need. So the actual number of infected Americans is going to be far higher than just what limited testing of the population has so far confirmed. Don't think this fact is being given enough attention. More important than the number of cases confirmed is the number contracting the disease and not getting tested, spreading the disease, in many cases unknowingly. Hospital projections are for about 100 MILLION Americans to become infected, with about 500,000 dead from covid-19.
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@ILik3PH0T0 ~My, aren't we the compassionate one, Doc! Besides, in case Faux news didn't tell you, not all dying or getting seriously ill fall in high-risk or at-risk categories, doofus! Moreover, deaths are likely to fall more disproportionately among Republicans, as they skew elderly. If you're a Republican cult tribalistic moron, and not a Russian bot, you should at least care that Trump is shrinking the GOP voting base, culling down your partisan cult tribe!
Ironic that ignorance, incompetence, insecurities, and ineptness will be the instruments used by Trump and the GOP to inflict maximum damage to their own overwhelmingly elderly voting base. COVID-19 now said to have as much or more than 15% mortality rate for those over 80 or with health conditions. Unfortunately, while most will be Republican, that still leaves many innocent Americans likewise suffering death and debilitating disease.
Trouble is, these Republican cult fools confuse those praying FOR them with those preying UPON them!
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@kityumcashcokityumcashco5740 ~ Republican cult morons rail against the very "elite" they keep voting for, who give tax cuts to the rich and have created the greatest income inequality and wealth disparity in American history.
Why? They are driven by the divisive fear and bigotry programmed into them 24/7 by the Reich-wing media and propaganda owned or funded by the plutocracy. It's absolutely Orwellian, and it began around 1984 in America. What is witnessed now is just the rotten results from the poisoned tree bearing fruition. It's the disease killing America that existed long before COVID-19, and which is likely to persist long after.
Republican cult going to believe what the Republican cult wants to believe, whatever the truth, whatever proof, whatever anybody says. "Healing" the country means deprogramming the 30-40% of Americans deep in cultdom. That needs to be recognized, acknowledged, and acted upon if we truly wish to revive the patient, America, and restore it to glory.
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Setting aside the sleazy immoral Reich-wing grifters at the top -- people like Trump, Congressional Republicans, Reich-wing demagogues and media -- the rank-and-file of the GOP has become a fascist cult. To be clear, Trump did not create the cult, it existed before him. He merely served as a unifying figure they chose to rally around and worship as their fool's gold god. Trump appealed to their basest nature and told them what they wanted to hear. Now, those Reich-wing grifters may have cultivated their cult to exploit for their own greed, power and vanity, but at least to some extent the Republican cult in turn seeks to exploit the GOP for their own various misguided purposes. They CHOOSE to be willfully ignorant, to believe or espouse the lies, because as a political calculus they shortsightedly see it as expedient to their ends.
What must also be taken into consideration are the characteristics of a cult. Why do people join a cult? Why do they choose to remain in a cult? No need to go into detail; the answers are largely common knowledge or easily researched. But it should be pointed out that in a complex world, the simplistic and rigid beliefs embraced by cults can be very alluring, no matter how fantastical and removed from reality. It should also be acknowledged that the Republican cult is not a monolithic entity, but an amalgamation of sects, including White supremacists, Christian nationalists, libertarians, sovereign nationals, anarchists, tax resistors, Qanon and other extremist fringe groups. Of course, not every Republican is an extremist, a fascist, or untethered from reality. But this latter more benign group is nevertheless part of the fascist Republican cult, complicit in their support of the whole, whether through their silent acquiescence and votes or willing assistance.
It's a very dangerous feedback loop, a vicious circle, one that as it sinks further into depravity its threat correspondingly rises, for as the Republican cult has over time been becoming increasingly more radicalized, we witness the election of more radical politicians to represent them, more radicalized Reich-wing media and demagogues to feed them propaganda. While some Republicans are leaving the GOP and some others are speaking out and trying to save their party, they constitute a weak minority, unfortunately.
In a normal, sane world, the Republican cult would have ended or been marginalized after the Mueller Report, after Trump's Ukraine shakedown and impeachment, after Trump's horrendous handling of a deadly global pandemic, after his election defeat, or after January 6th and his second impeachment. But that hasn't happened. Instead, the Republican cult continues to become increasingly more radicalized and extreme. As President Biden says, "We are in a battle for the soul of this nation." And the fight is far from over.
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So, after being the most divisive figure in Congress for over a dozen years, a constant font of GOP disinformation and misinformation propaganda, and being the Traitor-'n-Thief Toxic Trump's prime enabler for the last four years, NOW, after losing the House, the White House, and the Senate, after over 400,000 dead Americans, domestic terrorists attacking the Capitol and running amok, U.S. national security and world standing in shambles, NOW Moscow McCoverup finally sees the light? Wish we could believe it was sincere, rather than opportunistic and manipulative.
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We already have term limits for elected officials...they're called voters. Term limits would be undemocratic for elected officials, and I support more democratic government, not less. Proponents of term limits on elected officials ignore how the problem is not the Constitution, but some voters, how it fails to distinguish between good and bad politicians, punishing both equally without regard, how it fails to properly value experience and institutional knowledge, and how it could actually encourage more corruption.
The filibuster must be abolished. Gerrymandering must be ended, with independently drawn districts in every state. The Senate has too much power and is too undemocratic and needs to be reformed. For instance, I propose every state getting a minimum of one Senator and a maximum of six, proportionate to population. I support abolishing the Electoral College, which is an archaic and undemocratic relic. I support making Election Day a federal holiday, a new voting rights act, universal mail-in voting, non-partisan primaries, ranked or cardinal choice voting, and campaign finance reform, including overturning the horrendous and corrupt Republican SCOTUS partisan Citizens United decision. I support Democrats expanding the Supreme Court to 15 justices, to bring equilibrium and more bipartisan decisions back to SCOTUS. While not necessarily against all lifetime appointments, think appointed SCOTUS justices should be limited to a single 12-year term, helping to limit and prevent potential damage being done by the highest, most powerful court in the land. In contrast to other elected officials, that is the identical reason why I support continuing the two-term limit for the most powerful position in our government, the Presidency.
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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@digitalperson108 - While you're entirely correct, Russian bots and their little Trumpette Republican cult helpers don't CARE about facts, context, nuance, or reasoning--unless furthering their propaganda! You hoping to convince anyone or have any kind of constructive dialogue, you'd be better off trying the moon! Read our earlier admonition in this thread, understand their motives are to waste your time, sow division and discord, and distract from what the #1 Russian asset in the Oval is doing to bring America down. Best remedy is to just ignore, don't even engage. If you feel triggered enough to respond, leave thoughtful analysis debunking the presented issue as a general reply to our initial comment. Often the best remedy for impudent, disruptive children clamoring for attention when the adults are speaking is to simply ignore.
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--Instead of striving to bring out the best in people, Toxic Trump reveled in bringing out the very worst.
--Instead of uniting the country, Toxic Trump sought to divide us.
--Instead of abiding by and honoring our Constitution and the rule of law, Toxic Trump held them in disdain, disregarded them, and degraded them.
--Instead of strengthening democracy and our cherished institutions, Toxic Trump worked to diminish and destroy them.
--Instead of confronting a serious threat to Americans with a deadly global pandemic, Toxic Trump lied to the American people about it, ignored it, and refused to take any responsibility for his gross homicidal negligence.
--Instead of creating jobs, Toxic Trump was the first President since the Great Depression to preside over a net loss of jobs over his tenure.
--Instead of raising our standing and security in the world, Toxic Trump lowered and weakened it.
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@rudbel88 ~ --Instead of striving to bring out the best in people, Toxic Trump reveled in bringing out the very worst.
--Instead of uniting the country, Toxic Trump sought to divide us.
--Instead of abiding by and honoring our Constitution and the rule of law, Toxic Trump held them in disdain, disregarded them, and degraded them.
--Instead of strengthening democracy and our cherished institutions, Toxic Trump worked to diminish and destroy them, inciting a terrorist insurrection against his own government, attempting a coup to steal an election.
--Instead of insuring a peaceful transfer power after losing the election, Toxic Trump kept insisting against all evidence that he won, and incited a terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol.
--Instead of confronting a serious threat to Americans with a deadly global pandemic, Toxic Trump lied to the American people about it, ignored it, and refused to take any responsibility for his gross homicidal criminal negligence that resulted in one out of every 800 Americans dying from COVID-19--over 400,000 lives in just ten months, as many casualties as all of WWII.
--Instead of confronting the ever-increasing existential crisis from climate change and its harmful effects, Toxic Trump gutted regulations, exacerbating the problem and poisoning citizens.
--Instead of creating jobs, Toxic Trump was the first President since the Great Depression to preside over a net loss of jobs over his tenure.
--Instead of lowering the national deficit, Toxic Trump increased it from 19.2 trillion to 27 trillion.
--Instead of building bridges, humane immigration reform, and infrastructure, Toxic Trump built walls and cages, separated children from mothers, allowed American infrastructure to decline and deteriorate, rejected economic opportunity.
--Instead of raising our standing and security in the world, Toxic Trump lowered and weakened it.
--Instead of draining the swamp, Toxic Trump turned it into a noxious overflowing Republican sewer.
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Let's be clear; Congressional Republicans have been pointing a gun at the heart of legitimate self-government for four years, now. The only exception is FORMER Republican Rep. Justin Amash, who was essentially ejected from the GOP--solely for his honesty and integrity. Even Republican Sen. Mitt Romney over his two years in Congress has only made half-steps in rejecting Trump's authoritarianism, corruption, and lawlessness, demonstrating how he, too, cares more about his ambition and raw partisan power than he does his country. And it hasn't been just Congressional Republicans; nearly the entire GOP has been complicit in aiding and abetting what is clearly the most corrupt, criminal, despotic, rotten, and incompetent President and administration in U.S. history.
Which is why it is felt the only good Republican is a former Republican. The GOP no longer stands for any rational ideology. Instead, it has become a mindless political cult, based upon hate, lies, delusions, denials, and the blind lust for power at any cost.
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White House turned down emergency coronavirus funding in early February
Suzanne Smalley -- Yahoo News -- 03/28/20
WASHINGTON — Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, says that Trump administration officials declined an offer of early congressional funding assistance that he and other senators made on Feb. 5 during a meeting to discuss the coronavirus.
The officials, including Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, said they “didn’t need emergency funding, that they would be able to handle it within existing appropriations,” Murphy recalled in an interview with Yahoo News’ “Skullduggery” podcast.
“What an awful, horrible catastrophic mistake that was,” Murphy said.
On Feb. 5, Murphy tweeted: “Just left the Administration briefing on Coronavirus. Bottom line: they aren't taking this seriously enough. Notably, no request for ANY emergency funding, which is a big mistake. Local health systems need supplies, training, screening staff etc. And they need it now.”
Murphy told Yahoo News that the funding he and other congressional leaders wanted to allocate nearly two months ago would have paid for essential preventative measures, including hiring local screening and testing staff, researching a vaccine and treatments and the stockpiling of needed medical supplies.
“The consequences of that in Connecticut is that we're going to test less people today than we tested yesterday,” Murphy told “Skullduggery” hosts Michael Isikoff and Daniel Klaidman. “And that means that there are lots of people who are positive who are not going to know it, who are then going to be in contact with other people, who are going to spread the disease.”
An HHS spokesperson said that a few days before the Feb. 5 meeting, Azar had let Congress know he might need to use his “transfer authority” to fund the response to the virus. The Department was already using an Infectious Disease and Rapid Response Reserve Fund, which the spokesperson said was used to pay for CDC technical assistance, medical screening, and more lab capacity, among other things.
Connecticut is so undersupplied that officials have had to cut back on tests administered even as suspected new infections are surging, Murphy said, calling the forced reduction in testing “an abomination.”
Murphy said Connecticut has been particularly challenged in trying to build up its supply of re-agents, the compounds needed to run coronavirus tests. Re-agents are mostly manufactured abroad, and Murphy said “the whole world is competing” for them now.
The senator said he spent part of Thursday on the phone with a lab official in Connecticut who said he cannot administer enough tests due to the re-agent shortage.
“Had we appropriated money in February to start buying re-agent, we would be in a position to do many more tests today than we are,” Murphy said. ”It was just so clear to us that the administration didn't think this was going to be a problem. We begged them in that meeting to request emergency funding from the Congress and they told us ... that they had everything that they needed on hand, which was false.”
Murphy also criticized the White House’s decision not to take coronavirus test kits offered by the World Health Organization in January, which he said was an especially devastating mistake because that test was ready to go and easily replicable. Murphy said he believes that, as a result of the administration’s testing decisions, only about 20 percent to 30 percent of people who should be tested are able to do so.
“We didn't appropriate the dollars necessary to build out the testing infrastructure,” Murphy said.
The administration’s laissez-faire approach has also contributed to the country’s soaring infection rate, Murphy said, because Trump had resisted calls to invoke the Defense Production Act. The Defense Production Act, or DPA, allows the president to compel private companies to manufacture products deemed necessary for national security.
Trump announced Friday that he was finally invoking the DPA to force General Motors to produce badly needed ventilators. But Murphy said the president had dragged his feet in using the DPA because some of his allies pressured him against invoking it.
“The president is getting push back from right-wing ideologues, from those who believe that the private sector can fix any and all problems that confront the nation,” Murphy said.
“The national Chamber of Commerce and other conservative, free-market ideologues inside the White House are arguing for the president to not use the DPA simply because they philosophically disagree with the idea that government should play any role in the management of supplies at a time like this.”
Sabrina Fang, a spokeswoman for the Chamber of Commerce, did not respond to Yahoo News’ requests for comment.
Calling the president’s coronavirus management strategy an “abysmal failure,” Murphy said the lack of federal leadership continues to directly correlate with cities’ and states’ inability to perform enough tests and stop the disease from spreading in the U.S. He said that supply shortages have led to a “‘Lord of the Flies’ environment in which every single state and every single hospital is left to essentially fend for themselves and try to scrounge together as much equipment as they can.”
Asked what he considers to be the most important thing Trump could do to help the country turn the corner in its effort to contain the coronavirus, Murphy said the president should rethink his recent assertion that the country might be able to return to normal by Easter, which falls this year on April 12.
“What I’m most worried about right now is that the president is just going to get sort of tired of these emergency measures,” Murphy said, referring to the social distancing efforts most Americans are now undertaking. “The result will be that people will start coming out of their homes and we will end up with a health care system in absolute, catastrophic failure.”
Murphy also said he is now close to proposing legislation that will bolster coordination between the U.S, and other countries for pandemic preparedness and protection so that next time a virus emerges, leaders are better able to respond.
“There could be another one at our doorstep next spring at the same time that we’re responding to the current virus,” he said.
He also hailed the passage of a $2 trillion stimulus package late Wednesday. The package is meant to boost an economy staggering under the weight of the coronavirus pandemic and includes billions of dollars in tax credits for hard-hit industries and direct cash payments to individuals, among other provisions.
But while he said he was happy the bill would help the economy recover, “until hospitals have what they need in order to continue to respond to this ... our salvation is really in all of our hands.”
“There is no danger of overreacting right now,” Murphy said. “As the number of people infected grows by leaps and bounds every single day, as more hot spots are created all across the country, we need to take drastic measures.”
He said he is gravely worried about the administration’s “mixed messages” to the public about the duration and importance of social distancing.
“Everything in that bill is meaningless,” Murphy said of the stimulus, “unless we are all personally very serious about engaging in the best practices necessary to repel the virus.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/senator-says-white-house-turned-down-emergency-coronavirus-funding-in-early-february/ar-BB11OvE1
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“I'm not scared of the Maos and the Stalins and the Hitlers.
I'm scared of the thousands of millions of people that hallucinate them to be "authority", and so do their bidding, and pay for their empires, and carry out their orders.
I don't care if there's one looney with a stupid moustache. He's not a threat if the people do not believe in "authority".” ― Larken Rose
Setting aside the sleazy immoral Reich-wing grifters at the top -- people like Trump, Congressional Republicans, Reich-wing demagogues and media -- the rank-and-file of the GOP has become a fascist cult. To be clear, Trump did not create the cult, it existed before him. He merely served as a unifying figure they chose to rally around and worship as their fool's gold god. Trump appealed to their basest nature and told them what they wanted to hear. Now, those Reich-wing grifters may have cultivated their cult to exploit for their own greed, power and vanity, but at least to some extent the Republican cult in turn seeks to exploit the GOP for their own various misguided purposes. They CHOOSE to be willfully ignorant, to believe or espouse the lies, because as a political calculus they shortsightedly see it as expedient to their ends.
What must also be taken into consideration are the characteristics of a cult. Why do people join a cult? Why do they choose to remain in a cult? No need to go into detail; the answers are largely common knowledge or easily researched. But it should be pointed out that in a complex world, the simplistic and rigid beliefs embraced by cults can be very alluring, no matter how fantastical and removed from reality. It should also be acknowledged that the Republican cult is not a monolithic entity, but an amalgamation of sects, including White supremacists, Christian nationalists, libertarians, sovereign nationals, anarchists, tax resistors, Qanon and other extremist fringe groups. Of course, not every Republican is an extremist, a fascist, or untethered from reality. But this latter more benign group is nevertheless part of the fascist Republican cult, complicit in their support of the whole, whether through their silent acquiescence and votes or willing assistance.
It's a very dangerous feedback loop, a vicious circle, one that as it sinks further into depravity its threat correspondingly rises, for as the Republican cult has over time been becoming increasingly more radicalized, we witness the election of more radical politicians to represent them, more radicalized Reich-wing media and demagogues to feed them propaganda. While some Republicans are leaving the GOP and some others are speaking out and trying to save their party, they constitute a weak minority, unfortunately.
In a normal, sane world, the Republican cult would have ended or been marginalized after the Mueller Report, after Trump's Ukraine shakedown and impeachment, after Trump's horrendous handling of a deadly global pandemic, after his election defeat, or after January 6th and his second impeachment. But that hasn't happened. Instead, the Republican cult continues to become increasingly more radicalized and extreme. As President Biden says, "We are in a battle for the soul of this nation." And that battle is far from over.
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~ Bad Vibration, Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Sick fascination, no reservation
Brutalization, victimization
Race relation identification
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Constant conflation and truth negation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cessation media manipulation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Magnification of inspiration
Cooperation, collaboration
Restoration results in elation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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Gee, it's almost like the CDC is following the science and calibrating policies accordingly in the most practicable way possible. Imagine if everyone followed the CDC recommendations, how many American lives could have been saved, and could still be saved. What has been confusing is the misinformation and disinformation that came from the former Trump administration (excluding the CDC, NIH and the Surgeon General office under that regime), and from Reich-wing media and Reich-wing sites on social media. But listening to reputable media sources such as this one explaining the recommendations, the CDC, the NIH, reputable doctors, public health experts, and epidemiologists, I have not been confused at all about the best ways to protect myself, loved ones, and others from serious injury or death from Covid-19 throughout this pandemic. What I do find puzzling is the number of Americans who are anti-science and unwilling to follow common sense health recommendations, who seemingly have a death wish and a sociopathic disregard for others well-being.
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Two Americans already dead at the time, with more Americans dying from COVID-19, and who knows how many infected or sick because this administration can't get its act together, still can't provide the requisite testing kits to keep the American people safe, still spreading extremely dangerous disinformation, dismissing a very real threat to public health as a "hoax."
But all that's important to Trump and his ilk are getting laughs with vituperative, vindictive partisan demagoguery at their annual gala of gluttony CPAC conference--sticking it to the other side to assuage insecurities, so these losers can claim to be "winning." Pathetic, sickening, shocking, enraging, and highly alarming. BTW, the Presidency shouldn't be a stand-up comedian routine. We got a bad joke played upon us, instead of a real President. Big trouble is, Republicans just don't have what it takes to admit their mistakes--prefer to be yellow weasels bringing the whole nation down.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It’s that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don’t care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn’t want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it’s more than hope—those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another four months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn’t really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
“The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.”
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump’s hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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@jesualdocortez6426 - Excellent, almost flawless answer...it's "they're." OK, the is only in jest! Trouble is not your comprehensive answer. It is that it's probably wasted, as we are in all likelihood dealing with Russian bot sock puppets here. Even if GOP cult operatives or flaming troll perverts getting their sick jollies, they're no more receptive to facts and reason than are the Russian bots, anyway. And just as destructive with their intellectual dishonesty to our society, constantly employing deflections, denials, projectionism, Whataboutism and divisive rhetoric which is highly damaging to our civil discourse and society. The Russian-Republican propaganda is the refuge of scoundrels, who KNOW they are in the wrong and can't win the debate on merit, so the losers go low, resorting to obfuscation and confusing the issues. It isn't that the dummies playing dumb don't know better; it's that the depraved, aberrant behavior has been programmed into them--just like the Russian bots--by decades of Reich-wing media, which they seek out to confirm their racism and other such assorted willful ignorance. The GOP has transformed itself into a tribalistic, hyper-partisan cult, one that places the political fortunes of its party over the welfare and best interests of the nation.
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@jesualdocortez6426 - Precisely. Sabotaging the postal service actually will hurt Republican election chances most, and Republican cult morons more living in rural areas reliant on their prescriptions and other necessities. But, unbelievably, they don't care, as long as it gives their false golden God, Toxic Trump, an excuse for losing! Reminds one of the arsonist, Trashcan Man, and his salutation to that Devil, Capt. Tripp, in King's novel 'The Stand:' "My life for you!" Insanity!
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@Mike-nl8pm That's the fallback gambit typically used in retreat. False equivalencies. One side has been working to enact campaign finance reform and other measures to clean up government, the other side rejects them. One side really has been cleaning up its act, despite occasional lapses. The other is sinking deeper and deeper into the pit, corrupt to the core. Neither is perfect, nor will ever be. But one is the firefighter, the other is the arsonist. Do not equate the two, do not dull the tool critically needed for the job. We can help the firefighters, we can stand and watch, or some choose to support the arsonists.
Brief, informal history timeline put together might prove helpful in assessing and understanding a little about what is happening and how we got here to this point in America:
Let's face it; this American fall towards fascism didn't just happen overnight. Since before the '70s Republicans have engaged in dog whistles and pursued a racist agenda, hidden behind various facades. Reagan helped Goldwater using dog-whistles; Nixon was infamous for his use of them. Roger Ailes micromanaged Nixon's appearances, and stoked racial fears and resentments. Reagan employed them getting elected governor of California. Lee Atwater, who greatly admired Nixon's 'Southern strategy,' worked on Reagan's Presidential campaign, teaming up with Ailes. A year after Reagan's victory, Atwater gave what was then an anonymous interview, and perhaps lulled by the anonymity, he offered an unusually candid response to a question about Reagan, the Southern strategy, and the drive to attract the Wallace voters:
"You start out in 1954 by saying, "N------, N------, N-------." By 1968 you can't say "N-------," that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states' rights and all that stuff. You're getting so abstract now, you're talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you're talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is, blacks get hurt worse than whites. And subconsciously maybe that is part of it. I'm not saying that. But I'm saying that if it is getting that abstract, and that coded, that we are doing away with the racial problem one way or the other. You follow me; because obviously sitting around saying, "We want to cut taxes and we want to cut this," is much more abstract than even the busing thing, and a hell of a lot more abstract than "N------, N------." So anyway you look at it, race is coming on the back burner."
Humiliated and stunned by Nixon's forced resignation, Republicans anointed Reagan their hero, and have long insisted on regarding him as such, despite his repeated use of racial dog-whistles and his mediocre record. In 1980, Reagan characterized food stamp recipients as, "That strapping young buck in front of you at the checkout buying T-bone steak, while you wait in line to buy hamburger," and kicked off his campaign outside Philadelphia, Mississippi--notorious for the KKK lynching of four volunteer civil rights workers just 16 years earlier--by delivering the promise that, "I believe in state's rights!" Reagan returned in 1984 to another cheering crowd, this time endorsing the neo-Confederate slogan, "The South shall rise again!"
Lee Atwater went on to work with Roger Ailes on George H.W. Bush's Presidential campaign, which shamelessly stoked racial fear through the infamous Willie Horton political ad and other means. Roger Ailes would go on to head Fox News for Rupert Murdoch, until numerous allegations of sexual harassment and improprieties, along with related lawsuits against Fox, forced his removal. Ailes was a polarizing influence, who has been called the most destructive force in American politics in 50 years.
Conservative plutocrats and the GOP created the beast over decades with round-the-clock propaganda, but were swallowed whole by their own mutated creations of daily outrage, white grievance politics, and phony populism; first by the Tea Party, then by Trump. Unable to go back, and clearly having no way forward, they remain planted in their own muck and mire, trapped by the cult of their own making. The pundits and conservatives rejecting Trump are trying to salvage their party, but any person of principle and sense ought to know enough to defect the rotten machine.
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Trump’s Dangerously Effective Coronavirus Propaganda
The president’s effort to play down the pandemic is being amplified by a coalition of partisan media, digital propagandists, and White House officials.
McKay Coppins
March 11, 2020
From the moment the coronavirus reached the United States, President Donald Trump has seemed determined to construct an alternate reality around the outbreak. In the information universe he has formed, COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, is no worse than the seasonal flu; criticism of his response to it is a “hoax”; and media coverage of the virus is part of a political conspiracy to destroy his presidency.
As with so much of the president’s messaging, this narrative began with tossed-off tweets and impromptu public statements. But in recent days, as U.S. health officials have raised growing concerns about the outbreak, Trump’s efforts to play down the pandemic have been amplified by the same multi-platform propaganda apparatus he’s relying on for reelection in November. From the White House communications office to the MAGA meme warriors of Instagram, from the prime-time partisans on Fox News to the Trump campaign’s Facebook feed, the overarching message has been the same: Pay no attention to the fake-news fearmongering about the coronavirus. It’s all political hype. Things are going great.
Fact-checkers and scientists have scrambled to correct the misinformation coming out of the White House. (No, the virus has not been “contained” in America; no, testing is not available to anybody who wants it; no, people shouldn’t go to work if they’re sick.) But Trump’s message seems to have resonated with his base: A Quinnipiac University poll released this week found that just 35 percent of Republicans are concerned about the virus, compared with 68 percent of Democrats.
The administration’s response to the outbreak has drawn some comparisons to that of the autocratic regimes in China and Iran, where information about the virus was tightly controlled to the detriment of the local populations. But what Trump has actually shown is that he doesn’t need to silence the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or censor the press to undermine politically inconvenient information about a public-health crisis—he can simply use his presidential bullhorn to drown it out.
Scholars who study modern disinformation tactics have identified this approach as “censorship through noise.” (Steve Bannon, the former White House strategist, has described the strategy in blunter terms: “Flood the zone with shit.”) As I reported in my recent feature on the Trump campaign, the purpose of this sort of propaganda blizzard is not to inspire conviction in a certain set of facts; it’s to bombard people with so many contradictory claims, conspiracy theories, what-abouts, and distortions that they simply throw up their hands in confusion and exhaustion.
Spend some time wading through the coronavirus content that’s spreading through the MAGA ecosystem, and it’s easy to see the strategy at work.
Trump supporters have been warned incessantly not to trust mainstream journalistic coverage of the issue. When the market tanked earlier this week, the president blamed it on “fake news.” When White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham appeared on Fox & Friends, she condemned the media for using the virus “as a tool to politicize things and to scare people.”
Meanwhile, Trump’s right-wing media allies are working to minimize the perceived dangers of the coronavirus. “Put it in perspective,” Sean Hannity told his Fox News audience this week. “Twenty-six people were shot in Chicago alone over the weekend. I doubt you heard about it. You notice there’s no widespread hysteria about violence in Chicago. And this has now gone on for years and years and years. By the way, Democratic-run cities, we see a lot of that.” The sentiment was echoed by Tomi Lahren, a Fox Nation host, who invoked California’s homelessness problem to deflect attention from the outbreak: “Call me crazy, but I am far more concerned with stepping on a used heroin needle than I am getting the coronavirus, but maybe that’s just me.”
A key strain of the president’s narrative is that concerns about the coronavirus are being weaponized by bad-faith actors—a notion that has spawned a broad range of conspiracy theories. On Fox Business, Trish Regan accused Trump’s enemies of trying to “create mass hysteria to encourage a market sell-off” that would harm his reelection prospects: “This is impeachment all over again,” she declared. Rush Limbaugh has mused that the president is the target of “virus terrorism.” And on Facebook and Twitter, a meme has begun circulating among Trump fans that darkly suggests a new disease is introduced every election year to influence politics.
Pro-Trump social-media stars have ridiculed people who are afraid of the coronavirus, casting them as ridiculous, or perhaps unmasculine. (“Stop being a baby and go to the gym,” one well-known troll recently wrote beneath a selfie emphasizing his biceps. “Obesity is the real pandemic.”) At the same time, many Republicans are seizing on the outbreak to build support for restrictionist immigration policies and a trade war with China. “We need the Wall more than ever!” Trump tweeted this week.
To the president and his allies, it doesn’t really matter that all these narrative threads don’t perfectly cohere. Muddying the waters is the name of the game, and it’s a strategy that’s carried Trump through numerous political battles over the years.
But sowing strategic doubt about the facts of a global pandemic is fundamentally different from doing it with, say, an impeachment hearing. The dangers are more tangible and immediate to voters, regardless of whether they support Trump. The stakes are higher. And in a crass, political sense, the long-term effectiveness of the effort is limited. Hundreds of new coronavirus cases are being confirmed every day in the U.S. Public events are being canceled, schools are shutting down, containment zones are being implemented by governors. As daily life is disrupted for more and more Americans, Trump’s alternate reality is bound to implode.
Some on the right seem to understand this. Prominent conservative writers such as Ross Douthat and Michael Brendan Dougherty have been covering the outbreak with a sense of urgency. This week, National Review published an editorial criticizing the president’s lackluster response to the virus. Perhaps most notably, Tucker Carlson broke with his prime-time Fox News colleagues this week with a withering monologue that seemed to address Trump without ever saying his name.
“In a crisis, it’s more important than ever to be calm,” Carlson said. “But staying calm is not the same as remaining complacent. It does not mean assuring people that everything will be fine. We don’t know that. Instead, it’s better to tell the truth. That is always the surest sign of strength.”
Will Trump, who has taken cues from Carlson’s show in the past, get the message—or will it be drowned out by the din of the noise machine he helped create?
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/03/trump-coronavirus-threat/607825/
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Toxic Trump: "It's a HOAX!"
Much later: …."I got this pandemic completely under control, we're safe!"
Shortly after: …."It's not my fault! States need to take charge! I don't take ANY responsibility! It's unsafe! You need to stay home!"
Next day: ...."The cure is worse than the disease, you need to go back to work!
Next week: ...."Don't listen to me! Listen to the CDC!"
Following days: ...."USA #1 in coronavirus cases--and now we're #1 in coronavirus DEATHS! We're the BEST! Thanks to my extremely stable genius wartime leadership, only 100,000-240,000 Americans will die! We're doing a TREMENDOUS job! I still don't take ANY responsibility!"
Last week: ... "I've anointed myself All Powerful Dear Leader and will soon order all my subjects back to work despite lack of vaccine, cure, testing, PPE, medical staffing, and the sure-fire massive resurgence resulting thereof, killing tens of thousands more Americans--because this pandemic is killing my lucrative Emoluments business, and even my Soviet-style election chances!"
Now: … "Scratch that; might have to actually do stuff. My greatest-ever new half-baked plan shifts all responsibility and blame back to governors! For now. Somewhat. Maybe. We'll be letting you know, hopefully!"
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This comment is a gross oversimplification that distorts the truth. The internet contains a wealth of knowledge, quickly available at a person's fingertips. Perhaps now we take it for granted. Perhaps few foresaw how it would become such a destructive tool for misinformation and disinformation. But misinformation and disinformation hasn't just become solely pervasive upon the internet, Reich-wing politicians and Reich-wing media have been a potent source for even longer. And the core of the problem really lies with the people who CHOOSE to believe the lies, who eschew critical thought, common sense, integrity, and objectivity. They are the ones most deserving of blame, not any politician, demagogue or platform, be it print, radio, TV, social media, or internet. The internet is like anything else, it has the potential to be abused and used for bad, and it has the potential for good. And it is only as good as we are willing to make it. While many will doubtless identify with this comment and upvote it, I find it rather superficial, misleading and ironic, in that itself constitutes a form of misinformation, one contained on the internet.
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The Reich-wing has been denigrating, demonizing, and damaging government and reputable media for decades, long before Qanon put their lies and fear-mongering on steroids. Even before Qanon, one might try explaining Civics 101 to Republicans and be met with a blank stare or derision. Just to point out that this is not a new problem, but an infection that has been festering for some time, with the GOP's embrace of Qanon akin to them now applying flesh-eating bacteria to the open already infected wound.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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--Living in a swing state, my vote has far more influence than voters in any non-swing state--red or blue. Maybe good for me and my state, but bad for the vast majority of other voters not in swing states who are disenfranchised, bad for democracy, and bad for the nation.
--The U.S. became a nation because of "no taxation without equal representation," and the electoral college is a prime example of unequal representation.
--Our Republic thrives on democracy, can not exist without robust democracy. The less democratic the Republic is, the weaker it becomes.
--Red states and Blue states are not homogenous political entities; all states contain some mix of ideologies and political affiliations. So, no, the most populous states don't determine the outcome of any Presidential election, the candidate with the most votes from ALL states wins--every person's vote counts equally. The way it should be. No more red or blue people getting left out, no more purple states and their people getting outsized influence and preferential treatment over red and blue states.
--Voting patterns and demographics in America are constantly in flux. There are no guarantees that a state will remain red or blue, as has been amply demonstrated historically. Current trends actually have the electoral college soon advantaging Democrats, disadvantaging Republicans.
--Presidents lacking a popular mandate have been traditionally weak and effective, and the current occupant is certainly no exception. That's not good for any of us, or for our beloved Republic.
--America is about its ideals and people, about coming together--not about land masses and arbitrary state lines that divide us.
--The U.S. already has a Senate and Amendment ratification process capable of adequately protecting a reasonable amount of state sovereignty.
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One of the more intelligent comments to be found on YouTube. Trade wars are like military wars; there are no winners, only lots of losers. Moreover, military wars are much more likely to have a clear-cut victor than trade wars. Trump's trade war with China is ill-advised in its approach and strategy, and thus doomed to achieving little success, and making it highly improbable there will be any clear-cut victor in this trade war, either. One thing appears certain, and that is that it will have been a costly lesson to Americans. Will they learn anything from it, and make it costly for Trump? If they haven't learned yet that Biggest Loser is the worst thing to happen to America, then there is little hope for them, or us. While these issues need to be discussed, we should also be mindful these should not in any way distract from the urgency and import of the central issues of Traitor Trump's malfeasance and perfidy staining the Oval Office, but serve as further evidence of his gross incompetence and unfitness for that office.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-‘n-‘Thief, Toxic Trump, so much—although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages—as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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There has never been a graceful exit for the losing side in any war.
Truth is, our hasty withdrawal from Vietnam was even worse if you look at the numbers and the whole picture. Only 7,000 were evacuated from Vietnam during the fall of Saigon, with many more left behind, including two dead American soldiers----the last to die in the Vietnam War----left behind in a hospital and not returned until a year later by the Vietnamese. That evacuation occurred under hostile NVA and Vietcong fire. Since August 14, over 28,000 have already been evacuated from Afghanistan despite the complete capitulation of the Afghan government and Afghan Army, with no hostile fire upon American troops by the Taliban so far. 33,000 have been evacuated since July. Moreover, the January 27, 1973 peace agreement signed by the Americans with the North Vietnamese ended all direct U.S. military involvement in Vietnam, and provided sixty days for troop removal. Just as with Afghanistan, all troops were removed. However, it was over two years later, on April 30, 1975, when the fall of Saigon occurred. So, the U.S. had nearly two-and-a-half years to evacuate everyone else before the fall of the South Vietnamese government and armed forces, instead of just the two weeks like in Afghanistan so far.
The other thing in stark contrast between Vietnam and Afghanistan is that no Democrats----including Carter, who was running against Ford for President----tried to use the situation for political gain like Republicans are so desperately and depravedly doing now. That, despite the fact that it was the previous Trump administration which bears the brunt of the blame for the current situation.
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It's like rowing or paddling upstream, or into a stiff wind--if you ease-up too much or stop, you will only have to paddle twice as hard to make up all the previous hard-earned progress that was quickly lost. Failing to maintain isolation and other measures for sufficient time to stop the spread of COVID-19 transmission will cost U.S. more in time, effort, money, and LIVES. Reopening and relaxing measures too early in defiance of the science and data is the ultimate in colossal ignorance, greed, ruthlessness, and arrogance.
We have a segment of Republican cult willfully ignorant, who malevolently seek to sabotage containment efforts. But many do not grasp how important it is that we treat ourselves and everyone else as being infected.
This is because people know that is very unlikely, especially outside dense urban areas, where incidence rates are low. Because of the delay in onset of the disease and asymptomatic carriers, COVID-19 is a stealth killer that uses Americans against each other as its foot soldiers, transporting it, keeping the disease and its train of transmission alive. This is further complicated because people cannot see a virus, see it attacking, see it spreading, until it is too late. For many of us, seeing is believing, and people are incapable or reluctant to make that leap of logic required to keep them and everyone safe--even with the massive public education efforts.
Of course, the problem becomes greatly exacerbated when the President refuses to wear a mask, and his administration works against itself in fighting this deadly global pandemic, sending conflicting messages to the public. Toxic Trump, his administration, and all the Republicans who have aided and abetted him, are directly responsible in our view for the senseless deaths of tens and thousands of Americans. The dead are the worst of it, but there is also the tremendous needless suffering and economic loss accompanying their wanton criminal negligence.
No national testing, no rational national coordinated pandemic response. Republican governors reopening too quickly in defiance of CDC guidelines are only following the President's lead. Democratic governors in many states likewise being adversely pressured by Toxic Trump's pandemic disinformation and Republican opposition to requisite lockdowns. Problem starts at the top. Don't fault even the worst Republican governors as much as this President. The President needed to take the lead, take the hit for the hard decisions--not put all the weight on governors as he as.
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@Julie B - You're definitely right about Republican cult Trumpette trolls being worse--because the moronic immoral fools are helping our principle foreign adversary, Russia, weaken and destroy their own country! Something that could be expected from an evil Putin, but from our fellow Americans?!?
Estimate 90-95% of what are often mistaken for Reich-wing cult clowns are actually of Russian manufacturer. While there are no published studies we know of yet to reference, as former military intelligence can tell you that there are subtle (sometimes obvious) telltale giveaways and patterns which betray them. They're clever, but not really all that smart. They are like the impudent little children clamoring for attention, trying to disrupt with outrageous and outlandish nonsense while the adults are trying to have a serious, rational discussion. Best remedy is to simply ignore, disregard, refuse to play their destructive, divisive games. The bonus is that you'll feel a whole lot better, too! Hope we've been of some help!
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Tucker Carlson and Faux News: mainstreaming American fascism purely for profit.
America's enemies don't need to spread disinformation, doubt, discord, and division to weaken America, kill Americans--Republican politicians, Reich-wing demagogues, Faux News, OAN, Newsmax, Breitbart and the rest of the Reich-wing media do that so effectively for them, already. More Americans need to realize that the GOP has abdicated it's duty as loyal opposition, and that its prioritization of party over country and welcoming embrace of violent radical Reich-wing extremists diminishes both our government and our national security, endangering ALL Americans, as well as weakening and endangering America itself.
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~ Bad Vibration, Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Dispensation of exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Sick fascination, no reservation
Brutalization, victimization
Race relation identification
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Constant conflation and truth negation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cessation media manipulation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cooperation, collaboration
Restoration results in elation
Every generation, jubilation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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Freedoms can exist only up to the point they infringe upon the freedom of others. Religious tolerance can be practiced only up to the point it becomes intolerant of others. Our Constitution is a secular document, not a religious one, and it was certainly never intended to be a suicidal death pact. Getting vaccinated and following CDC guidelines brings freedom from preventable illness or injury, and a senseless premature death, but the mindless fascist Republican cult only believes in freeDUMB. Just as they don't understand or would deny the Constitution is as much about the common good as personal liberties, and that those two things are intrinsically and inextricably intertwined.
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge." ~ Ben Franklin, from Poor Richard's Almanack
Those who scorn public health guidelines during a deadly global pandemic and confuse a grievous public health issue with "essential" liberty to kill and harm themselves and their fellow citizens--as well as their nation--sorely lack both care and knowledge. They are also sorely lacking in common sense, something else about which Mr. Franklin was quite keen. Mr. Franklin was also one our nation's first scientists--yet these modern-day knuckleheads who ought know better refute science! Were he alive today, he would be rather dismayed, disgruntled, and disgusted with the fascist anti-science Republican cult, that much is crystal clear.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, along with Reich-wing demagogues and media, who were complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance, and in spreading disinformation and misinformation. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump left office, one out of every 800 Americans had died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 410,000 fatalities, as many American casualties as all of WWII. To put it into further perspective, throughout Trump's catastrophic mishandling of a deadly global pandemic, the U.S. led the world in cases and deaths, suffering nearly 25% of each, despite having only 4.25% of global population, despite having the advantage of being the richest and most advanced nation in the world.
The memorial would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure. Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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Spoken like a true Russian bot, Doc!
***MEDIA FAIL*** -- Questions were answered, just not with a 'yes' or 'no.' CNN making mountains out of molehills, trying to stir controversy, jack ratings, mesmerize the masses for more mega-moola. It's all about the "SOUND BITE," right, CNN, not the substance of the issue here? Fact is, DCCC and AOC may have their differences, but the common ground between them is vast, far more than any petty disagreements. We all know that, but CNN not going to let the truth get in the way of fabricating a fiction for followers of such foolery.
DCCC's Bustos didn't do herself any favors, either. We expect politicians to speak diplomatically and to parse their words to please the largest proportion of people. However, here the affirmative admission was made in both instances, anyway, so a simple straightforward 'yes' answer to both questions would be appropriate, reflecting both on her and Democrats favorably. Instead, Bustos comes off as being less than honest, reflecting poorly on both herself and Democrats--pointlessly, for no good reason, whatsoever! In fact, she was being honest, if also reserved and reticent, in her answers.
The bottom line here is the reporter kept redundantly asking the same questions, despite being supplied the same AFFIRMATIVE answers each time. That's on the reporter, not the DCCC chair. Doggedly determined to dig dirt and dominate, but denied going down in the ditch, diatribe dip at the CNN desk deserved to be dangled and dissed.
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"We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
~ How Fascism Works, The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(Reference also Father Charles E. Coughlin and Henry Ford in regards to the first America First movement.)
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
Malcolm Nance: We Are In A Neo-Fascist Era In American Politics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_RxUAe2zeM
Political Analyst Tells Joy Reid: Forget Trumpism, IT’s Neo-Fascism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IgNp84JA4A
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over four decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Rep. Cheney gave a powerful and defiant speech speaking truth to the dysfunctional Republican party to which she belongs, which has abdicated its duty to be LOYAL opposition----except for one thing. Republicans did not end communism in the former USSR or cause its dissolution. A consistent foreign policy by both Democratic and Republican leaders in the Executive Branch and Congress over decades played a role, but it was the work and decisions of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev that were the decisive factor and which deserve most credit. He instituted policies of glasnost and perestroika, changed Soviet law to allow other parties to compete against the Communist Party, motivated because he saw clearly that Russia was dysfunctional, its political and economic structure moribund and detrimental to Russia's progress. For his courage and actions, for speaking the truth to the Russian people, Gorbachev paid a much higher price politically than is Liz Cheney currently, who is displaying the same kind of courage as he did.
Gorbachev received the Nobel Peace prize in 1990 for all that he did for Russia and ending the Cold War, and it is wrong for Cheney to falsely attribute all credit to her Republican party for the results largely due to his independent decisions, engaging in history revisionism for the benefit of her political party. Isn't that exactly why the GOP----and Liz Cheney----find themselves in their present predicament in the first place? So, it is heavily ironic that Cheney does not extend the same due for his bravery and patriotism in telling the truth to the Russian people that she is exhibiting telling the truth about the 2020 election to the American people. It is also heavily ironic that the credit she is falsely attributing to the Republican party for the USSR becoming more democratic comes at a time when the Republican party is corroding democracy and seeking to make America less democratic.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or "the Wall") is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle's name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called "leaders" in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 -- than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to--and a barrier against--our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It's design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge--and help teach--people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see...if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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@weo-mum-mum ~ Thanks for the kind words! Glad you appreciated it. Funny thing is, you're like the third or fourth person now to suggest it being put in the newspapers.
The quotes are correctly attributed and, as always, folks are encouraged to freely share or repost any of my original commentary--no accreditation even necessary! Recognition, popularity, subscribers, or profit are of no concern to me. Upvotes are fine, insofar that such may facilitate the message reaching a wider audience. The singular goal is to educate, enlighten, and provoke thought, in the hope of making the world a little bit better place.
So, if you would like to submit it to a newspaper, repost here or elsewhere when relevant to the subject matter presented, please feel free to do so. Again, accreditation to me is not required. Am always honored and humbled to see my writings reposted and shared, regardless of under who's byline it appears.
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I'm fully vaccinated and boosted, still wearing a mask when in public indoor places, still trying to maintain social distancing, still using proper hygiene, trying to do my civic part. I see some other conscientious citizens doing the same. It's really not all that hard or burdensome, and I don't understand why so many others can't follow common sense guidelines to keep everyone safe and to help get things back to normal.
'Tis the season for giving. Let's give to our health care workers this season by getting vaccinated and boosted, masking up in public and following common sense health guidelines. You'll also be giving a gift to yourself and your country!
In a sane America----one where a third of the population wasn't programmed into a mindless, fascist Republican cult----we would have universal Covid-19 vaccine passports, masks and social distancing required wherever and whenever deemed necessary by public health officials, and mandatory vaccinations for all those able to receive it. Actually, in a sane America, none of that would be necessary, because everyone able would be voluntarily getting vaccinated, and everybody would be faithfully following CDC guidelines like wearing masks and socially distancing. They would be doing so because it is in their own best interest; because it is the moral and ethical thing to do to protect our fellow citizens; because we don't want to overflow hospitals and overstress medical workers with Covid-19 cases; because we need to prevent the creation of new, more deadly variants; because it is the best way to recover the economy; because it is the best way to get things back to normal; because it is the civic, patriotic thing to do; and because it is just plain good old-fashioned common sense.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, and politicians created a mindless Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
Democrats, Independents, others: WTF?!?
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It's like rowing or paddling upstream, or into a stiff wind--if you ease-up too much or stop, you will only have to paddle twice as hard to make up all the previous hard-earned progress that was quickly lost. Failing to maintain isolation and other measures for sufficient time to stop the spread of COVID-19 transmission will cost U.S. more in time, effort, money, and LIVES. Reopening and relaxing measures too early in defiance of the science and data is the ultimate in colossal ignorance, greed, ruthlessness, and arrogance.
We have a segment of Republican cult willfully ignorant, who malevolently seek to sabotage containment efforts. But many do not grasp how important it is that we treat ourselves and everyone else as being infected.
This is because people know that is very unlikely, especially outside dense urban areas, where incidence rates are low. Because of the delay in onset of the disease and asymptomatic carriers, COVID-19 is a stealth killer that uses Americans against each other as its foot soldiers, transporting it, keeping the disease and its train of transmission alive. This is further complicated because people cannot see a virus, see it attacking, see it spreading, until it is too late. For many of us, seeing is believing, and people are incapable or reluctant to make that leap of logic required to keep them and everyone safe--even with the massive public education efforts.
Of course, the problem becomes greatly exacerbated when the President refuses to wear a mask, and his administration works against itself in fighting this deadly global pandemic, sending conflicting messages to the public. Toxic Trump, his administration, and all the Republicans who have aided and abetted him, are directly responsible in our view for the senseless deaths of tens and thousands of Americans. The dead are the worst of it, but there is also the tremendous needless suffering and economic loss accompanying their wanton criminal negligence.
No national testing, no rational national coordinated pandemic response. Republican governors reopening too quickly in defiance of CDC guidelines are only following the President's lead. Democratic governors in many states likewise being adversely pressured by Toxic Trump's pandemic disinformation and Republican opposition to requisite lockdowns. Problem starts at the top. Don't fault even the worst Republican governors as much as this President. The President needed to take the lead, take the hit for the hard decisions--not put all the weight on governors as he as.
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@lbburgett ~GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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jerome dupree ~ You mean like Toxic Trump adding $8 TRILLION to the national debt in just four years, despite a booming economy inherited from Obama? Unlike Trump, Obama inherited a massive economic meltdown from the previous Republican President--as well as two wars--which saddled his administration with a huge financial burden that was required to fix America's biggest recession since the Great Depression. Despite that, Obama added to the debt at just half the rate of Toxic Trump. Under Obama the average was $1 trillion a year; under Toxic Trump, the average was $2 trillion a year. Meanwhile, the COVID-19 stimulus under Biden will ultimately SAVE American taxpayers money while benefiting us and the nation. Should a decent infrastructure bill pass under Biden, that will also ultimately SAVE American taxpayer money, while likewise benefiting us and the nation. Should comprehensive immigration reform pass, American taxpayers will also benefit.
Your analogy is fatally flawed on immigration, as it was Toxic Trump who shook the bottle of champagne, destroying much of this nations immigration infrastructure, while refusing to tackle the problem of immigration and immigration reform in any serious, comprehensive manner. And, no, Toxic Trump's horrific, barbaric, inhumane immigration policies were not sustainable, practical, or moral. All that Toxic Trump did was create a bottleneck, a faulty dam against immigration that was destined to soon burst. But don't let the facts get in the way of your xenophobic fear-mongering, Doc!
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To those not wearing masks, social distancing, or following guidelines: Your willful ignorance does not mask your wanton disregard for human life, your appalling lack of humanity and humility, your supremely selfish inconsideration of others. Despite absolutely loathing wearing a mask, it's also the reason it's worn. The sooner we all start wearing masks, social distancing, and taking this deadly pandemic seriously, the sooner we get to take them off, the less time they'll need to be worn. Not to mention, the sooner we can go back to a normal that is more like normal, the sooner we can get our jobs back and our economy rolling, again. And, of course, most importantly, the more lives we can save--which might even be your own life, or the life of a friend or loved one.
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GOP cult is NOT the party of law and order, NOT the party of the Constitution and patriots, NOT the party of "values," NOT the party of fiscal responsibility, NOT the party of clean government, NOT the party of freedom. It's the party of terrorism, lawlessness, corruption, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry, misogyny, Big Lies, unmitigated greed, gross hypocrisy, socialized taxpayer payouts for plutocrats, sedition, traitors, and tyranny.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
~ "Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Setting aside the sleazy immoral Reich-wing grifters at the top -- people like Trump, Congressional Republicans, Reich-wing demagogues and media -- the rank-and-file of the GOP has become a fascist cult. To be clear, Trump did not create the cult, it existed before him. He merely served as a unifying figure they chose to rally around and worship as their fool's gold god. Trump appealed to their basest nature and told them what they wanted to hear. Now, those Reich-wing grifters may have cultivated their cult to exploit for their own greed, power and vanity, but at least to some extent the Republican cult in turn seeks to exploit the GOP for their own various misguided purposes. They CHOOSE to be willfully ignorant, to believe or espouse the lies, because as a political calculus they shortsightedly see it as expedient to their ends.
What must also be taken into consideration are the characteristics of a cult. Why do people join a cult? Why do they choose to remain in a cult? No need to go into detail; the answers are largely common knowledge or easily researched. But it should be pointed out that in a complex world, the simplistic and rigid beliefs embraced by cults can be very alluring, no matter how fantastical and removed from reality. It should also be acknowledged that the Republican cult is not a monolithic entity, but an amalgamation of sects, including White supremacists, Christian nationalists, libertarians, sovereign nationals, anarchists, tax resistors, Qanon and other extremist fringe groups. Of course, not every Republican is an extremist, a fascist, or untethered from reality. But this latter more benign group is nevertheless part of the fascist Republican cult, complicit in their support of the whole, whether through their silent acquiescence and votes or willing assistance.
It's a very dangerous feedback loop, a vicious circle, one that as it sinks further into depravity its threat correspondingly rises, for as the Republican cult has over time been becoming increasingly more radicalized, we witness the election of more radical politicians to represent them, more radicalized Reich-wing media and demagogues to feed them propaganda. While some Republicans are leaving the GOP and some others are speaking out and trying to save their party, they constitute a weak minority, unfortunately.
In a normal, sane world, the Republican cult would have ended or been marginalized after the Mueller Report, after Trump's Ukraine shakedown and impeachment, after Trump's horrendous handling of a deadly global pandemic, after his election defeat, or after January 6th and his second impeachment. But that hasn't happened. Instead, the Republican cult continues to become increasingly more radicalized and extreme. As President Biden says, "We are in a battle for the soul of this nation." And that battle is far from over.
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@pneron2032 ~ It's a shame. Those programmed to hate think everyone else is like them. We may hate the things Toxic Trump says and does, but we pity him for his sociopathic narcissism, not hate him. None of which precludes seeing him for who and what he is, and pointing it out.
Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-‘n-‘Thief, Toxic Trump, so much—although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages—as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
The Republican cult listens to and follows false GOP prophets, worships a false golden Toxic Trump God whom they place upon a pedestal.
“The mark is always the last to know.” Except the Republican cult are willfully ignorant sheep blissfully fleeced and slaughtered. It isn’t that they don’t know Toxic Trump is a treasonous grifter, an inveterate liar, a despicable selfish, soulless, slimy slug filled with hate. It’s that they don’t care! Which is what makes them so dangerous.
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@stadtfahrplan ~ Sounds like you're laying blame, there. Maybe a little more introspection and navel gazing will make Toxic Trump and the Republican cult magically disappear, like COVID-19? Sometimes a turd is just a turd is just a turd, and needs to be called for what it is. Do you think this nation is sliding towards proto-fascism? Do you think that should be ignored? Or, is that something which must be confronted directly and honestly if it is to be vanquished?
One of our nation's problems is too many currently seeking to find a middle ground when right and wrong have never been so clear. They seek refuge in false equivalencies, which make them feel sophisticated, superior and above the fray. They are part of the problem, not the solution. Sometimes it is necessary--even vital--to take a stand, go with what you know in your head and heart is right.
You misunderstand us. We constantly question our beliefs, value valid criticism, treasure others questioning and challenging our beliefs. We are not infallible, do not pretend to be. We are not a shallow thinker, but introspective and constantly in search of the deeper truth--in ourselves, and in others.
In certain matters, we can be brutally frank, which is something of our Achilles heel, because we don't sugarcoat things to grease the wheels. It is our expectation that others should likewise speak the truth plainly, so we don't apologize for that, but we do sincerely regret when we are misunderstood and people are unnecessarily offended.
Aside from all that, why do you focus solely on our approach, instead of the substance of our remarks? Why no response to any of the SUBSTANCE of what we've posted here to this thread? We would be interested to know your thoughts, but you are rather opaque about the current sad state of affairs--which are much more important than just the sad passing of RGB.
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America's enemies don't need to spread disinformation, doubt, discord, and division to weaken America, kill Americans--Republican politicians, Reich-wing demagogues, Faux News, OAN, Newsmax, Breitbart and the rest of the Reich-wing media do that so effectively for them, already. More Americans need to realize that the GOP has abdicated it's duty as loyal opposition, and that its prioritization of party over country and welcoming embrace of violent radical Reich-wing extremists diminishes both our government and our national security, endangering ALL Americans, as well as weakening and endangering America itself.
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GOP cult: “Democracy is great…only so long as we can subvert it with lies, cheating, a multitude of Jim Crow voter suppression laws, egregious gerrymandering, obstruction, coups, election interference, election fraud, sedition, insurrection and terrorism to gain power and maintain our corrupt, plutocratic, minority fascist rule!”
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@sharkfinsurfchannel Without realizing it, you're alluding to the very problem you seek to deny. The story of this young black man is just as compelling, if not more, and his disappearance far more mysterious. You're right that there are thousands of people that go missing, but then why is it that invariably the stories of young, attractive white women get the most attention by the public, law enforcement, and the media.
Not to boast, but coincidentally my youngest is much like Gabby; she is almost exactly the same age, trim, and even more beautiful. There are other similarities, as well. Still, even though she (and those of us who know and love her) would unduly benefit from the systemic racism in our society were she to turn up missing, I wouldn't feel right about it, and that's not how things should be.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Republican cult placing political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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@williamparks867 ~ No. Many viruses can cause the common cold, with rhinoviruses being the most typical cause. There are many strains and variations of rhinoviruses, which is why few people are immune from catching a cold. The corona virus family includes some types of flu, and likewise has different strains and variants, which is why the flu vaccine changes annually. However, COVID-19 is a new strain of corona virus, distinct and much more deadly than the common flu. Seasonal flu doesn't result in hospitals and ICU rooms being flooded with patients, as has been happening with COVID-19. Seasonal flu doesn't result in 330,000 deaths in just ten months, as has happened in America due to Toxic Trump downplaying the threat and too many Americans listening to him instead of the medical experts, not taking the threat to themselves and others seriously enough.
What we do realize is that you are a Putin puppet--whether Russian or American--spreading COVID-19 disinformation to weaken America and kill Americans. If not Russian, you really need to get a clue. #moreRussiasanctions
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Thanks for the recommendation, much appreciated. Somehow missed this, but it will definitely go to the top of my reading list. From a review, for more information to any others:
'Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America' by Kathleen Belew (Harvard University Press, 2018)
The movement “brought together members of the Klan, militias, radical tax resisters, white separatists, neo-Nazis, and proponents of white theologies such as Christian Identity, Odinism, and Dualism” (ix). What was it about the movement that brought these ideologies together?
The promise of violence — rather, the promise that members would get to inflict violence on other people. Belew writes that as the white power movement matured, it became more violent, and “[as] violence came to the fore of the movement, distinctions among white power factions melted away” (60). Belew calls this process “violent community formation” (34). Yet as a social movement, Belew makes a distinction between the white power movement’s “revolutionary violence” and the Ku Klux Klan’s “vigilante violence.”
Vigilante violence “served to constitute, shore up, and enforce systemic power” (106). Given that the U.S. government has a long history of “defending vigilante violence by refusing to enforce the law” (99), law enforcement inaction and vigilante violence may be understood together as a case of one hand washing the other. Revolutionary violence, however, sought to overthrow the state. It is the white power movement’s goal of overthrowing the federal government that sets it apart in the history of white supremacy in the U.S.
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"We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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America's enemies don't need to spread disinformation, doubt, discord, and division to weaken America, kill Americans--Republican politicians, Reich-wing demagogues, Faux News, OAN, Newsmax, Breitbart and the rest of the Reich-wing media do that so effectively for them, already. More Americans need to realize that the GOP has abdicated it's duty as loyal opposition, and that its prioritization of party over country diminishes both our government and our national security, endangering ALL Americans, as well as weakening and endangering America itself.
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Buzzman Obvious Russian who doesn't understand the American justice system, nor the impeachment process, which isn't a criminal matter, but a job evaluation!
Prosecutors don't prosecute unless there is a crime, and there is no defense lawyer to argue against indictment for the defendant until the trial. Americans know that prosecutors routinely make determinations whether to charge a crime before defense lawyers are ever even hired, doofus! Moreover, Americans know that while sometimes prosecutors can be overzealous, the vast majority exercise great care and respect for the law to protect the innocent, not just obtain a conviction.
As all Americans know, impeachment trial takes place in Senate, not House, where all evidence other than classified will be heard in open session! House makes referral to Senate after gathering information and conducting vote to determine whether to refer. While not a criminal matter, it is the legal equivalent of an indictment. The House acts as prosecutor under our Constitution for the impeachment trial in the Senate, as well.
Finally, you are obviously seeking to deflect from Toxic Traitor Trump's crimes by talking about due process....FOR AN OBVIOUS CROOK. Marking you in bright day-glow neon blaze orange as an obvious Russian, Doc!
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@rog2353 ~ Putin is posturing. He's not stupid, isn't about to kill the goose that lays the golden egg, which is the corrupt regime he runs. If he thought he could get away with taking Ukraine, he would do it, but he knows it would be too costly, and could well prove his downfall.
Some of the Soviets troops killed after WWII were known or suspected of collaborating with the Germans, but they were also killed throughout and after the war for political and other reasons. In total, about 135,000 Soviet troops were killed by their own countrymen, and about five times that were imprisoned, where many more likely died from harsh conditions. For comparison, the next highest executions of their own troops was Germany, with about 9,000. The Allied nations each had very few, many less than 100.
But those Soviet troops killed pales in comparison to the 20-60 million people killed in the communist Soviet Union from purges that began under Lenin, with Stalin responsible for the vast majority of those deaths.
Which is all to agree that the Russian people have good reason to live in fear. Putin runs a brutal, repressive regime, and while there is resistance and protests, they are met with harsh crackdowns by security forces and often heavy punishment handed down to those involved. What Putin fears is not the U.S. or NATO, but his fellow citizens.
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If you hitched your wagon to a dying beast and got stranded, whose fault is that? And if you knew that dying beast was killing and sickening people, spewing poison into our air and water, but chose to hitch your wagon to it, anyway, what kind of person does that make you? One worthy of sympathy for losing that killer job? Besides, it isn't as if these people and communities are unable to learn new job skills, build a cleaner and more moral job base.
In addition to being one of the dirtiest hydrocarbon fuels to burn, contributing significantly to climate change and harmful air pollution, after coal is burned what remains in the ash includes lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium, arsenic, and selenium, all in levels that may threaten human health. In just 2014 alone, the U.S. produced 130 MILLION TONS of coal ash.
For decades, utilities have disposed of coal ash dangerously, dumping it in unlined ponds and landfills where the toxins leak into groundwater. According to the industry’s own data, more than 95% of the coal ash ponds in the United States are unlined. 738 coal ash units in 43 states and Puerto Rico have reported information in compliance with federal coal ash safeguards since 2015. More than 550 units — at 265 plants — reported groundwater monitoring data. Based on that data, 91% of these plants are contaminating groundwater with toxic substances at levels exceeding federal safe standards.
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"As many as 70,000 Americans could be confirmed as infected with coronavirus by the end of next week, marking a “pretty dramatic” increase in the number of confirmed cases, the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, told his employees in an agency-wide conference call on 03/20/20."
Except 03/21/20 saw a 33% jump in U.S. cases, from 18,000 to over 24,000. If continuing at 33% every 24 hours, the number of confirmed cases is trending much higher than just 70,000 by 03/27/20. Suspect confirmed cases will be double that. Bear in mind, states hardest hit are not testing many people, saving the tests for those most in need. So the actual number of infected Americans is going to be far higher than just what limited testing of the population has so far confirmed. Don't think this fact is being given enough attention. More important than the number of cases confirmed is the number contracting the disease and not getting tested, spreading the disease, in many cases unknowingly. Hospital projections are for about 100 MILLION Americans to become infected, with about 500,000 dead from covid-19.
(Update 5: Friday, 03/27/20, confirmed U.S. cases 105,000--which is 50% over NIH high-end estimate; deaths 1,700 by end of day. The perspective for cases is significantly skewed low and thus highly misleading, however, as just 0.17% of U.S. population has been tested to date.)
03/29/20 -- 143,000 confirmed cases; 2,450 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
03/30/20 -- 165,000 confirmed cases; 3,250 deaths.
03/31/20 -- 190,000 confirmed cases; 4,200 deaths.
04/01/20 -- 217,000 confirmed cases; 5,150 deaths.
04/02/20 -- 246,000 confirmed cases; 6,050 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/03/20 -- 278,000 confirmed cases; 7,150 deaths.
04/04/20 -- 312,000 confirmed cases; 9,400 deaths.
04/05/20 -- 338,000 confirmed cases; 9,700 deaths.
04/06/20 -- 369,000 confirmed cases; 11,000 deaths.
04/07/20 -- 400,000 confirmed cases; 13,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. Figures indicate a Covid-19 fatality rate for TESTED Americans at 3.25%.
04/08/20 -- 432,000 confirmed cases; 15,900 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S.
04/09/20 -- 466,000 confirmed cases; 16,700 deaths.
04/10/20 -- 502,000 confirmed cases; 18,800 deaths.
04/11/20 -- 530,000 confirmed cases; 20,500 deaths.
04/12/20 -- 558,000 confirmed cases; 22,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S. With just 4.25% of the world's population, the U.S. has 30% of the COVID-19 infections and 20% of the COVID-19 deaths. So far, the U.S. has the very WORST response of ANY nation, something formerly inconceivable, and inexcusable that it could now be allowed to happen here. In the U.S., we have 1.5 million seniors in 15,000 nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Despite forming only 0.45% of the U.S. population, they make up almost 10% of deaths, primarily because our federal government is not doing enough to protect them. Reported that many hospitals are no longer accepting COVID-19 patients from nursing homes, preferring they die there, instead. Our seniors, who helped build, grow and make America great, are being sacrificed, solely to ignorance.
04/13/20 -- 583,000 confirmed cases; 24,200 deaths
04/14/20 -- 609,000 confirmed cases; 26,600 deaths (+2,364* - New worst daily death toll)
04/15/20 -- 640,000 confirmed cases; 30,800 deaths (4,200*) The United States recorded its first coronavirus fatality on Feb. 29. It took 38 days to reach 10,000 deaths and just nine more days to go from 10,000 fatalities to 30,000. An increase in fatalities over the last 48 hours was expected, but also due to new CDC policy, starting on 04/14, to include probable COVID-19 deaths...finally.
04/16/20 -- (Incomplete) 671,000 confirmed cases; 33,100 deaths Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
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GOP is NOT the party of law and order, NOT the party of the Constitution and patriots, NOT the party of "values," NOT the party of fiscal responsibility, NOT the party of clean government. It's the party of terrorism, lawlessness, corruption, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry, misogyny, big lies, sedition, and traitors.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and disturbing. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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Tucker Carlson and Faux News: mainstreaming American fascism purely for profit.
America's enemies don't need to spread disinformation, doubt, discord, and division to weaken America, kill Americans--Republican politicians, Reich-wing demagogues, Faux News, OAN, Newsmax, Breitbart and the rest of the Reich-wing media do that so effectively for them, already. More Americans need to realize that the GOP has abdicated it's duty as loyal opposition, and that its prioritization of party over country and welcoming embrace of violent radical Reich-wing extremists diminishes both our government and our national security, endangering ALL Americans, as well as weakening and endangering America itself.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Tucker Carlson and Faux News: mainstreaming American fascism purely for profit.
FAUX News is happy to push Russian propaganda for Putin and disinformation for plutocrats and fascists, but the truth is verboten on Reich-wing media! Sad, pathetic, disgusting and dangerous.
America's enemies don't need to spread disinformation, doubt, discord, and division to weaken America, kill Americans--Republican politicians, Reich-wing demagogues, Faux News, OAN, Newsmax, Breitbart and the rest of the Reich-wing media do that so effectively for them, already. More Americans need to realize that the GOP has abdicated it's duty as loyal opposition, and that its prioritization of party over country and welcoming embrace of violent radical Reich-wing extremists diminishes both our government and our national security, endangering ALL Americans, as well as weakening and endangering America itself.
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Dr. "Babbling" Birx is laying bricks, lying and dissembling! Says she trusts churches and churchgoers to make it safe, not go to church if sick--knowing asymptomatic people don't know they're sick, and can't be detected! Then, there's the fact that many religious people gather at religious shrines and places of worship hoping to be "healed" when sick. Moreover, she knows "Pastor" Tony Spelling in Louisiana was packing his megachurch during the middle of a severe outbreak, busing them in from a 50-mile radius; she knows all about the devastating spread in South Korea from religious services, she knows about the super-spreader event at the church in Oregon defying state lockdown orders. Dr. Birx KNOWS the U.S. lacks the requisite testing capabilities to reopen safely. Dr. Birx KNOWS all the states are reopening in defiance of CDC guidelines. Dr. Birx KNOWS how Toxic Trump has ignorantly politicized a global pandemic, sent conflicting messages to the public. Dr. Birx KNOWS a good proportion of Americans are NOT following basic CDC guidelines; NOT wearing masks, NOT social distancing. And she knows without detailed specific CDC federal guidelines for businesses reopening, we got chaos, sickness, and MORE senseless deaths. Birx needs to have her medical license revoked. She can be the next SmellyAnne Con-Her-Way, that's what she wants.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, John Eastman and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
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@garynorthtruro ~ As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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***MEDIA FAIL*** -- Questions were answered, just not with a 'yes' or 'no.' CNN making mountains out of molehills, trying to stir controversy, jack ratings, mesmerize the masses for more mega-moola. It's all about the "SOUND BITE," right, CNN, not the substance of the issue here? Fact is, DCCC and AOC may have their differences, but the common ground between them is vast, far more than any petty disagreements. We all know that, but CNN not going to let the truth get in the way of fabricating a fiction for followers of such foolery.
DCCC's Bustos didn't do herself any favors, either. We expect politicians to speak diplomatically and to parse their words to please the largest proportion of people. However, here the affirmative admission was made in both instances, anyway, so a simple straightforward 'yes' answer to both questions would be appropriate, reflecting both on her and Democrats favorably. Instead, Bustos comes off as being less than honest, reflecting poorly on both herself and Democrats--pointlessly, for no good reason, whatsoever! In fact, she was being honest, if also reserved and reticent, in her answers.
The bottom line here is the reporter kept redundantly asking the same questions, despite being supplied the same AFFIRMATIVE answers each time. That's on the reporter, not the DCCC chair. Doggedly determined to dig dirt and dominate, but denied going down in the ditch, diatribe dip at the CNN desk deserved to be dangled and dissed.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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Republican Rep. Gaetz wore a gas mask in Congress just five days ago, mocking COVID-19 as a hoax! This week, Republicans Sen. Cruz, Rep. Gosar, Rep. Doug Collins, AND Rep. Matt Gaetz all exposed to COVID-19 at CPAC and now are self-quarantining for two weeks. Also, Trump newly-appointed acting Chief of Staff, came into contact with the same individual and is now in isolation! A number of these Congressmen also interacted closely after with the President, including shaking hands! Rep. Gaetz was at a Mar-a-Lago party with Trump, then flew back to D.C. with Trump on Air Force One, finding out in-flight that he had been exposed, then quarantined on a separate part of the plane! And so, the wheel of karma grinds on, crushing GOP ignorance, to be ever born afresh. Trouble is, they may have infected a whole bunch of other people besides just the President along the way--innocent people. Moreover, Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert was also exposed, but CHOSE to return to work in Congress and NOT self-quarantine!! WTF?!?
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GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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You don't get denialism without nihilism. As life-long conservative Bill Kristol astutely pointed our just recently in a tweet, the Republican party has embraced nihilism. Republicans still labeling COVID-19 a "hoax;" Republicans still refusing to wear masks or social distance after over half-a-million American fatalities from COVID-19; Congressional Republicans obstructing a COVID-19 stimulus bill certain to pass just to delay vital and urgently needed relief to Americans desperate for help; not one Congressional Republican in either chamber voting for the badly needed stimulus bill; Republican governors dropping mask mandates and all restrictions on businesses, heedless of rising case counts in their states and deadly new variants of the virus; and Republican leaders continuing to push the Big Lie that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen without evidence and in disregard of plentiful evidence and facts to the contrary, even AFTER their Big Lie incited a terrorist attack by a mindless Republican mob against the nation's Capitol in insurrection against the government, attempting to overturn a legitimate election, sieging, storming, sizing, sacking, defiling, defacing and disgracing America's citadel of, and temple to, democracy--these are all prime examples of nihilism.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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GOP is NOT the party of law and order, NOT the party of the Constitution and patriots, NOT the party of "values," NOT the party of fiscal responsibility, NOT the party of clean government. It's the party of terrorism, lawlessness, corruption, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry, misogyny, big lies, sedition, and traitors.
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“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Republicans are willing to gain and hold power at any cost...even if the price is our democracy!
Farmer wakes up one morning, goes outside to milk his cows, and discovers his entire herd is missing! So, he then walks over nest door to where the Republican cult lives, notices them grinding a whole bunch of beef into hamburger, and asks them, "Did you see what happened to all my cows?"
Republican cult: "Yeah, they jumped over the moon."
Farmer: "Do you have any actual evidence of that?"
Republican cult: "No, because they landed on the dark side, and you can't see them over there. But we're conducting a bunch of investigations and fraudits, and we're confident evidence will soon emerge to prove it!"
Farmer: "You know, that sounds like a load of manure!"
Republican cult: "Well, that's what we all choose to believe!"
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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"Peace is not a very big thing to ask for, is it?" ~ Fatima Gailani, Afghan activist and negotiator, pleading for continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan
It is when asking the Taliban, who do not seek peace or to bargain in good faith, but total domination once again. U.S. has spent 20 years and $2 trillion trying to achieve peace in Afghanistan, losing over 4000 American lives (military and civilian contractors), with tens of thousands of Americans wounded there.
"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials … have given Afghans little reason to support their government," Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the commander of U.S. forces in the country, wrote in a 2009 memorandum. "This crisis of confidence, coupled with a distinct lack of economic and educational opportunity, has created fertile ground for the insurgency."
That was 11 years ago, and little has changed since. Thought the invasion of Afghanistan by Bush was a mistake that would lead to a quagmire, and have been proven correct. Still, initially supported efforts to bring peace and stability there, along with basic human and civil-rights, because after invading felt we had an obligation to rebuild. However, while U.S. blunders there have contributed to a failure, Afghans are their own worst enemy, and no one can help them until enough of them are willing to help themselves.
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True progressives don't misapply and reinforce stupid Republican memes like "fake news." Better step back and check yourself, Doc! Alright, watched the video, prefer progressive over Biden, disagree slightly with some of the analysis, but this was not an endorsement of Biden or a disparagement of any other Dem candidate; it was simply an analysis of the Dem front runner status and strategy, and also an attempt to make a frank assessment of the nation's political outlook. Why all the negative comments, thumbs down, and attacks against CNN? As a frequent media critic, definitely NOT warranted for this particular video. This was a fairly objective piece, and it pains me to see Dems acting like Republicans to news they don't like. In this case, apparently just because the front-runner is getting publicity--and it isn't even flattering! We better than this, Dems! Better to save that criticism for when it is justified than using it unjustly trying to influence the refs! (Voted Bernie last time, like Warren better this time around, but would be quite pleased with either, or some of the other progressives, as well.)
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. Sure, some of them truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would of course instead come to consume them.
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Republican cult placing political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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Meet the new ugly face of white supremacy in America! Funny--it looks just like the old ugly face. Except this time they got their Imperial Wizard installed as Chief Jester of the Supreme Court, where he magically declared racism somehow no longer a problem in America, paving the way for thousands of new Jim Crow laws and egregious gerrymandering suppressing and disenfranchising millions of American voters. Of course, harsh realities will continue to exist irrespective of any blind eye or pretentious, capricious edicts by some Supreme Court. And Roberts' conservative SCOTUS decisions only confirm how the white supremacist problem and its perpetual "fix" on the American judicial branch and justice system has never gone away, as America continues to struggle with overcoming a racist history of colonialism, slavery, and discrimination.
Chief Justice Roberts and his fellow conservative SCOTUS justices: the architects of a new era of Jim Crow in America. Need to expand SCOTUS to 15 justices, do away with the filibuster, pass a new Voting Rights Act, and let Biden appoint six new justices to bring sanity and justice back to the Supreme Court.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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"Without accountability, an attempted autogolpe or insurrection is just practice."
"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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It's like rowing or paddling upstream, or into a stiff wind--if you ease-up too much or stop, you will only have to paddle twice as hard to make up all the previous hard-earned progress that was quickly lost. Failing to maintain isolation and other measures for sufficient time to stop the spread of COVID-19 transmission will cost U.S. more in time, effort, money, and LIVES. Reopening and relaxing measures too early in defiance of the science and data is the ultimate in colossal ignorance, greed, ruthlessness, and arrogance.
We have a segment of Republican cult willfully ignorant, who malevolently seek to sabotage containment efforts. But many do not grasp how important it is that we treat ourselves and everyone else as being infected.
This is because people know that is very unlikely, especially outside dense urban areas, where incidence rates are low. Because of the delay in onset of the disease and asymptomatic carriers, COVID-19 is a stealth killer that uses Americans against each other as its foot soldiers, transporting it, keeping the disease and its train of transmission alive. This is further complicated because people cannot see a virus, see it attacking, see it spreading, until it is too late. For many of us, seeing is believing, and people are incapable or reluctant to make that leap of logic required to keep them and everyone safe--even with the massive public education efforts.
Of course, the problem becomes greatly exacerbated when the President refuses to wear a mask, and his administration works against itself in fighting this deadly global pandemic, sending conflicting messages to the public. Toxic Trump, his administration, and all the Republicans who have aided and abetted him, are directly responsible in our view for the senseless deaths of tens and thousands of Americans. The dead are the worst of it, but there is also the tremendous needless suffering and economic loss accompanying their wanton criminal negligence.
No national testing, no rational national coordinated pandemic response. Republican governors reopening too quickly in defiance of CDC guidelines are only following the President's lead. Democratic governors in many states likewise being adversely pressured by Toxic Trump's pandemic disinformation and Republican opposition to requisite lockdowns. Problem starts at the top. Don't fault even the worst Republican governors as much as this President. The President needed to take the lead, take the hit for the hard decisions--not put all the weight on governors as he as.
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“I'm not scared of the Maos and the Stalins and the Hitlers.
I'm scared of the thousands or millions of people that hallucinate them to be "authority", and so do their bidding, and pay for their empires, and carry out their orders.
I don't care if there's one looney with a stupid moustache. He's not a threat if the people do not believe in "authority".” ― Larken Rose
Setting aside the sleazy immoral Reich-wing grifters at the top -- people like Trump, Congressional Republicans, Reich-wing demagogues and media -- the rank-and-file of the GOP has become a fascist cult. To be clear, Trump did not create the cult, it existed before him. He merely served as a unifying figure they chose to rally around and worship as their fool's gold god. Trump appealed to their basest nature and told them what they wanted to hear. Now, those Reich-wing grifters may have cultivated their cult to exploit for their own greed, power and vanity, but at least to some extent the Republican cult in turn seeks to exploit the GOP for their own various misguided purposes. They CHOOSE to be willfully ignorant, to believe or espouse the lies, because as a political calculus they shortsightedly see it as expedient to their ends.
What must also be taken into consideration are the characteristics of a cult. Why do people join a cult? Why do they choose to remain in a cult? No need to go into detail; the answers are largely common knowledge or easily researched. But it should be pointed out that in a complex world, the simplistic and rigid beliefs embraced by cults can be very alluring, no matter how fantastical and removed from reality. It should also be acknowledged that the Republican cult is not a monolithic entity, but an amalgamation of sects, including White supremacists, Christian nationalists, libertarians, sovereign nationals, anarchists, tax resistors, Qanon and other extremist fringe groups. Of course, not every Republican is an extremist, a fascist, or untethered from reality. But this latter more benign group is nevertheless part of the fascist Republican cult, complicit in their support of the whole, whether through their silent acquiescence and votes or willing assistance.
It's a very dangerous feedback loop, a vicious circle, one that as it sinks further into depravity its threat correspondingly rises, for as the Republican cult has over time been becoming increasingly more radicalized, we witness the election of more radical politicians to represent them, more radicalized Reich-wing media and demagogues to feed them propaganda. While some Republicans are leaving the GOP and some others are speaking out and trying to save their party, they constitute a weak minority, unfortunately.
In a normal, sane world, the Republican cult would have ended or been marginalized after the Mueller Report, after Trump's Ukraine shakedown and impeachment, after Trump's horrendous handling of a deadly global pandemic, after his election defeat, or after January 6th and his second impeachment. But that hasn't happened. Instead, the Republican cult continues to become increasingly more radicalized and extreme. As President Biden says, "We are in a battle for the soul of this nation." And that battle is far from over.
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Sounds like Moscow on the line again, calling impeachment a coup, now! OMG, stop the presses, man the trenches, lock the wives and kids in the closet--Republicans are following Putin's marching orders!!!
1) Putin is playing U.S. population, gaming elections.
2) Trump is playing U.S. population, gaming elections.
3) Republicans are playing U.S. population, gaming elections.
4) Republicans are willfully and knowingly spreading Putin's debunked propaganda in aid of both their own and Russia's aforementioned efforts.
5) Republicans are willfully and knowingly protecting a President that has compromised himself with our chief foreign adversary, Russia, despite clear and overwhelming evidence of criminality of the highest order threatening our elections, democracy, and national security.
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Bush v. Gore, Citizens United, Shelby County v. Holder, Rucho v. Common Cause, Chief Jester Roberts smiling and nodding along while presiding over sham Senate impeachment trial, Assassination Goon B.S. Barr butchering the law, slaughtering justice, politicizing and weaponizing the DOJ. So, now, thanks to conservative Justices on SCOTUS, we have partisan Republican judges deciding elections instead of voters; a return to Jim Crow laws promoting voter suppression; unlimited dark money in elections buying off politicians; a lack of accountability enabling the Executive Branch to blackmail and coerce foreign governments into interfering in our elections, severely degrading our national security; and legalization of even the most egregious Republican gerrymandering. In essence, a deck stacked heavily in favor of corrupt, racist, anti-democratic Republican minority rule over the majority. It's why we lost all respect for these conservative Supreme Courts, the law, and the justice system in this country. Congratulations, Republicans, on turning our nation into a banana Republic, making America an object lesson to the world on how to destroy democracy!
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Freedoms can exist only up to the point they infringe upon the freedom of others. Religious tolerance can be practiced only up to the point it becomes intolerant of others. Our Constitution is a secular document, not a religious one, and it was certainly never intended to be a suicidal death pact. Getting vaccinated and following CDC guidelines brings freedom from preventable illness or injury, and a senseless premature death, but the mindless fascist Republican cult only believes in freeDUMB. Just as they don't understand or would deny the Constitution is as much about the common good as personal liberties, and that those two things are intrinsically and inextricably intertwined.
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge." ~ Ben Franklin, from Poor Richard's Almanack
Those who scorn public health guidelines during a deadly global pandemic and confuse a grievous public health issue with "essential" liberty to kill and harm themselves and their fellow citizens--as well as their nation--sorely lack both care and knowledge. They are also sorely lacking in common sense, something else about which Mr. Franklin was quite keen. Mr. Franklin was also one our nation's first scientists--yet these modern-day knuckleheads who ought know better refute science! Were he alive today, he would be rather dismayed, disgruntled, and disgusted with the fascist anti-science Republican cult, that much is crystal clear.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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The Molotov cocktail recipe:
Mix in equal parts of mental illness, willful ignorance, fear, hate, decades of 24/7 Reich-wing disinformation, misinformation, and crackpot conspiracy programming by Republican politicians, plutocrats, media and demagogues, add supplemental divisive Russian propaganda attacking and weakening America, stir well, garnish with COVID-19, and you have the mindless Republican cult descending into fascism, committing terrorism and sedition. Then, grab a stiff drink--you'll need it.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
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Silence DoGood ~Contrary to Trump’s Claim, A Pandemic Was Widely Expected
At a White House briefing March 19, President Donald Trump said, “Nobody knew there’d be a pandemic or an epidemic of this proportion.” But that’s simply not the case.
Among others, the U.S. intelligence community warned in its annual threat report for 2019 that “that the United States and the world will remain vulnerable to the next flu pandemic or large-scale outbreak of a contagious disease that could lead to massive rates of death.”
[Also, U.S. Intelligence reports to White House contained five-alarm flashing warnings about covid-19 pandemic in January and February of 2020, when Trump and his administration were downplaying the threat.]
The president made his remarks at a coronavirus task force press briefing. Trump deflected the blame when asked about the lack of coronavirus tests and medical supplies to deal with the pandemic.
Trump, March 19: "They had an obsolete system, and they had a system, simultaneously, that was not meant for this. It wasn’t meant for this. Nobody knew there’d be a pandemic or an epidemic of this proportion. Nobody has ever seen anything like this before."
But experts have warned for years about the danger of a major, potentially catastrophic outbreak of global disease, and some have sounded the alarm that the United States was not prepared to cope with it.
“The threat of pandemic flu is the number one health security concern,” Luciana Borio, then-director of Medical and Biodefense Preparedness Policy at the National Security Council, said at a symposium at Emory University in Atlanta in 2018 marking the 100th anniversary of the devastating flu outbreak of 1918. “Are we ready to respond? I fear the answer is no.”
Jennifer Horney, professor and founding director of the epidemiology program at the University of Delaware, told CNN, “we’ve been planning for and anticipating a global event like this” at least since the 2005 avian influenza outbreak.
After the novel coronavirus appeared in Wuhan, China, last December and spread around the world, Trump consistently sought to downplay the danger to the United States, likening coronavirus to the flu and expressing confidence that it could go away once the weather warmed up. (See our story, “Trump’s Statements About the Coronavirus.”)
Only recently has the president begun referring to it as a major problem for the U.S. “This is a pandemic,” he said at a March 17 press conference. “I’ve felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic.”
Marc Lipsitch, an epidemiology professor at Harvard University, told us that there was plenty of evidence that a disease of this kind posed a serious threat and that the notion that it could not be foreseen is off base.
“Three years ago, experts were saying that bat coronaviruses could become a new pandemic,” he said in an email. “Almost two months ago, experts were saying that the new virus in Wuhan was potentially a global threat. One month ago, experts were saying that it was likely to be pandemic, and the White House’s response was that this was under control, despite the fact that the US’s lack of testing was demonstrably giving a false picture of the extent of infection. This was foreseeable, and foreseen, weeks and months ago, and only now is the White House coming out of denial and head-ing straight into saying it could not have been foreseen.”
The likelihood of a pandemic has been clear to experts for quite some time.
Back in 2012, the RAND Corp. issued a report called “Threats Without Threateners? Exploring Intersections of Threats to the Global Commons and National Security.” That report focused on five risks — nuclear proliferation, conflict in the Middle East, water scarcity, pandemics and climate change.
Of the five, it said, “In current circumstances, only pandemics seem to be an existential threat, capable of destroying America’s way of life.”
The report said that “a future pandemic may be virtually certain,” adding, “its timing and severity are not.” To underscore the need to focus on the subject right away, the document said, “Pandemics are a real possibility in the here and now; there is nothing future about them.”
A week before the Trump administration took office in January 2017, Obama administration officials focused on the dangers of a pandemic in a briefing for top Trump aides, according to Politico. One of the possible scenarios sketched out included a fast-spreading global disease leading some countries to impose travel bans.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/factcheck/contrary-to-trump-s-claim-a-pandemic-was-widely-expected-at-some-point/ar-BB11tTHl?pfr=1
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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@P. B ~ In that case, you might like the following original, if you hadn't seen it already (also might get a kick out of a couple of old droppings of mine left at our channel, still relevant):
~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation—only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regurgitation
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump’s COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration…
Now reaching vacation destination!
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Gee, didn't you know? Republicans don't care anything about protecting workers, public health, law, justice, or the environment...only about maximizing profits! That's how we got into this pickle in the first place, with a 100,000 Americans dead in just three months; that's why other nations have stopped the spread, but we're STILL in the first wave, losing more than a 1,000 Americans daily, remember?
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, along with Reich-wing demagogues and media, who were complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance, and in spreading disinformation and misinformation. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump left office, one out of every 800 Americans had died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 410,000 fatalities, as many American casualties as all of WWII. To put it into further perspective, throughout Trump's catastrophic mishandling of a deadly global pandemic, the U.S. led the world in cases and deaths, suffering nearly 25% of each, despite having only 4.25% of global population, despite having the advantage of being the richest and most advanced nation in the world.
The memorial would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure. Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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--Instead of striving to bring out the best in people, Toxic Trump reveled in bringing out the very worst.
--Instead of uniting the country, Toxic Trump sought to divide us.
--Instead of abiding by and honoring our Constitution and the rule of law, Toxic Trump held them in disdain, disregarded them, and degraded them.
--Instead of strengthening democracy and our cherished institutions, Toxic Trump worked to diminish and destroy them.
--Instead of confronting a serious threat to Americans with a deadly global pandemic, Toxic Trump lied to the American people about it, ignored it, and refused to take any responsibility for his gross homicidal negligence.
--Instead of creating jobs, Toxic Trump was the first President since the Great Depression to preside over a net loss of jobs over his tenure.
--Instead of raising our standing and security in the world, Toxic Trump lowered and weakened it.
--Instead of draining the swamp, Toxic Trump turned into an overflowing sewer.
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@0IIIIII ~ What you present is called a false choice. It's a strawman argument, also, because it presents that false choice as an argument that can be easily knocked down, like a strawman. There are always a number of options, some of which didn't involve the wholesale invasion of Afghanistan (which, at any rate, didn't yield Osama bin Laden until a decade later in Pakistan)--none of those options which involve "accepting" terrorism.
For example, the invasion was rushed by Bush. What if just a bit more time and pressure on the Taliban government in Afghanistan had led to them turning bin Laden over to the U.S. and kicking al-Qaeda out of Afghanistan? There would have been no invasion, no need for any invasion, no two decades of U.S. troops stuck in another quagmire like Vietnam, no 4,000 Americans dead and 150,000 wounded, no $2 trillion of taxpayer money flushed down the drain. And that's just one option that was available which didn't involve "accepting" terrorism.
You also have to look at the whole picture. What we had in the George W. Bush administration was a bunch of war-mongering chickenhawks who evaded the draft during Vietnam, but were then afterwards quick to beat the war drums and pull the trigger when they didn't have to actually go and fight, risking their lives, and slow to think through the consequences and ramifications of their actions. We saw the same thing happen again under Bush with the Iraq invasion. In both cases, we saw the Bush administration declaring victory prematurely.
Keep in mind, when Russia had invaded Afghanistan previously it had quickly taken control of the whole country, just as the U.S. did. But--like the U.S. subsequently--it couldn't maintain control, and eventually withdrew their forces. The lesson to be learned was right there in front of the whole world to see, but that lesson went unheeded by the Bush administration in its rush to invade Afghanistan.
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PROTESTORS: Black lives matter! That's why it's VITALLY important that EVERYONE wear masks and social distance ten feet apart! That saves not only Black-minority-vulnerable people from death and suffering, but you're saving yourself and everyone else, too! Moreover, wearing masks responsibly shows that protestors demonstrating really DO care about human life, lending credibility and enduring impact towards this movement for justice and equality...AND, social distancing properly would greatly enhance the appearance of the protests, magnifying the presence of demonstrators, making them more effective! While the cause is worth fighting and even dying, senseless death from friendly fire, killing ourselves--due solely to a lack of common sense--is both just plain stupid and counterproductive to achieving our common goals. FEEL the emotion, USE your brain!
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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The following UNPRECEDENTED statement from ALL members of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff just issued will hopefully finally knock some sense into the very thick skulls of the Republican cult. Top military officials prefer to stay out of anything tinged with politics. FOR EVEN ONE to say something after last week’s event would be noteworthy and rare enough. For all eight Joint Chiefs to speak out together demonstrates just how PERILOUS they deem this moment to be, indicative of just how very much a CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER to the nation's security posed by the Traitor-'n-Thief:
“The violent riot in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021 was a direct assault on the U.S. Congress the Capitol building, and our Constitutional process. We witnessed actions inside the Capitol building that were inconsistent with the rule of law. The rights of freedom of speech and assembly do not give anyone the right to resort to violence, sedition and insurrection.
As Service Members, we must embody the values and ideals of the Nation. We support and defend the Constitution. Any act to disrupt the Constitutional process is not only against our traditions, values, and oath; it is against the law.
President-elect Joe Biden will be inaugurated and will become our 46th Commander in Chief.”
General Mark A. Milley, U.S. Army, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
General John E. Hyten, U.S. Air Force, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
General James C. McConville, U.S. Army, Chief of Staff of the Army
General David H. Berger, U.S. Marine Corps, Commandant of the Marine Corps
Admiral Michael M. Gilday, U.S. Navy, Chief of Naval Operations
General Charles Q. Brown Jr., U.S. Air Force, Chief of Staff of the Air Force
General John W. Raymond, U.S. Space Force, Chief of Space Operations
General Daniel R. Hokanson, U.S. Army, Chief of the National Guard Bureau
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“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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"Peace is not a very big thing to ask for, is it?" ~ Fatima Gailani, Afghan activist and negotiator, pleading for continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan
It is when asking the Taliban, who do not seek peace or to bargain in good faith, but total domination once again. U.S. has spent 20 years and $2 trillion trying to achieve peace in Afghanistan, losing over 4000 American lives (military and civilian contractors), with tens of thousands of Americans wounded there.
"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials … have given Afghans little reason to support their government," Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the commander of U.S. forces in the country, wrote in a 2009 memorandum. "This crisis of confidence, coupled with a distinct lack of economic and educational opportunity, has created fertile ground for the insurgency."
That was 11 years ago, and little has changed since. Thought the invasion of Afghanistan by Bush was a mistake that would lead to a quagmire, and have been proven correct. Still, initially supported efforts to bring peace and stability there, along with basic human and civil-rights, because after invading felt we had an obligation to rebuild. However, while U.S. blunders there have contributed to a failure, Afghans are their own worst enemy, and no one can help them until enough of them are willing to help themselves.
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Hypocritical Republican cult whines about cancel culture...
--while making death threats against those disagreeing with them
--while conducting a terrorist attack against the nation's Capitol in insurrection, beating and killing police, intent on killing lawmakers and the Republican VP, attempting a coup to overthrow the results of a free and fair election...just because their candidate lost.
--while trying to cancel out the votes of millions of Democrats and minorities by objecting solely to their votes, enacting numerous voter suppression measures, and engaging in egregious gerrymandering.
--while labeling MSM "the enemy of the people."
--while censoring and moving to remove fellow Republicans of integrity who speak up for truth and decency, and against GOP lies, terrorism, and crackpot conspiracy theories.
--while Reich-wing media turns off comments yet rants against "censorship."
--while Faux News fires its news editor for truthfully reporting that Arizona had been called for Biden.
--while trying to run a Biden campaign bus off the road.
--while Rep. Marjorie Greene prevents press from covering town hall meetings where nobody wore a mask.
--after seriously injuring over 140 police officers and killing one in the Republican cult's seditious terrorist attack of insurrection against the nation's Capitol, Republican cult terrorists threaten to call the cops on reporters trying to get their side of the story.
--while canceling out the lives of hundreds of thousands of their fellow Americans by spreading lies about COVID-19, politicizing a deadly pandemic, and refusing to follow common sense health guidelines.
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Toxic Trump, at coronavirus press briefing 04/20/20, "We're looking at maybe "only" 50-60,000 deaths in the U.S.!" Just three days later, the toll surpassed 50,000; six days after that, it went over 61,000. On 05/04/20--a mere two weeks after Trump's delusional pronouncement--the U.S. reached 70,000 deaths. Now, because of some state and local governments opening up their economies too soon is blatant disregard of Trump administration's own guidelines, the CDC Mayday report projects new highs of 3,000 deaths and 200,000 new cases per DAY by June. That would put us at 100-150,000 deaths--just by the end of June, alone. That's acceptable, here in America? Since when?
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Because humans have neglected to take aggressive action to curb our hydrocarbon usage and emissions, have refused to take climate change seriously, now what we are witnessing is a snowball effect, where the problem is exacerbated by fires burning in the Amazon, in Greece, in the western U.S. and Canada, raising temperatures and adding more CO2 and other greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. As the frozen tundra thaws, methane gases are being released, and as water bodies warm, methane hydrates formerly trapped at the bottom rise into the air, releasing even more methane gas. As more and more surface ice is lost on land and in the ocean, less sunlight is reflected back into space, causing more heat gain. Humans have set into motion a self-perpetuating loop; a cycle which we may well be powerless to stop, and which will destroy life on Earth as it has existed for millions of years.
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Donald Trump, at White House press conference on 04/07/20:
And we’re going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO. We’re going to put a very powerful hold on it, and we’re going to see.
Trump later at that same press conference:
Q: Thanks. A quick follow-up on that. So is the time to freeze funding to the WHO during a pandemic of this magnitude?
THE PRESIDENT: No, maybe not. I mean, I’m not saying I’m going to do it, but we’re going to look at it.
Q: You did say that you’re going to —
THE PRESIDENT: We give a tremendous —
Q: You said you’d put a hold on it.
THE PRESIDENT: No, I didn’t.
Toxic Trump, one week later, on 04/14/20: "I'm withholding WHO funding!"
WHO held a important meeting on COVID-19 vaccines at the beginning of May, with all nations attending...except no U.S. medical and scientific representatives sent by the Trump Administration, without any explanation. The absence particularly stunning in light that U.S. has half of world's cases and a quarter of the deaths, although possessing just 5% of the global population.
ME, US, the world: WTF?? Why in HELL is that raving lunatic STILL in charge during this major pandemic health crisis?!? Hasn't he KILLED enough Americans, ALREADY?!?
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Congressional Republicans just proved--once again--they are unwilling to operate in good faith, first in the House, now in the Senate, unwilling to even pass a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate the January 6 insurrection! How many times does Lucy have to pull the football out at the last minute before Charlie Brown Manchin and Silly Sinema finally wise up? New voting rights protections sorely needed in the wake of new Republican Jim Crow legislation nationwide, a badly needed infrastructure and jobs bill, and numerous other pieces of critical legislation the Democrats want to pass don't stand a chance if the filibuster is allowed to stand. If Republicans are going to abuse the filibuster, then it's time to LOSE THE FILIBUSTER!!!
As Republicans continue relitigating the 2020 election in Arizona, Georgia, and other states based upon a Big Lie they pushed, and after Republicans relitigated Benghazi for years with TEN partisan investigations, Moscow McConnell doesn't want a bipartisan commission to investigate an insurrection against the nation's Capitol because it would be "relitigating?" Nevermind the heights of hypocrisy reached here; that's an insult to the intelligence of the American people, and a gross dereliction of duty by Republicans.
Naturally, Republicans don't want their ties to terrorists and the insurrection exposed, nor does McCarthy want to be forced to testify about his damning phone call to Traitor Trump on January 6th.
While it would be better to have a bipartisan commission with both sides operating in good faith to get to the truth, Republicans have demonstrated themselves to be incapable of operating in good faith. Given that they amply proved that by voting against the January 6 commission, it will actually be for the better, because a House select committee investigating January 6 won't be blocked by Republicans from subpoenaing witnesses, or bogged down with Republican obstructionism, obfuscations, deflections, and irrelevancies.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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'Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America' by Kathleen Belew (Harvard University Press, 2018)
The movement “brought together members of the Klan, militias, radical tax resisters, white separatists, neo-Nazis, and proponents of white theologies such as Christian Identity, Odinism, and Dualism” (ix). What was it about the movement that brought these ideologies together?
The promise of violence — rather, the promise that members would get to inflict violence on other people. Belew writes that as the white power movement matured, it became more violent, and “[as] violence came to the fore of the movement, distinctions among white power factions melted away” (60). Belew calls this process “violent community formation” (34). Yet as a social movement, Belew makes a distinction between the white power movement’s “revolutionary violence” and the Ku Klux Klan’s “vigilante violence.”
Vigilante violence “served to constitute, shore up, and enforce systemic power” (106). Given that the U.S. government has a long history of “defending vigilante violence by refusing to enforce the law” (99), law enforcement inaction and vigilante violence may be understood together as a case of one hand washing the other. Revolutionary violence, however, sought to overthrow the state. It is the white power movement’s goal of overthrowing the federal government that sets it apart in the history of white supremacy in the U.S.
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Trump made us No. 1 — in the spread of a deadly disease
Jennifer Rubin -- Washington Post -- 03/27/20
The United States reached two grim milestones on Thursday: Fatalities from covid-19 topped 1,000, and it became the country with the most confirmed cases of coronavirus, surpassing China with more than 82,000. (Keep in mind, there is reason to doubt that China’s tally is accurate, absent a free media or independent verification from an international organization.)
We are only at the beginning of the deadly pandemic that President Trump once promised would “completely disappear.” Trump once promised that 15 initial cases would go down to zero but, of course, that was either a deliberate untruth or ignorance magnified by denial. (The apex in New York City won’t be here for about three weeks, according to the state’s governor.)
Despite at least two months warning, Trump’s disastrous missteps and willful blindness have stripped away our defenses and set us back in mitigation efforts. The New York Times recounts, “A series of missteps and lost opportunities dogged the nation’s response. Among them: a failure to take the pandemic seriously even as it engulfed China, a deeply flawed effort to provide broad testing for the virus that left the country blind to the extent of the crisis, and a dire shortage of masks and protective gear to protect doctors and nurses on the front lines, as well as ventilators to keep the critically ill alive.”
Politicians resistant to universal health-care coverage never tire of telling us that we have the world’s greatest medical system. Even in normal times, the claim is questionable; now it is absurd. “The United States, which should have been ready, was not,” the Times report noted.
Trump’s failures are personal (e.g., lying; relying on Chinese President Xi Jinping’s assurances) but also entail the failure to install competent people in key positions or to follow established protocols his predecessor provided to him. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s director, Robert Redfield, bollixed testing. The administration ignored the advice of the outgoing Obama team that had gained experience with Ebola and Zika. (The Times reported, “In 2016, the Obama administration produced a comprehensive report on the lessons learned by the government from battling Ebola. In January 2017, outgoing Obama administration officials ran an extensive exercise on responding to a pandemic for incoming senior officials of the Trump administration.”)
Moreover, in an administration in which credible and competent people do not survive and only weak yes-men remain, it was impossible to get Trump’s attention when it mattered. Now defensive, he refuses to stop peddling false and dangerous information or to fully take charge of the response, shifting as much responsibility as he can onto the states.
The Post reports, “Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) clashed with President Trump during a conference call with governors on Thursday, pleading with him to take more dramatic action to secure medical supplies for his state as it suffers from the coronavirus pandemic, according to four people familiar with the call.” Trump vaguely threatens that governors need to be “nice” to him to get what they want. It seems the effort to extort a foreign country, Ukraine, to drum up a fake scandal involving his potential 2020 opponent was a warm-up for an effort to treat our country like a mob boss’s territory. Nice state you have there. Would be a shame if anything happened to it.
Trump fundamentally sees himself as president only of his supporters. However, as the pandemic spreads to Florida, Louisiana and other states he considers on “his” side, the full impact of an incompetent and uncaring president may finally hit home. The virus does not differentiate between blue and red states; the former are simply sequentially ahead of the latter.
At some point — When unemployment hits 30 percent? When deaths double and double again? — even Trump’s cultists may come to wonder how this could have happened to them. The answer is that the president they enabled was not up to the job of protecting the country against a deadly pandemic.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/opinions-trump-made-us-no-1-—-in-the-spread-of-a-deadly-disease/ar-BB11N2pu
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth and justice--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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@marshallbowen8693 ~ The comparison is not intended to be one of character, but of blind adherence to dubious, bankrupt, or failed ideology, leading to catastrophic failure highly damaging to America and lethal to Americans. The following should aid in understanding why our comparison is not only valid, but an astute, appropriate one:
Hoover saw the presidency as a vehicle for improving the conditions of all Americans by encouraging public-private cooperation—what he termed "volunteerism". He tended to oppose governmental coercion or intervention, as he thought they infringed on American ideals of individualism and self-reliance. ~Wikipedia
Hoover’s reputation as a humanitarian—earned during and after World War I as he rescued millions of Europeans from starvation—faded from public consciousness when his administration proved unable to alleviate widespread joblessness, homelessness, and hunger in his own country during the early years of the Great Depression. ~Brittanica
Why Trump Ended the Task Force and Put a Kook in Charge of the Coronavirus
Jonathan Chait -- October 20, 2020
The implosion of the last Republican administration was in large part the story of conservative ideology defeating empiricism. George W. Bush dismissed intelligence and foreign-policy professionals who questioned the Iraq weapons claims and pressed the need to plan for an occupation as small-minded bureaucrats disloyal to his grand vision.
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/trump-fauci-coronavirus-scott-atlas-herd-immunity-science-masks.html
Historian explains why Donald Trump’s COVID-19 response is remarkably similar to Herbert Hoover’s failed crisis leadership
April 14, 2020 -- History News Network
Robert Rupp is a professor of history and political science at West Virginia Wesleyan College.
On April 9, the New York Times reported more than 6 million new unemployment claims for the previous week, and nearly 17 million over the previous three weeks. As this massive unemployment has followed the coronavirus crisis, a comparison between Presidents Donald Trump and Herbert Hoover becomes more apt than ever. For both presidents failed to project candor or show leadership during an unprecedented national crisis.
President Hoover during his first year in office confronted an economic collapse. Unemployment soared to a record 25% at time when most Americans did not have access to unemployment benefits let alone health care. But as the nation sank into the Great Depression of the 1930s, Hoover radiated confidence. He was fond of saying that prosperity was just around the corner.
Hoover allegedly explained his optimistic proclamations by saying that “A doctor does not tell his patient how sick he is.” His lack of openness prompted a pushback as opponents during his administration labelled the slums built outside major cities as “Hoovervilles,” and encouraged people to call an empty pocket turned inside out as a “Hoover Flag.”
Like Hoover, Trump leans toward overconfidence rather than openness. According to the Washington Post, he had sought to downplay the coronavirus threat 33 times in February and March. At the start of the pandemic Trump appeared to dismiss the threat by highlighting low numbers (only 5 deaths and 15 cases). In the following months he repeatedly ignored Winston Churchill’s observation that “ There is no worse mistake in public leadership than to hold out false hope soon to be swept away.” On April 3, President Trump did warn Americans that this week “there’s going to be a lot of death.” But then he talked about “the light at the end of the tunnel.”
Another characteristic shared by the two presidents is an avoidance of strong presidential action; each proved reluctant to use the full power of the federal government.
Any discussion of presidential leadership must first recognize that Hoover was not a laissez-faire bystander as the depression worsened.
However, Hoover’s initiatives were constrained by his conservative political philosophy. He had strong ideological resistance to excessive federal intervention—a profound belief that such action would undermine initiative and responsibility. He expressed his strong views in his 1922 book American Individualism, which highlighted the danger of collectivism and a reliance too much on the federal government. In this regard he believed that assistance should be handled on a local, voluntary basis rather than on the federal level.
The American public would have to wait until President Franklin Roosevelt initiation of the New Deal and mobilization efforts during the World War II to witness dramatic model of full government intervention.
Like his overconfident pronouncements, Hoover’s principled resistance to extensive federal intervention did not serve him well as president and may have undermined his political future. Hoover was elected with 444 electoral votes winning all but 8 states in 1928. Four years later he received 59 electoral votes and carried just 6 states. Today no politician mentions him, except to compare their political opponent to him.
If history shows Hoover followed the wrong path for principled reasons, what will it say about Donald Trump, who has several tools that were not available to Hoover? Unlike Hoover, Trump could use such tools as War Production act and Defense Production act that date to World War II and the Korean War era, plus he has the precedent of the New Deal. All of these things happened after Hoover was president, and although available to Trump, he nonetheless is choosing not to use them as part of his action plan.
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/04/historian-explains-why-donald-trumps-covid-19-response-is-remarkably-similar-to-herbert-hoovers-failed-crisis-leadership/
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@rahimmajid647 ~ There's more to it than just Toxic Trump's horrifically botched response to COVID-19, just as there was likewise more to Hoover than just the Great Depression, too. Fact remains, though, it was, and is, their greatest failures which has and will define both men.
Moreover, while Toxic Trump doesn't actually have a political ideology of which to speak--he's just an opportunistic grifter that tells people whatever they want to hear that will most benefit him in the moment--he has seized and acted upon the unfettered capitalism, trickle-down economics, small government ideology, and the highly destructive divisiveness, dishonesty, and hypocrisy of Republicans.
Regardless of the fact that he is exploiting Republicans--and they he--his policies reflecting Republican conservative ideology in other areas will also have disastrous effects upon America and Americans. Pollution, climate change, SCOTUS nominations adversely affecting social progress, racial harmony, and clean government, are some examples.
In conclusion, our initial reply should have made clear that the comment wasn't intended to make an identical side-by-side comparison. It goes without saying that no President is ever going to be exactly like any other President, that they will always have different challenges to confront in a constantly evolving and changing America.
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There has never been a graceful exit for the losing side in any war.
Truth is, our hasty withdrawal from Vietnam was even worse if you look at the numbers and the whole picture. Only 7,000 were evacuated from Vietnam during the fall of Saigon, with many more left behind, including two dead American soldiers----the last to die in the Vietnam War----left behind in a hospital and not returned until a year later by the Vietnamese. That evacuation occurred under hostile NVA and Vietcong fire. Since August 14, over 120,000 have already been evacuated from Afghanistan despite the complete capitulation of the Afghan government and Afghan Army, with no hostile fire upon American troops by the Taliban so far. Over 125,000 have been evacuated since the end of July. Moreover, the January 27, 1973 peace agreement signed by the Americans with the North Vietnamese ended all direct U.S. military involvement in Vietnam, and provided sixty days for troop removal. Just as with Afghanistan, all troops were removed. However, it was over two years later, on April 30, 1975, when the fall of Saigon occurred. So, the U.S. had nearly two-and-a-half years to evacuate everyone else before the fall of the South Vietnamese government and armed forces, instead of just the two weeks like in Afghanistan so far.
The other thing in stark contrast between Vietnam and Afghanistan is that no Democrats----including Carter, who was running against Ford for President----tried to use the situation for political gain like Republicans are so desperately and depravedly doing now. That, despite the fact that it was the previous Trump administration which bears the brunt of the blame for the current situation.
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Conservatism--the endless, futile quest to justify greed. For many in the tribalistic partisan Republican cult, it's a blind faith in capitalism and liberty that deliberately ignores the limitations and responsibilities involved with each, often driven by ignorant anarchist impulses, which are in turn rooted in ignorance such as greed, bigotry, racism, xenophobia, and religion. They reject societal norms that places reasonable restrictions on those things in benefit of the common good.
You see the well-dressed, well-fed pandemic lock-down protestors, most driving newer, expensive vehicles. You KNOW these people are nowhere near destitute, that they got money and time to waste. Then, you think about all the African-Americans being very disproportionately affected in inner cities, who ARE suffering greatly, yet continue to give selflessly on the front lines of this war against COVID-19, and abide by guidelines despite the hardships affecting low-income and poverty sectors far worse. Many of them feel FORCED to work to pay the bills, WISHING they had a non-essential job where they could receive unemployment, be on vacation at home with family, and not be put at risk in general society, where they have typically been ill-protected by their employers. They are put at greater increased risk by protestors.
You also think about ALL the other essential medical and front-line workers being put at greater increased risk by ignorant protestors--and about the suffering and deaths you KNOW will result from their ignorance. From their continued rejection of truth, reason, facts, science, and even common sense. We have to wonder at the willful ignorance, despite knowing the reasons, appalled at their irrationalism, and fearful for our nation, our families and friends, and ourselves.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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Trump Surgeon General: "Four months since this pandemic began, and we've stopped telling people just how very, very few Americans we've tested, we're still not elucidating any real coherent strategy for dealing with COVID-19. Instead of testing the American public to get a handle on this pandemic, confine outbreaks, gain more time, and protect the American people, especially those Americans at high-risk--such as the young, the elderly, those sick or with conditions--we are using the American people as guinea pigs, tracking where they start dying after the epidemic has already taken firm root in their communities! Just remember...DON'T PANIC!!!"
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Toxic Trump, at coronavirus press briefing 04/20/20, "We're looking at maybe "only" 50-60,000 deaths in the U.S.!" Just three days later, the toll surpassed 50,000; six days after that, it went over 61,000. On 05/04/20--a mere two weeks after Trump's delusional pronouncement--the U.S. reached 70,000 deaths. Less than a week later, on 05/10/20, the toll went over 80,000 American deaths. Because of many state and local governments opening up their economies too soon is blatant disregard of Trump administration's own guidelines, the CDC Mayday report projects new highs of 3,000 deaths and 200,000 new cases per DAY by June. That would put us at 100-150,000 deaths--just by the end of June, alone. That's acceptable, here in America? Since when?
New CDC projection on 05/15/20 of over 100,000 COVID-19 deaths by end of May. However, CDC projections have consistently undercounted cases and deaths, and this latest projection likewise appears to once again underestimate the deadly results of the U.S. sore lacking of national leadership in combating a deadly global pandemic. Fear COVID-19 deaths by the end of June will in actuality reach 150,000 - 200,000, nearly doubling in one month.
04/22/20 saw a new worst of nearly 2,700 COVID-19 deaths in a single day, topping the nearly 2,400 Americans lost on 04/14/20. Trump's claim was simply more of his wishful thinking, lies, and bogus claims. Clueless, disinterested, deranged, disengaged, and detached from reality are not the qualities you want in a leader during a major global pandemic crisis. That's a lethal combination that has already cost more American lives in just eight weeks than the Vietnam War in its entire twelve-year span.
It's like rowing or paddling upstream, or into a stiff wind--if you ease-up too much or stop, you will only have to paddle twice as hard to make up all the previous hard-earned progress that was quickly lost. Failing to maintain isolation and other measures for sufficient time to stop the spread of COVID-19 transmission will cost U.S. more in time, effort, money, and LIVES. Reopening and relaxing measures too early in defiance of the science and data is the ultimate in colossal ignorance, greed, ruthlessness, and arrogance.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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@MMGJ10 ~“Don’t give me the MyPillow guy doing a song-and-dance up here on a Monday afternoon when people are dying in Queens,” Francesa said. “Get the stuff made, get the stuff where it needs to go, and get the boots on the ground! Treat this like the crisis it is!”
New York sports talk radio icon Mike Francesa, a longtime and vocal defender of Trump, delivered an on-air tirade Tuesday about the president’s leadership. Francesa seized upon Trump’s comments Monday that if the total number of coronavirus fatalities in the United States is between 100,000 and 200,000, that would count as a good job.
“How can you have a scoreboard that says 2,000 people have died and tell us, ‘It’s okay if another 198,000 die, that’s a good job,’ ” Francesa said. “How is that a good job in our country? It’s a good job if nobody else dies! Not if another 198,000 people die! So now 200,000 people are disposable?”
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GOP and Trump administration: Where the hard reality of COVID-19 pierces the Republican cult bubble world of delusional fantasies, denialism, deceit, supreme ignorance, utter incompetence, and Orwellian governance, exposing them all as charlatans and frauds. Much as needed, we're hoping that doesn't happen; that America escapes the ravages of this disease, and we don't suffer thousands of American citizens dying, with many more becoming critically ill. Tragically, that doesn't seem very likely, and the Trump administration hardly inspires confidence, with all indications to date CONTRARY that they can capably handle such a catastrophe occurring here.
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***~Bad Vibration, Grave Reverberation~***
So much frustration and aggravation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Sick fascination, no reservation
Brutalization, victimization
Race relation identification
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation, only stagnation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Abomination seeks domination
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cooperation, collaboration!!!
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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Chandler Bing ~ As I just recently explained to someone else who felt the same way as you:
~ You don't get denialism without nihilism, and as staunch conservative Bill Kristol has pointed out, the GOP has embraced nihilism. Many of them don't even care about their own lives, or the lives of their children and loved ones, anymore, so it is a kind of death cult. Substitute immigrants for Jews and Trump for Hitler, and we can see how the GOP has also become fascist. Not all Republicans are racist, or fascist, or deep into the GOP cult, however. Some are reachable.
But this was written and assembled to offer perspective as well for those not Republicans, to help them understand what is happening by providing historical context, so that they appreciate the danger sufficiently and not become complacent. What we have is a form of mutiny against America by a significant minority of Republicans, some active participants, some passively complicit, with a very few actively opposed. This is a time requiring all good hands on deck to allow the voice of truth and reason to prevail, so that the cause of righteousness and justice is able to triumph.
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Toxic Trump: "I'm the BEST, just absolutely CRUSHING the competition, with over one-and-a-half MILLION coronavirus cases and 91--ninety-one!!!--THOUSAND deaths! They ALL got eighty-sixed, 'cause nobody else even comes close! More than a third of the world's cases and a quarter of deaths--can you even imagine how truly great, how awesome, that achievement is, with less than FIVE PERCENT of the world's population to work with? Believe it or not, I accomplished in less than TWO MONTHS what it took the Vietnam War a whole TWELVE YEARS to do! Those other weaklings and losers don't stand a chance, because we're going to keep right on winning--as long as I'm in charge! Now, vacation's over; time to get back to work on increasing those numbers, people! Let's keep America great, get rid of all the excess baggage! As wartime President, I am commanding all CIVILIANS to senselessly sacrifice their lives for my arrogance, stupidity, vanity, malevolence, and greed!"
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Freedoms can exist only up to the point they infringe upon the freedom of others. Religious tolerance can be practiced only up to the point it becomes intolerant of others. Our Constitution is a secular document, not a religious one, and it was certainly never intended to be a suicidal death pact. Getting vaccinated and following CDC guidelines brings freedom from preventable illness or injury, and a senseless premature death, but the mindless fascist Republican cult only believes in free DUMB. Just as they don't understand or would deny the Constitution is as much about the common good as personal liberties, and that those two things are intrinsically and inextricably intertwined.
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge." ~ Ben Franklin, from Poor Richard's Almanack
Those who scorn public health guidelines during a deadly global pandemic and confuse a grievous public health issue with "essential" liberty to kill and harm themselves and their fellow citizens--as well as their nation--sorely lack both care and knowledge. They are also sorely lacking in common sense, something else about which Mr. Franklin was quite keen. Mr. Franklin was also one our nation's first scientists--yet these modern-day knuckleheads who ought know better refute science! Were he alive today, he would be rather dismayed, disgruntled, and disgusted with the fascist anti-science Republican cult, that much is crystal clear.
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Get big money out of politics, and get corrupt politicians like Manchin and Sinema sucking up to the corporate trough voted out.
• A summer sting operation by Greenpeace had an Exxon Mobil lobbyist reveal that he met with Manchin weekly to try to persuade him to weaken Biden’s climate agenda (and he’s not the only rich guy who gets Manchin regularly on the line). Manchin has received more donations than any other Senator from oil, gas, and coal industry.
• An August piece in Harper’s noted that the West Virginia Democratic Party, which the senator played no small role in gutting, remains entirely under Manchin’s influence and control. It also mentions how Manchin leveraged his influence within the Senate to get plush government appointments for people close to him, including his wife.
• A September report from Type Investigations and the Intercept revealed that Manchin is currently invested in multiple coal companies that are run by his son, and that, even though the elder Manchin’s investments are in a blind trust, he has personally made $4.5 million from them during the time he has spent in the Senate (11 years to date).
• This is likely the Manch’s last term. In this remaining time, he seems to be simply looking out for his sources of wealth, including the ones that come from his son’s coal incinerators. It wouldn’t be the first time a Manchin family member used conflicts of interest to their advantage. Joe’s wife, Gayle, previously served as head of the West Virginia Board of Education and used her position to try to require the state’s schools to purchase EpiPens. EpiPens are manufactured by the Big Pharma juggernaut Mylan, whose former CEO was Heather Bresch—Manchin’s daughter, who stepped down after it was revealed she helped fix the prices of EpiPens in collusion with Pfizer. Family helping family: It’s a highly lucrative graft.
• While Manchin and Sinema worked to delay and reduce the Democrats’ budget bill, they were raising campaign money from wealthy Republican donors, according to a Sludge review of campaign finance data from Code for Democracy. For many of these donors, their contributions to Manchin or Sinema this year have been only their first or second donations to any Democrats in recent election cycles.
• Twenty years ago, when Kyrsten Sinema was a Green Party activist running for the Phoenix City Council, she likened the practice of raising campaign cash to “bribery.” Now that she's a U.S. senator, she no longer seems to have such qualms. So far this year, she's raised nearly $750,000 in donations from the pharmaceutical and medical sector (plus more from the financial sector) at a time when the Arizona Democrat was using her power in a narrowly divided Senate to force President Joe Biden to scale down his spending agenda. Her actions are closely aligned with the priorities of donors who have much at stake in how Biden's initiatives turn out.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance.
In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump left office, one out of every 800 Americans had died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 400,000 fatalities, as many American casualties as WWII. It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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It's certainly true that those who have been duped are reluctant to admit their gullibility and mistake. Not to deny that plays a part, but what is going on in the GOP goes far beyond that. There are other motivations and forces at work playing an even more decisive (and divisive) role.
Setting aside the sleazy immoral Reich-wing grifters at the top -- people like Trump, Congressional Republicans, Reich-wing demagogues and media -- the rank-and-file of the GOP has become a fascist cult. To be clear, Trump did not create the cult, it existed before him. He merely served as a unifying figure they chose to rally around and worship as their fool's gold god. Trump appealed to their basest nature and told them what they wanted to hear. Now, those Reich-wing grifters may have cultivated their cult to exploit for their own greed, power and vanity, but at least to some extent the Republican cult in turn seeks to exploit the GOP for their own various misguided purposes. They CHOOSE to be willfully ignorant, to believe or espouse the lies, because as a political calculus they shortsightedly see it as expedient to their ends.
What must also be taken into consideration are the characteristics of a cult. Why do people join a cult? Why do they choose to remain in a cult? No need to go into detail; the answers are largely common knowledge or easily researched. But it should be pointed out that in a complex world, the simplistic and rigid beliefs embraced by cults can be very alluring, no matter how fantastical and removed from reality. It should also be acknowledged that the Republican cult is not a monolithic entity, but an amalgamation of sects, including White supremacists, Christian nationalists, libertarians, sovereign nationals, anarchists, tax resistors, Qanon and other extremist fringe groups. Of course, not every Republican is an extremist, a fascist, or untethered from reality. But this latter more benign group is nevertheless part of the fascist Republican cult, complicit in their support of the whole, whether through their silent acquiescence and votes or willing assistance.
It's a very dangerous feedback loop, a vicious circle, one that as it sinks further into depravity its threat correspondingly rises, for as the Republican cult has over time been becoming increasingly more radicalized, we witness the election of more radical politicians to represent them, more radicalized Reich-wing media and demagogues to feed them propaganda. While some Republicans are leaving the GOP and some others are speaking out and trying to save their party, they constitute a weak minority, unfortunately.
In a normal, sane world, the Republican cult would have ended or been marginalized after the Mueller Report, after Trump's Ukraine shakedown and impeachment, after Trump's horrendous handling of a deadly global pandemic, after his election defeat, or after January 6th and his second impeachment. But that hasn't happened. Instead, the Republican cult continues to become increasingly more radicalized and extreme. As President Biden says, "We are in a battle for the soul of this nation." And that battle is far from over.
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"Peace is not a very big thing to ask for, is it?" ~ Fatima Gailani, Afghan activist and negotiator, pleading for continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan
It is when asking the Taliban, who do not seek peace or to bargain in good faith, but total domination once again. U.S. has spent 20 years and $2 trillion trying to achieve peace in Afghanistan, losing over 4000 American lives (military and civilian contractors), with tens of thousands of Americans wounded there.
"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials … have given Afghans little reason to support their government," Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the commander of U.S. forces in the country, wrote in a 2009 memorandum. "This crisis of confidence, coupled with a distinct lack of economic and educational opportunity, has created fertile ground for the insurgency."
That was 11 years ago, and little has changed since. Thought the invasion of Afghanistan by Bush was a mistake that would lead to a quagmire, and have been proven correct. Still, initially supported efforts to bring peace and stability there, along with basic human and civil-rights, because after invading felt we had an obligation to rebuild. However, while U.S. blunders there have contributed to a failure, Afghans are their own worst enemy, and no one can help them until enough of them are willing to help themselves.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Elmer Fudd's always trying to convince me he just wants unity.
What he really means is that he wants to eat me.
Unity and compromise is a two-way street that only works if both parties operate in good faith. Republicans have a long history of failing to do that--or even try. Recent history since Biden won the election shows no indication of them changing their divisive, destructive words, attitudes, obstruction and other acts. Tyrant Trump incited a terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol to overthrow an election, endangering his VP and members of Congress, sat by and gleefully reveled in watching it happen for hours, ignoring desperate pleas for help, and only a very few Republican were willing to speak out, impeach him, convict him, and prevent him from holding public office again? That's not loyal opposition; that's a dangerous terrorist political cult of fascists.
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While feeling the pain and outrage of the injustice of Floyd's brutal, senseless murder at the hands of law enforcement--done in plain sight with impunity--and can empathize, can not experience the same level of fear and sickness of minorities suffering from such racism, who must live and deal with this dangerous reality EVERY DAY of their lives HERE in America. It is hard to even imagine, but can certainly understand how protests turn to angry rioting, when nothing seems to change, even if at the same time cognizant and saddened that such rioting is counterproductive and adding more harm to those communities already hurting. If there was only one thing could tell my minority brothers and sisters, fellow American citizens, it is that you will never stand alone in standing up against injustice; there are many Americans like me continuing to stand alongside you, willing to speak out, to act. Those of us who don't see colors, or biological gender, or infirmities--but PEOPLE. Stay strong, stay proud, stay NOBLE--truth and decency WILL prevail if we fight for them.
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Republican cult morons rail against the very "elite" they keep voting for, who give tax cuts to the rich and have created the greatest income inequality and wealth disparity in American history.
Why? They are driven by the divisive fear and bigotry programmed into them 24/7 by the Reich-wing media and propaganda owned or funded by the plutocracy. It's absolutely Orwellian, and it began around 1984 in America. What is witnessed now is just the rotten results from the poisoned tree bearing fruition. It's the disease killing America that existed long before COVID-19, and which is likely to persist long after.
Republican cult going to believe what the Republican cult wants to believe, whatever the truth, whatever proof, whatever anybody says. "Healing" the country means deprogramming the 30-40% of Americans deep in cultdom. That needs to be recognized, acknowledged, and acted upon if we truly wish to revive the patient, America, and restore it to glory.
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In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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Donald Trump, at White House press conference on 04/07/20:
And we’re going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO. We’re going to put a very powerful hold on it, and we’re going to see.
Trump later at that same press conference:
Q: Thanks. A quick follow-up on that. So is the time to freeze funding to the WHO during a pandemic of this magnitude?
THE PRESIDENT: No, maybe not. I mean, I’m not saying I’m going to do it, but we’re going to look at it.
Q: You did say that you’re going to —
THE PRESIDENT: We give a tremendous —
Q: You said you’d put a hold on it.
THE PRESIDENT: No, I didn’t.
Toxic Trump, one week later, on 04/14/20: "I'm withholding WHO funding!"
ME, US, the world: WTF?? Why in HELL is that raving lunatic STILL in charge during this major pandemic health crisis?!? Hasn't he KILLED enough Americans, ALREADY?!?
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
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@gregvondare ~A short-lived, perilous endeavor, Toxic Trump University Med school program sadly went under with the premature demise of its head, Professor Perish Pointlessly, whose thinking outside the box with poison was so far ahead of his time that he ran out of time, putting himself in a box!
Trumpettes feeling dejected at Toxic Trump not getting reelected; rather get detected, inspected, injected, and disinfected, instead of getting rejected from the Republican cult! This time, it isn't the Kool-Aid, it's the Clorox and Lysol...
Toxic Trump: "I'm the BEST, just absolutely CRUSHING the competition, with over one MILLION cases and 59,000 COVID-19 deaths! Nobody else even comes close! More than a third of the world's cases and a quarter of deaths--can you even imagine? Believe it or not, I took only NINE WEEKS to accomplish what it took the Vietnam War TWELVE YEARS to do! Those other weaklings and losers don't stand a chance, because we're going to keep right on winning as long as I'm in charge! Let's keep America great--get rid of all the excess baggage!"
As long as the rest of us are in the control group, perhaps having a trial run with Trump on his new experimental COVID-19 disinfectant treatment to kill toxins wouldn't be such a bad idea! Like they say, "Put your Lysol where your mouth is, Toxic Trump!"
Came up with this SUPER idea, really hoping it goes VIRAL! Dr. Osterholm's prescription for COVID-19 mandates leadership as its first priority. So, why don't Republicans just impeach Toxic Trump, like they should have done long ago after the Mueller Report, and again after the Ukraine shakedown? Then, afterward, all those Congressional Republicans can resign, as well.
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What we are witnessing and feeling is an ongoing train wreck, from the vantage point of the passengers. The lunatic conductor of the LOCO-motive, Toxic Trump, knew the end-of-the-line was coming, yet kept increasing acceleration, anyway. He's still trying to pump the gas, even with the train off the track! We on the HELL bound train, now, Lucifer's demented and depraved minion absolutely determined, dedicated, DEVOTED to getting us all there on time!
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@ckin50 ~Yeah, the problem isn't the bureaucracy so much as a top management issue. But we kind of already knew that. Trouble is, only so much they can do with the Hiddenburger Hellbound Express totally off the rails, and President Nero pushing it full throttle. The flip side, of course, being that still leaves plenty of havoc and damage for him to continue wreaking upon the nation.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
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GOP cult: “Democracy is great…only so long as we can subvert it with lies, cheating, a multitude of Jim Crow voter suppression laws, egregious gerrymandering, obstruction, coups, election interference, election fraud, sedition, insurrection and terrorism to gain power and maintain our corrupt, plutocratic, minority fascist rule!”
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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The nation suffered eight years of unprecedented Republican obstructionism during Obama's Presidency. When Democrats had control of the Senate, Republicans with McConnell as minority leader began grossly abusing the filibuster.
"Consistent and unprecedented obstruction by the Republican caucus has turned advise and consent into deny and obstruct. In addition to filibustering a nominee for Secretary of Defense for the first time in history, Senate Republicans also blocked a sitting member of Congress from an administration position for the first time since 1843," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had said.
This forced Democrats into using the so-called "nuclear option," where the filibuster was lifted for all Presidential nominees except for SCOTUS nominations. But by 2019, Reid himself had concluded that he had not gone far enough in changing the filibuster’s rules, calling for it to be abolished entirely while ruefully listing the number of policies he’d allowed to stall instead:
"I previously assumed, perhaps wrongly, that the fever would eventually break — that Republicans would be forced by the American people to put their country above their party. I assumed the calls for action on critical issues would be heard — that collegiality in the Senate would prevail. That never happened. If anything, the Senate is more gridlocked and polarized than ever. As I said in 2013, the Senate is a living thing, and to survive, it must change — just as it has throughout the history of our country. The American people elect leaders to address the issues facing our country, not to cower behind arcane parliamentary procedure."
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GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil. They are either actively or silently complicit in fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorist violence, Reich-wing insurrection, and Reich-wing undermining of our democracy and Constitution.
It's crystal clear that Trump, Boebert, Greene, Gosar and other Republicans like them are fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorism. The GOP has become radicalized to such an extent that it has essentially become a fascist terrorist organization, with members that fantasize and promote violence against their fellow Americans. While those Republican elected officials must be condemned and sanctioned, they are only a symptom of the disease poisoning a third of America, the most visible part of the cancer infecting our nation.
The GOP has been mainstreaming radicalization of their voter base for decades, ALLOWING Reich-wing media and Reich-wing demagogues to take over the party, to the point it has become a fascist, nihilistic cult. Because just as now, Republican politicians and their plutocratic masters have always seen it as the ends justifying whatever means to win power. Remember the Republican Tea Party? This catastrophe with the GOP didn't start with Trump, who just exploited what Republicans had already built.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle for graft and to grift their voters and us taxpayers. You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
Trump and Republicans are like Jack and his band of boys in 'Lord of the Flies.' Ralph, Simon, Piggy and the other group of boys represent the rest of us. Just as Jack and his band turned savage, killing and cannibalizing their fellow students on the deserted island they landed upon, Trump and Republicans have also turned savage, rejecting responsibility, reason, civility, morality, and science, killing their fellow Americans and cannibalizing our government. Except there will be no adults arriving to save those of us trying to do the right thing, like in the classic tale. We are the adults, and it is strictly up to us to save ourselves and this country from the fascistic, nihilistic impulses of Trump and Republicans.
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Was very disappointed in Merrick Garland for filing the appeal preventing the release of the Barr memo on the Mueller Report (at virtually the last hour). Even more disappointed reading the DOJ legal brief supporting their appeal, which is a joke. Would like to see the judge have them right out the memo as it was supposed to have been worded, explaining and justifying each change in detail, then calling up the original author's under oath to testify exactly why they wrote it that way originally. Was also disappointed with Garland's decision to continue allowing the DOJ to act as Traitor Trump's defense lawyer, trying to dismiss the defamation civil suit by the woman he raped----particularly now that Trump is a private citizen! Now, we find out that the subpoenas against reporters and Democrats started by Sessions and continued by Barr, was also allowed to continue under Garland's DOJ for nearly six months! All three, Sessions, Barr, and Garland, need to be called up before Congress and grilled until we get to the bottom of these abuses of power.
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America's enemies don't need to spread disinformation, doubt, discord, and division to weaken America, kill Americans--Republican politicians, Reich-wing demagogues, Faux News, OAN, Newsmax, Breitbart and the rest of the Reich-wing media do that so effectively for them, already. More Americans need to realize that the GOP has abdicated it's duty as loyal opposition, and that its prioritization of party over country and welcoming embrace of violent radical Reich-wing extremists diminishes both our government and our national security, endangering ALL Americans, as well as weakening and endangering America itself.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and disturbing. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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Worst economic downturn in American history, catastrophically botched COVID-19 pandemic response with over 160,000 senseless American deaths. TWENTY straight weeks of over ONE MILLION new unemployment claims. Deaths projected to double by the end of year due to most corrupt, incompetent, racist, and ignorant President in U.S. history. A treasonous President that compromised himself with Russia, who refuses to hold the U.S. principle foreign adversary accountable for its attacks on America, who won't even speak out against Russian bounties on U.S. soldiers. Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy: "Toxic Trump is doing a helluva job!" Rabid right-wing cult media is DESTROYING America!
What's really confusing America is Newsmax, Faux News, and all the other rabid right-wing media outlets propagating and spreading disinformation. Without the supporting cast of willing supplicant proto-fascist right-wing media exploiting and profiting from them, the lies and distortions of Toxic Trump and Republicans would hold very little power, and could not persist.
Anyone really all that surprised that the CEO of Newsmax, Chris Ruddy, is a dishonest partisan hack with no character or integrity whatsoever? If so, that's only because you've never seen Newsmax.
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
― Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again." ― Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney
More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Trump excluded the Afghan government from his surrender negotiations with the Taliban, legitimizing the Taliban by making a separate peace deal with them and delegitimizing the government we worked so long and hard at so much cost to build and support, while releasing 5,000 Taliban prisoners which included the worst of the worst and allowed them to return to fight against Afghan and U.S. forces, while agreeing to withdraw all U.S. forces by May 1, 2021, guaranteeing failure. Previously, in 2018, Trump had Pakistan release the current leader of the Taliban, who had been their top military leader. Moreover, Trump eviscerated the refugee program for Afghan and Iraqi allies visa programs, creating a huge backlog over four years. A federal judge even ruled Trump's delaying of those visas illegal. Furthermore, Trump abandoned are Kurdish allies in Syria and Iraq. Trump and Pompeo could hardly have screwed up our foreign policy any worse, and the damage they did will take decades to repair. But the Republican cult morons are too stupid to know and too stupid to care; they'll just deny and try to shift blame, as usual.
Liz Cheney's right----it didn't have to happen this way: her father, Dick Cheney, and George Bush were responsible for the deterioration of affairs in Afghanistan by diverting troops and resources to conduct an illegal invasion of Iraq on the false premise of WMD and Iraq harboring terrorists. The situation in Afghanistan never recovered from that fatal mistake by Cheney and Bush; it allowed the Taliban to regroup and come back bigger and stronger than ever. Cheney and Bush's illegal war in Iraq also resulted in the emergence of ISIS.
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"We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
~ How Fascism Works, The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(Reference also Father Charles E. Coughlin and Henry Ford in regards to the first America First movement.)
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
Malcolm Nance: We Are In A Neo-Fascist Era In American Politics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_RxUAe2zeM
Political Analyst Tells Joy Reid: Forget Trumpism, IT’s Neo-Fascism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IgNp84JA4A
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@HughJorgan1 ~ Sure, you want to just forget and ignore all the other words the Traitor-'n-Thief Toxic Trump spoke before, during and after that day. Just like you want to forget and ignore all the Republican cult terrorists testifying how they interpreted the words of him, Jr., Giuliani, Brooks and others, and how their words incited them to violence and insurrection that day.
Traitor-'n-Thief Toxic Trump refused to take any calls desperately pleading for help and to call off his dogs for nearly six hours after inciting fascist Republican cult terrorists to storm, siege, sack and pillage the U.S. Capitol...because he was planted in front of the TV, reveling in watching the carnage of the seditionist Republican terrorists he unleashed, hoping for them to be successful in overthrowing democracy.
As for craven, spineless Senate Republicans sycophants impeaching Toxic Trump, it's a tossup. They won't impeach because he endangered them, causing them to flee for their lives. That may be partially the reason, but the main reason will be because they'll have finally figured out that they and the GOP are much better off without him--something they already knew before he got elected. If they don't impeach, it will only be out of fear of violence against them and their families from their terrorist base--as many Congressional Republicans have already confided in to their colleagues, reporters, and others.
Get a clue, not a cult, Doc!
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@HughJorgan1 ~ This impeachment was the most bipartisan in the history of America, Doc! You continue to forget and ignore the facts, because you can't face the truth. If a Democrat President is impeached for even half the things the Traitor-'n-Thief Toxic Trump has done, we'd be glad. You'll be stunned when Toxic Trump get's impeached, while for the reasons already explained, we won't be surprised one way or the other.
An impeachment trial in the Senate will afford Toxic Trump the chance to mount a defense, so there will be due process. The House impeachment is essentially an arraignment, doofus. Furthermore, an impeachment is not a legal affair, as in a court of law. Get a clue, not a cult, for Christ's sake!
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Trump Surgeon General: "Four months since this pandemic began, and we've stopped telling people just how very, very few Americans we've tested, we're still not elucidating any real coherent strategy for dealing with COVID-19. Instead of testing the American public to get a handle on this pandemic, confine outbreaks, gain more time, and protect the American people, especially those Americans at high-risk--such as the young, the elderly, those sick or with conditions--we are using the American people as guinea pigs, tracking where they start dying after the epidemic has already taken firm root in their communities! Just remember...DON'T PANIC!!!"
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Republicans have proven they don't care about our Constitution, so their reprehensible innuendo and baseless attacks unjustly smearing decorated fellow veterans only speaking truth that needs telling comes as no real surprise, and is the second strike for these seditious rats. They'll soon get one more swing when voting very soon on impeachment, and we're hoping they don't blow it and strike out on the American people, or they're out of there!!
Most vets have seen more than enough with this compromised clown and corrupt administration. We've taken enough, and we've had enough-Toxic Traitor Trump and ALL his crooked, craven cronies need to go, NOW! Republican rats are putting not just all our brothers and sisters who are actively serving proudly and ably at risk, they are putting this whole nation at risk! Those of us not active need to speak out loudly for our brothers and sisters-in-arms who cannot speak out, and for those who know not, too!
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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No question that Toxic Trump wants to manipulate the data to paint a rosy picture, sacrificing American lives for his own personal gain. But states are doing nearly all the testing, not the feds. State and private labs are doing nearly all the test processing. The big failure regarding this aspect of the catastrophically failed pandemic response is Putin puppet-pie President Nero's criminal negligence in failing to authorize the Defense Production Act to build capacity for testing and TIMELY processing.
It's not just about quantity of tests. More important is quality. Most critically, it is taking TWO WEEKS or more to obtain the TEST RESULTS unless hospitalized. Due to the long lab processing times due to lack of capability and backlog, the contact tracing needed to contain and control the spread becomes no longer practical or tenable, creating an untenable situation of contagion, hospitalizations, and subsequent avoidable deaths. While some infected people waiting for test results may quarantine themselves, many others taking routine tests, who may be positive and asymptomatic, will not, unwilling or unable to wait that long for their results to come back. This latter group is spreading the disease in their communities. Until we have TIMELY TEST RESULTS, the quantity of tests administered is a largely MEANINGLESS figure. While true the U.S. is STILL only performing just a fraction of the COVID-19 testing needed, ramping up testing won't help unless or until the turnaround processing time problem is fixed and ALL test results can be obtained within less than 48 hours.
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@brittanylynch1358 ~ Yeah, video shows people trying to stop an active shooter fleeing the scene of the crime. And one of the militia guys he was with testified Rosenbaum posed no real threat. Dude with the gun that got his biceps blown off should have shot Rittenhouse dead, claimed self defense. After all, Rittenhouse was illegally carrying an assault rifle and pointing it at him. And apparently it's whoever shoots first, according to you.
As far as the wife goes, no problem provoking her into attacking, and we'll be sure to capture that on video, too. Nevermind if I don't have a right to own a gun, or if I don't call 911, or if I flee the scene...I'll just claim self defense! It's the new get-out-of-jail-free card! Also handy when armed Reich-wing protesters make threats and try to attack me because they don't like what I say! With a high-powered assault rifle at the ready with its high-capacity magazine, ceramic body armor, and a quick getaway escape route, they won't stand a chance! Yay, let's bring back the wild, wild West and the Civil War, because going back to the bad old days is what America is all about for you Reich-wing fascists, isn't it?
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
Democrats, Independents, others: WTF?!?
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth and justice--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over four decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, nihilistic, hyper-partisan fascist cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of crackpot conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of greed, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of plutocrats, the party of corruption, the party of anti-democracy, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their pact with the Devil.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law?
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Freedoms can exist only up to the point they infringe upon the freedom of others. Religious tolerance can be practiced only up to the point it becomes intolerant of others. Our Constitution is a secular document, not a religious one, and it was certainly never intended to be a suicidal death pact. Getting vaccinated and following CDC guidelines brings freedom from preventable illness or injury, and a senseless premature death, but the mindless fascist Republican cult only believes in freeDUMB. Just as they don't understand or would deny the Constitution is as much about the common good as personal liberties, and that those two things are intrinsically and inextricably intertwined.
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge." ~ Ben Franklin, from Poor Richard's Almanack
Those who scorn public health guidelines during a deadly global pandemic and confuse a grievous public health issue with "essential" liberty to kill and harm themselves and their fellow citizens--as well as their nation--sorely lack both care and knowledge. They are also sorely lacking in common sense, something else about which Mr. Franklin was quite keen. Mr. Franklin was also one our nation's first scientists--yet these modern-day knuckleheads who ought know better refute science! Were he alive today, he would be rather dismayed, disgruntled, and disgusted with the fascist anti-science Republican cult, that much is crystal clear.
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'Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America' by Kathleen Belew (Harvard University Press, 2018)
The movement “brought together members of the Klan, militias, radical tax resisters, white separatists, neo-Nazis, and proponents of white theologies such as Christian Identity, Odinism, and Dualism” (ix). What was it about the movement that brought these ideologies together?
The promise of violence — rather, the promise that members would get to inflict violence on other people. Belew writes that as the white power movement matured, it became more violent, and “[as] violence came to the fore of the movement, distinctions among white power factions melted away” (60). Belew calls this process “violent community formation” (34). Yet as a social movement, Belew makes a distinction between the white power movement’s “revolutionary violence” and the Ku Klux Klan’s “vigilante violence.”
Vigilante violence “served to constitute, shore up, and enforce systemic power” (106). Given that the U.S. government has a long history of “defending vigilante violence by refusing to enforce the law” (99), law enforcement inaction and vigilante violence may be understood together as a case of one hand washing the other. Revolutionary violence, however, sought to overthrow the state. It is the white power movement’s goal of overthrowing the federal government that sets it apart in the history of white supremacy in the U.S.
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***MEDIA FAIL*** -- PUBLIC: "Do witnesses have to comply with Congress' subpoenas?"
MEDIA: "No and yes. Depends on the timeline and our whimsy. Depends on if it's the House or the Senate, because House subpoenas are essentially meaningless; we make no distinctions between Holder and Nixon, between legitimate exercises of executive privilege and those being transparently done to cover-up and obstruct criminal acts in plain sight--Presidents can just ignore them at will as they please, when they please, for whatever they please, since it doesn't matter with House subpoenas for the most important thing, impeachment. Forget all about having any future Congressional Oversight, that's now a thing of the past, because going forward now, it's just a constant parade of Executive legal skullduggery playing games in the Courts. We won't explain to you, the American people, precisely what mechanism is going to compel witnesses to appear for subpoenas in the Senate if they won't for the House, given how the enforcement mechanism remains unchanged, leaving us no explanation to give you, the public.
Moreover, we have our top legal expert here--really, really smart we hear--but she isn't going to cite or explain any case law or the relevant legal statutes in the Constitution guiding impeachment witnesses. Most critically, our renowned expert won't explain how the House determines whether to proceed with any impeachment if it can't find out through the needed witnesses who disregard their subpoenas if there exists any justification for impeachment, because there is no answer to that one; it pretty much effectively guarantees no more impeachments of any sitting President. Nor does our legal expert bother explaining the basics, like how subpoenaed witnesses who do eventually feel compelled to testify may choose to take the Fifth, or explain how Chief Justice Roberts may be forced to make ongoing rulings on matters of Executive privilege during the trial phase. Finally, our top legal expert won't explain how every impeachment is different, a process where many of the procedural rules employed are variable, and subject to change, with very limited Judicial precedent guiding it."
You swung, Chris, and you totally MISSED the real point--a slow-pitch served up right over the plate--by a mile. What difference whether House or Senate if A.G. Barr still doesn't enforce those subpoenas, continues selective enforcement of the law towards nefarious end? Executive Branch takes Senate to court, like it has House, tying everything up in the courts until the next election? Judicial Branch tells U.S. Marshalls to lock up witnesses and Trump? That should have been the discussion, in conjunction with the fact that none of this would be happening without Congressional Republicans complicit in gang-banging Lady Justice. That is what the public needs to know, how grave this situation really is. You made a puny effort, but your legal expert came up short, critically failing to confirm that this business with Trump and his lawless administration is not at all government business as usual. Not an endorsement or associated in any way with them, but your competitors at MSNBC do a much better job of informing their viewers on the legal and governmental issues at stake, and their implications.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It’s that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don’t care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn’t want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it’s more than hope—those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another three months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn’t really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
“The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.”
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump’s hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance.
In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump leaves office, the one out of every 800 Americans will have died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 400,000 fatalities, as many as American casualties as from WWII. It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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TRUM_PLANNED_EMIC!
Given plenty of advance warnings about COVID-19, Toxic Trump chose not to heed the sound advice provided. We could have been Taiwan, with a comparative 100 deaths in the U.S.; or South Korea, with a comparative 1500 deaths here, after adjusted for population size. Taiwan had just seven deaths; South Korea less than 300. We got over 130,000 deaths already, with the count still rapidly rising, while we remain, still, firmly mired in the first wave of the disease. Even worse, after six months, we STILL lack the adequate testing and rational national response to contain the disease.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
~ "Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Yes, Gov. Cuomo should resign! Because of the similar nature, number, and credibility of the allegations, it appears likely that Cuomo was guilty of at least serious ethical lapses, if not criminal acts. For those pointing out the double-standard of hypocritical Republicans, consider that a stain upon them, and a good reflection upon Democrats. It appears the vast majority of Democrats also feel Cuomo should resign--for the good of the people of New York, for the good of the office, and for the good of his party. That is something which should make people proud to be counted as a Democrat, regardless of Gov. Cuomo's apparent foibles and shortcomings.
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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Alright, watched the video, prefer progressive over Biden, disagree slightly with some of the analysis, but this was not an endorsement of Biden or a disparagement of any other Dem candidate; it was simply an analysis of the Dem front runner status and strategy, and also an attempt to make a frank assessment of the nation's political outlook. Why all the negative comments, thumbs down, and attacks against CNN? As a frequent media critic, definitely not warranted for this video. This was a fairly objective piece, and it pains me to see Dems acting like Republicans to news they don't like. In this case, apparently just because the front-runner is getting publicity--and it isn't even flattering! We better than this, Dems! Better to save that criticism for when it is justified than using it unjustly to influence the refs! (Voted Bernie last time, like Warren better this time around, but would be quite pleased with either.)
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
Merrick Garland’s House Testimony Demonstrated the Failure of His Hyper-Cautious Approach to His Job
Despite Garland’s many efforts to not appear political by declining to investigate Trump and his cronies for possible crimes and by using DOJ resources to actively protect Trump from civil liability, Republicans are still portraying him as the most political attorney general in history.
The other weakness of Garland’s timid approach was on full view during his opening statement and responses to Democratic members of Congress. “The essence of the rule of law is that like cases are treated alike. That there not be one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans; one rule for friends, another for foes,” Garland stated grandly. But by declining to investigate Trump and his associates, Garland is enabling further attacks on our democracy. (While proving inequity by putting Republicans above the law.)
Crucially, the two parties are not the same. Garland’s standard sets up a false equivalency between the Democratic Party and a political party whose national leader, Donald Trump, incited and celebrated a violent assault on our nation’s Capitol to overthrow the results of a free and fair election and who continues to portray the insurrection as a glorious “protest.” To that end, in the middle of the attorney general’s testimony, Trump issued a statement highlighting Garland’s feebleness at failing to even investigate the organizers and leaders of the Jan. 6 events, declaring “the insurrection took place on November 3, Election Day. January 6 was the Protest!”
Garland’s efforts to depoliticize the DOJ have proved to be an abdication of his responsibility to protect the rule of law. Take just a few examples: Garland’s failure to reconsider the obstruction of justice case against the former president, his deferral of an investigation of possible financial crimes by Trump and his organization to local prosecutors in New York City and Westchester, his use of the DOJ to protect Trump from defamation allegations, and his deferral of a soliciting of voter fraud felony probe in Georgia to local prosecutors there. By abdicating his responsibility, Garland is also opening the door for Trump to commit these possibly criminal abuses all over again, this time with the full support of the Republican Party, and maybe ultimately return to power.
--Mark Stern
"Try as he may, Merrick Garland cannot perform boring independence fast enough to outrun GOP claims that he’s a wild-eyed, violent socialist. And while the GOP currently exists only to cast everything you thought you believed into doubt, the real endgame is vigilantism. The endgame is to ensure that people mistrust government, election systems, school boards, (teachers, health care officials) the media, and the justice system enough to lend a hand in their destruction."
--Dahlia Lithwick
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Asked by reporters about the protestors gathering against pandemic lockdowns, the vast majority not wearing face masks or observing social distancing, Toxic Trump--who tweeted his supporters to "Liberate" three states with Democratic governors critical to his reelection, against his own administrations pandemic edicts and guidance, and in foment of partisan rebellion against state's governors during a Federal National Emergency declared against this pandemic--said, "They seem to be very responsible people to me!"
Trumpette insanity that should have us ALL livid with outrage! Not only are these Republican cult fools putting themselves, their loved ones, and everyone else in danger, they are putting an increased burden upon our already over-stressed health care workers and system, FURTHER endangering them and those they would serve. They put all our other essential front-line workers at increased risk, as well--those we need for our groceries and supplies (including migrant workers), to keep the government, electric, gas and other critical infrastructure functioning. What's really, really stupid about their aberrant, irrational partisan cult behavior, is that they are only PROLONGING restrictive measures to contain COVID-19, EXTENDING the time until our economy can reopen fully, REDUCING the amount our economy can be opened--all of which DAMAGES Trump's reelection chances! But that isn't the worst of it. These Trumpettes ignorantly protesting are KILLING actual Americans, just as surely as they put a gun to their heads and pulled the trigger. Toxic Trump shares responsibility, but it is these GOP idiots who own primary responsibility for manslaughter. They should be charged, tried, and convicted, in our view. At the very, very least, they should all be arrested for public endangerment. Ludicrous and lethal ignorance!
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News anchor: "In just ONE month, we got over 800,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in America with OVER 40,000 deaths because of Trump shirking responsibility, refusing to take a global pandemic seriously, prepare, and defend our nation! Now, that lunatic has turned pandemic press briefings into macabre Dear Leader campaign rallies where he belittles and berates any and all who question him! Can you tell us just WTF the situation is at the moment in the White House?"
White House correspondent: "Situation unchanged--still hopeless. Completely, totally FUBAR, as usual. Don't expect any help or change from this dystopian, dysfunctional Branch..."
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@maazkalim ~ You do understand that Toxic Trump caters to that significant portion of his support base that is white nationalist, white supremacist, neo-Nazi, anti-Semitic, Christian religious bigots, and other assorted racists and haters, son-in-law Kushner, his wife, Ivanka, and advisor Stephen Miller, notwithstanding?
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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Worst economic downturn in American history, catastrophically botched COVID-19 pandemic response with over 160,000 senseless American deaths. TWENTY straight weeks of over ONE MILLION new unemployment claims. Deaths projected to double by the end of year due to most corrupt, incompetent, racist, and ignorant President in U.S. history. A treasonous President that compromised himself with Russia, who refuses to hold the U.S. principle foreign adversary accountable for its attacks on America, who won't even speak out against Russian bounties on U.S. soldiers. Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy: "Toxic Trump is doing a helluva job!" Rabid right-wing cult media is DESTROYING America!
What's really confusing America is Newsmax, Faux News, and all the other rabid right-wing media outlets propagating and spreading disinformation. Without the supporting cast of willing supplicant proto-fascist right-wing media exploiting and profiting from them, the lies and distortions of Toxic Trump and Republicans would hold very little power, and could not persist.
Anyone really all that surprised that the CEO of Newsmax, Chris Ruddy, is a dishonest partisan hack with no character or integrity whatsoever? If so, that's only because you've never seen Newsmax.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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Three current Republican SCOTUS justices worked on Bush's legal team in Bush v. Gore, where a Republican SCOTUS made a partisan decision along partisan lines in what is widely regarded as one of the worst SCOTUS decisions ever, handing Bush the election.
Chief Justice John Roberts: Roberts flew to Florida in November 2000 to assist Bush's legal team. He helped prepare the lawyer who presented Bush's case to the Florida state Supreme Court and offered advice throughout. After Bush became president, he nominated Roberts to the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit (the Senate confirmed him in 2003); Bush then elevated Roberts to the chief justice position in 2005, to succeed William Rehnquist. During his Senate confirmation hearing, Roberts declined to reveal his view of the justices' 2000 decision.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh: He was also in private practice in 2000 and helped the Bush legal team. After the election, Bush hired Kavanaugh to be a counsel and then staff secretary. In the West Wing, Kavanaugh met his future wife, Ashley, who was Bush's personal secretary. Bush appointed Kavanaugh to the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, where Roberts had first served. In 2018, Trump elevated Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Judge
Amy Coney Barrett: Barrett wrote on the questionnaire she submitted to the Senate for her Supreme Court confirmation review, "One significant case on which I provided research and briefing assistance was Bush v. Gore. I did work on Bush v. Gore. I did work on behalf of the Republican side."
Roberts wrote the briefings Sandra Day O'Conner used in Bush v Gore to deny FL their vote. He was then nominated when she retired. She denied FL the vote so she could retire with a pro-lifer in the WH. She gasped in front of witnesses "That can't be" when FL was called for Gore.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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@kyleluke4025 ~ You really need to take off those cult blinders, Doc! Toxic Trump only cares about himself. Toxic Trump is a narcissistic sociopath. Toxic Trump is a corrupt grifter lacking any political ideology--he only tells people whatever he thinks they want to hear that will most benefit him and his ego in the moment. Despite the former and because of the latter, he largely operates under what have come to be regarded as conservative principles, but in many cases are hypocritical or ill reflect conservatism in actual practice. The ballooning deficit under Toxic Trump--even before COVID-19--is just one such sterling example.
At a time when America most needed a Franklin Roosevelt, GOP gave us a Hoover that really sucks!
~ Both hilarious and deadly serious at the same time. Unlike Toxic Trump, Herbert Hoover was a man of character and integrity, well renowned as a humanitarian when elected President in a landslide. The comparison is not intended to be one of character, but of blind adherence to dubious, bankrupt, or failed ideology, leading to catastrophic failure highly damaging to America and lethal to Americans. The following should aid in understanding why our comparison is not only valid, but an astute, appropriate one:
Hoover saw the presidency as a vehicle for improving the conditions of all Americans by encouraging public-private cooperation—what he termed "volunteerism". He tended to oppose governmental coercion or intervention, as he thought they infringed on American ideals of individualism and self-reliance. ~Wikipedia
Hoover’s reputation as a humanitarian—earned during and after World War I as he rescued millions of Europeans from starvation—faded from public consciousness when his administration proved unable to alleviate widespread joblessness, homelessness, and hunger in his own country during the early years of the Great Depression. ~Brittanica
Why Trump Ended the Task Force and Put a Kook in Charge of the Coronavirus
Jonathan Chait -- October 20, 2020
The implosion of the last Republican administration was in large part the story of conservative ideology defeating empiricism. George W. Bush dismissed intelligence and foreign-policy professionals who questioned the Iraq weapons claims and pressed the need to plan for an occupation as small-minded bureaucrats disloyal to his grand vision.
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/trump-fauci-coronavirus-scott-atlas-herd-immunity-science-masks.html
Historian explains why Donald Trump’s COVID-19 response is remarkably similar to Herbert Hoover’s failed crisis leadership
April 14, 2020 -- History News Network
Robert Rupp is a professor of history and political science at West Virginia Wesleyan College.
On April 9, the New York Times reported more than 6 million new unemployment claims for the previous week, and nearly 17 million over the previous three weeks. As this massive unemployment has followed the coronavirus crisis, a comparison between Presidents Donald Trump and Herbert Hoover becomes more apt than ever. For both presidents failed to project candor or show leadership during an unprecedented national crisis.
President Hoover during his first year in office confronted an economic collapse. Unemployment soared to a record 25% at time when most Americans did not have access to unemployment benefits let alone health care. But as the nation sank into the Great Depression of the 1930s, Hoover radiated confidence. He was fond of saying that prosperity was just around the corner.
Hoover allegedly explained his optimistic proclamations by saying that “A doctor does not tell his patient how sick he is.” His lack of openness prompted a pushback as opponents during his administration labelled the slums built outside major cities as “Hoovervilles,” and encouraged people to call an empty pocket turned inside out as a “Hoover Flag.”
Like Hoover, Trump leans toward overconfidence rather than openness. According to the Washington Post, he had sought to downplay the coronavirus threat 33 times in February and March. At the start of the pandemic Trump appeared to dismiss the threat by highlighting low numbers (only 5 deaths and 15 cases). In the following months he repeatedly ignored Winston Churchill’s observation that “ There is no worse mistake in public leadership than to hold out false hope soon to be swept away.” On April 3, President Trump did warn Americans that this week “there’s going to be a lot of death.” But then he talked about “the light at the end of the tunnel.”
Another characteristic shared by the two presidents is an avoidance of strong presidential action; each proved reluctant to use the full power of the federal government.
Any discussion of presidential leadership must first recognize that Hoover was not a laissez-faire bystander as the depression worsened.
However, Hoover’s initiatives were constrained by his conservative political philosophy. He had strong ideological resistance to excessive federal intervention—a profound belief that such action would undermine initiative and responsibility. He expressed his strong views in his 1922 book American Individualism, which highlighted the danger of collectivism and a reliance too much on the federal government. In this regard he believed that assistance should be handled on a local, voluntary basis rather than on the federal level.
The American public would have to wait until President Franklin Roosevelt initiation of the New Deal and mobilization efforts during the World War II to witness dramatic model of full government intervention.
Like his overconfident pronouncements, Hoover’s principled resistance to extensive federal intervention did not serve him well as president and may have undermined his political future. Hoover was elected with 444 electoral votes winning all but 8 states in 1928. Four years later he received 59 electoral votes and carried just 6 states. Today no politician mentions him, except to compare their political opponent to him.
If history shows Hoover followed the wrong path for principled reasons, what will it say about Donald Trump, who has several tools that were not available to Hoover? Unlike Hoover, Trump could use such tools as War Production act and Defense Production act that date to World War II and the Korean War era, plus he has the precedent of the New Deal. All of these things happened after Hoover was president, and although available to Trump, he nonetheless is choosing not to use them as part of his action plan.
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/04/historian-explains-why-donald-trumps-covid-19-response-is-remarkably-similar-to-herbert-hoovers-failed-crisis-leadership/
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@kyleluke4025 ~ First, would just say it is quite rare and, indeed, refreshing to find you at least have kept an open mind, and are not one of those sucked wholly into the Republican cult.
MSN, CNN, and most main stream media outside of right-wing outlets like Faux News does present both sides, and it does try to be objective, professional journalism. (While Faux News has a few good journalists like Wallace, they are drowned out by the right-wing demagogues there. The Wall Street Journal has excellent reporting, but its opinion page is saturated with right-wing demagoguery.) Reputable MSM do give credit to Trump where due. They encourage him to do the right things. They want our President to be successful--as should we all, whatever our political ideology differences, because we all want America to prosper and grow.
As a long-time political observer, do not think it fair to engage in false equivalencies between the two major parties. We should expect--and welcome--political parties to point out the negative aspects of the other's policies, officials, and candidates, as that process helps to keep all of them accountable. Reputable journalism also plays a like role in holding our elected officials accountable. However, there is a big difference between that and unjustly demonizing your opponent or party wholesale, descending into demagoguery. For decades now, that is what the Republican party has done. There has been no Democratic equivalent to Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, or Trump and many Republican politicians. There is no Democratic equivalent to all the dishonesty engaged in by Republicans. Trump alone is on track to tell over 25,000 lies in his first four years. Never have we had a President so dishonest. MSM or Democrats pointing out that dishonesty, or Republican failings, does not fall into the same category. We should all strive for the truth, be able to acknowledge failings; else we doom ourselves to harm and failure. For the past four decades, have watched as GOP has chosen the low road, sinking lower and lower, while Democrats have overall stuck to the high road, despite being disadvantaged by dirty tricks. The lack of civility in politics has been, and continues to be, very one-sided. That same one-sidedness holds true with Republican obstructionism and unwillingness to compromise.
The vast majority--over 93%--of BLM protests have been peaceful. Yet, some of those have been incited by--or still been met with violence by--law enforcement and right-wing agitators. The rioting, looting and burning that has occurred is usually pent-up rage in response to events typifying the systemic racism and brutality at the hands of law enforcement too long endured. While it may be understandable in context to those more knowledgeable about systemic racism in America, it is not condoned. Nearly everyone supporting BLM knows that not only is such violence wrong, it is counterproductive to the movement and its goals; it's like shooting yourself in the foot. Democrats don't want to see their businesses and cities burned down, anymore than do Republicans. Nevertheless, we constantly see Republicans dishonestly painting Democrats as encouraging such violence, of being radical socialists and the like, juxtaposing violent clashes with Democratic politicians who do not support that, have spoken out against it, demonizing their opponents unjustly.
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@kyleluke4025 ~ Why are you spouting baseless conspiracy theories? Why do you hold the mistaken belief that the media or else anyone should waste time investigating baseless conspiracy theories lacking credible evidence? Here we thought maybe you had some sense. You're stereotyping BLM, spreading crackpot conspiracy theories to slander a very large movement with broad support. Why demonize BLM, engage in the very uncivil behavior you claim to oppose and detest? Why do you ignore the facts and arguments you were presented?
Did you know they caught the guy that initially started vandalizing and looting, spray painting "FREE STUFF" on the buildings of the shop windows he started smashing in Minneapolis during the first protest there? It was a white dude from a Reich-wing white nationalist group, who sought to agitate the situation and bring blame on BLM. He wasn't the only one like that engaging in such activities.
Sure, there have been some young kids opportunistically engaging in mayhem and theft, and there have been some older more organized criminal elements opportunistically taking advantage of BLM protests, also. None of which changes the fact they do not represent BLM or the BLM movement, and are not representative of the vast majority of peaceful BLM protesters and protests, which have continued to this day. No vandalism, looting, or burning has occurred for some time in association with BLM protests.
Because you don't feel the pressure of systemic racial injustice, you fail to understand how when it builds up enough, the lid is going to blow. No sane person is condoning that, nobody wants that to happen--except for the white supremacists and neo-Nazi types, hoping for another Civil War. The solution is not turning a blind eye or stereotyping a whole group of people, further victimizing people of color, but fixing the problems; getting rid of institutionalized systemic racism. Which includes police reform measures, more investment in minorities and minority communities, greater public awareness.
Your repetition of loony Reich-wing memes indicates you are part of the Republican cult, incapable or unwilling of thinking for yourself. Not to gratuitously insult, but that is the sad appearance you present. While hoping that isn't true, am disappointed.
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What we are witnessing and feeling is an ongoing train wreck, from the vantage point of the passengers. The lunatic conductor of the LOCO-motive, Toxic Trump, knew the end-of-the-line was coming, yet kept increasing acceleration, anyway. He's still trying to pump the gas, even with the train off the track! We on the HELL bound train, now, Lucifer's demented and depraved minion absolutely determined, dedicated, DEVOTED to getting us all there on time!
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Toxic Trump, at coronavirus press briefing 04/20/20, "We're looking at maybe "only" 50-60,000 deaths in the U.S.!" Just three days later, the toll surpassed 50,000; six days after that, it went over 61,000. On 05/04/20--a mere two weeks after Trump's delusional pronouncement--the U.S. reached 70,000 deaths. Less than a week later, on 05/10/20, the toll went over 80,000 American deaths. Because of many state and local governments opening up their economies too soon is blatant disregard of Trump administration's own guidelines, the CDC Mayday report projects new highs of 3,000 deaths and 200,000 new cases per DAY by June. That would put us at 100-150,000 deaths--just by the end of June, alone. That's acceptable, here in America? Since when?
New CDC projection on 05/15/20 of over 100,000 COVID-19 deaths by end of May. However, CDC projections have consistently undercounted cases and deaths, and this latest projection likewise appears to once again underestimate the deadly results of the U.S. sore lacking of national leadership in combating a deadly global pandemic. Fear COVID-19 deaths by the end of June will in actuality reach 150,000 - 200,000, nearly doubling in one month.
04/22/20 saw a new worst of nearly 2,700 COVID-19 deaths in a single day, topping the nearly 2,400 Americans lost on 04/14/20. Trump's claim was simply more of his wishful thinking, lies, and bogus claims. Clueless, disinterested, deranged, disengaged, and detached from reality are not the qualities you want in a leader during a major global pandemic crisis. That's a lethal combination that has already cost more American lives in just eight weeks than the Vietnam War in its entire twelve-year span.
It's like rowing or paddling upstream, or into a stiff wind--if you ease-up too much or stop, you will only have to paddle twice as hard to make up all the previous hard-earned progress that was quickly lost. Failing to maintain isolation and other measures for sufficient time to stop the spread of COVID-19 transmission will cost U.S. more in time, effort, money, and LIVES. Reopening and relaxing measures too early in defiance of the science and data is the ultimate in colossal ignorance, greed, ruthlessness, and arrogance.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Republican cult placing greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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We got Big Brag Daddy Baghdad Bob broadcasting direct from Washington, D.C. daily, with Toxic Trump and a revolving cast of his sycophantic minions! Happy talk, disinformation, empty promises, idle threats, vicious smears, bogus pandemic models, dog whistles, continuous crackpot conspiracies--they got it all, and more!
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@HughJorgan1 ~ You're only further proving the point of our initial comment, Doc! Whataboutism is a logical fallacy. It's intellectual dishonesty. It's a lie. It's a propaganda tool that is highly destructive to civilized society.
So, if your little girl gets brutally raped by some sexual deviant, we should say, "Well, what about that other little girl that got raped and killed?" No, we shouldn't, because each incident deserves to be judged right or wrong on its own merit. One thing being wrong doesn't excuse another thing being wrong. Regardless of any other little girl getting raped, I'm not going to try to make excuses for your little girl being raped, instead offering my sympathy and whatever help can be provided to you to bring those responsible for a horrific crime to justice.
You're comparison not only constituted Whataboutism, it's a false equivalence, besides. One in which you seek to absolve Trump from the very real violence and sedition of the terrorist attack against the nation's Capitol which invariably resulted from the incendiary rhetoric of him and other prominent Republicans. Cynthia Johnson is not the President of the U.S.A., she does not have a history of making incitements to violence that Trump does, she was not spreading a BIG LIE and crackpot conspiracy theories like Trump and prominent Republicans were, she was not speaking like a mob boss like Trump routinely does. Her words were taken out of context to be used as a weapon against her by Republicans, whereas the COMPLETE context of Trump's words is not being deliberately distorted by those seeking to hold him accountable.
Liz Cheney and a few other Congressional Republicans had the integrity and decency to speak the truth about Trump's culpability, but what about all the other Republicans like you lacking that basic modicum of courage and conviction, willing to gaslight terrorism and insurrection, willing to crap all over Constitution and country?
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@HughJorgan1 ~ Google "false equivalence," "Whataboutism," and you will learn the difference between comparing apples and oranges, and the difference between them and appropriate comparisons made honestly in good faith, Doc. Then YOU will be educated, in the words of your condescending ad hominem.
You haven't refuted any central points of our comment; rather, your logical fallacies only confirm the truth of them. In fact, you have simply ignored points and arguments, instead engaging in sophistry, deflecting and introducing topics unrelated to our comment, which only reinforce its truth.
You're not stupid, that much is clear. Yet, you engage in deceits and willful ignorance, trying to defend the indefensible. Where is your character, where is your sense of integrity? You wish to debate, but that is pointless when people like you refuse to operate in good faith. Get a clue, not a fascist clueless cult of seditious terrorists.
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The Molotov cocktail recipe:
Mix in equal parts of mental illness, lies, willful ignorance, fear, hate, greed, decades of 24/7 Reich-wing disinformation, misinformation, and crackpot conspiracy programming by Republican politicians, plutocrats, media and demagogues, add supplemental divisive Russian propaganda attacking and weakening America, stir well, garnish with COVID-19, and you have the mindless Republican cult descending into fascism, committing terrorism and sedition. Then, grab a stiff drink--you'll need it.
The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over four decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, John Eastman and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
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To protect our health care and front-line workers, it is critical to protect ourselves and others! Protecting those most vulnerable groups among us--like the elderly, homeless, prisoners, minorities, and migrants--is one of the best ways of protecting ourselves! It's a win-win situation, folks--even without a global pandemic, but now especially! Conversely, it is actually Trump and the GOP's fear-mongering, stigmatization, bigotry, xenophobia, racism, cruelty and lack of compassion which endangers Americans. Ignorance kills.
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Putin is posturing. He's not stupid, isn't about to kill the goose that lays the golden egg, which is the corrupt regime he runs that enriches him and appointed oligarchy friends. If he thought he could get away with taking Ukraine, he would do it, but he knows it would be too costly, and could well prove his downfall.
NATO nations border Russia now, just as they have since the days of the USSR. NATO is a defensive organization, as Putin well knows. The U.S. and other NATO allies have no intention or interest whatsoever of employing offensive military forces against Russia in aggression, as Putin also well knows. NATO was formed at the request of European nations in conjunction with the U.S. as a hedge against Russian aggression, another thing of which Putin is well aware.
And there's no mistaking that Russia is the aggressor, with its annexation of the Ukranian territory of Crimea, its military operation in eastern Ukraine, and its ongoing efforts to destabilize Ukraine.
Which is not because Ukraine poses any threat to Russia. It's because Putin promotes Russian nationalism and a return to the supposed "glory" of the former communist Soviet Union as a way to gain support to prop up his corrupt regime, much as Hitler did.
Putin runs a brutal, repressive regime, and while there is resistance and protests, they are met with harsh crackdowns by security forces and often heavy punishment handed down to those involved. What Putin fears is not the U.S. or NATO, but his fellow citizens.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation—only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regurgitation
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump’s COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration…
Now reaching vacation destination!
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Republicans are willing to gain and hold power at any cost...even if the price is our democracy!
Farmer wakes up one morning, goes outside to milk his cows, and discovers his entire herd is missing! So, he then walks over nest door to where the Republican cult lives, notices them grinding a whole bunch of beef into hamburger, and asks them, "Did you see what happened to all my cows?"
Republican cult: "Yeah, they jumped over the moon."
Farmer: "Do you have any actual evidence of that?"
Republican cult: "No, because they landed on the dark side, and you can't see them over there. But we're conducting a bunch of investigations and fraudits, and we're confident evidence will soon emerge to prove it!"
Farmer: "You know, that sounds like a load of manure!"
Republican cult: "Well, that's what we all choose to believe!"
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Toxic Trump: "I'm the BEST, just absolutely CRUSHING the competition, with over FOUR POINT SIX MILLION coronavirus cases and over 155 -- one-hundred and fifty-five!!! -- THOUSAND deaths! Easy as 1-2-3! They ALL got eighty-sixed, 'cause nobody else even comes close! With a QUARTER of the world's cases AND deaths--can you even imagine how truly great, how awesome, that achievement is, with only just FOUR PERCENT of the world's population to work with? Believe it or not, I accomplished in only FIVE WEEKS what it took the Vietnam War a whole TWELVE YEARS to do! Not done with the fun--and not to be outdone--I then doubled down on the death toll from Vietnam in just FOUR MONTHS! PLUS, we're not even counting ALL the COVID-19 cases and deaths here in the U.S.! And, with only TEN PERCENT of the U.S. population already infected, we're just getting started with all the sickness and death; there's PLENTY more to come! Those other weaklings and losers don't stand a chance, because we're going to keep right on winning--as long as I'm in charge! Now, vacation's over; time to get back to work on increasing those numbers, people! Let's keep America great, get rid of all the excess baggage! As wartime President, I am commanding all CIVILIANS to senselessly sacrifice their lives for my arrogance, stupidity, vanity, malevolence, and greed!"
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and disturbing. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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You don't get denialism without nihilism. As life-long conservative Bill Kristol astutely pointed our just recently in a tweet, the Republican party has embraced nihilism. Republicans still labeling COVID-19 a "hoax;" Republicans still refusing to wear masks or social distance after over half-a-million American fatalities from COVID-19; Congressional Republicans obstructing a COVID-19 stimulus bill certain to pass just to delay vital and urgently needed relief to the American people; Republican governors dropping mask mandates and all restrictions on businesses, heedless of rising case counts in their states and deadly new variants of the virus; and Republican leaders continuing to push the Big Lie that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen without evidence and in disregard of plentiful evidence and facts to the contrary, even AFTER their Big Lie incited a terrorist attack by a mindless Republican mob against the nation's Capitol in insurrection against the government, attempting to overturn a legitimate election, sieging, storming, sizing, sacking, defiling, defacing and disgracing America's citadel and temple to democracy--these are all prime examples of nihilism.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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"We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Contrary to Trump’s Claim, A Pandemic Was Widely Expected
At a White House briefing March 19, President Donald Trump said, “Nobody knew there’d be a pandemic or an epidemic of this proportion.” But that’s simply not the case.
Among others, the U.S. intelligence community warned in its annual threat report for 2019 that “that the United States and the world will remain vulnerable to the next flu pandemic or large-scale outbreak of a contagious disease that could lead to massive rates of death.”
[Also, U.S. Intelligence reports to White House contained five-alarm flashing warnings about covid-19 pandemic in January and February of 2020, when Trump and his administration were downplaying the threat.]
The president made his remarks at a coronavirus task force press briefing. Trump deflected the blame when asked about the lack of coronavirus tests and medical supplies to deal with the pandemic.
Trump, March 19: "They had an obsolete system, and they had a system, simultaneously, that was not meant for this. It wasn’t meant for this. Nobody knew there’d be a pandemic or an epidemic of this proportion. Nobody has ever seen anything like this before."
But experts have warned for years about the danger of a major, potentially catastrophic outbreak of global disease, and some have sounded the alarm that the United States was not prepared to cope with it.
“The threat of pandemic flu is the number one health security concern,” Luciana Borio, then-director of Medical and Biodefense Preparedness Policy at the National Security Council, said at a symposium at Emory University in Atlanta in 2018 marking the 100th anniversary of the devastating flu outbreak of 1918. “Are we ready to respond? I fear the answer is no.”
Jennifer Horney, professor and founding director of the epidemiology program at the University of Delaware, told CNN, “we’ve been planning for and anticipating a global event like this” at least since the 2005 avian influenza outbreak.
After the novel coronavirus appeared in Wuhan, China, last December and spread around the world, Trump consistently sought to downplay the danger to the United States, likening coronavirus to the flu and expressing confidence that it could go away once the weather warmed up. (See our story, “Trump’s Statements About the Coronavirus.”)
Only recently has the president begun referring to it as a major problem for the U.S. “This is a pandemic,” he said at a March 17 press conference. “I’ve felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic.”
Marc Lipsitch, an epidemiology professor at Harvard University, told us that there was plenty of evidence that a disease of this kind posed a serious threat and that the notion that it could not be foreseen is off base.
“Three years ago, experts were saying that bat coronaviruses could become a new pandemic,” he said in an email. “Almost two months ago, experts were saying that the new virus in Wuhan was potentially a global threat. One month ago, experts were saying that it was likely to be pandemic, and the White House’s response was that this was under control, despite the fact that the US’s lack of testing was demonstrably giving a false picture of the extent of infection. This was foreseeable, and foreseen, weeks and months ago, and only now is the White House coming out of denial and heading straight into saying it could not have been foreseen.”
The likelihood of a pandemic has been clear to experts for quite some time.
Back in 2012, the RAND Corp. issued a report called “Threats Without Threateners? Exploring Intersections of Threats to the Global Commons and National Security.” That report focused on five risks — nuclear proliferation, conflict in the Middle East, water scarcity, pandemics and climate change.
Of the five, it said, “In current circumstances, only pandemics seem to be an existential threat, capable of destroying America’s way of life.”
The report said that “a future pandemic may be virtually certain,” adding, “its timing and severity are not.” To underscore the need to focus on the subject right away, the document said, “Pandemics are a real possibility in the here and now; there is nothing future about them.”
A week before the Trump administration took office in January 2017, Obama administration officials focused on the dangers of a pandemic in a briefing for top Trump aides, according to Politico. One of the possible scenarios sketched out included a fast-spreading global disease leading some countries to impose travel bans.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/factcheck/contrary-to-trump-s-claim-a-pandemic-was-widely-expected-at-some-point/ar-BB11tTHl?pfr=1
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'IMMIGRATION FOR DUMMIES' -- by Former Heads of Fatherland Security, Kevin K. McAleenan and Kirstjen Nielson
"So...What we did was we worked really hard with Trump administration to make draconian changes to immigration policies that creates bottlenecks, backlogs, and a HUGE increase in detention rates. So...We did this despite knowing that our lack of capabilities could only lead to greatly overcrowded facilities (concentration camps, if you prefer); poor conditions; human rights abuses against children, refugees, and migrants of color; lasting traumatic damage done to the children; vastly increased costs to the American taxpayer; the demoralization, desensitization, destabilization, depletion and destruction of our vital government workforce securing our borders and dealing with immigration. So...Just to be clear here, at the end of the day, the only goal was to extort money from Congress by torturing children and innocent people we hold hostage. Call it kidnapping if you want. So...Then we take the money and hand it over to our crony friends running the "detention centers" that they may profit from all this misery! So...You can see how our diabolical plan worked to perfection, we got our ransom money for CBP. So...That's why I'm working with my Republican cohorts in Congress to run the same scam again for ICE! So...Yes, we were experiencing difficulties achieving the profit margins anticipated with our wall street, but that open-ended venture continues to pay dividends for our money men and racist sycophants, as well!"
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Welcome to war. This is what war is. It's terrible, it's tragic, it's ugly, it stinks, it's unfair, it's sad, it's wasteful, it's hell, innocents die, and things always go wrong. You think we'd have learned that by now, but no, it's a lesson that has to be repeatedly learned, evidently. The consensus is that nobody foresaw the Afghan government and its armed forces completely capitulating so quickly as they did. Some say there should have been a contingency plan for this, but even though hindsight is 20/20, have yet to hear any rational plan that could have dealt with this situation. Shit happens, and Biden got handed a turd with Afghanistan. Instead of allowing the crap to continue, Biden made the hard, responsible decision to pull the U.S. out of another country's civil war. Fallout was inevitable, and Republicans trying to capitalize on that politically or media trying to profit from it is truly degenerate.
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You don't get denialism without nihilism. As life-long conservative Bill Kristol astutely pointed out, the Republican party has embraced nihilism. Republicans denying systemic racism; Republicans denying climate change; Republicans still labeling COVID-19 a "hoax;" Republicans refusing to wear masks or social distance after over half-a-million American fatalities from COVID-19; Congressional Republicans obstructing a COVID-19 stimulus bill certain to pass just to delay vital and urgently needed relief to Americans desperate for help; not one Congressional Republican in either chamber voting for the badly needed stimulus bill; Republican governors dropping mask mandates and all restrictions on businesses, heedless of rising case counts in their states and deadly new variants of the virus; and Republican leaders continuing to push the Big Lie that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen without evidence and in disregard of plentiful evidence and facts to the contrary, even AFTER their Big Lie incited a terrorist attack by a mindless Republican mob against the nation's Capitol in insurrection against the government, attempting to overturn a legitimate election, sieging, storming, sizing, sacking, defiling, defacing and disgracing America's citadel of, and temple to, democracy; and now Republicans attempting history revisionism, trying to sweep the January 6 insurrection under the rug, refusing to support a January 6 bipartisan commission----these are all prime examples of nihilism.
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@halwakka504 ~ There's always something on the line with telling the truth, Doc. Maybe it's your job, maybe it's your marriage, maybe it's your relationship with your best friend.
Don't need to reread the comment; know well what it said. You're rationalizing your response, trying to justify that it was all as simple as losing his job. But it's not. He can get another job, didn't have to sacrifice his reputation and integrity. He made a choice to do that. What you pointed out was only the half of it, and all we did is fill in the other half. Why is that a problem for you to wrap your head around?
Don't think all politicians are alike, don't know that most are necessarily in it for a power trip, don't think most are corrupt or weak, can see a wide gap between the two sides that has nothing to do with their respective ideologies. Don't find such over-broad generalizations generally helpful to gaining better governance. Do believe, however, that one side, the GOP, has become dysfunctional and destructive overall to our democracy and nation.
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@halwakka504 ~ You take it as an argument; personally see it as debating a point, exchanging and challenging views. Not necessarily disputing some of the crude mechanics at work, just pointing out how it's not so simple, that there is a bit more to the calculation than just that.
For example: He holds a statewide position where a Democrat just won the Presidency, and the Governorship almost went to a Democrat, and he only narrowly won over a Democrat himself to win his job. Duncan can't get fired for being honest, but he will run for reelection at the end of his term. Keep in mind that 10 out of the 12 Georgia Lt. Governor's have been Democrat since the office was created after WWII, and that Georgia is turning Democrat. So, keeping his job isn't guaranteed, anyway. His partisan political games and lack of candor could just as well cause him to lose his job, instead of enabling him to keep it.
Your allegation that we didn't respond to the initial comment is baseless, as there were actually several responses we left to it, which are clearly evident for anyone bothering to look. A number of people here have replied in agreement with me, but unless they have something to add, don't typically respond. Some of those responding to the comment (not all) may feel personally inclined to respond and add something, or to disagree. So? What's wrong with that? It's perfectly normal behavior, healthy dialogue.
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What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil. They are either actively or silently complicit in fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorist violence, Reich-wing insurrection, and Reich-wing undermining of our democracy and Constitution.
It's crystal clear that Trump, Boebert, Greene, Gosar and other Republicans like them are fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorism. The GOP has become radicalized to such an extent that it has essentially become a fascist terrorist organization, with members that fantasize and promote violence against their fellow Americans. While those Republican elected officials must be condemned and sanctioned, they are only a symptom of the disease poisoning a third of America, the most visible part of the cancer infecting our nation.
The GOP has been mainstreaming radicalization of their voter base for decades, ALLOWING Reich-wing media and Reich-wing demagogues to take over the party, to the point it has become a fascist, nihilistic cult. Because just as now, Republican politicians and their plutocratic masters have always seen it as the ends justifying whatever means to win power. Remember the Republican Tea Party? This catastrophe with the GOP didn't start with Trump, who just exploited what Republicans had already built.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle for graft and to grift their voters and us taxpayers. You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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@kramnoslaw4474 ~ Bravo, Biden! Biden is correct to call out and put pressure on Manchin and Sinema, who are acting naïve, but have to know better by now that Congressional Republicans want nothing to do with bipartisanship----only total domination. Republicans already ended the filibuster for SCOTUS nominations because it didn't suit their agenda of packing the courts, and they'll do away with the filibuster altogether in the future when it gets in their way. Congressional Republicans have already proven numerous times that their word means nothing. If Democrats don't end the filibuster, then Republicans will, using it to their own advantage, anyway.
Congressional Republicans just proved--once again--they are unwilling to operate in good faith, first in the House, now in the Senate, unwilling to even pass a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate the January 6 insurrection! How many times does Lucy have to pull the football out at the last minute before Charlie Brown Manchin and Silly Sinema finally wise up? New voting rights protections sorely needed in the wake of new Republican Jim Crow legislation nationwide, a badly needed infrastructure and jobs bill, and numerous other pieces of critical legislation the Democrats want to pass don't stand a chance if the filibuster is allowed to stand. If Republicans are going to abuse the filibuster, then it's time to LOSE THE FILIBUSTER!!!
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or "the Wall") is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle's name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called "leaders" in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 -- than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to--and a barrier against--our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It's design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge--and help teach--people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see...if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that generation.
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In typical Republican cult alternate-reality fashion, Scott's speech is full of misinformation, disinformation, and distortions. It would take all day to debunk all his B.S., but to give just one example: Scott conflated Biden and Democrats with school's not opening last year, but Biden had no control over that, he wasn't even President. In fact, the Federal government had no hand in that; the decisions were made by state and local governments. And, no, the science wasn't conclusive on school's being safe long ago. A preliminary study in Wisconsin had indicated that if a number of measures were taken and conditions met, schools could be fairly safe. But not all schools were capable of taking those measures, and conditions could not be met because COVID-19 case rates were too high in most places, or classroom to small for adequate social distancing spacing. Those decisions not to open schools more widely to in-person learning were taken by health officials, schools, and both Republican and Democratic elected officials, and were typically based upon the science and the advice of medical health experts. Moreover, schools didn't actually close; it was moved to remote online classes, which may not have been ideal for some students, but still provided benefit to the vast majority of children. So, it's inaccurate and hyperbole for Scott to claim that American children lost a year of education. Moreover, many children in America had already been home-schooling using online classes before the pandemic, and will continue doing so after it is over. Apparently, in Scott's warped brain, home schoolers taking online classes shouldn't be allowed to graduate, because he somehow thinks they didn't receive any education.
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Demented Trumpettes feeling dejected at Toxic Trump not getting reelected, so objected. Rather get detected, infected, inspected, injected, and disinfected--instead of getting rejected from their genuflected Republican cult! This time, it isn't the Kool-Aid; it's the Clorox, Lysol, Oxycodone, Oleander, and Hydroxychloroquine cocktails...
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over four decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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What a strange, unexpected comment, especially from someone with an apparent PhD, especially in this context! What is this video about? It's about Sen. (Dr.) Paul trying to politicize science and medicine, when he knows (or damn well ought to know) better. The same thing Trump and many Republicans have been doing since this pandemic began, to the tune of over a half-million dead Americans to date, many of those unnecessary, senseless. It shows Dr. Fauci trying to explain the science and Sen. Paul interrupting him and doing his best to obfuscate the science. Sen. Paul is acting no differently than Dr. Scott Atlas, a know-nothing opportunist whom Trump appointed to his coronavirus task force, because he was willing to push pseudo science and tell Trump what he wanted to hear. Viewed in overall context, Sen. Paul is demonstrating a critical lack of regard for the value of American lives, willing to sacrifice human lives to advance his own personal interests by engaging in dangerous political theater, trying to cast doubt upon sound expert scientific advice. THAT is the real issue here, NOT "politicians of both parties lecturing witnesses." THAT is what people should be focused on, what should be found shocking, appalling, totally unacceptable.
With all due respect, Dr. Nostrand, should we not WANT our elected officials to hold other government officials--and each other--accountable? When a witness before Congress is being obstructionist, untruthful, or otherwise uncooperative, should we not WANT our elected officials to badger and lecture that witness, to hold them accountable, to find the truth? In this particular case, Dr. Fauci was fully cooperative, enjoys a well-established hard-won reputation for honesty and expertise, so Sen. Paul's interrupting, badgering, and lecturing of the witness was unfounded and highly inappropriate, like his selfish motive.
Conversely, the Democrat follow-up question was explicit and straightforward, providing Dr. Fauci opportunity to explain the science, which Sen. Paul had been dishonestly hindering and obscuring. Generally find Congressional Democrats when questioning witnesses appearing before them to be very respectful of government institutions, employees and appointees, asking straightforward questions. There have been many times wish Democrats had been less kind and gentle with witnesses acting in clear contempt of Congress and its responsibilities. It should also be acknowledged that, depending upon circumstance, there are times the truth can be best arrived at through a more oblique approach, rather than directly. Anyway, that was the other part of your comment found strange, because "politicians of both parties" is something of a false equivalence, and certainly inapplicable to this particular video. Think it best if truly desiring improvement in governance that generalities and Whataboutism be avoided, that a problem is clearly and correctly identified where it occurs, with blame and criticism specifically assigned to those responsible at the time it occurs.
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Congressional Republicans just proved--once again--they are unwilling to operate in good faith, first in the House, now in the Senate, unwilling to even pass a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate the January 6 insurrection! How many times does Lucy have to pull the football out at the last minute before Charlie Brown Manchin and Silly Sinema finally wise up? New voting rights protections sorely needed in the wake of new Republican Jim Crow legislation nationwide, a badly needed infrastructure and jobs bill, and numerous other pieces of critical legislation the Democrats want to pass don't stand a chance if the filibuster is allowed to stand. If Republicans are going to abuse the filibuster, then it's time to LOSE THE FILIBUSTER!!!
As Republicans continue relitigating the 2020 election in Arizona, Georgia, and other states based upon a Big Lie they pushed, and after Republicans relitigated Benghazi for years with TEN partisan investigations, Moscow McConnell doesn't want a bipartisan commission to investigate an insurrection against the nation's Capitol because it would be "relitigating?" Nevermind the heights of hypocrisy reached here; that's an insult to the intelligence of the American people, and a gross dereliction of duty by Republicans.
Naturally, Republicans don't want their ties to terrorists and the insurrection exposed, nor does McCarthy want to be forced to testify about his damning phone call to Traitor Trump on January 6th.
While it would be better to have a bipartisan commission with both sides operating in good faith to get to the truth, Republicans have demonstrated themselves to be incapable of operating in good faith. Given that they amply proved that by voting against the January 6 commission, it will actually be for the better, because a House select committee investigating January 6 won't be blocked by Republicans from subpoenaing witnesses, or bogged down with Republican obstructionism, obfuscations, deflections, and irrelevancies.
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
― Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again." ― Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney
More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Farmer wakes up one morning, goes outside to milk his cows, and discovers his entire herd is missing! So, he then walks over nest door to where the Republican cult lives, notices them grinding a whole bunch of beef into hamburger, and asks them, "Did you see what happened to all my cows?"
Republican cult: "Yeah, they jumped over the moon."
Farmer: "Do you have any actual evidence of that?"
Republican cult: "No, because they landed on the dark side, and you can't see them over there. But we're conducting a bunch of investigations, and we're confident evidence will soon emerge to prove it!"
Farmer: "You know, that sounds like a load of manure!"
Republican cult: "Well, that's what we all choose to believe!"
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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Donald Trump, at White House press conference on 04/07/20:
And we’re going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO. We’re going to put a very powerful hold on it, and we’re going to see.
Trump later at that same press conference:
Q: Thanks. A quick follow-up on that. So is the time to freeze funding to the WHO during a pandemic of this magnitude?
THE PRESIDENT: No, maybe not. I mean, I’m not saying I’m going to do it, but we’re going to look at it.
Q: You did say that you’re going to —
THE PRESIDENT: We give a tremendous —
Q: You said you’d put a hold on it.
THE PRESIDENT: No, I didn’t.
Toxic Trump, one week later, on 04/14/20: "I'm withholding WHO funding!"
WHO held a important meeting on COVID-19 vaccines at the beginning of May, with all nations attending...except, unbelievably, no U.S. medical and scientific representatives sent by the Trump Administration, without any explanation. The absence particularly stunning in light that U.S. has half of world's cases and a quarter of the deaths, although possessing just 4% of the global population. Then, on May 29, Toxic Trump announced the U.S. was completely withdrawing from the World Health Organization!
ME, US, the world: WTF?? Why in HELL is that raving lunatic STILL in charge during this major pandemic health crisis?!? Hasn't he KILLED enough Americans, ALREADY?!?
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Republicans: "We're killing democracy, America, our economy, our healthcare system, our schools, our children, our planet, and ourselves...so we can keep it great!"
Education to the fascist Republican cult means programming lies, fears, and hate into people, while discouraging critical reasoning, independent thought, and objectivity. It's killing both Americans and America.
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~ Bad Vibration, Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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Freedoms can exist only up to the point they infringe upon the freedom of others. Religious tolerance can be practiced only up to the point it becomes intolerant of others. Our Constitution is a secular document, not a religious one, and it was certainly never intended to be a suicidal death pact. Getting vaccinated and following CDC guidelines brings freedom from preventable illness or injury, and a senseless premature death, but the mindless fascist Republican cult only believes in freeDUMB. Just as they don't understand or would deny the Constitution is as much about the common good as personal liberties, and that those two things are intrinsically and inextricably intertwined.
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge." ~ Ben Franklin, from Poor Richard's Almanack
Those who scorn public health guidelines during a deadly global pandemic and confuse a grievous public health issue with "essential" liberty to kill and harm themselves and their fellow citizens--as well as their nation--sorely lack both care and knowledge. They are also sorely lacking in common sense, something else about which Mr. Franklin was quite keen. Mr. Franklin was also one our nation's first scientists--yet these modern-day knuckleheads who ought know better refute science! Were he alive today, he would be rather dismayed, disgruntled, and disgusted with the fascist anti-science Republican cult, that much is crystal clear.
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"Peace is not a very big thing to ask for, is it?" ~ Fatima Gailani, Afghan activist and negotiator, pleading for continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan
It is when asking the Taliban, who do not seek peace or to bargain in good faith, but total domination once again. U.S. has spent 20 years and over $2 trillion trying to achieve peace in Afghanistan, losing over 4000 American lives (military and civilian contractors), with tens of thousands of Americans wounded there.
"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials … have given Afghans little reason to support their government," Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the commander of U.S. forces in the country, wrote in a 2009 memorandum. "This crisis of confidence, coupled with a distinct lack of economic and educational opportunity, has created fertile ground for the insurgency."
That was 11 years ago, and little has changed since. Thought the invasion of Afghanistan by Bush was a mistake that would lead to a quagmire, and have been proven correct. Still, initially supported efforts to bring peace and stability there, along with basic human and civil-rights, because after invading felt we had an obligation to rebuild. However, while U.S. blunders there have contributed to a failure, Afghans are their own worst enemy, and no one can help them until enough of them are willing to help themselves.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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Beginning to think that President Biden needs to declare martial law to get Covid-19 under control. It's appalling and sad that it's gotten to this point because of corrupt Republican leaders who care only about their political ambitions and nothing about their constituent's health or lives, and a bunch of anti-science morons lacking basic decency and even a modicum of common sense.
In a sane America----one where a third of the population wasn't programmed into a mindless, fascist Republican cult----we would have universal Covid-19 vaccine passports, masks and social distancing required wherever and whenever deemed necessary by public health officials, and mandatory vaccinations for all those able to receive it. Actually, in a sane America, none of that would be necessary, because everyone able would be voluntarily getting vaccinated, and everybody would be faithfully following CDC guidelines like wearing masks and socially distancing. They would be doing so because it is in there own best interest; because it is the moral and ethical thing to do to protect our fellow citizens; because we need to prevent the creation of new, more deadly variants; because it is the best way to recover the economy; because it is the best way to get things back to normal; because it is the civic, patriotic thing to do; and because it is just plain old-fashioned common sense.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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Traitor Trump: "Russian spies, brutal dictators, rapists, racists, psycho murderers, child molesters, terrorists, violent insurrectionists, lunatics, grifters, and assorted crooks----those are my people! And they're TREMENDOUS people! Tremendous people!"
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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Trump Surgeon General: "Four months since this pandemic began, and we've stopped telling people just how very, very few Americans we've tested, we're still not elucidating any real coherent strategy for dealing with COVID-19. Instead of testing the American public to get a handle on this pandemic, confine outbreaks, gain more time, and protect the American people, especially those Americans at high-risk--such as the young, the elderly, those sick or with conditions--we are using the American people as guinea pigs, tracking where they start dying after the epidemic has already taken firm root in their communities! Just remember...DON'T PANIC!!!"
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@Richie Greign ~ Actually, the unfortunate truth is that Republicans don't care how much taxpayer money and time they waste on political witch hunts to smear their opponents. To the Republican cult, it was a success, because their efforts helped to get Hillary defeated. Best not to lose sight that the GOP has become a fascist, nihilistic cult. As Sen. Hirano put it, "Republicans don't give a shit!" It's all about gaining power for power's sake, and Republicans don't care if they destroy their party, our democracy, or our country to further their own corruption. The GOP can no longer be defined as conservative; it has devolved into something far, far, worse.
The same is true for the Durham "investigation" instigated by Bill Barr under Trump cited by Reich-wing trolls; it's nothing more than a political hatchet job to cover up the ties between Russia and Trump. Which is almost certain to have a chilling affect on U.S. counterintelligence efforts, making America less secure. But, again, Republicans don't care about that, as shown by their dissemination of known Russian propaganda. It's likely the two process charges----all that Durham came up with after two years of another Republican political witch hunt----against a lawyer and an informant will likely either be dismissed or they will be found innocent.
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@c10wiremantawwallace13 ~ Why are Republicans like you always wanting to showoff their ignorance, Doc? "Kool-Aid" was a name coined by Kraft for it's line of flavored drink mixes. The use of the phrase "(don't) drink the Kool-Aid" came about because of the the Jim Jones Christian cult mass suicide in Jonestown, Guyana (although it was the generic brand Flavor-Aid that was actually used). The phrase wasn't "invented" by Republicans or Democrats; it became a common phrase used in our society that had no political connotations. Today, most people use it when speaking about the Republican cult.
The same goes for the phrase "civil rights" which, like "human rights," was not "invented" by Republicans. Democrats are credited for passing the Civil Rights Act because it was passed on the initiative of, and by, a Democratic President and Democratic Congress. Republicans get credit for their past continued support of civil rights legislation, too, but the question is why have Republicans now regressed and become antagonistic to civil rights, passing Jim Crow voter suppression laws and adopting the positions of the Dixiecrats that left the Democratic party in the '60s for the GOP because Democrats passed the Civil Rights Act? Why is the GOP now catering to the white supremacists, allowing them to dictate its policies and agenda?
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@c10wiremantawwallace13 ~ You sound just like Reich-wing media propaganda, Doc! You drank the Reich-wing Kool-Aid, and now you're just regurgitating it verbatim. The irony is how blind you are to the fact that you're completely submerged in a fascist, nihilistic Reich-wing cult. All you know how to do is spew fallacious Reich-wing talking points. You have lost the ability to think critically and independently for yourself. But the crap you've been spoon-fed and so eagerly swallowed that you then spew forth will never convince those of us who are able to think critically and independently for ourselves.
And you show a severe deficit of integrity, because even where shown wrong, you can't admit your error. Instead, as is typical with the Republican cult, you just seek to broaden your deceitful attack with more smears and lies. This video, comment and thread is about the 75-80% of Republicans choosing to believe the Big Lie that the 2020 election was stolen, but you wish to deflect from that, talk about other things, because believing such Big Lies is all the proof that is needed to show how the GOP has become a cult of Orwellian doublespeak and lies, and you can not defend that. The Republican party has become cuckoo crazy, no longer has any real platform or policies to offer, just stupid culture wars, lies, and hate.
"If you could reason with Trump supporters, they wouldn't be Trump supporters."
— Wanda Slappem-Sully
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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Matching color ties and suits happen much more often than women wearing the same outfit. It's completely irrelevant. I detest mansplaining, but I didn't see any evidence or sign of that here. In fact, they were all agreeing with each other, in what was a perfectly normal discussion. The host was asking the questions, Cupp and Avalon were giving their perspectives. Both men were listening intently to what Cupp had to say and gave her words proper deference. Where's the problem?
I tend to agree with your assessment of Traitor Trump and the fascist Republican cult, but here is the problem I had with this bit of analysis:
***MEDIA FAIL*** ---- CNN: "Let's not talk about what has been proven true tying Trump to Russia in the Steele Dossier and Mueller Report, let's only focus on what hasn't yet been proven, then let's blame Steele for our lack of coverage on what is true!" Yeah, that makes a whole hell of a lot of sense, CNN. Media BE better, then WE be better!
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Why America is so vulnerable to coronavirus
Ryan Cooper
All over the world, governments are scrambling to defend their citizenry from COVID-19, the disease caused by the outbreak of novel coronavirus. So far it seems levels of success have varied; countries like Italy and Iran have struggled so far, while Vietnam and Taiwan have seemingly put forth an efficient and effective response.
The United States, where a major outbreak is clearly developing, however, is in a class by itself. America's atrociously inadequate welfare state makes it by far the most vulnerable rich country to a viral pandemic, and the vicious, right-wing ideology of the Republican Party has wrecked the government's ability to manage crises of any kind.
The national health care system is of course the most important tool for any country trying to fight off an epidemic — all citizens need to be able to get tested, receive treatment, or be quarantined if necessary. If and when a vaccine is developed, the system needs to distribute it to everyone as fast as possible. That means handing it out for free in locations across the country, and perhaps making
The American health care system fails at every one of these tasks. Nearly 30 million Americans are uninsured, and a further 44 million are underinsured — meaning they will likely hesitate to go to the doctor if they start developing COVID-19 symptoms. This problem is seriously exacerbated by the rampant predatory profiteering that infects every corner of the health care system. Indeed, responsible citizens who have gone in for tests have already started getting slammed with multi-thousand dollar bills. A father and daughter who were evacuated from China and then forcibly quarantined for several days (luckily they were not infected) went home to find $3,918 in bills.
If you are working-class person with a $10,000 deductible (not at all uncommon), going to the doctor simply because you have flu-like symptoms (which is how most cases of COVID-19 are experienced) could very easily send you into bankruptcy. If infected, millions of Americans are likely going to take their chances — and keep spreading the virus.
Indeed, U.S. health care is not only by far the worst system among rich countries, it is much worse than that of many middle-income or poorer countries when it comes to confronting a fast-moving epidemic. Distributing a vaccine is not that difficult of a task — World Health Organization workers managed it with smallpox even in desperately poor African countries in the 1970s. You just round up everyone, and give out the shot. But that will be a heavy lift indeed with a health care system geared above all to price-gouge sick people out of as much money as possible. While in theory the government could stand up a one-time free (or cheap) vaccination program, the administration has already ruled that out. "We can’t control that price because we need the private sector to invest," said HHS Secretary Alex Azar. That very likely means an eyewateringly-expensive vaccine that tens of millions can't get — we've seen what rapacious pharma companies do with insulin. (Speaking of vaccines, as Ryan Grim points out at The Intercept, Joe Biden voted against a Bernie Sanders amendment to force drug companies to provide drugs funded by public research at a reasonable price.)
It's worth pointing out again that if we had Medicare-for-all, these concerns would vanish at a stroke. People experiencing symptoms would feel free to seek medical care without worrying about breaking the bank, and a vaccine could be distributed by the government through hospitals and clinics at no cost to patients.
But there are still further problems. The United States is one of only a handful of countries (almost all of them desperately poor) with no national sick leave program, which means many workers who come down with COVID-19 will be forced to choose between starving or spreading the disease. Food service workers are especially unlikely to have sick leave from their employers, and are generally not paid well either. So-called "gig economy" companies naturally provide no sick leave either. In China, food delivery services have been critical for feeding cities under lockdown, but in America they are likely to become just another vector of infection.
Finally, there is conservative ideology. As I have written, the Trump administration — under the influence of conservative fanatics like Mick "The Knife" Mulvaney — has deliberately devastated the government's pandemic response capacity. He's cut key personnel, slashed funding, and made sure thousands more Americans have been thrown off their insurance. And while Trump is certainly the most incompetent president in American history, his style of government is not at all out of keeping with typical Republican rule. As Thomas Frank writes in his book The Wrecking Crew, for decades GOP rule has meant rampant corruption and disastrous incompetence. When a Republican is in the White House, unqualified cronies end up in charge of federal emergency management, and American cities and towns end up ruined. Even today, the Trump regime is doing its level best to kick as many people off their health insurance as possible — the Supreme Court just announced it would hear the latest Republican attempt to destroy the Affordable Care Act through judicial rule-by-decree.
The conservative movement has served like a bath of hydrofluoric acid on the quality, competence, and basic decency of American institutions. Republicans have all but posted up signs everywhere saying "epidemics welcome here." So now they are resorting to the only thing they know how to do really well — lying, concocting conspiracy theories and blaming Democrats and the media for any bad news. It does not bode well.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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Although very much want Trump removed and indicted for his crimes to stand justice, the greatest anger and disgust is reserved for Congressional Republicans, who will receive a poor justice from voters, if that.
Trump is mentally ill. Doesn't make him less of a crook, less dangerous, or even necessarily less responsible for his actions. But although President, he's just one person, whose aberrant behavior is only possible through its enablement by Congressional Republicans, who cannot claim mental illness or any other such excuse as a group.
GOP responsible for creating the cult that now controls them, and for that symptom of the disease that is Trump, the bastard child they spoilt to his own bad end, and their own, through willful negligence and ignorance.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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Give Toxic Trump campaign presser Hooligan Gidley a wall of Pinocchio's for his whopper using Wisconsin as some kind of sterling election example when, in fact, it was a complete fiasco and, instead, a perfect example of Republican voter suppression!
U.S. SCROTUM's Chief Jester "KILLER" Roberts -- America's worst!
By a 5–4 Vote, SCOTUS Lets Wisconsin Throw Out Tens of Thousands of Ballots
The conservative majority just approved one of the most brazen acts of voter suppression in modern times.
By Mark Joseph Stern -- Slate -- April 06, 2020
Unfortunately for the nation, Wisconsin Republicans decided that they would prefer to exploit the pandemic to suppress Democratic votes. Their state Supreme Court, dominated by partisan Republicans, allowed them to do so. And now the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned the only protection in place to ensure that voters could still safely cast ballots even if the state fails to provide them expediently. This election looks increasingly like a sham tainted by partisan manipulation. And now the most powerful court in the nation has approved these tactics. An election that forces voters to choose between protecting their health and casting a ballot is not a free and fair election. Nor should its results be treated as indisputably legitimate. The courts may have permitted Republicans to rig this election, but Wisconsinites are under no obligation to pretend that its outcome reflects the will of the people.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/04/supreme-court-wisconsin-absentee-ballots.html
NOTE: This was all about Republicans forcing an election during a pandemic to suppress Democrat voters, so they could win the deciding seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The reason why this partisan power play by Republicans in Wisconsin State Legislature, Wisconsin Supreme Court, and U.S. Supreme Court bent over backwards to endanger, sicken, and kill Wisconsin voters and their families: _Not yet content after over a decade of egregious Republican voter suppression and gerrymandering in Wisconsin, they want their Republican judge to decide a case purging 200,000 Wisconsin voter registrations, further disenfranchising and suppressing voters there_. But, it gets even worse. A further detrimental effect of this Republican attack against democracy was that they robbed vital PPE from medical and other front-line workers at a very critical time, to be wasted on poll workers unnecessarily, because the election could have been easily suspended, just as 13 other states had already done.
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Merrick Garland: "Trump and Congressional Republicans screwed me out of a seat on the Supreme Court...that's why now as AG I can't prosecute them for the many crimes they've committed!"
Merrick Garland’s House Testimony Demonstrated the Failure of His Hyper-Cautious Approach to His Job
Despite Garland’s many efforts to not appear political by declining to investigate Trump and his cronies for possible crimes and by using DOJ resources to actively protect Trump from civil liability, Republicans are still portraying him as the most political attorney general in history.
The other weakness of Garland’s timid approach was on full view during his opening statement and responses to Democratic members of Congress. “The essence of the rule of law is that like cases are treated alike. That there not be one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans; one rule for friends, another for foes,” Garland stated grandly. But by declining to investigate Trump and his associates, Garland is enabling further attacks on our democracy. (While proving inequity by putting Republicans above the law.)
Crucially, the two parties are not the same. Garland’s standard sets up a false equivalency between the Democratic Party and a political party whose national leader, Donald Trump, incited and celebrated a violent assault on our nation’s Capitol to overthrow the results of a free and fair election and who continues to portray the insurrection as a glorious “protest.” To that end, in the middle of the attorney general’s testimony, Trump issued a statement highlighting Garland’s feebleness at failing to even investigate the organizers and leaders of the Jan. 6 events, declaring “the insurrection took place on November 3, Election Day. January 6 was the Protest!”
Garland’s efforts to depoliticize the DOJ have proved to be an abdication of his responsibility to protect the rule of law. Take just a few examples: Garland’s failure to reconsider the obstruction of justice case against the former president, his deferral of an investigation of possible financial crimes by Trump and his organization to local prosecutors in New York City and Westchester, his use of the DOJ to protect Trump from defamation allegations, and his deferral of a soliciting of voter fraud felony probe in Georgia to local prosecutors there. By abdicating his responsibility, Garland is also opening the door for Trump to commit these possibly criminal abuses all over again, this time with the full support of the Republican Party, and maybe ultimately return to power.
--Mark Stern
"Try as he may, Merrick Garland cannot perform boring independence fast enough to outrun GOP claims that he’s a wild-eyed, violent socialist. And while the GOP currently exists only to cast everything you thought you believed into doubt, the real endgame is vigilantism. The endgame is to ensure that people mistrust government, election systems, school boards, (teachers, health care officials) the media, and the justice system enough to lend a hand in their destruction."
--Dahlia Lithwick
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We got Big Brag Daddy Baghdad Bob broadcasting direct from Washington, D.C. daily, with Toxic Trump and a revolving cast of his sycophantic minions! Happy talk, disinformation, empty promises, idle threats, vicious smears, bogus pandemic models, dog whistles, continuous crackpot conspiracies--they got it all, and more!
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth and justice--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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@AlexZ-lc6nl ~ I liked your comment and agree with most everything you say...but...as someone who as followed politics and the issues in this country for many decades, I can tell you that not all politicians are alike, and there has never been a greater disparity between the two major political parties in my lifetime. I am a progressive, but consider myself to be open-minded, objective, a critical, independent thinker, and not overly partisan. However, rather than only giving you my opinions on the GOP, lest you just dismiss it as personal political bias, allow me to offer the damning observations of some reputable, life-long conservatives on the current state of their own Republican party:
You don't get denialism without nihilism. As life-long conservative Bill Kristol astutely pointed out, the Republican party has embraced nihilism.
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
~ How Fascism Works, The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating and lost his reelection bid by a significant margin. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(Reference also Father Charles E. Coughlin and Henry Ford in regards to the original America First movement.)
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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"Peace is not a very big thing to ask for, is it?" ~ Fatima Gailani, Afghan activist and negotiator, pleading for continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan
It is when asking the Taliban, who do not seek peace or to bargain in good faith, but total domination once again. U.S. has spent 20 years and $2 trillion trying to achieve peace in Afghanistan, losing over 4000 American lives (military and civilian contractors), with tens of thousands of Americans wounded there.
"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials … have given Afghans little reason to support their government," Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the commander of U.S. forces in the country, wrote in a 2009 memorandum. "This crisis of confidence, coupled with a distinct lack of economic and educational opportunity, has created fertile ground for the insurgency."
That was 11 years ago, and little has changed since. Thought the invasion of Afghanistan by Bush was a mistake that would lead to a quagmire, and have been proven correct. Still, initially supported efforts to bring peace and stability there, along with basic human and civil-rights, because after invading felt we had an obligation to rebuild. However, while U.S. blunders there have contributed to a failure, Afghans are their own worst enemy, and no one can help them until enough of them are willing to help themselves.
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It's the judicial activism of chauvinistic Reich-wing Talibanazi SCROTUM justices in action, turning the clock back in America to the Dark Ages, while delegitimizing themselves and the Court.
Woman's reproductive choice is a Constitutional right under Roe v. Wade, which was rendered 50 years ago in a 7-2 decision by a SCOTUS containing a 7-2 conservative majority. For the past five decades, an overwhelmingly majority of Americans have consistently supported that decision. Besides, Republicans don't give a crap about zygotes, embryos, fetuses, children, or women, as repeatedly and amply proven by their policies. And if Republicans really cared about human life, they wouldn't be banning mask and vaccine mandates during a deadly global pandemic that has already taken over 660,000 American lives in just 18 months. Fascist GOP is a Jim Jones-style cult pro-death party full of heinous hypocrites!
“The lie that abortion is murder is right-wing propaganda designed to demonize Democrats. Abortion is legal all over the world because a fetus without a cerebral cortex cannot think or feel before the 27th week. According to the CDC almost all abortions happen before the 13th week.”
― Oliver Markus Malloy
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While many hospitals are on the verge of bankruptcy, remember that Trump administration promoted and facilitated needed PPE sales abroad for two months, despite urgent warnings of top officials and experts about this looming pandemic. Now, because of Toxic Trump's failure to take leadership and responsibility for a dedicated national effort against COVID-19, and lack of appropriate planning and preparation, first responders, nursing homes, medical facilities, hospitals, and states are all competing against each other, driving up prices and hindering expedient, proper distribution where direly needed--not to mention, the inflated costs driving medical institutions further into insolvency.
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thisguy - Actually, calling them out is fairly effective. It destroys their strategy of dividing Americans, alerts other good actors about what the bad actors are doing so they don't get sucked in, exposes that the lunatic Reich-wing fringe is not as great in numbers as they would have us believe, and typically shuts them down in short order when they know that you are on to their little games. For those few, rare Republican cult moron helpers acting as Putin's little puppet-pie pawns, it puts their harmful behavior in proper perspective, providing the opportunity for them to think about how they are hurting America and, thus, themselves--as well as rendering them deservedly irrelevant for going along with the Russian attacks against us, trying to call it a "hoax!" Not a # person, but one other positive aspect of that, is that it lays down an easy marker for social media and our counterintelligence to clean up these platforms.
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You don't get denialism without nihilism. As life-long conservative Bill Kristol astutely pointed out, the Republican party has embraced nihilism. Republicans still labeling COVID-19 a "hoax;" Republicans still refusing to wear masks or social distance after over half-a-million American fatalities from COVID-19; Congressional Republicans obstructing a COVID-19 stimulus bill certain to pass just to delay vital and urgently needed relief to Americans desperate for help; not one Congressional Republican in either chamber voting for the badly needed stimulus bill; Republican governors dropping mask mandates and all restrictions on businesses, heedless of rising case counts in their states and deadly new variants of the virus; and Republican leaders continuing to push the Big Lie that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen without evidence and in disregard of plentiful evidence and facts to the contrary, even AFTER their Big Lie incited a terrorist attack by a mindless Republican mob against the nation's Capitol in insurrection against the government, attempting to overturn a legitimate election, sieging, storming, sizing, sacking, defiling, defacing and disgracing America's citadel of, and temple to, democracy--these are all prime examples of nihilism.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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Congressional Republicans just proved--once again--they are unwilling to operate in good faith, first in the House, now in the Senate, unwilling to even pass a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate the January 6 insurrection! Then, they filibustered EVEN debating the We the People Act, which has broad public support among both Democrats and Republicans! How many times does Lucy have to pull the football out at the last minute before Charlie Brown Manchin and Silly Sinema finally wise up? New voting rights protections sorely needed in the wake of new Republican Jim Crow legislation nationwide, a badly needed infrastructure and jobs bill, and numerous other pieces of critical legislation Democrats want to pass don't stand a chance if the filibuster is allowed to stand. If Republicans are going to abuse the filibuster, then it's time to LOSE THE FILIBUSTER!!!
Manchin does not represent his constituents, does not represent Democrats. Instead he is knowingly and willingly fueling the cynicism Americans have about Congress and our government, destroying our cherished institutions he falsely claims to be protecting, while betraying his oath of office. Americans don't want gridlock in D.C.; they want actions that improve our lives and nation! Moreover, nobody is buying Manchin's excuse that this is about bipartisanship, given that Republicans have repeatedly demonstrated that they have no sincere interest in bipartisanship, nor any willingness to operate in good faith. We all see clearly that Manchin is putting his own self-interest before the what is best for the country, and what is the point of him getting reelected if he's just promoting and perpetuating gridlock in Washington?
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'IMMIGRATION FOR DUMMIES' -- by Activated Head of Fatherland Security, Kevin K. McAleenan
"So...What I did was I worked really hard with Trump administration to make draconian changes to immigration policies that creates bottlenecks, backlogs, and a HUGE increase in detention rates. So...We did this despite knowing that our lack of capabilities could only lead to greatly overcrowded facilities (concentration camps, if you prefer); poor conditions; human rights abuses against children, refugees, and migrants of color; lasting traumatic damage done to the children; vastly increased costs to the American taxpayer; the demoralization, desensitization, destabilization, depletion and destruction of our vital government workforce securing our borders and dealing with immigration. So...Just to be clear here, at the end of the day, the only goal was to extort money from Congress by torturing children and innocent people we hold hostage. Call it kidnapping if you want. So...Then we take the money and hand it over to our crony friends running the "detention centers" that they may profit from all this misery! So...You can see how our diabolical plan worked to perfection, we got our ransom money for CBP. So...That's why I'm working with my Republican cohorts in Congress to run the same scam again for ICE! So...Yes, we were experiencing difficulties achieving the profit margins anticipated with our wall street, but that open-ended venture continues to pay dividends for our money men and sycophants, as well!"
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@ibinshkamed1586 ~ Thanks for your kind words, Ibin. As with all my original commentary, it is offered freely to educate, enlighten, and provoke thought. As always, people are encouraged to share and repost any found worthy as they wish--no accreditation even necessary. Personal recognition, popularity, subscribers, or YouTube profits are of no concern to me.
Have posted many times in this present form and in previous incantations. Parts of it are virtually unchanged, dating over three years old, now. But the more people posting it, the better! Can't be everywhere, don't have time for every YouTube video, so appreciate others spreading the good word where relevant. Consider it an honor whenever seen someone has reposted my commentary, with or without accreditation.
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@dashforcash6555 ~ It is mostly Republicans, Doc, which is obvious from Red states and districts vaccination rates. It's also obvious from the people in interviews and with whom I have personally discussed it.
What is "divide and conquer" is the grifters feeding lies about Coivd-19 and the vaccine, and the Republican cult sucker fish swallowing those lies whole, then regurgitating the corrosive, stinking vomit back out onto others.
Who wins? Maybe the Tucker Carlson's and some Republican politicians manage to grift a few bucks or votes off the lies, but America loses and we all suffer for it, some more than others. Who's really winning is America's enemies, and they don't have to do anything but sit back and watch Reich-wing politicians, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing media, and the Republican cult they manipulate and exploit do their work killing Americans and weakening America for them.
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@mrs3533 ~ Toxic Trump: "I'm the BEST, just absolutely CRUSHING the competition, with over TWO POINT FIVE MILLION coronavirus cases and over 123--one-hundred and twenty-three!!!--THOUSAND deaths! Easy as 1-2-3! They ALL got eighty-sixed, 'cause nobody else even comes close! With a QUARTER of the world's cases AND deaths--can you even imagine how truly great, how awesome, that achievement is, with only just FOUR PERCENT of the world's population to work with? Believe it or not, I accomplished in only FIVE WEEKS what it took the Vietnam War a whole TWELVE YEARS to do! Not done with the fun--and not to be outdone--I then doubled down on the death toll from Vietnam in just FOUR MONTHS! PLUS, we're not even counting ALL the COVID-19 cases and deaths here in the U.S.! And, with only SEVEN PERCENT of the U.S. population already infected, we're just getting started with all the sickness and death; there's PLENTY more to come! Those other weaklings and losers don't stand a chance, because we're going to keep right on winning--as long as I'm in charge! Now, vacation's over; time to get back to work on increasing those numbers, people! Let's keep America great, get rid of all the excess baggage! As wartime President, I am commanding all CIVILIANS to senselessly sacrifice their lives for my arrogance, stupidity, vanity, malevolence, and greed!"
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation—only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regurgitation
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump’s COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration…
Now reaching vacation destination!
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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05/04/20 -- (Incomplete) 1,208,000+ confirmed cases; 69,600+ deaths.
05/03/20 -- 1,184,000 confirmed cases; 68,300 deaths. Every 44 seconds, another American dies from COVID-19. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/02/20 -- 1,158,000 confirmed cases; 67,000 deaths.
05/01/20 -- 1,129,000 confirmed cases; 65,500 deaths.
04/30/20 -- 1,094,000 confirmed cases; 63,600 deaths. The U.S. accounts for over a third of the world's cases, and over a quarter of COVID-19 deaths--despite possessing only 5% of the world's population. Yet--even now--we still lack the adequate testing capabilities that are critically needed to safely reopen the economy, and remain sorely lacking the necessary rational national leadership so vital to saving American lives and livelihoods.
04/29/20 -- 1,064,000 confirmed cases; 61,500 deaths. The U.S. now has as many COVID-19 deaths in just NINE WEEKS as there was for all TWELVE YEARS of the Vietnam War.
04/28/20 -- 1,034,000 confirmed cases; 59,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/27/20 -- 1,009,000 confirmed cases; 56,500 deaths.
04/26/20 -- 985,000 confirmed cases; 55,400 deaths.
04/25/20 -- 958,000 confirmed cases; 54,000 deaths.
04/24/20 -- 927,000 confirmed cases; 52,400 deaths.
04/23/20 -- 890,000 confirmed cases; 50,400 deaths.
04/22/20 -- 853,000 confirmed cases; 47,800 deaths (+2,674*)
04/21/20 -- 825,000 confirmed cases; 45,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/20/20 -- 788,000 confirmed cases; 43,200 deaths.
04/19/20 -- 760,000 confirmed cases; 41,700 deaths.
04/18/20 -- 735,000 confirmed cases; 39,900 deaths.
04/17/20 -- 702,000 confirmed cases; 37,000 deaths.
04/16/20 -- 671,000 confirmed cases; 33,100 deaths. Less COVID-19 testing performed this week than last, despite desperate need to ramp up volume to reopen economy.
04/15/20 -- 640,000 confirmed cases; 30,800 deaths. The United States recorded its first coronavirus fatality on Feb. 29. It took 38 days to reach 10,000 deaths and just nine more days to go from 10,000 fatalities to 30,000. An increase in fatalities over the last 48 hours was expected, but was also due to new CDC policy, starting on 04/14, to include probable COVID-19 deaths...finally.
04/14/20 -- 609,000 confirmed cases; 26,600 deaths (+2,364 - *New worst daily death toll)
04/13/20 -- 583,000 confirmed cases; 24,200 deaths
04/12/20 -- 558,000 confirmed cases; 22,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S. With just 4.25% of the world's population, the U.S. has 30% of the COVID-19 infections and 20% of the COVID-19 deaths. So far, the U.S. has the very WORST response of ANY nation, something formerly inconceivable, and inexcusable that it could now be allowed to happen here. In the U.S., we have 1.5 million seniors in 15,000 nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Despite forming only 0.45% of the U.S. population, they make up almost 10% of deaths, primarily because our federal government is not doing enough to protect them. Reported that many hospitals are no longer accepting COVID-19 patients from nursing homes, preferring they die there, instead. Our seniors, who helped build, grow and make America great, are being sacrificed, solely to ignorance.
04/11/20 -- 530,000 confirmed cases; 20,500 deaths.
04/10/20 -- 502,000 confirmed cases; 18,800 deaths.
04/09/20 -- 466,000 confirmed cases; 16,700 deaths.
04/08/20 -- 432,000 confirmed cases; 15,900 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S.
04/07/20 -- 400,000 confirmed cases; 13,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. Figures indicate a Covid-19 fatality rate for TESTED Americans at 3.25%.
04/06/20 -- 369,000 confirmed cases; 11,000 deaths.
04/05/20 -- 338,000 confirmed cases; 9,700 deaths.
04/04/20 -- 312,000 confirmed cases; 9,400 deaths.
04/03/20 -- 278,000 confirmed cases; 7,150 deaths.
04/02/20 -- 246,000 confirmed cases; 6,050 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/01/20 -- 217,000 confirmed cases; 5,150 deaths.
03/31/20 -- 190,000 confirmed cases; 4,200 deaths.
03/30/20 -- 165,000 confirmed cases; 3,250 deaths.
03/29/20 -- 143,000 confirmed cases; 2,450 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
(Update 5: Friday, 03/27/20, confirmed U.S. cases 105,000--which is 50% over NIH high-end estimate; deaths 1,700 by end of day. The perspective for cases is significantly skewed low and thus highly misleading, however, as just 0.17% of U.S. population has been tested to date.)
"As many as 70,000 Americans could be confirmed as infected with coronavirus by the end of next week, marking a “pretty dramatic” increase in the number of confirmed cases," the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, told his employees in an agency-wide conference call on 03/20/20.
Except 03/21/20 saw a 33% jump in U.S. cases, from 18,000 to over 24,000. If continuing at 33% every 24 hours, the number of confirmed cases is trending much higher than just 70,000 by 03/27/20. Suspect confirmed cases will be double that. Bear in mind, states hardest hit are not testing many people, saving the tests for those most in need. So the actual number of infected Americans is going to be far higher than just what limited testing of the population has so far confirmed. Don't think this fact is being given enough attention. More important than the number of cases confirmed is the number contracting the disease and not getting tested, spreading the disease, in many cases unknowingly. Hospital projections are for about 100 MILLION Americans to become infected, with about 500,000 dead from covid-19.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-‘n-‘Thief, Toxic Trump, so much—although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages—as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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Vote BLUE for science, humanity, sanity, truth, reason, decency, democracy, and reality! And, don't forget to also GET OUT THE VOTE! With anti-democratic, fascist Trump and GOP, must vote to win too big to rig, too real to steal, create too much heat to cheat; if complete, Dems can't be beat.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It’s that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes have to KNOW at some level he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don’t care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn’t want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it’s more than hope—those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another two months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn’t really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
“The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.”
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump’s hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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Grainne Harte ~ Must confess we cribbed it from Colbert, figured he'd approve getting the message out. However, the following is original:
~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation—only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regurgitation
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump’s COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration…
Now reaching vacation destination!
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@KJz1 ~ You seem to think psychiatrists and psychologists aren't as important as physical therapists, Doc! How ignorant is that? Truth is, people in all occupations contribute to our society, whether or not you appreciate that fact. For example, people getting degrees and/or who make their living in art, music, literature, and acting enrich our world, making it a better place. Their contributions to society can live on for many centuries, bringing joy to many different generations, while the electricians, plumbers and physical therapists are quickly forgotten.
But I don't find you or your bio credible. It sounds like the typical Reich-wing fabricated fairy tales Republicans like to tell others to inflate their own importance or just to try to win an argument. Even if it were true, it's all irrelevant, anyway. It doesn't prove anything.
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Trump is incapable of being reassuring. Or leading. His feeble, phony pretenses at both instead inspire distrust, disgust, alarm, and terror. When we needed a Lincoln, FDR, or JFK, Republicans choked America with a Herbert Hoover. Republican ignorance kills.
U.S. response to covid-19 pandemic should have been forward-thinking like San Francisco's response to Spanish Flu, allowing it to escape the worst ravages of that pandemic. Instead, Toxic Trump and Republicans have bungled it horribly, much like with Philadelphia's horrendous, tragic response back in 1918.
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Seems only fair that the least Toxic Trump could do, after slaughtering over 75,000 Americans with his ignorance, is to give the U.S. government his resort properties, to be quickly converted by the Army Corp of Engineers into public hospitals, medical facilities, and morgues. Too bad that's never going to happen--Turd Trump refuses to even sign order for FEMA to help fellow Americans out with OUR taxpayer money to bury their loved ones whom he killed, like they do in every other national emergency, despite repeated pleas to him, appealing for some shred of humanity, respect, and dignity be given for our dead.
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TRUM_PLANNED_EMIC!
Given plenty of advance warnings about COVID-19, Toxic Trump chose not to heed the sound advice provided. We could have been Taiwan, with a comparative 100 deaths in the U.S.; or South Korea, with a comparative 1500 deaths here, after adjusted for population size. Taiwan had just seven deaths; South Korea less than 300. We got over 130,000 deaths already, with the count still rapidly rising, while we remain, still, firmly mired in the first wave of the disease. Even worse, after six months, we STILL lack the adequate testing and rational national response to contain the disease.
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Vote BLUE for science, humanity, sanity, justice, truth, inclusiveness, reason, decency, democracy, and reality! And, don't forget to also GET OUT THE VOTE! With anti-democratic, fascist Trump and GOP, must vote to win too big to rig, too real to steal, create too much heat to cheat; if complete, Dems can't be beat.
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Dr. "Babbling" Birx is laying bricks, lying and dissembling! Says she trusts churches and churchgoers to make it safe, not go to church if sick--knowing asymptomatic people don't know they're sick, and can't be detected! Then, there's the fact that many religious people gather at religious shrines and places of worship hoping to be "healed" when sick. Moreover, she knows "Pastor" Tony Spelling in Louisiana was packing his megachurch during the middle of a severe outbreak, busing them in from a 50-mile radius; she knows all about the devastating spread in South Korea from religious services, she knows about the super-spreader event at the church in Oregon defying state lockdown orders. Dr. Birx KNOWS the U.S. lacks the requisite testing capabilities to reopen safely. Dr. Birx KNOWS all the states are reopening in defiance of CDC guidelines. Dr. Birx KNOWS how Toxic Trump has ignorantly politicized a global pandemic, sent conflicting messages to the public. Dr. Birx KNOWS a good proportion of Americans are NOT following basic CDC guidelines; NOT wearing masks, NOT social distancing. And she knows without detailed specific CDC federal guidelines for businesses reopening, we got chaos, sickness, and MORE senseless deaths. Birx needs to have her medical license revoked. She can be the next SmellyAnne Con-Her-Way, that's what she wants.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over four decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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@Iriamu-Guillermo ~ Big fan of Twain, and that quote of his you cite is certainly pertinent to the QOP of today (formerly GOP). Am familiar with this quote of his, since have probably read all of his works, even obscure collections of his that included speeches and the like. It is also similarly said that a lie will travel six times around the globe before the truth can catch up.
Anyway, given how you had expressed an interest in using the quote in our comment, thought perhaps you'd appreciate the expanded quote selection and commentary we had replied here to you with, which was even more on point with this video. The quotes are correctly attributed and, as always, folks are encouraged to freely share or repost any of my original commentary--no accreditation even necessary! Recognition, popularity, subscribers, or profit is of no concern. Upvotes are fine, but only because they may facilitate the message reaching a wider audience. The singular goal is to educate, enlighten, and provoke thought.
So, should I see one of my comments reposted by another somewhere, am not offended in any way--indeed, consider it an honor.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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05/07/20 -- (Incomplete) 1,288,000+ confirmed cases; 76,500+ deaths.
05/06/20 -- 1,260,000 confirmed cases; 74,500 deaths.
05/05/20 -- 1,233,000 confirmed cases; 72,000 deaths.
05/04/20 -- 1,208,000 confirmed cases; 69,600 deaths. CDC projects cases increasing to 200,000 per day with deaths rising to 3,000 per day by June because of states, localities and people not following guidelines and reopening their economies too soon.
05/03/20 -- 1,184,000 confirmed cases; 68,300 deaths. Every 44 seconds, another American dies from COVID-19. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/02/20 -- 1,158,000 confirmed cases; 67,000 deaths.
05/01/20 -- 1,129,000 confirmed cases; 65,500 deaths.
04/30/20 -- 1,094,000 confirmed cases; 63,600 deaths. The U.S. accounts for over a third of the world's cases, and over a quarter of COVID-19 deaths--despite possessing only 5% of the world's population. Yet--even now--we still lack the adequate testing capabilities that are critically needed to safely reopen the economy, and remain sorely lacking the necessary rational national leadership so vital to saving American lives and livelihoods.
04/29/20 -- 1,064,000 confirmed cases; 61,500 deaths. The U.S. now has as many COVID-19 deaths in just NINE WEEKS as there was for all TWELVE YEARS of the Vietnam War.
04/28/20 -- 1,034,000 confirmed cases; 59,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/27/20 -- 1,009,000 confirmed cases; 56,500 deaths.
04/26/20 -- 985,000 confirmed cases; 55,400 deaths.
04/25/20 -- 958,000 confirmed cases; 54,000 deaths.
04/24/20 -- 927,000 confirmed cases; 52,400 deaths.
04/23/20 -- 890,000 confirmed cases; 50,400 deaths.
04/22/20 -- 853,000 confirmed cases; 47,800 deaths (+2,674*)
04/21/20 -- 825,000 confirmed cases; 45,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/20/20 -- 788,000 confirmed cases; 43,200 deaths.
04/19/20 -- 760,000 confirmed cases; 41,700 deaths.
04/18/20 -- 735,000 confirmed cases; 39,900 deaths.
04/17/20 -- 702,000 confirmed cases; 37,000 deaths.
04/16/20 -- 671,000 confirmed cases; 33,100 deaths. Less COVID-19 testing performed this week than last, despite desperate need to ramp up volume to reopen economy.
04/15/20 -- 640,000 confirmed cases; 30,800 deaths. The United States recorded its first coronavirus fatality on Feb. 29. It took 38 days to reach 10,000 deaths and just nine more days to go from 10,000 fatalities to 30,000. An increase in fatalities over the last 48 hours was expected, but was also due to new CDC policy, starting on 04/14, to include probable COVID-19 deaths...finally.
04/14/20 -- 609,000 confirmed cases; 26,600 deaths (+2,364 - *New worst daily death toll)
04/13/20 -- 583,000 confirmed cases; 24,200 deaths
04/12/20 -- 558,000 confirmed cases; 22,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S. With just 4.25% of the world's population, the U.S. has 30% of the COVID-19 infections and 20% of the COVID-19 deaths. So far, the U.S. has the very WORST response of ANY nation, something formerly inconceivable, and inexcusable that it could now be allowed to happen here. In the U.S., we have 1.5 million seniors in 15,000 nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Despite forming only 0.45% of the U.S. population, they make up almost 10% of deaths, primarily because our federal government is not doing enough to protect them. Reported that many hospitals are no longer accepting COVID-19 patients from nursing homes, preferring they die there, instead. Our seniors, who helped build, grow and make America great, are being sacrificed, solely to ignorance.
04/11/20 -- 530,000 confirmed cases; 20,500 deaths.
04/10/20 -- 502,000 confirmed cases; 18,800 deaths.
04/09/20 -- 466,000 confirmed cases; 16,700 deaths.
04/08/20 -- 432,000 confirmed cases; 15,900 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S.
04/07/20 -- 400,000 confirmed cases; 13,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. Figures indicate a Covid-19 fatality rate for TESTED Americans at 3.25%.
04/06/20 -- 369,000 confirmed cases; 11,000 deaths.
04/05/20 -- 338,000 confirmed cases; 9,700 deaths.
04/04/20 -- 312,000 confirmed cases; 9,400 deaths.
04/03/20 -- 278,000 confirmed cases; 7,150 deaths.
04/02/20 -- 246,000 confirmed cases; 6,050 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/01/20 -- 217,000 confirmed cases; 5,150 deaths.
03/31/20 -- 190,000 confirmed cases; 4,200 deaths.
03/30/20 -- 165,000 confirmed cases; 3,250 deaths.
03/29/20 -- 143,000 confirmed cases; 2,450 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
(Update 5: Friday, 03/27/20, confirmed U.S. cases 105,000--which is 50% over NIH high-end estimate; deaths 1,700 by end of day. The perspective for cases is significantly skewed low and thus highly misleading, however, as just 0.17% of U.S. population has been tested to date.)
"As many as 70,000 Americans could be confirmed as infected with coronavirus by the end of next week, marking a “pretty dramatic” increase in the number of confirmed cases," the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, told his employees in an agency-wide conference call on 03/20/20.
Except 03/21/20 saw a 33% jump in U.S. cases, from 18,000 to over 24,000. If continuing at 33% every 24 hours, the number of confirmed cases is trending much higher than just 70,000 by 03/27/20. Suspect confirmed cases will be double that. Bear in mind, states hardest hit are not testing many people, saving the tests for those most in need. So the actual number of infected Americans is going to be far higher than just what limited testing of the population has so far confirmed. Don't think this fact is being given enough attention. More important than the number of cases confirmed is the number contracting the disease and not getting tested, spreading the disease, in many cases unknowingly. Hospital projections are for about 100 MILLION Americans to become infected, with about 500,000 dead from covid-19.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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***MEDIA FAIL*** -- So, let me get this straight, Herr Smearcartoonish; if enough baseless allegations are floated around about you being a Nazi sympathizer into pedophilia, run ads all over the media twisting things around, tainting you and your employers, that means then your employers should reward that by giving credence to such dubious claims, firing you, and putting in your stead someone aligned with the group conducting the disinformation campaign against you?
"I am not for defunding the police because that’s like defunding my family, who we put out on the frontlines to protect and serve their communities,” Harrison said. (Jamie Harrison's father served on the Detroit PD for 30 years.) Media BE better, WE be better!
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law?
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Suspect what will be most remarkable is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much to future generations--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
― Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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@davidy498 ~ You are fortunate, in that over the past several decades more and more objective voices are speaking out, as the continuing history of this conflict plays out before us, reinforcing the central theme, and more and more objective historical studies and works have been written outlining it, increasing knowledge and availability of access to that knowledge.
As your average American of neither Arab or Jewish descent, of neither Jewish or Islamic religion, held the same ingrained bias of most Americans growing up 50-60 years ago--the same ingrained bias still held by most Americans today. Which is for Israel. Didn't think much about the Palestinians, or know much about their struggle, and that didn't change until began learning more about the conflict as a teenager. By the time I turned 20, my understanding of the conflict was substantially greater, and the sympathies once held toward Israel began to change towards the plight of Palestinians. Way back then, it was much harder to educate oneself on the intricacies and complexities of this conflict, there were far few resources available, and the thinking at the time in those resources not as advanced or insightful as that of today. But the larger picture has always been clear, despite that, and despite what even then had been decades of one of the most successful propaganda efforts in history by the Israeli government--an effort which has continued to present times, and still is largely successful in America.
It isn't about choosing a side between Jewish people or Palestinian people, though. In that respect, consider myself to be non-partisan. It's about choosing to be on the side of truth, reason, justice and human rights. In that regard, we should all be partisan. Be forewarned, however, that most objective sources speaking truthfully are often unjustly automatically labeled biased and anti-Semitic by Israel and its supporters. Be also warned that there are anti-Semitic voices against Israel, which should be spurned and avoided, for they won't teach one anything about this conflict that can't be learned from objective sources, anyway. It is usually very easy to distinguish those genuinely anti-Semitic. If unsure or in doubt, a bit of research on sources will typically reveal the truth one way or the other.
Personally, prefer using a wide variety of sources, both those biased towards each respective side and those more non-partisan and objective, then drawing my own independent, unbiased conclusions. Such an approach is highly recommended. For instance, the Jerusalem Post is an Israeli newspaper that is right-wing, mostly pro-Israel. Ynet news online media is further right-wing, heavily pro-Israel. Then there is Haaretz, the oldest newspaper in Israel, also available in English online, which is pro-Israel and pro-Jewish, but progressive and much more critical of the Israel government and far more objective vis-à-vis the Palestinians. There are also Jewish organization in the U.S. dedicated to social justice and peace in Israel. Some, like JVP (Jewish Voice for Peace), are more heavily biased towards Israel, while others are more balanced and critical of the Israeli government. 972mag.com and mondoweiss.net are two excellent Jewish sources for news about Israel, Palestine, and the U.S. Israeli human-rights organizations are another excellent resource. Professor Noam Chomsky here in the U.S., who is Jewish, offers very astute insights and perspective on this conflict. Bennie Morris and Ilan Pappe are two Jewish-Israeli historians who agree on much of the history, but disagree on the morality involved and some of the details. Miko Peled is the son of a famous Israeli general, hero of the 1967 war. This is a moving story of a man who has taken the baton from his father in confronting the cost to both Israelis and the Palestinians of the brutal occupation of Palestinian lands. Miko served in the IDF himself so he is no naïve peacenik. His sister, an educator in Israel, also speaks out against Israeli government policies, particularly in regards to Israeli education. One can read his book coauthored with Alice Walker, or view one his many superb lectures on the subject through YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOTLf1AiCvg
The following from VOX may be rather superficial and simplistic, but provides a good, fairly objective overview of the conflict. It breaks down the various aspects, explaining each in fairly brief articles, which can be accessed step-by-step or from the initial page in whichever order one wishes. It's a good starting point and primer for those wishing to learn more:
Everything you need to know about Israel-Palestine
A comprehensive guide to the basics of the world’s most controversial conflict.
https://www.vox.com/2018/11/20/18079996/israel-palestine-conflict-guide-explainer
The Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU) is an independent non-profit organization that provides journalists with quick access to information about Palestine and the Palestinians
https://imeu.org/topic/category/news-analysis
If Americans Knew is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt, independent research and information-dissemination institute, with particular focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, U.S. foreign policy regarding the Middle East, and media coverage of this issue. Specifically, the organization’s objective is to provide information that is to a large degree missing from American press coverage of this critical region.
https://ifamericansknew.org/about_us/whoweare.html
This will hopefully get you started on your journey of discovery. Because this post has become rather lengthy, due to the preface, which was felt somewhat necessary and would perhaps be helpful, have not provided as many sources as would have liked and you may have hoped for. For instance, not provided are Palestinian perspectives, which are essential. However, should you wish more, just let me know, and will do our best to give you more links and sources. Also trust that you are capable of researching and finding those sources on your own.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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As many as 70,000 Americans could be confirmed as infected with coronavirus by the end of next week, marking a “pretty dramatic” increase in the number of confirmed cases, the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, told his employees in an agency-wide conference call on 03/20/20. Except 03/21/20 saw a 33% jump in U.S. cases, from 18,000 to over 24,000. If continuing at 33% every 24 hours, the number of confirmed cases is trending much higher than just 70,000 by 03/27/20. Suspect confirmed cases will be double that. Bear in mind, states hardest hit are not testing many people, saving the tests for those most in need. So the actual number of infected Americans is going to be far higher than just what limited testing of the population has so far confirmed. Don't think this fact is being given enough attention. More important than the number of cases confirmed is the number contracting the disease and not getting tested, spreading the disease, in many cases unknowingly. Hospital projections are for about 100 MILLION Americans to become infected, with about 500,000 dead from covid-19.
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Doc 'Babbling' Brix: "I'm very scrupulous about washing hands, social distancing, protecting the most vulnerable amongst us. That's why we don't wear masks or social distance amongst ourselves or the President! Which is why so MANY Americans, states, counties, and municipalities are following my excellent example! Which is why we have EXPLODING coronavirus cases and deaths!"
First, it was President Trump's personal valet testing positive for COVID-19; now, it's V.P. Pence's press secretary with COVID-19--who is also the wife of Presidential advisor Stephen Miller! Plus, at least ELEVEN Secret Service agents and several other staff infected. Plus, heads of NAIC, FDA, CDC and VP Pence all exposed, isolating. Been watching those coronavirus "breeding" sessions by the White House with increasing incredulity and alarm, like a terrible train wreck about to happen, speeding towards inevitable doom. Only now, five months after learning of this deadly pandemic, with the White House becoming an epicenter of disease, does the Trump administration FINALLY start taking this crisis seriously, following its own guidelines issued months ago, wearing masks, social distancing, teleconferencing, rigorous testing, and telecommuting for non-essential work and workers.
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation—only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regurgitation
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump’s COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration…
Now reaching vacation destination!
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FAUX News is happy to push Russian propaganda for Putin and disinformation for plutocrats, but the truth is verboten on Reich-wing media! Sad, pathetic, disgusting and dangerous.
Tucker Carlson and Faux News: mainstreaming American fascism purely for profit.
America's enemies don't need to spread disinformation, doubt, discord, and division to weaken America, kill Americans--Republican politicians, Reich-wing demagogues, Faux News, OAN, Newsmax, Breitbart and the rest of the Reich-wing media do that so effectively for them, already. More Americans need to realize that the GOP has abdicated it's duty as loyal opposition, and that its prioritization of party over country and welcoming embrace of violent radical Reich-wing extremists diminishes both our government and our national security, endangering ALL Americans, as well as weakening and endangering America itself.
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Let's just call January 6 what it actually was -- a Republican smash and grab, an act of violent larceny against democracy and sedition employing domestic terrorism right out in open sight.
"Without accountability, an attempted autogolpe and insurrection is just practice."
"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ― Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
So, why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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Merrick Garland: "Trump and Congressional Republicans screwed me out of a seat on the Supreme Court...that's why now as AG I can't prosecute them for the many crimes they've committed!"
Merrick Garland’s House Testimony Demonstrated the Failure of His Hyper-Cautious Approach to His Job
Despite Garland’s many efforts to not appear political by declining to investigate Trump and his cronies for possible crimes and by using DOJ resources to actively protect Trump from civil liability, Republicans are still portraying him as the most political attorney general in history.
The other weakness of Garland’s timid approach was on full view during his opening statement and responses to Democratic members of Congress. “The essence of the rule of law is that like cases are treated alike. That there not be one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans; one rule for friends, another for foes,” Garland stated grandly. But by declining to investigate Trump and his associates, Garland is enabling further attacks on our democracy. (While proving inequity by putting Republicans above the law.)
Crucially, the two parties are not the same. Garland’s standard sets up a false equivalency between the Democratic Party and a political party whose national leader, Donald Trump, incited and celebrated a violent assault on our nation’s Capitol to overthrow the results of a free and fair election and who continues to portray the insurrection as a glorious “protest.” To that end, in the middle of the attorney general’s testimony, Trump issued a statement highlighting Garland’s feebleness at failing to even investigate the organizers and leaders of the Jan. 6 events, declaring “the insurrection took place on November 3, Election Day. January 6 was the Protest!”
Garland’s efforts to depoliticize the DOJ have proved to be an abdication of his responsibility to protect the rule of law. Take just a few examples: Garland’s failure to reconsider the obstruction of justice case against the former president, his deferral of an investigation of possible financial crimes by Trump and his organization to local prosecutors in New York City and Westchester, his use of the DOJ to protect Trump from defamation allegations, and his deferral of a soliciting of voter fraud felony probe in Georgia to local prosecutors there. By abdicating his responsibility, Garland is also opening the door for Trump to commit these possibly criminal abuses all over again, this time with the full support of the Republican Party, and maybe ultimately return to power.
--Mark Stern
"Try as he may, Merrick Garland cannot perform boring independence fast enough to outrun GOP claims that he’s a wild-eyed, violent socialist. And while the GOP currently exists only to cast everything you thought you believed into doubt, the real endgame is vigilantism. The endgame is to ensure that people mistrust government, election systems, school boards, (teachers, health care officials) the media, and the justice system enough to lend a hand in their destruction."
--Dahlia Lithwick
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Elmer Fudd's always trying to convince me he just wants unity.
What he really means is that he wants to eat me.
The calls for unity from Republicans ring hollow, hypocritical, and insincere, since they have fomented, exploited and profited from divisiveness for decades, and continue doing so. Republicans also continue to disseminate their inciteful and destructive Big Lies. It's all a desperate attempt by Republicans to escape accountability. But there will be no unity, no "healing," without accountability, without a return to truth, reason, and justice.
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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@williamcoate9491 - Republican cult Trumpette trolls are worse--because the moronic immoral fools are helping our principle foreign adversary, Russia, weaken and destroy their own country! Something that could be expected from an evil Putin, but from our fellow Americans?!?
Estimate 90-95% of what are often mistaken for Reich-wing cult clowns are actually of Russian manufacturer. While there are no published studies we know of yet to reference, as former military intelligence can tell you that there are subtle (sometimes obvious) telltale giveaways and patterns which betray them. They're clever, but not really all that smart. They are like the impudent little children clamoring for attention, trying to disrupt with outrageous and outlandish nonsense while the adults are trying to have a serious, rational discussion. Best remedy is to simply ignore, disregard, refuse to play their destructive, divisive games. The bonus is that you'll feel a whole lot better, too! Another option is leaving a factual rebuttal as a general reply to the initial comment instead of to the trolls. Hope we've been of some help!
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Unlike many others here, I don't blame Sen. Peters for the omission of the word "insurrection." I'm quite sure that it wasn't the preference of Peters and Democrats on the committee to not use the word, but rather was done at the insistence of Republicans. They----and they alone----are to blame. Peters and the rest of the Democrats rightly decided that getting out a timely report with bipartisan support on the security and intelligence failures, as well as recommendations to secure the Capitol, were more important than inclusion of the word. I am just as disappointed and disgusted about not describing the events of January 6 as an insurrection as everyone else, would agree that there is some danger in not doing so, but it was imperative to get to the bottom of this aspect of January 6, and we needed those recommendations to secure the Capitol. It was a choice of two evils, and I think Peters and the Democrats made the correct decision to get this vitally needed report produced and released. I salute Keilar for her tough questioning, and while I understand Peters is running a critically important committee that requires bipartisanship to function well and is being diplomatic to foster as much cooperation with Republicans as possible, I still wish he had been more forthright about exactly why the word insurrection wasn't used to describe the insurrection, placing blame where deservedly due.
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We got Big Brag Daddy Baghdad Bob broadcasting direct from Washington, D.C. daily, with Toxic Trump and a revolving cast of his sycophantic minions! Happy talk, disinformation, empty promises, idle threats, vicious smears, bogus pandemic models, dog whistles, continuous crackpot conspiracies--they got it all, and more!
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Trump Has Sabotaged America’s Coronavirus Response
by Laura Garrett
In 2018, the Trump administration fired the government’s entire pandemic response chain of command, including the White House management infrastructure. In numerous phone calls and emails with key agencies across the U.S. government, the only consistent response I encountered was distressed confusion.
....
White House efforts included reducing $15 billion in national health spending and cutting the global disease-fighting operational budgets of the CDC, NSC, DHS, and HHS. And the government’s $30 million Complex Crises Fund was eliminated.
In May 2018, Trump ordered the NSC’s entire global health security unit shut down, calling for reassignment of Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer and dissolution of his team inside the agency. The month before, then-White House National Security Advisor John Bolton pressured Ziemer’s DHS counterpart, Tom Bossert, to resign along with his team. Neither the NSC nor DHS epidemic teams have been replaced. The global health section of the CDC was so drastically cut in 2018 that much of its staff was laid off and the number of countries it was working in was reduced from 49 to merely 10. Meanwhile, throughout 2018, the U.S. Agency for International Development and its director, Mark Green, came repeatedly under fire from both the White House and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. And though Congress has so far managed to block Trump administration plans to cut the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps by 40 percent, the disease-fighting cadres have steadily eroded as retiring officers go unreplaced.
Public health advocates have been ringing alarm bells to no avail.
Ronald Klain, who directed U.S. efforts on Ebola, has been warning for two years that the United States was in grave danger should a pandemic emerge. In 2017 and 2018, the philanthropist billionaire Bill Gates met repeatedly with Bolton and his predecessor, H.R. McMaster, warning that ongoing cuts to the global health disease infrastructure would render the United States vulnerable to, as he put it, the “significant probability of a large and lethal modern-day pandemic occurring in our lifetimes.” And an independent, bipartisan panel formed by the Center for Strategic and International Studies concluded that lack of preparedness was so acute in the Trump administration that the “United States must either pay now and gain protection and security or wait for the next epidemic and pay a much greater price in human and economic costs.”
https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/31/coronavirus-china-trump-united-states-public-health-emergency-response/
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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Unlike many others here, I don't blame Sen. Peters for the omission of the word "insurrection." I'm quite sure that it wasn't the preference of Peters and Democrats on the committee to not use the word, but rather was done at the insistence of Republicans. They----and they alone----are to blame. Peters and the rest of the Democrats rightly decided that getting out a timely report with bipartisan support on the security and intelligence failures, as well as recommendations to secure the Capitol, were more important than inclusion of the word. I am just as disappointed and disgusted about not describing the events of January 6 as an insurrection as everyone else, would agree that there is some danger in not doing so, but it was imperative to get to the bottom of this aspect of January 6, and we needed those recommendations to secure the Capitol. It was a choice of two evils, and I think Peters and the Democrats made the correct decision to get this vitally needed report produced and released. I salute Keilar for her tough questioning, and while I understand Peters is running a critically important committee that requires bipartisanship to function well and is being diplomatic to foster as much cooperation with Republicans as possible, I still wish he had been more forthright about exactly why the word insurrection wasn't used to describe the insurrection, placing blame where deservedly due.
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Trump Has Sabotaged America’s Coronavirus Response
by Laura Garrett
In 2018, the Trump administration fired the government’s entire pandemic response chain of command, including the White House management infrastructure. In numerous phone calls and emails with key agencies across the U.S. government, the only consistent response I encountered was distressed confusion.
....
White House efforts included reducing $15 billion in national health spending and cutting the global disease-fighting operational budgets of the CDC, NSC, DHS, and HHS. And the government’s $30 million Complex Crises Fund was eliminated.
In May 2018, Trump ordered the NSC’s entire global health security unit shut down, calling for reassignment of Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer and dissolution of his team inside the agency. The month before, then-White House National Security Advisor John Bolton pressured Ziemer’s DHS counterpart, Tom Bossert, to resign along with his team. Neither the NSC nor DHS epidemic teams have been replaced. The global health section of the CDC was so drastically cut in 2018 that much of its staff was laid off and the number of countries it was working in was reduced from 49 to merely 10. Meanwhile, throughout 2018, the U.S. Agency for International Development and its director, Mark Green, came repeatedly under fire from both the White House and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. And though Congress has so far managed to block Trump administration plans to cut the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps by 40 percent, the disease-fighting cadres have steadily eroded as retiring officers go unreplaced.
Public health advocates have been ringing alarm bells to no avail.
Ronald Klain, who directed U.S. efforts on Ebola, has been warning for two years that the United States was in grave danger should a pandemic emerge. In 2017 and 2018, the philanthropist billionaire Bill Gates met repeatedly with Bolton and his predecessor, H.R. McMaster, warning that ongoing cuts to the global health disease infrastructure would render the United States vulnerable to, as he put it, the “significant probability of a large and lethal modern-day pandemic occurring in our lifetimes.” And an independent, bipartisan panel formed by the Center for Strategic and International Studies concluded that lack of preparedness was so acute in the Trump administration that the “United States must either pay now and gain protection and security or wait for the next epidemic and pay a much greater price in human and economic costs.”
https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/31/coronavirus-china-trump-united-states-public-health-emergency-response/
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian nationalism religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast would soon come to consume them.
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Hypocritical Republican cult whines about cancel culture...
--while making death threats against those disagreeing with them
--while censuring any Republican leaders daring to speak the truth about January 6.
--while conducting a terrorist attack against the nation's Capitol in insurrection, viciously beating police, intent on killing lawmakers and the Republican VP, attempting a coup to overthrow the results of a free and fair election...just because their candidate lost.
--while trying to cancel out the votes of millions of Democrats and minorities by objecting solely to their votes, enacting numerous voter suppression measures, and engaging in egregious gerrymandering.
--while labeling MSM "the enemy of the people."
--while censoring and moving to remove fellow Republicans of integrity who speak up for truth and decency, and against GOP lies, terrorism, and crackpot conspiracy theories.
--while Reich-wing media turns off comments yet rants against "censorship."
--while Faux News fires its news editor for truthfully reporting that Arizona had been called for Biden.
--while trying to run a Biden campaign bus off the road.
--while Rep. Marjorie Greene prevents press from covering town hall meetings where nobody wore a mask.
--after seriously injuring over 140 police officers in the Republican cult's seditious terrorist attack of insurrection against the nation's Capitol, Republican cult terrorists threaten to call the cops on reporters trying to get their side of the story.
--after canceling out millions of American's jobs under George W. Bush's recession and the largest loss of jobs since the great Depression under Toxic Trump due to his gross incompetence, lies, and willful criminal negligence in responding to a global pandemic.
--while canceling out the lives of hundreds of thousands of their fellow Americans by spreading lies about COVID-19, politicizing a deadly pandemic, and refusing to follow common sense health guidelines.
--while threatening to cancel baseball's anti-trust exemption for exercising their right to free speech
--while canceling out a bipartisan January 6 commission, despite initially agreeing to it and Democrats acceding to all Republican demands for the commission
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-‘n-‘Thief, Toxic Trump, so much—although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages—as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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The hospitality industry is dead as was formerly known for a while--maybe even a long while. Accept it, get used to it, make the best of it. Nearly all will be forced to operate at such reduced capacity as to be unprofitable, anyway. That's true for hair salons, tattoo parlors, massage joints, bars, and the like, as well. What we should be doing is putting such businesses and their employees on life support until a return to normalcy that allows safety and profitability. That takes national leadership, which Toxic Trump has repeatedly demonstrated himself incapable of providing, unfortunately.
Instead, we have businesses trying to reopen half-assed with a fraction of employees who will probably still lose money--while their efforts only help facilitate the spread of a deadly pandemic, sickening and killing Americans, thus hindering and delaying that return to normalcy so desperately desired for economic recovery and profitability. What we are witnessing and feeling is an ongoing train wreck, from the vantage point of the passengers. The lunatic conductor of the LOCO-motive, Toxic Trump, knew the end-of-the-line was coming, yet kept increasing acceleration, anyway. He's still trying to pump the gas, even with the train off the track! We on the HELL bound train, now, Lucifer's demented and depraved minion absolutely determined, dedicated, DEVOTED to getting us all there on time!
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06/19/20 -- 2,297,000 confirmed cases; 121,400 deaths.
06/18/20 -- 2,264,000 confirmed cases; 120,700 deaths.
06/17/20 -- 2,235,000 confirmed cases; 119,900 deaths.
06/16/20 -- 2,199,000 confirmed cases; 118,800 deaths.
06/15/20 -- 2,182,000 confirmed cases; 118,200 deaths.
06/14/20 -- 2,162,000 confirmed cases; 117,800 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
06/13/20 -- 2,139,000 confirmed cases; 117,500 deaths. Latest projection has 200,000 Americans dead from COVID-19 before October.
06/12/20 -- 2,117,000 confirmed cases; 116,800 deaths.
06/11/20 -- 2,090,000 confirmed cases; 116,000 deaths.
06/10/20 -- 2,066,000 confirmed cases; 115,100 deaths.
06/09/20 -- 2,046,000 confirmed cases; 114,100 deaths.
06/08/20 -- 2,026,000 confirmed cases; 113,000 deaths.
06/07/20 -- 2,007,000 confirmed cases; 112,500 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
06/06/20 -- 1,976,000 confirmed cases; 111,900 deaths.
06/05/20 -- 1,949,000 confirmed cases; 111,000 deaths.
06/04/20 -- 1,924,000 confirmed cases; 110,100 deaths.
06/03/20 -- 1,902,000 confirmed cases; 109,100 deaths.
06/02/20 -- 1,881,000 confirmed cases; 108,000 deaths.
06/01/20 -- 1,860,000 confirmed cases; 107,000 deaths.
05/31/20 -- 1,837,000 confirmed cases; 106,200 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/30/20 -- 1,817,000 confirmed cases; 105,600 deaths.
05/29/20 -- 1,793,000 confirmed cases; 104,500 deaths.
05/28/20 -- 1,768,000 confirmed cases; 103,300 deaths.
05/27/20 -- 1,746,000 confirmed cases; 102,100 deaths.
05/26/20 -- 1,725,000 confirmed cases; 100,600 deaths.
05/25/20 -- 1,706,000 confirmed cases; 99,800 deaths.
05/24/20 -- 1,686,000 confirmed cases; 99,300 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/23/20 -- 1,667,000 confirmed cases; 98,700 deaths.
05/22/20 -- 1,645,000 confirmed cases; 97,600 deaths.
05/21/20 -- 1,621,000 confirmed cases; 96,400 deaths.
05/20/20 -- 1,593,000 confirmed cases; 94,900 deaths.
05/19/20 -- 1,571,000 confirmed cases; 93,500 deaths.
05/18/20 -- 1,550,000 confirmed cases; 92,000 deaths.
05/17/20 -- 1,528,000 confirmed cases; 91,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/16/20 -- 1,497,000 confirmed cases; 89,400 deaths.
05/15/20 -- 1,473,000 confirmed cases; 88,200 deaths.
05/14/20 -- 1,448,000 confirmed cases; 86,500 deaths.
05/13/20 -- 1,421,000 confirmed cases; 84,800 deaths.
05/12/20 -- 1,400,000 confirmed cases; 83,000 deaths.
05/11/20 -- 1,379,000 confirmed cases; 81,500 deaths.
05/10/20 -- 1,364,000 confirmed cases; 80,600 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/09/20 -- 1,344,000 confirmed cases; 79,700 deaths.
05/08/20 -- 1,318,000 confirmed cases; 78,200 deaths.
05/07/20 -- 1,289,000 confirmed cases; 76,500 deaths.
05/06/20 -- 1,260,000 confirmed cases; 74,500 deaths.
05/05/20 -- 1,233,000 confirmed cases; 72,000 deaths.
05/04/20 -- 1,208,000 confirmed cases; 69,600 deaths. CDC projects cases increasing to 200,000 per day with deaths rising to 3,000 per day by June because of states, localities and people not following guidelines and reopening their economies too soon.
05/03/20 -- 1,184,000 confirmed cases; 68,300 deaths. Every 44 seconds, another American dies from COVID-19. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/02/20 -- 1,158,000 confirmed cases; 67,000 deaths.
05/01/20 -- 1,129,000 confirmed cases; 65,500 deaths.
04/30/20 -- 1,094,000 confirmed cases; 63,600 deaths. The U.S. accounts for over a third of the world's cases, and over a quarter of COVID-19 deaths--despite possessing only 5% of the world's population. Yet--even now--we still lack the adequate testing capabilities that are critically needed to safely reopen the economy, and remain sorely lacking the necessary rational national leadership so vital to saving American lives and livelihoods.
04/29/20 -- 1,064,000 confirmed cases; 61,500 deaths. The U.S. now has as many COVID-19 deaths in just NINE WEEKS as there was for all TWELVE YEARS of the Vietnam War.
04/28/20 -- 1,034,000 confirmed cases; 59,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/27/20 -- 1,009,000 confirmed cases; 56,500 deaths.
04/26/20 -- 985,000 confirmed cases; 55,400 deaths.
04/25/20 -- 958,000 confirmed cases; 54,000 deaths.
04/24/20 -- 927,000 confirmed cases; 52,400 deaths.
04/23/20 -- 890,000 confirmed cases; 50,400 deaths.
04/22/20 -- 853,000 confirmed cases; 47,800 deaths (+2,674*)
04/21/20 -- 825,000 confirmed cases; 45,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/20/20 -- 788,000 confirmed cases; 43,200 deaths.
04/19/20 -- 760,000 confirmed cases; 41,700 deaths.
04/18/20 -- 735,000 confirmed cases; 39,900 deaths.
04/17/20 -- 702,000 confirmed cases; 37,000 deaths.
04/16/20 -- 671,000 confirmed cases; 33,100 deaths. Less COVID-19 testing performed this week than last, despite desperate need to ramp up volume to reopen economy.
04/15/20 -- 640,000 confirmed cases; 30,800 deaths. The United States recorded its first coronavirus fatality on Feb. 29. It took 38 days to reach 10,000 deaths and just nine more days to go from 10,000 fatalities to 30,000. An increase in fatalities over the last 48 hours was expected, but was also due to new CDC policy, starting on 04/14, to include probable COVID-19 deaths...finally.
04/14/20 -- 609,000 confirmed cases; 26,600 deaths (+2,364 - *New worst daily death toll)
04/13/20 -- 583,000 confirmed cases; 24,200 deaths
04/12/20 -- 558,000 confirmed cases; 22,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S. With just 4.25% of the world's population, the U.S. has 30% of the COVID-19 infections and 20% of the COVID-19 deaths. So far, the U.S. has the very WORST response of ANY nation, something formerly inconceivable, and inexcusable that it could now be allowed to happen here. In the U.S., we have 1.5 million seniors in 15,000 nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Despite forming only 0.45% of the U.S. population, they make up almost 10% of deaths, primarily because our federal government is not doing enough to protect them. Reported that many hospitals are no longer accepting COVID-19 patients from nursing homes, preferring they die there, instead. Our seniors, who helped build, grow and make America great, are being sacrificed, solely to ignorance.
04/11/20 -- 530,000 confirmed cases; 20,500 deaths.
04/10/20 -- 502,000 confirmed cases; 18,800 deaths.
04/09/20 -- 466,000 confirmed cases; 16,700 deaths.
04/08/20 -- 432,000 confirmed cases; 15,900 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S.
04/07/20 -- 400,000 confirmed cases; 13,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. Figures indicate a Covid-19 fatality rate for TESTED Americans at 3.25%.
04/06/20 -- 369,000 confirmed cases; 11,000 deaths.
04/02/20 -- 246,000 confirmed cases; 6,050 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/01/20 -- 217,000 confirmed cases; 5,150 deaths.
03/31/20 -- 190,000 confirmed cases; 4,200 deaths.
03/29/20 -- 143,000 confirmed cases; 2,450 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
(Update 5: Friday, 03/27/20, confirmed U.S. cases 105,000--which is 50% over NIH high-end estimate; deaths 1,700 by end of day. The perspective for cases is significantly skewed low and thus highly misleading, however, as just 0.17% of U.S. population has been tested to date.)
"As many as 70,000 Americans could be confirmed as infected with coronavirus by the end of next week, marking a “pretty dramatic” increase in the number of confirmed cases," the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, told his employees in an agency-wide conference call on 03/20/20.
Except 03/21/20 saw a 33% jump in U.S. cases, from 18,000 to over 24,000. If continuing at 33% every 24 hours, the number of confirmed cases is trending much higher than just 70,000 by 03/27/20. Suspect confirmed cases will be double that. Bear in mind, states hardest hit are not testing many people, saving the tests for those most in need. So the actual number of infected Americans is going to be far higher than just what limited testing of the population has so far confirmed. Don't think this fact is being given enough attention. More important than the number of cases confirmed is the number contracting the disease and not getting tested, spreading the disease, in many cases unknowingly. Hospital projections are for about 100 MILLION Americans to become infected, with about 500,000 dead from covid-19.
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"Too Much Kool-Aid" Toomey: "...the radicalization of the Democratic Party." WHAT??? As if electing two moderate Democrats to the White House, Biden and Harris, is radical. As if getting serious about climate change, our greatest national security threat, is radical. As if having universal health care like every other advanced nation in the world is radical (BTW, Biden is only looking to strengthen and expand the ACA, anyway). As if a livable minimum wage, last raised eleven-and-a-half years ago, is radical. As if the GOP isn't the party that has become radicalized by just this kind of demagoguery and lies in which Toomey is engaging. As if Toxic Trump, an utterly corrupt narcissistic sociopath whom Republicans have enabled, aided and abetted for the last four years, radically refusing to hold accountable, isn't the very definition of radical.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of corruption, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their deal with the Devil.
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THE all-time, epic chess match! Republicans opted for opening with the King's Gambit, utilizing the Russian Defense, which has left them open and vulnerable on all fronts, holding a very weak position. Can Democrats recover and capitalize in time, or will the Constitution be lost forever, America relegated to the scrap heap of history, a mere brief shooting star, checkmated by its own ignorance??
Sometimes it's not about left and right, but right or wrong. Five-alarm fire is ongoing, President Nero and his Republican arsonist cohorts continue pouring the gasoline in deliriously delusional delight. Sorry, kids, grandkids, and all who come after...the truth was too controversial, too inconvenient for our busy day.
TRUE patriotic Americans don't blindly await their fate like sheep before the slaughter; this isn't any parlor game being played by deviant, depraved Republicans in Congress. Perhaps the most crucial point in American history continues to unfold before us, which requires active, informed civic involvement. Public apathy and passivity would prove fatal to our long and deeply cherished Republic.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law?
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Confronted with a conundrum contrary or conflicting, the Republican cult instinct for self-preservation induces a cease of circulation to the cranium, causing confusion, chaos, crisis, corruption, and criminality! Cult for cult, con for con, convolution after convolution, cockamamie concocted crackpot conspiracy after cockamamie concocted crackpot conspiracy, cover-up after cover-up, the GOP is alone, in a league all its own!
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Conservatism--the endless, futile quest to justify greed. For many in the tribalistic partisan Republican cult, it's a blind faith in capitalism and liberty that deliberately ignores the limitations and responsibilities involved with each, often driven by ignorant anarchist impulses, which are in turn rooted in ignorance such as greed, bigotry, racism, xenophobia, and religion. They reject societal norms that places reasonable restrictions on those things in benefit of the common good.
You see the well-dressed, well-fed pandemic lock-down protestors, most driving newer, expensive vehicles. You KNOW these people are nowhere near destitute, that they got money and time to waste. Then, you think about all the African-Americans being very disproportionately affected in inner cities, who ARE suffering greatly, yet continue to give selflessly on the front lines of this war against COVID-19, and abide by guidelines despite the hardships affecting low-income and poverty sectors far worse. Many of them feel FORCED to work to pay the bills, WISHING they had a non-essential job where they could receive unemployment, be on vacation at home with family, and not be put at risk in general society, where they have typically been ill-protected by their employers. They are put at greater increased risk by protestors.
You also think about ALL the other essential medical and front-line workers being put at greater increased risk by ignorant protestors--and about the suffering and deaths you KNOW will result from their ignorance. From their continued rejection of truth, reason, facts, science, and even common sense. We have to wonder at the willful ignorance, despite knowing the reasons, appalled at their irrationalism, and fearful for our nation, our families and friends, and ourselves.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over four decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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@idalarsen2540 ~ Populist nationalism (aka fascism) has been cropping up in many Western nations (including some Scandinavian ones), as well as other places around the globe. Trump is gone, but what about the leaders of Poland and Bulgaria, for example? While the far right in those nations has suffered some recent setbacks as happened in America, it remains a cause for concern.
While I largely share your views about America, I nonetheless find some of them somewhat simplistic and overly dire. Was the Marshall Plan a bad thing? Is NATO a bad thing? Is promoting democracy around the world a bad thing? There is a difference between promoting democracy in general, and using that as a guise to exploit other nations, or to use it for undemocratic purpose, and that should be recognized. One can and should support the former, and oppose the latter. However, that doesn't mean forcing democracy upon any nation against the will of its people, nor should we be particularly concerned about nations with other forms of government that its people are content with and which serves them well. Will post separately to you here some other commentary of mine providing additional perspective which you may find informative about the situation and current political landscape in America.
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@idalarsen2540 ~ "We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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For five long years, the American people, Lady Justice, and Constitution have all been crying out for accountability, pleading, "Until this moment, Republicans, I think I have never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness. ...You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"
Insane stuff from an insane man, that describes Traitor Trump to a "T." What it constitutes is an attempted coup and an insurrection. So, why hasn't Trump and his accomplices been arrested for those and all his other crimes, yet? Why is Merrick Garland and his DOJ failing to do their duty? If Trump is not prosecuted, it sets a terrible precedent enabling the next wannabe authoritarian President. This is no time for playing nice.
Expect these documents from the National Security Archives to produce even more incriminating evidence of Traitor Trump's autogolpe. Also expect the House Select Committee to pass them on to the DOJ, along with a referral for criminal charges against Trump and his accomplices. Merrick Garland MUST prosecute Trump for his many crimes, or our justice system and democracy will be destroyed.
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"'Tis not, 'my country, right or wrong;' 'tis, 'my country, what is right to be kept right, what is wrong to be set right!'" -- Carl Schurz
Long before there was Amash, there was principled progressive visionary Republican Carl Schurz. German revolutionary, journalist, American statesman, abolitionist and superb orator who campaigned tirelessly in support for Lincoln, U.S. diplomat, beloved Union Army General, U.S. Senator for Missouri, helped shape a Reconstruction policy that enfranchised the freed slaves, championed civil service reform, a founder of the Republican Party in Wisconsin, founded the Liberal Republican movement, was a leader of the "Mugwump" exodus from the Republican party, denounced American imperialism in the Spanish-American War, and passionate advocate for the conservationist movement in America which he helped to create. His wife started the first kindergarten in the U.S.
At the age of 19 he was a leader of the student movement that became the spearhead of democratic revolutionary ferment in many parts of Germany. In 1849 Schurz was commissioned a lieutenant in the revolutionary army, which was finally defeated by the Prussians. Knowing he would be shot if captured, he fled the country. He later returned under a false passport to rescue a professor from Spandau prison and spirit him out of Germany in the most daring exploit of the entire revolution. Schurz came to the U.S. in 1852.
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@giftedfox4748 ~ Exactly. Under Biden, who will take a hard line to Russian election interference and disinformation propaganda campaigns against him, sanctions will stiffen, and there will likely be other consequences in trade and the like, as well. All of which will further deteriorate a Russian economy already quite shaky and very heavily dependent upon fossil fuels, which have only been getting cheaper, less profitable.
Add all that to the fact that Russians had already been getting sick and tired of Putin, his oligarchs, and their corruption, and what you get is despot Putin as desperate to stay in power as wannabe despot Trump is to escape accountability for his many state and federal crimes. It's a dangerous situation not just for America, but for the whole world.
Congressional Republicans and GOP leadership has had to have been aware of the national and global security threat that our Traitor-'n-Thief poses--they've been advised and warned repeatedly by our national security apparatus--but have constantly chosen continuing to enable, aid and abet Toxic Trump, spreading and perpetuating Russian propaganda, fully complicit in weakening America, endangering Americans and our military personnel. The GOP is doing the same with Toxic Trump's horrifically incompetent and homicidal, criminally negligent COVID-19 response. Without his Republican enablers, the deranged fruitcake in the Oval could never have put American national security in such peril, could never have caused so many Americans to sicken and die from COVID-19.
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@H.A.L96 ~ Putin knew who and what Toxic Trump was. Transactional GOP leaders and a fair number of its cult members who tribally and ignorantly put political party before country knew who and what Toxic Trump was--most of those GOP so-called "leaders" recognizing and describing him accurately as an uncouth, indecent, incompetent, deranged grifter who would be both an embarrassment and a danger to the nation. The vast majority of Democrats voting against him certainly had no illusions about who and what Toxic Trump was.
But many Republican Reich-wing programmed cult, Independents, and other less well informed and not very politically astute Americans got fooled. As the saying goes, fool them once, shame on you. Fool them twice, shame on them. Fortunately, it seems enough of the fools that got fooled the first time have learned a lesson, and are unwilling to be fooled again. It's a real shame how some fools never learn, though. Kind of like the Russian trolls doing Putin's dirty work, only hurting themselves and their country in the end.
#moreRussiasanctions
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Instead of embracing the regard for sustainability practiced by the America's indigenous peoples, we have entered into a death pact with capitalism, consumerism, greed, and selfishness, largely forced upon the common person by large businesses and the wealthy, who continue exploiting us for the own short-sighted, immediate benefit. We bear some responsibility for that, too. For taking part, for allowing it to happen, and for allowing it to continue as long as it has. Until enough of us average citizens wake up and become active in changing how our cultures and societies operate, the downward spiral of our environment will continue leading us into a dead-end death trap. Capitalism and consumerism can serve a purpose. However, they should be viewed and utilized as just one tool at our disposal in our toolbox, and not overly relied upon, like a hammer used for every job, which does more destruction than good.
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To those not wearing masks, social distancing, or following guidelines: Your willful ignorance does not mask your wanton disregard for human life, your appalling lack of humanity and humility, your supremely selfish inconsideration of others. Despite absolutely loathing wearing a mask, it's also the reason it's worn. The sooner we all start wearing masks, social distancing, and taking this deadly pandemic seriously, the sooner we get to take them off, the less time they'll need to be worn. Not to mention, the sooner we can go back to a normal that is more like normal, the sooner we can get our jobs back and our economy rolling, again.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian nationalism religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast would soon come to consume them.
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@Julie B ~ Believed in, and have fought for, equal justice long before becoming familiar with Mr. Kirschner. Something else, also very dear to me, is Lt. Col. Vindman's words: "Truth matters." In fact, justice is predicated upon truth; it cannot exist without it. What is found most offensive about the Republican cult is their delusional aversion to, and rejection of truth. It is the glue which holds our society--any society--together. It is our common bond of trust. While the Republican cult destroys that, they destroy America. Which makes them the enemy of America, the corrosive acid eating away at this nation from within. We, and they, especially, need to understand this.
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@Julie B ~ In particular, Fiona Hill's poise, patriotism, integrity, dedication, and intelligence during her testimony will remain in our history books long after she is gone from this Earth. Same with Lt. Col. Vindman's bravery and words.
Take hope; Traitor-'n-Thief Trump couldn't destroy our democracy, hard as he tried. He was merely a squatter trashing the place, soon to be gone, allowing renewal and rejuvenation of our institutions and democracy. Let it be a lesson not to ever be forgotten, though, lest we once again become too complacent; how fragile our democracy, how vital the need for constant vigilance and due diligence from our citizenry.
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@Julie B ~ We think much alike! This was a close call--one too close for comfort--a wake-up call. Have long feared and pointed out what would have happened had Toxic Trump not been so incompetent, inept, moronic, so clearly deranged, so obviously flawed in morals, integrity, and character? A recent article echoes this, and your shared global concerns:
America’s Next Authoritarian Will Be Much More Competent
Zeynep Tufekci -- November 6, 2020
Now that Joe Biden appears to be winning the presidency of the United States, we can expect debates over whether Donald Trump was an aberration (“not who we are!”) or another instantiation of America’s pathologies and sins. One can reasonably make a case for his deep-rootedness in American traditions, while also noticing the anomalies: the early-morning tweeting, the fondness for mixing personal and government business, the obsession with ratings befitting a reality-TV star—the one job he was good at.
From an international perspective, though, Trump is just one more example of the many populists on the right who have risen to power around the world: Narendra Modi in India, Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, Viktor Orbán in Hungary, Vladimir Putin in Russia, Jarosław Kaczyński in Poland, and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Turkey, my home country. These people win elections but subvert democratic norms: by criminalizing dissent, suppressing or demonizing the media, harassing the opposition, and deploying extra-legal mechanisms whenever possible (Putin’s opponents have a penchant for meeting tragic accidents). Orbán proudly uses the phrase illiberal democracy to describe the populism practiced by these men; Trump has many similarities to them, both rhetorically and policy-wise.
He campaigned like they did, too, railing against the particular form of globalization that dominates this era and brings benefit to many, but disproportionately to the wealthy, leaving behind large numbers of people, especially in wealthier countries. He relied on the traditional herrenvolk idea of ethnonationalist populism: supporting a kind of welfare state, but only for the “right” people rather than the undeserving others (the immigrants, the minorities) who allegedly usurp those benefits. He channeled and fueled the widespread mistrust of many centrist-liberal democratic institutions (the press, most notably) —just like the other populists. And so on.
But there’s one key difference between Trump and everyone else on that list. The others are all talented politicians who win elections again and again.
In contrast, Trump is a reality-TV star who stumbled his way into an ongoing realignment in American politics, aided by a series of events peculiar to 2016 that were fortunate for him: The Democrats chose a polarizing nominee who didn't have the requisite political touch that can come from surviving tough elections; social media was, by that point, deeply entrenched in the country’s politics, but its corrosive effects were largely unchecked; multiple players—such as then–FBI Director James Comey—took consequential actions fueled by their misplaced confidence in Hillary Clinton’s win; and Trump’s rivals in the Republican Party primaries underestimated him. He drew a royal flush.
It’s not that he is completely without talent. His rallies were effective in bonding with his base, and testing out various messages with the crowd he would then amplify everywhere. He has an intuitive understanding of the power of attention, and he played the traditional media like a fiddle—they benefited from his antics, which they boosted. He also clearly sensed the political moment in 2016, and managed to navigate his way into the presidency, though that probably had more to do with instinct than with deep planning.
Luck aside though, Trump is not good at his job. He doesn’t even seem to like it much. He is too undisciplined and thin-skinned to be effective at politics over a sustained period, which involves winning repeated elections. He seems to have been as surprised as anyone else that he won in 2016. While he hates the loser branding that will follow him now, he’s probably fine with the outcome—especially since he can blame it on fantastical conspiracies involving theft or ballot stuffing or the courts—as long as he can figure out how to escape the criminal trials that are certainly coming his way. (A self-pardon? A negotiated pardon? He will try something.)
Trump ran like a populist, but he lacked the political talent or competence to govern like an effective one. Remember the Infrastructure Week he promised? It never happened. Remember the trade wars with China he said he’d win? Some tariffs were raised here and there, but the jobs that would bring relief to America’s decimated manufacturing sector never resurged. In Wisconsin in 2018, the president announced “the eighth wonder of the world”—a Foxconn factory that was supposed to employ 13,000 in return for $4.5 billion in government subsidies. However, going into this election, the building remained empty, and the president lost Wisconsin in the Electoral College. (Foxconn hired people in the final weeks of the 2019 to fulfill quotas for the subsidies, and laid off many of them right after the new year.) Most populists globally deploy wide patronage networks: state spending that boosts their own supporters. Trump’s model remained attached more to personal graft: He encouraged people to stay in his hotels and have dinner at Mar-a-Lago in exchange for access, rather than develop a broad and participatory network that would remain loyal to him for years. And when the pandemic hit, instead of rising to the occasion and playing the strongman rallying the country through a crisis that had originated in China—an opportunity perfect for the kind of populist he aspired to be—he floundered. (cont.)
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@Julie B ~ PART II (cont.)
Erdoğan has been in power nationally since 2003. After two decades, he has arguably lost some of his political magic, evinced by increasing missteps and a deteriorating situation around democratic rights. Still, he is among the most talented politicians in Turkey’s history. He has been able to navigate multiple challenges, including a previous global financial crisis. In Russia, Putin has won many elections, even managing to subvert term limits. In India, Modi has also been reelected. One could argue that these elections were far from perfect, but they were elections. Brazil’s Bolsonaro has bungled his country’s response to the pandemic but is giving the poor emergency aid and increasing his popularity. The CARES Act did the same thing, providing a significant subsidy to businesses and improving household finances, especially for people with low incomes, but it ended right before the election; Trump erratically tweeted about having nuked a new deal.
I suspect that the Republican leadership is sanguine, if not happy, about Trump’s loss. It’s striking how quickly Fox News called Arizona for Biden, and how many Republican leaders have condemned the president’s rage-tweeting and attempts to stop the count. They know that Trump is done, and they seem fine with it. For them, what’s not to like? The Supreme Court is solidly in their corner; they will likely retain control of the Senate; House Republicans won more seats than they were projected to, and they are looking at significant gains in state Houses as well, giving them control over redistricting for the next decade. Even better for their long-term project, they have diversified their own coalition, gaining more women candidates and more support from nonwhite voters.
And they have at their disposal certain features that can be mobilized: The Electoral College and especially the Senate are anti-majoritarian institutions, and they can be combined with other efforts to subvert majority rule. Leaders and parties can engage in voter suppression and break norms of some degree of bipartisan cooperation across the government. In combination, these allow for players to engage in a hardball kind of minority rule: Remember that no Republican president has won the popular vote since 2004, and that the Senate is structurally prone to domination by a minority. Yet Republicans have tremendous power. This dynamic occurs at the local level, too, where gerrymandering allows Republican legislators to inflate their representation in state legislatures.
The situation is a perfect setup, in other words, for a talented politician to run on Trumpism in 2024. A man without the eager Twitter fingers and greedy hotel chains, someone with a penchant for governing rather than golf. An individual who does not irritate everyone who doesn’t already like him, and someone whose wife looks at him adoringly instead of slapping his hand away too many times in public. Someone who isn’t on tape boasting about assaulting women, and who says the right things about military veterans. Someone who can send appropriate condolences about senators who die, instead of angering their state’s voters, as Trump did, perhaps to his detriment, in Arizona. A norm-subverting strongman who can also create a durable majority and keep his coalition together to win more elections.
Make no mistake: The attempt to harness Trumpism—without Trump, but with calculated, refined, and smarter political talent—is coming. And it won’t be this easy to make the next Trumpist a one-term president. He will not be so clumsy or vulnerable. He will get into office less by luck than by skill. Perhaps it will be Senator Josh Hawley, who is writing a book against Big Tech because he knows that will be the next chapter in the culture wars, with social-media companies joining “fake news” as the enemy. Perhaps it will be Senator Tom Cotton, running as a law-and-order leader with a populist bent. Maybe it will be another media figure: Tucker Carlson or Joe Rogan, both men with talent and followings. Perhaps it will be another Sarah Palin—she was a prototype—with the charisma and appeal but without the baggage and the need for a presidential candidate to pluck her out of the blue. Perhaps someone like the QAnon-supporting Representative-elect Lauren Boebert of Colorado, who first beat the traditional Republican representative in the primary and then ran her race with guns blazing, masks off, and won against the Democratic candidate, a retired professor who avoided campaigning in person. Indeed, a self-made charismatic person coming out of nowhere probably has a better chance than many establishment figures in the party.
What can be done? First and foremost, we need to realize the nature of the problem and accept that elite failure cannot be responded to with more of the same. A good deal of the Democratic Party’s messaging has been wrapped in nostalgia. But populism’s resurgence is a symptom of the failures of the past. Pearl-clutching for the good old days will not get us out of this. Yes, it’s important to highlight the value of norms and call for the restoration of democratic institutions. But what we need in order to move forward goes beyond more politeness and the right rhetoric. The failures of the past aren’t to be yearned for. They’re to be avoided and, crucially, understood and fixed. There will be arguments about how to rebuild a politics that can appeal to the moment, and how to mobilize for the future. There should be. Our American crisis cannot be resolved in one sweeping article that offers easy solutions. But the first step is to realize how deep this hole is for democracies around the world, including ours, and to realize that what lies ahead is not some easy comeback.
At the moment, the Democratic Party risks celebrating Trump’s loss and moving on—an acute danger, especially because many of its constituencies, the ones that drove Trump’s loss, are understandably tired. A political nap for a few years probably looks appealing to many who opposed Trump, but the real message of this election is not that Trump lost and Democrats triumphed. It’s that a weak and untalented politician lost, while the rest of his party has completely entrenched its power over every other branch of government: the perfect setup for a talented right-wing populist to sweep into office in 2024. And make no mistake: They’re all thinking about it.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/america-s-next-authoritarian-will-be-much-more-competent/ar-BB1aLJ6q?ocid=msedgntp
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@Julie B ~ Figured you for the type of person to read and appreciate, which is a compliment; a good reflection on yourself. Naturally, you're quite welcome and, naturally, the hope is for the article and knowledge to be widely shared: to enrich, to enlighten, to educate, to provoke thought. In that way, perhaps we can reduce some of the anxiety in the world. At the very least, we will have tried.
TIP: A Google search of the article title and author typically provides a link to the original source quickly and easily, although there may be a paywall to view the complete article. Secondary source links provided may expire and no longer work. However, should you choose, you can also copy the article as provided here to your own document format on your computer for keeping and sharing, as we had done.
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Two Americans already dead at the time, with more Americans dying from COVID-19, and who knows how many infected or sick because this administration can't get its act together, still can't provide the requisite testing kits to keep the American people safe, still spreading extremely dangerous disinformation, dismissing a very real threat to public health as a "hoax."
But all that's important to Trump and his ilk are getting laughs with vituperative, vindictive partisan demagoguery at their annual gala of gluttony CPAC conference--sticking it to the other side to assuage insecurities, so these losers can claim to be "winning." Pathetic, sickening, shocking, enraging, and highly alarming. BTW, the Presidency shouldn't be a stand-up comedian routine. We got a bad joke played upon us, instead of a real President. Big trouble is, Republicans just don't have what it takes to admit their mistakes--prefer to be yellow weasels bringing the whole nation down.
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General was half-right--ballistic missiles don't discriminate between military structures and equipment, and military personnel. However, there is a very real possibility that Iran breathed a sigh of relief their signal sent didn't kill any Americans, widening the conflict.
We think the General wants to kill, but does that mean we can read his mind, know for sure? Do we kill the General because we think he wants to kill? I'm sure he has his reasons for killing, just like those who see their fellow countrymen killed unjustly by him have their reasons for killing him. Wonder what's is in the General's mind when he orders strikes he knows will kill civilians, as frequently our military does with drones and bombs that don't discriminate between combatant and civilian? When the U.S. kills more civilians than combatants, why isn't that terrorism? When the U.S. Commander-in-Chief threatens to obliterate another nation's cultural heritage sites and conduct wholly disproportionate military responses in violation of International Law to which the U.S. is signatory, isn't that terrorism?
So, we know the General is no mind reader, yet he wants to be judge, jury and executioner. Why? Because we got attacked in a country which told us to leave because of Trump's willful provocations; we promised we would but lied to the Iraq government? U.S. troops should have been removed in respect of Iraq sovereignty, and there would have been no threat to them in the first place. Any American casualties would have been on Trump's hands for pulling this stunt to save his sorry butt from impeachment, anyway. Any Americans get killed, the underlying blame goes to our sociopathic Traitor-in-Thief, President Nero.
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Freedoms can exist only up to the point they infringe upon the freedom of others. Religious tolerance can be practiced only up to the point it becomes intolerant of others. Our Constitution is a secular document, not a religious one, and it was certainly never intended to be a suicidal death pact. Getting vaccinated and following CDC guidelines brings freedom from preventable illness or injury, and a senseless premature death, but the mindless fascist Republican cult only believes in freeDUMB. Just as they don't understand or would deny the Constitution is as much about the common good as personal liberties, and that those two things are intrinsically and inextricably intertwined.
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge." ~ Ben Franklin, from Poor Richard's Almanack
Those who scorn public health guidelines during a deadly global pandemic and confuse a grievous public health issue with "essential" liberty to kill and harm themselves and their fellow citizens--as well as their nation--sorely lack both care and knowledge. They are also sorely lacking in common sense, something else about which Mr. Franklin was quite keen. Mr. Franklin was also one our nation's first scientists--yet these modern-day knuckleheads who ought know better refute science! Were he alive today, he would be rather dismayed, disgruntled, and disgusted with the fascist anti-science Republican cult, that much is crystal clear.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of conspiracy theories, the party of hate, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of corruption, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their deal with the Devil.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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It's good that Julius Jones, an innocent man, won't be executed, but the Republican Oklahoma governor refused to grant clemency, so he could still face decades behind bars, which is a travesty. It's also good that the prosecution is presenting a solid case against the three white men who lynched Ahmaud Arbery, but the fact that it even happened, that the defense lawyer is making racist arguments and using dog whistles, and that it took a video tape, public outcry, and months before deciding to prosecute is terrible. What is obvious from both cases is the systemic racism which still pervades America, which Republican leaders and Republican SCOTUS justice try to deny. What we have is a two-tier justice system----one for minorities and the poor, and one for Whites and the wealthy----that breeds injustice.
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'Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America' by Kathleen Belew (Harvard University Press, 2018)
The movement “brought together members of the Klan, militias, radical tax resisters, white separatists, neo-Nazis, and proponents of white theologies such as Christian Identity, Odinism, and Dualism” (ix). What was it about the movement that brought these ideologies together?
The promise of violence — rather, the promise that members would get to inflict violence on other people. Belew writes that as the white power movement matured, it became more violent, and “[as] violence came to the fore of the movement, distinctions among white power factions melted away” (60). Belew calls this process “violent community formation” (34). Yet as a social movement, Belew makes a distinction between the white power movement’s “revolutionary violence” and the Ku Klux Klan’s “vigilante violence.”
Vigilante violence “served to constitute, shore up, and enforce systemic power” (106). Given that the U.S. government has a long history of “defending vigilante violence by refusing to enforce the law” (99), law enforcement inaction and vigilante violence may be understood together as a case of one hand washing the other. Revolutionary violence, however, sought to overthrow the state. It is the white power movement’s goal of overthrowing the federal government that sets it apart in the history of white supremacy in the U.S.
America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian nationalism religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation—only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regurgitation
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump’s COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration…
Now reaching vacation destination!
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There will be an impeachment; pay no attention to political posturing to get public onboard. The, impeachment process will destroy Trump -- make no mistake! Clinton, Nixon and Johnson never recovered from their impeachments, even though none actually impeached from office (Nixon was forced to resign). But there are many factors at play bearing consideration; this is not as simple as the media would have us believe, sometimes. For instance, the power of Pence to pardon Trump should he be impeached, the resistance and cover-up by Republicans required for impeachment.
In case it wasn't noticed, impeachment is ongoing, if not yet declared. The obvious inevitable "official" announcement timing is not nearly as concerning as the media selling Dems and their leadership short, neglecting their own duty to investigate and cover corrupt Congressional Republicans equally responsible for impeachment who are--contrastingly--derelict and openly defiant to their sworn oath by engaging in this cover-up in plain sight of the Mueller Report. No Pulitzer there. Media cowards fail big time! Media optics obsessive, misguided focus on Democrat strategy overly and overtly politicizes, is bad for impeachment, helpful to Trump and Republicans. Stupid.
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The "press" here is speaking truth and facts to power. Your criticism isn't directed appropriately at the Traitor-'n-Thief dictator wannabe or his sycophant minions attacking the free press holding them accountable--as they should. If your complaint is with the free press abusing that privilege, such as Faux News and the like, who are engaging in disinformation to discredit responsible journalists, then you should have made that plain and clear. Otherwise, it only comes across as simpleton nonsense. You are correct about one thing: When responsible journalists and the free press are forced to defend themselves against scurrilous attacks from unscrupulous politicians and dishonest fellow journalists, it definitely does demonstrate the rot taking root in our society. However, it should be obvious and not confused that responsible journalists are in any way at fault.
Incidentally, why should anyone care about your opinion, if you care nothing about the opinions of others? Personally value and respect other's opinions, perhaps especially those whose perspectives differ from our own--as long as they are honest, reasonable, and based upon realities. Narratives are likewise useful, as long as honest, reasonable, and based upon the realities. Conversely, spin tends to be propaganda, and deceitful, although putting things in a positive light isn't necessarily always nefarious, deceitful, or propaganda. It's a complex world we live in, people are complex, issues can be complex, and things aren't always so simple, so cut-and-dried. Lots and lots of nuance, which can be challenging for some, too challenging for others. Some people are just lazy, and sorting the truth and facts from the lies and distortions is too much trouble for them. Then, we have some people who just want to believe what they want to believe, truth and facts be damned. This last group are the most dangerous, and is an apt description of the Republican cult today in America.
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@ph0ib0s1 ~ Your reply is incoherent, and reads like propaganda, or the mad ravings of someone heavily influenced by propaganda. You accuse us of demonizing "others" which is a big stretch, and then you proceed to demonize others, by your own same standard. That's just hypocritical. While there are some tiny morsels of truth to what you say, all good propaganda contains some truth, or it wouldn't be effective.
Did Faux News edit a video of this CNN anchor to misrepresent the truth? Yes, clearly they did. Did the White House then do the same to attack her? Yes, clearly they did. Those are the facts. Should CNN and this anchor allow themselves to be smeared, allow such lies to stand unchallenged? No, they should not. To sane people, truth matters. Why doesn't the truth matter to you?
It seems you are just here to attack the media, care nothing about the facts, only want to confuse the issues, agitate, and divide Americans, just like this President, Faux News, and Republican leaders, all of whom care little about the common good and national interest, put themselves first. Just like Putin, who wouldn't be attacking America if he truly cared about Russia and the Russian people. #moreRussiasanctions
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It's been pretty obvious all along that Democrat leadership would rather win elections than have to employ a divisive impeachment, and now Traitor Trump himself forced the issue down the throats of the American people, leaving no other option. Geez...it's not like anyone MADE him play the stupid game, but Rope-a-Dope contestant #1 kept tightening noose around neck with firm resolve, inching down the plank, until taking that stupendous dive off the end, into the deep end of the empty swimming pool! All Pelosi did was anchor the rope to the mast of the cruise ship...something Republicans have continued so sorely neglecting when they gave him that extra heavy-duty rope with bonus snazzy tie-apparel attachment which, found so irresistible, instantly became Chief Clown's permanent fashion attire. We're hoping no need to shorten rope to allow contestant #1 another attempt, which getting it ju-u-u-st the right length took a little time. However, no rules against how many impeachment tries, so it appears Total Loser can go ahead and just knock himself right on out, if required! Might be entertaining, watching him bounce off that thick noggin of his, but we don't really need this illegitimate, incompetent, completely corrupt Apprentice boasting about his ratings!
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Republicans are willing to gain and hold power at any cost...even if the price is our democracy!
Farmer wakes up one morning, goes outside to milk his cows, and discovers his entire herd is missing! So, he then walks over nest door to where the Republican cult lives, notices them grinding a whole bunch of beef into hamburger, and asks them, "Did you see what happened to all my cows?"
Republican cult: "Yeah, they jumped over the moon."
Farmer: "Do you have any actual evidence of that?"
Republican cult: "No, because they landed on the dark side, and you can't see them over there. But we're conducting a bunch of investigations and fraudits, and we're confident evidence will soon emerge to prove it!"
Farmer: "You know, that sounds like a load of manure!"
Republican cult: "Well, that's what we all choose to believe!"
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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The Molotov cocktail recipe:
Mix in equal parts of mental illness, willful ignorance, fear, hate, greed, decades of 24/7 Reich-wing disinformation, misinformation, and crackpot conspiracy programming by Republican politicians, plutocrats, media and demagogues, add supplemental divisive Russian propaganda attacking and weakening America, stir well, garnish with COVID-19, and you have the mindless Republican cult descending into fascism, committing terrorism and sedition. Then, grab a stiff drink--you'll need it.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It's that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don't care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another five months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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@sommebuddy Wrong. The least vaccinated group is Republicans. According to a recent poll, 86% of Democrats have gotten the vaccine, while only 45% of Republicans have. African-American's vaccination rate was at about 50%, which is still a higher rate than Republicans. Moreover, because African-Americans make up a much smaller percentage of the population, the total number of their unvaccinated is also much smaller than the total number of unvaccinated Republicans. It's the total numbers that tell the real story, not the percentage. It's like comparing 99% of the 1% versus 50% of the 99%. For example, out of a group of 10,000 people, that would be 99 unvaccinated of the 1%, and 5,000 unvaccinated of the 99%. There's simply no comparison. Also, while there is vaccine hesitancy among unvaccinated African-Americans, only 7% say they will not get the vaccine. Compare that to 58% of unvaccinated Republicans saying they will not get the vaccine. Most disgusting, this is merely an effort at blame-shifting by Republicans onto a minority, which is racist.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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Funny how quickly and dramatically Dr. Birx changes her tune on public gatherings, now telling everyone to avoid them and get tested, when just a month ago that suck-up bird Birx was singing a different song: Dr. "Babbling" Birx was laying bricks, lying and dissembling! Says she trusts churches and churchgoers to make it safe, not go to church if sick--knowing asymptomatic people don't know they're sick, and can't be detected! Then, there's the fact that many religious people gather at religious shrines and places of worship hoping to be "healed" when sick. Moreover, she knows "Pastor" Tony Spelling in Louisiana was packing his megachurch during the middle of a severe outbreak, busing them in from a 50-mile radius; she knows all about the devastating spread in South Korea from religious services, she knows about the super-spreader event at the church in Oregon defying state lockdown orders. Dr. Birx KNOWS the U.S. lacks the requisite testing capabilities to reopen safely. Dr. Birx KNOWS all the states are reopening in defiance of CDC guidelines. Dr. Birx KNOWS how Toxic Trump has ignorantly politicized a global pandemic, sent conflicting messages to the public. Dr. Birx KNOWS a good proportion of Americans are NOT following basic CDC guidelines; NOT wearing masks, NOT social distancing. And she knows without detailed specific CDC federal guidelines for businesses reopening, we got chaos, sickness, and MORE senseless deaths. Birx needs to have her medical license revoked. She can be the next SmellyAnne Con-Her-Way, that's what she wants.
JULY UPDATE: Unbelievable! Birx now promoting the Trump administration line to reopen schools, after the administration announced that detailed CDC guidelines for schools are to be scrapped because they were "too hard," at a time when the nation is seeing record numbers of new COVID-19 cases and hospitals are once again overfilling capacity--with school openings just several short weeks away! Moreover, all the problems previously delineated above with churches apply equally to schools and STILL EXIST! No adequate testing, no rational national response, no pandemic containment, insufficient contact tracing and surveillance, no means of addressing asymptomatic transmission, no proper guidelines, lack of public cooperation necessary for safe reopening, lack of public ordinances necessary to gain compliance, etc., etc. Curious why Birx chooses to flush her reputation, but that's inconsequential to seeing her and this administration removed before killing more Americans. Not sure it can even be called "negligent" homicide, anymore. Now, it seems clear that it's WILLFUL homicides in which they engage.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, John Eastman and all other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed? If Garland doesn't stand up for the rule of law, justice and democracy, this nation is soon doomed.
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
18 U.S.C. §2383 -- Rebellion or insurrection
Whoever incites, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof … shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.
18 U.S.C. §2384 -- Seditious conspiracy
If two or more persons … in any place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof, … they shall each be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.
18 U.S.C. §2385 -- Advocating overthrow of Government
Whoever knowingly or willfully advocates, abets, advises, or teaches the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying the government of the United States or the government of any State … by force or violence, ... they shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.
18 U.S. Code § 2331 -- Domestic Terrorism (Supplemental penalty of up to 17 years imprisonment)
(5) the term “domestic terrorism” means activities that—
(A) involve acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State;
(B) appear to be intended—
(i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population;
(ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or
(iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and
(C) occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States
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Of course, the January 6th Select Committee is going to issue an invitation to members of Congress to come forward with information about January 6th before issuing a subpoena, expecting them to honor their Oath of Office. Of course, Republicans don't care about their Oath of Office. Of course, they're going to falsely claim victimhood and allege the Commitee is a political witch hunt. Of course, they're not going to cooperate. Of course, Republicans will continue to Gaslight, Obstruct, and Project, putting personal and party interests before country. Of course, outside of a small handful of Congressional Republicans, they are not leaders, but followers in a fascist, nihilistic GOP cult. Of course, they continue to push the Big Lie, whether actively or silently complicit, fomenting domestic terrorism while undermining and degrading our democracy and republic.
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Who'd have ever equated voting in America with survival? But that's pretty much what it has boiled down to, hasn't it? Survival of ourselves, survival of our democracy, survival of our nation, and survival of our planet. The irony is that Republicans have always tried to paint Democrats as an existential threat...but in doing so it is actually they who have become exactly that.
Democrat voters need an even greater turnout in '22 and '24, put the final fork in Trumpism! Republicans want to engage in Jim Crow voter suppression laws, voter intimidation, and egregious gerrymandering? Republicans want to engage in corruption, gaslight their corruption, coverup their corruption? Republicans want to turn a blind eye to Russian election interference and knowingly disseminate Russian propaganda for Putin? Republicans want to instigate and sanction Reich-wing domestic terrorist insurrection? Republicans want to live in delusion and denial about the major problems confronting the nation and planet? Let's just prove that's fuel for the fire, and make their fascist antidemocratic corruption backfire on them!
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Toxic Trump is sick, depraved, deranged and ignorant: a clear and present danger to America, doing us tremendous harm for over three years, who is clearly unfit for ANY high office--much less the highest in the land.
Yet, he is but one man. Though he cannot be absolved from guilt or responsibility, it is those who have enabled him, and continue enabling him, who share most responsibility for the harm he has done us. They, as a group, cannot claim to ALL possess the mental illness and mental disorder which plagues Toxic Trump.
Particularly those elected to be LEADERS, who have instead proven themselves to be nothing but liars and cheats, corrupt to their core, consumed by a partisan cult. One may bitterly oppose and detest the words, deeds, and behaviors of Trump, but still have some pity, out of understanding his affliction forming the basis, which was not self-chosen. The same is not true for Congressional Republicans and the GOP, for whom we hold only contempt. Trump should have been removed from office LONG ago, and could even now be removed IMMEDIATELY, but his enablers STILL refuse to ACT, despite their CRIMINAL negligence KILLING MORE Americans.
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Trump Surgeon General: "Four months since this pandemic began, and we've stopped telling people just how very, very few Americans we've tested, we're still not elucidating any real coherent strategy for dealing with COVID-19. Instead of testing the American public to get a handle on this pandemic, confine outbreaks, gain more time, and protect the American people, especially those Americans at high-risk--such as the young, the elderly, those sick or with conditions--we are using the American people as guinea pigs, tracking where they start dying after the epidemic has already taken firm root in their communities! Just remember...DON'T PANIC!!!"
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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Congressional Republicans just proved--once again--they are unwilling to operate in good faith, first in the House, now in the Senate, unwilling to even pass a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate the January 6 insurrection! How many times does Lucy have to pull the football out at the last minute before Charlie Brown Manchin finally wises up? New voting rights protections sorely needed in the wake of new Republican Jim Crow legislation nationwide, a badly needed infrastructure and jobs bill, and numerous other pieces of critical legislation the Democrats want to pass don't stand a chance if the filibuster is allowed to stand. If Republicans are going to abuse the filibuster, then it's time to LOSE THE FILIBUSTER!!!
As Republicans continue relitigating the 2020 election in Arizona, Georgia, and other states based upon a Big Lie they pushed, and after Republicans relitigated Benghazi for years with TEN partisan investigations, Moscow McConnell doesn't want a bipartisan commission to investigate an insurrection against the nation's Capitol because it would be "relitigating?" Nevermind the heights of hypocrisy reached here; that's an insult to the intelligence of the American people, and a gross dereliction of duty by Republicans.
Naturally, Republicans don't want their ties to terrorists and the insurrection exposed, nor does McCarthy want to be forced to testify about his damning phone call to Traitor Trump on January 6th.
While it would be better to have a bipartisan commission with both sides operating in good faith to get to the truth, Republicans have demonstrated themselves to be incapable of operating in good faith. Given that they amply proved that by voting against the January 6 commission, it will actually be for the better, because a House select committee investigating January 6 won't be blocked by Republicans from subpoenaing witnesses, or bogged down with Republican obstructionism, obfuscations, deflections, and irrelevancies.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, John Eastman and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
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Confronted with a conundrum contrary or conflicting, the Republican cult instinct for self-preservation induces a shut down of blood flow to the cranium, causing confusion, chaos, crisis, corruption, and criminality! Cult for cult, con for con, convolution after convolution, concocted crackpot conspiracy after concocted crackpot conspiracy, cover-up after cover-up, the GOP is alone, in a league all its own!
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Seems only fair that the least Toxic Trump could do, after slaughtering over 88,000 Americans already with his "greatest ever" ignorance, is to give the U.S. government his resort properties, to be quickly converted by the Army Corp of Engineers into public hospitals, medical facilities, and morgues. Too bad that's never going to happen--Turd Trump refuses to even sign order for FEMA to help fellow Americans out with OUR taxpayer money to bury their loved ones whom he killed, like they do in every other national emergency, despite repeated pleas to him, appealing for some shred of humanity, respect, and dignity be given for our dead.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of conspiracy theories, the party of hate, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of corruption, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, don't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their deal with the Devil.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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Toxic Trump: "It's a HOAX!"
Much later: …."I got this pandemic completely under control, we're safe!"
Shortly after: …."It's not my fault! States need to take charge! I don't take ANY responsibility! It's unsafe! You need to stay home!"
Next day: ...."The cure is worse than the disease, you need to go back to work!
Next week: ...."Don't listen to me! Listen to the CDC!"
Following days: ...."USA #1 in coronavirus cases--and now we're #1 in coronavirus DEATHS! We're the BEST! Thanks to my extremely stable genius wartime leadership, only 100,000-240,000 Americans will die! We're doing a TREMENDOUS job! I still don't take ANY responsibility!"
Last month: ... "I've anointed myself All Powerful Dear Leader and will soon order all my subjects back to work despite lack of vaccine, cure, testing, PPE, medical staffing, and the sure-fire massive resurgence resulting thereof, killing tens of thousands more Americans--because this pandemic is killing my lucrative Emoluments business, and even my Soviet-style election chances!"
Now: … "Scratch that; might have to actually do stuff. My greatest-ever new half-baked plan shifts all responsibility and blame back to governors! For now. Somewhat. Maybe. We'll be letting you know, hopefully! Did I mention I've been popping hydroxychloroquine like candy, contrary to medical recommendations?"
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth and justice--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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Tucker Carlson and Faux News: mainstreaming American fascism purely for profit.
FAUX News is happy to push Russian propaganda for Putin and disinformation for plutocrats and fascists, but the truth is verboten on Reich-wing media! Sad, pathetic, disgusting and dangerous.
America's enemies don't need to spread disinformation, doubt, discord, and division to weaken America, kill Americans--Republican politicians, Reich-wing demagogues, Faux News, OAN, Newsmax, Breitbart and the rest of the Reich-wing media do that so effectively for them, already. More Americans need to realize that the GOP has abdicated it's duty as loyal opposition, and that its prioritization of party over country and welcoming embrace of violent radical Reich-wing extremists diminishes both our government and our national security, endangering ALL Americans, as well as weakening and endangering America itself.
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Toxic Trump, at coronavirus press briefing 04/20/20, "We're looking at maybe "only" 50-60,000 deaths in the U.S.!" Just three days later, the toll surpassed 50,000; six days after that, it went over 61,000. On 05/04/20--a mere two weeks after Trump's delusional pronouncement--the U.S. reached 70,000 deaths. Now, because of some state and local governments opening up their economies too soon is blatant disregard of Trump administration's own guidelines, the CDC Mayday report projects new highs of 3,000 deaths and 200,000 new cases per DAY by June. That would put us at 100-150,000 deaths--just by the end of June, alone. That's acceptable, here in America? Since when?
04/22/20 saw a new worst of nearly 2,700 COVID-19 deaths in a single day, topping the nearly 2,400 Americans lost on 04/14/20. Trump's claim was simply more of his wishful thinking, lies, and bogus claims. Clueless, disinterested, deranged, disengaged, and detached from reality are not the qualities you want in a leader during a major global pandemic crisis. That's a lethal combination that has already cost more American lives in just eight weeks than the Vietnam War in its entire twelve-year span.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Toxic Trump: "I'm the BEST, just absolutely CRUSHING the competition, with over THREE POINT SEVEN MILLION coronavirus cases and over 142 -- one-hundred and forty-two!!! -- THOUSAND deaths! Easy as 1-2-3! They ALL got eighty-sixed, 'cause nobody else even comes close! With a QUARTER of the world's cases AND deaths--can you even imagine how truly great, how awesome, that achievement is, with only just FOUR PERCENT of the world's population to work with? Believe it or not, I accomplished in only FIVE WEEKS what it took the Vietnam War a whole TWELVE YEARS to do! Not done with the fun--and not to be outdone--I then doubled down on the death toll from Vietnam in just FOUR MONTHS! PLUS, we're not even counting ALL the COVID-19 cases and deaths here in the U.S.! And, with only SEVEN PERCENT of the U.S. population already infected, we're just getting started with all the sickness and death; there's PLENTY more to come! Those other weaklings and losers don't stand a chance, because we're going to keep right on winning--as long as I'm in charge! Now, vacation's over; time to get back to work on increasing those numbers, people! Let's keep America great, get rid of all the excess baggage! As wartime President, I am commanding all CIVILIANS to senselessly sacrifice their lives for my arrogance, stupidity, vanity, malevolence, and greed!"
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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Devon Holmes ~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-‘n-‘Thief, Toxic Trump, so much—although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages—as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, homophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, divisive, anti-science, anti-democratic raving lunatic and his corruption, a man compromised by foreign nations, including our principle adversary, through his tremendous debt. Between that, his catastrophic, irresponsible handling of COVID-19, and his incitement of anti-democratic violent Reich-wing groups, Trump has made himself America's #1 most serious national security threat. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself, mental illness, and his upbringing, who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or "the Wall") is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle's name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called "leaders" in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. has ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 -- than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to--and a barrier against--our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It's design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge--and help teach--people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see...if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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The Case Against Donald Trump
The president of the United States poses a threat to our collective existence. The choice voters face is spectacularly obvious.
OCTOBER 22, 2020 — Jeffrey Goldberg, on behalf of the editors of The Atlantic
In 1973, a United States Air Force officer, Major Harold Hering, asked a question that the Air Force did not want asked. Hering, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, was then in training to become a Minuteman-missile crewman. The question he asked one of his instructors was this: “How can I know that an order I receive to launch my missiles came from a sane president?”
The writer Ron Rosenbaum would later call this the “forbidden question.” Missile officers are allowed to ask certain sorts of questions—about the various fail-safe systems built to prevent the accidental launching of nuclear weapons, for instance. But the Air Force would not answer Hering’s question, and it moved to discharge him after determining that officers responsible for launching nuclear weapons did not “need to know” the answer. “I have to say I feel I do have a need to know because I am a human being,” Hering said in response.
Hering’s question was taboo because the national defense strategy of the United States is built on the unstated assumption that the American people will not allow a lunatic to become president. If that assumption is wrong, then no procedural, legal, or technological mechanisms exist that are able to fully protect the human race from such a lunatic. Hering discovered a catastrophic flaw in U.S. nuclear doctrine, and for this he was driven from the Air Force.
In most matters related to the governance and defense of the United States, the president is constrained by competing branches of government and by an intricate web of laws and customs. Only in one crucial area does the president resemble, in the words of the former missile officer and scholar Bruce Blair, an absolute monarch—his control of nuclear weapons. Richard Nixon, who was president when Major Hering asked his question, was reported to have told members of Congress at a White House dinner party, “I could leave this room and in 25 minutes, 70 million people would be dead.” This was an alarming but accurate statement.
When contemplating their ballots, Americans should ask which candidate in a presidential contest is better equipped to guide the United States through a national-security crisis without triggering a nuclear exchange, and which candidate is better equipped to interpret—within five or seven minutes—the ambiguous, complicated, and contradictory signals that could suggest an imminent nuclear attack. These are certainly not questions that large numbers of voters asked themselves in 2016, when a transparently unqualified candidate for president won the support of 63 million Americans.
At the time, Donald Trump had not yet served in public office, so concerns about his ability to protect the United States from harm were hypothetical, though grounded in his long and terrible record as a human being. As The Atlantic stated in its October 2016 endorsement of his opponent, Hillary Clinton, Trump “traffics in conspiracy theories and racist invective; he is appallingly sexist; he is erratic, secretive, and xenophobic; he expresses admiration for authoritarian rulers, and evinces authoritarian tendencies himself … He is an enemy of fact-based discourse; he is ignorant of, and indifferent to, the Constitution; he appears not to read.”
What we have learned since we published that editorial is that we understated our case. Donald Trump is the worst president this country has seen since Andrew Johnson, or perhaps James Buchanan, or perhaps ever. Trump has brought our country low; he has divided our people; he has pitted race against race; he has corrupted our democracy; he has shown contempt for American ideals; he has made cruelty a sacrament; he has provided comfort to propagators of hate; he has abandoned America’s allies; he has aligned himself with dictators; he has encouraged terrorism and mob violence; he has undermined the agencies and departments of government; he has despoiled the environment; he has opposed free speech; he has lied frenetically and evangelized for conspiracism; he has stolen children from their parents; he has made himself an advocate of a hostile foreign power; and he has failed to protect America from a ravaging virus. Trump is not responsible for all of the 220,000 COVID-19-related deaths in America. But through his avarice and ignorance and negligence and titanic incompetence, he has allowed tens of thousands of Americans to suffer and die, many alone, all needlessly. With each passing day, his presidency reaps more death.
But let us lay all of this aside for the moment. Let us even lay aside the extraordinary fact that Donald Trump has been credibly accused of rape. Compelling evidence suggests that his countless sins and defects are rooted in mental instability, pathological narcissism, and profound moral and cognitive impairment. Which returns us to the subject of Major Hering.
Trump’s opponent, Joe Biden, is in many ways a typically imperfect candidate, but if we judge these men on two questions alone—Who is a more trustworthy steward of America’s nuclear arsenal? Which man poses less of a threat to our collective existence?—the answer is spectacularly obvious.
The Atlantic has endorsed only three candidates in its 163-year history: Abraham Lincoln, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Hillary Clinton. The latter two endorsements had more to do with the qualities of Barry Goldwater and Donald Trump than with those of Johnson and Clinton. The same holds true in the case of Joe Biden. Biden is a man of experience, maturity, and obvious humanity, but had the Republican Party put forward a credible candidate for president, we would have felt no compulsion to state a preference. Donald Trump, however, is a clear and continuing danger to the United States, and it does not seem likely that our country would be able to emerge whole from four more years of his misrule. Two men are running for president. One is a terrible man; the other is a decent man. Vote for the decent man.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/10/atlantics-endorsement-against-donald-trump/616815/
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Putin is posturing. He's not stupid, isn't about to kill the goose that lays the golden egg, which is the corrupt regime he runs that enriches him and his appointed oligarchy cronies. If he thought he could get away with taking Ukraine, he would do it, but he knows it would be too costly, and could well prove his downfall.
NATO nations border Russia now, just as they have since the days of the USSR. NATO is a defensive organization, as Putin well knows. The U.S. and other NATO allies have no intention or interest whatsoever of employing offensive military forces against Russia in aggression, as Putin also well knows. NATO was formed at the request of European nations in conjunction with the U.S. as a hedge against Russian aggression, another thing of which Putin is well aware.
And there's no mistaking that Russia is the aggressor, with its annexation of the Ukranian territory of Crimea, its military operation in eastern Ukraine, and its ongoing efforts to destabilize Ukraine.
Which is not because Ukraine poses any threat to Russia. It's because Putin promotes Russian nationalism and a return to the supposed "glory" of the former communist Soviet Union as a way to gain support to prop up his corrupt regime, much as Hitler did. This also constitutes military extortion against Ukraine because of Russian economic dependency upon Ukraine.
Putin runs a brutal, repressive regime, and while there is resistance and protests, they are met with harsh crackdowns by security forces and often heavy punishment handed down to those involved. What Putin fears is not the U.S. or NATO, but his fellow citizens.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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Trump refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the election!
Traitor-'n-Thief Toxic Trump: "Get rid of the ballots and we'll have a very peaceful — there won't be a transfer, frankly, there'll be a continuation."
WTF?!? Get rid of the ballots means getting rid of ALL the votes--absentee, mail-in, and in-person ballots! It means a Toxic Trump coup, an illegal seizure of power, a dictator, ignoring citizen's votes, no more democracy!!!
"This is how democracy dies. A president so desperate to cling to power that he won't commit to a peaceful transition of power. That he seeks to throw out millions of votes. And a Republican Party too craven to say a word," Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff
"In case anyone is unclear on the concept, in the United States of America, we do not "get rid of" ballots. We count them. Counting the ballots — all the ballots — is the way we determine who leads our country after our elections. The only way," Ellen Weintraub, a commissioner of the Federal Elections Commission, tweeted. Weintraub has previously debunked Trump's claims about mail-in voting fraud.
Trump has a long history of making unsubstantiated claims about electoral fraud, dating back to his allegations that he lost the popular vote in 2016 only because "millions" of people voted illegally. He has also been waging legal battles in multiple states in an attempt to stop the expansion of vote-by-mail and has admitted to using the USPS to sabotage those efforts.
Over the years, multiple extensive studies have found that widespread voter fraud is virtually nonexistent, difficult to successfully pull off, and discouraged through steep criminal penalties.
The US has had successful peaceful transitions of power in every single election since its inception in 1776, including following a contested election between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, during the US Civil War, and on multiple occasions when the electoral college vote has diverged from the popular vote.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over four decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America could have confronted and conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, nihilistic, hyper-partisan fascist cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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THE all-time, epic chess match! Republicans opted for opening with the King's Gambit, utilizing the Russian Defense, which has left them open and vulnerable on all fronts, holding a very weak position. Can Democrats recover and capitalize in time, or will the Constitution be lost forever, America relegated to the scrap heap of history, a mere brief shooting star, checkmated by its own ignorance??
Sometimes it's not about left and right, but right or wrong. Five-alarm fire is ongoing, President Nero and his Republican arsonist cohorts continue pouring the gasoline in deliriously delusional delight. Sorry, kids, grandkids, and all who come after...the truth was too controversial, too inconvenient for our busy day.
TRUE patriotic Americans don't blindly await their fate like sheep before the slaughter; this isn't any parlor game being played by deviant, depraved Republicans in Congress. Perhaps the most crucial point in American history continues to unfold before us, which requires active, informed civic involvement. Public apathy and passivity would prove fatal to our long and deeply cherished Republic.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much to future generations--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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TRUM_PLANNED_EMIC!
Given plenty of advance warnings about COVID-19, Toxic Trump chose not to heed the sound advice provided. We could have been Taiwan, with a comparative 100 deaths in the U.S.; or South Korea, with a comparative 1500 deaths here, after adjusted for population size. Taiwan had just seven deaths; South Korea less than 300. We got over 125,000 deaths already, with the count still rapidly rising, while we remain, still, firmly mired in the first wave of the disease. Even worse, after six months, we STILL lack the adequate testing and rational national response to contain the disease.
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GOP cult: “Democracy is great…only so long as we can subvert it with lies, cheating, a multitude of Jim Crow voter suppression laws, egregious gerrymandering, obstruction, coups, election interference, sedition, and terrorism to gain power and maintain our corrupt, plutocratic, minority fascist rule!”
It's quite obvious that these Republican efforts purportedly to promote election integrity are a sham and a fraud designed to do exactly the opposite: undermine confidence in the electoral process in America, and undermine our democracy. Republicans are doing this to impose their minority rule over the majority----the very antithesis of democracy.
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Toxic Trump: "I'm the BEST, just absolutely CRUSHING the competition, with over THREE POINT TWO MILLION coronavirus cases and over 135 -- one-hundred and thirty-five!!! -- THOUSAND deaths! Easy as 1-2-3! They ALL got eighty-sixed, 'cause nobody else even comes close! With a QUARTER of the world's cases AND deaths--can you even imagine how truly great, how awesome, that achievement is, with only just FOUR PERCENT of the world's population to work with? Believe it or not, I accomplished in only FIVE WEEKS what it took the Vietnam War a whole TWELVE YEARS to do! Not done with the fun--and not to be outdone--I then doubled down on the death toll from Vietnam in just FOUR MONTHS! PLUS, we're not even counting ALL the COVID-19 cases and deaths here in the U.S.! And, with only SEVEN PERCENT of the U.S. population already infected, we're just getting started with all the sickness and death; there's PLENTY more to come! Those other weaklings and losers don't stand a chance, because we're going to keep right on winning--as long as I'm in charge! Now, vacation's over; time to get back to work on increasing those numbers, people! Let's keep America great, get rid of all the excess baggage! As wartime President, I am commanding all CIVILIANS to senselessly sacrifice their lives for my arrogance, stupidity, vanity, malevolence, and greed!"
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-‘n-‘Thief, Toxic Trump, so much—although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages—as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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***MEDIA FAIL*** -- "Partisan infighting?" Are you kidding me, CNN? Just how dense must one be to be ignorant that Democrats are fighting against Russian interference in our elections, while Trump and Republicans are condoning and encouraging it? It's a lot more than merely that Sanders didn't solicit such aid, while Trump did--which is HUGE and horrific distinction in and of itself. It's all that's been happening since. How can that be ignored by media? This is a fight for our very nation, and for the very security of the American people--this is not time for false equivalencies or stupid equivocations that mislead the public. One side is fighting to save us, while Republicans are working to destroy us. Media knows this. It's not about "partisan infighting"--unless that's what we're calling the Civil War now. It's about our Presidential poser currently occupying the Oval compromising himself with our principal foreign adversary, Russia, and Russia then helping him weaken and destroy America. It's about Republicans turning a blind eye, helping Russia weaken and destroy America. Let's be clear about the facts, OK, media? Let's not muddy the waters like the Russians, OK? Media BE better, WE be better!
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GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again." ― Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney
More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They have essentially become a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It's that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don't care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another five months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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@KayOScode ~ That's not what the people carrying Trump flags who attacked our nation's Capitol were saying during and after the event, Doc! They said Trump sent them, and that they were doing what Trump wanted!
You also ignore how Toxic Trump REVELED in watching the carnage he unleashed against our nation on TV, doing NOTHING to stop it, despite desperate pleas from Congressional Republicans to stop it, how it was VP Pence who finally had to authorize the National Guard, and how afterward Trump told them he LOVED the terrorists.
Besides, your denial of the obvious only confirms your appalling lack of logical thinking, while also revealing your willful ignorance. You can stick your head in the sand, but history is going to condemn the Traitor-'n-Thief Toxic Trump for inciting a terrorist insurrection against his own government. Get a clue, not a cult!
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@KayOScode ~ Demonstrating further your willful ignorance and lack of logic, Doc! In coding, one often has to account for ALL the variables, not just the one thing the programmer chooses to arbitrarily cherry-pick, as you are doing with the Traitor-'n-Thief seditious words and acts--as well as the words of his accomplices, for which they will also must be held accountable. He told them they had to "fight," not to be "weak," that they had to "take back our democracy."
As a programmer or programmer analyst, one has to also account for totality--another thing you deliberately neglect to do. Moreover, a coder that allows their bias to influence their logic--as you do, and that is unwilling to be objective--as you are, is a piss-poor coder. In the words of the House Republican chair, Liz Cheney, a staunch and loyal conservative:
"On January 6, 2021 a violent mob attacked the United States Capitol to obstruct the process of our democracy and stop the counting of presidential electoral votes. This insurrection caused injury, death and destruction in the most sacred space in our Republic.
"Much more will become clear in coming days and weeks, but what we know now is enough. The President of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack. Everything that followed was his doing. None of this would have happened without the President. The President could have immediately and forcefully intervened to stop the violence. He did not. There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution.
"I will vote to impeach the President."
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@KayOScode ~ They convict mob bosses speaking in such code all the time for saying much less than the Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump. There is little doubt he will be charged, indicted, and tried in a court of law for incitement to insurrection.
You drank the Kool-Aid, you're unwilling to be objective, you engage in willful ignorance, you refuse to apply logic and common sense, you allow your bias to color your judgment, you ignore most of the facts, evidence, and arguments presented or have no rational response to them, you blind yourself to the totality of the incendiary words, acts, and the inevitable subsequent events that occurred thereof as a direct result from them. Toxic Trump and his sycophants and acolytes pushed the Big Lie that he won the election, that his supporters were being cheated, that their votes and his bid for reelection was "stolen," working the mindless mob into a frenzy of fascist terrorist freaks foaming at the mouth for "vengeance." As a wise man has said, “Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.”
Toxic Trump tweeted more incendiary words amidst the chaos and insurrection against the Constitution he invoked, refusing to stop the insanity, which he could have easily done, instead taking GLEEFUL satisfaction from the chaos and havoc he had unleashed to run amok, afterword telling his terrorist thugs, 'We love you." We all witnessed it, but you try to fool yourself, blind yourself, stick your head in the sand, refusing to see the forest for the trees.
"Trump's presidency reflects Jefferson Davis, not Thomas Jefferson." Absolute worst President in American history, bar none. That is Toxic Trump's miserable, ignominious legacy; a traitor to the office, the Constitution, and the country.
Elmer Fudd's always trying to convince me he just wants unity.
What he really means is that he wants to eat me.
So, Republican cult calls about impeachment being divisive after decades of lies, smears, and nasty divisive demagoguery against their political opponents (which continue to this day despite everything that has happened) ring hollow and insincere, and are nothing more than a desire to escape accountability. But without accountability, without truth and justice, there will be no "healing."
Republican cult is the new ISIS.
By attempting to gaslight and make excuses for Toxic Trump's corruption and incitement to insurrection, you have shown yourself to have CHOSEN to side with the terrorists, the fascists, the seditionists, to those against truth, reason, and decency, to be an enemy of democracy, America and everything for which it stands.
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@KayOScode ~ Your words belie your claims, Doc. You're engaging in strawman arguments, red herrings, denialism, projectionism, and Whataboutism--which are all logical fallacies. You regurgitate Reich-wing lies. Your entire response is dishonest. That's not decency. You either ignore salient points and arguments, or are unable to offer any rational rebuttal. The reason being is that you are attempting to defend the indefensible.
Look, could care less if you are a conservative, or about your political party. Value and respect LOYAL opposition, which is viewed as necessary and good--even when in disagreement with the ideology or on the issues. However, gaslighting and denying harmful words, acts, or crimes in plain sight, or perpetuating lies, does NOT constitute loyal opposition.
Suggest watching and listening to the following interview conducted yesterday with Republican Sen. William Cohen, who perhaps makes a more eloquent case than I can, while also addressing some of the primary root causes at the base of the current problem faced. Fact is, it's not just Democrats; there are plenty of HONEST conservative Republican who accurately perceive this situation for what it is, who comprehend the seriousness and the grave danger involved.
Former GOP senator slams Trump's 'big lie'
CNN News - Jan. 17, 2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2Qqymt-1_Q
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Toxic Trump, at coronavirus press briefing 04/20/20, "We're looking at maybe "only" 50-60,000 deaths in the U.S.!" Just three days later, the toll surpassed 50,000; six days after that, it went over 61,000. On 05/04/20--a mere two weeks after Trump's delusional pronouncement--the U.S. reached 70,000 deaths. Less than a week later, on 05/10/20, the toll went over 80,000 American deaths. Because of many state and local governments opening up their economies too soon is blatant disregard of Trump administration's own guidelines, the CDC Mayday report projects new highs of 3,000 deaths and 200,000 new cases per DAY by June. That would put us at 100-150,000 deaths--just by the end of June, alone. That's acceptable, here in America? Since when?
New CDC projection on 05/15/20 of over 100,000 COVID-19 deaths by end of May. However, CDC projections have consistently undercounted cases and deaths, and this latest projection likewise appears to once again underestimate the deadly results of the U.S. sore lacking of national leadership in combating a deadly global pandemic. Fear COVID-19 deaths by the end of June will in actuality reach 150,000 - 200,000, nearly doubling in one month.
04/22/20 saw a new worst of nearly 2,700 COVID-19 deaths in a single day, topping the nearly 2,400 Americans lost on 04/14/20. Trump's claim was simply more of his wishful thinking, lies, and bogus claims. Clueless, disinterested, deranged, disengaged, and detached from reality are not the qualities you want in a leader during a major global pandemic crisis. That's a lethal combination that has already cost more American lives in just eight weeks than the Vietnam War in its entire twelve-year span.
It's like rowing or paddling upstream, or into a stiff wind--if you ease-up too much or stop, you will only have to paddle twice as hard to make up all the previous hard-earned progress that was quickly lost. Failing to maintain isolation and other measures for sufficient time to stop the spread of COVID-19 transmission will cost U.S. more in time, effort, money, and LIVES. Reopening and relaxing measures too early in defiance of the science and data is the ultimate in colossal ignorance, greed, ruthlessness, and arrogance.
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
― Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a serious threat to our very security.
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again." ― Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney
More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They have essentially become a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Hypocritical Republican cult whines about cancel culture...
--while making death threats against those disagreeing with them
--while censuring any Republican leaders daring to speak the truth about January 6.
--while conducting a terrorist attack against the nation's Capitol in insurrection, beating and killing police, intent on killing lawmakers and the Republican VP, attempting a coup to overthrow the results of a free and fair election...just because their candidate lost.
--while trying to cancel out the votes of millions of Democrats and minorities by objecting solely to their votes, enacting numerous voter suppression measures, and engaging in egregious gerrymandering.
--while labeling MSM "the enemy of the people."
--while censoring and moving to remove fellow Republicans of integrity who speak up for truth and decency, and against GOP lies, terrorism, and crackpot conspiracy theories.
--while Reich-wing media turns off comments yet rants against "censorship."
--while Faux News fires its news editor for truthfully reporting that Arizona had been called for Biden.
--while trying to run a Biden campaign bus off the road.
--while Rep. Marjorie Greene prevents press from covering town hall meetings where nobody wore a mask.
--after seriously injuring over 140 police officers and killing one in the Republican cult's seditious terrorist attack of insurrection against the nation's Capitol, Republican cult terrorists threaten to call the cops on reporters trying to get their side of the story.
--after canceling out millions of American's jobs under George W. Bush's recession and the largest loss of jobs since the great Depression under Toxic Trump due to his gross incompetence, lies, and willful criminal negligence in responding to a global pandemic.
--while canceling out the lives of hundreds of thousands of their fellow Americans by spreading lies about COVID-19, politicizing a deadly pandemic, and refusing to follow common sense health guidelines.
--while threatening to cancel baseball's anti-trust exemption for exercising their right to free speech
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'Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America' by Kathleen Belew (Harvard University Press, 2018)
The movement “brought together members of the Klan, militias, radical tax resisters, white separatists, neo-Nazis, and proponents of white theologies such as Christian Identity, Odinism, and Dualism” (ix). What was it about the movement that brought these ideologies together?
The promise of violence — rather, the promise that members would get to inflict violence on other people. Belew writes that as the white power movement matured, it became more violent, and “[as] violence came to the fore of the movement, distinctions among white power factions melted away” (60). Belew calls this process “violent community formation” (34). Yet as a social movement, Belew makes a distinction between the white power movement’s “revolutionary violence” and the Ku Klux Klan’s “vigilante violence.”
Vigilante violence “served to constitute, shore up, and enforce systemic power” (106). Given that the U.S. government has a long history of “defending vigilante violence by refusing to enforce the law” (99), law enforcement inaction and vigilante violence may be understood together as a case of one hand washing the other. Revolutionary violence, however, sought to overthrow the state. It is the white power movement’s goal of overthrowing the federal government that sets it apart in the history of white supremacy in the U.S.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or "the Wall") is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle's name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called "leaders" in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 -- than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to--and a barrier against--our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It's design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge--and help teach--people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see...if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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@lifeisamazingoutthere2446 ~ It's simultaneously both hilarious and deadly serious:
The comparison is not intended to be one of character, but of blind adherence to dubious, bankrupt, or failed ideology, leading to catastrophic failure highly damaging to America and lethal to Americans. The following should aid in understanding why our comparison is not only valid, but an astute, appropriate one:
Hoover saw the presidency as a vehicle for improving the conditions of all Americans by encouraging public-private cooperation—what he termed "volunteerism". He tended to oppose governmental coercion or intervention, as he thought they infringed on American ideals of individualism and self-reliance. ~Wikipedia
Hoover’s reputation as a humanitarian—earned during and after World War I as he rescued millions of Europeans from starvation—faded from public consciousness when his administration proved unable to alleviate widespread joblessness, homelessness, and hunger in his own country during the early years of the Great Depression. ~Brittanica
Why Trump Ended the Task Force and Put a Kook in Charge of the Coronavirus
Jonathan Chait -- October 20, 2020
The implosion of the last Republican administration was in large part the story of conservative ideology defeating empiricism. George W. Bush dismissed intelligence and foreign-policy professionals who questioned the Iraq weapons claims and pressed the need to plan for an occupation as small-minded bureaucrats disloyal to his grand vision.
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/trump-fauci-coronavirus-scott-atlas-herd-immunity-science-masks.html
Historian explains why Donald Trump’s COVID-19 response is remarkably similar to Herbert Hoover’s failed crisis leadership
April 14, 2020 -- History News Network
Robert Rupp is a professor of history and political science at West Virginia Wesleyan College.
On April 9, the New York Times reported more than 6 million new unemployment claims for the previous week, and nearly 17 million over the previous three weeks. As this massive unemployment has followed the coronavirus crisis, a comparison between Presidents Donald Trump and Herbert Hoover becomes more apt than ever. For both presidents failed to project candor or show leadership during an unprecedented national crisis.
President Hoover during his first year in office confronted an economic collapse. Unemployment soared to a record 25% at time when most Americans did not have access to unemployment benefits let alone health care. But as the nation sank into the Great Depression of the 1930s, Hoover radiated confidence. He was fond of saying that prosperity was just around the corner.
Hoover allegedly explained his optimistic proclamations by saying that “A doctor does not tell his patient how sick he is.” His lack of openness prompted a pushback as opponents during his administration labelled the slums built outside major cities as “Hoovervilles,” and encouraged people to call an empty pocket turned inside out as a “Hoover Flag.”
Like Hoover, Trump leans toward overconfidence rather than openness. According to the Washington Post, he had sought to downplay the coronavirus threat 33 times in February and March. At the start of the pandemic Trump appeared to dismiss the threat by highlighting low numbers (only 5 deaths and 15 cases). In the following months he repeatedly ignored Winston Churchill’s observation that “ There is no worse mistake in public leadership than to hold out false hope soon to be swept away.” On April 3, President Trump did warn Americans that this week “there’s going to be a lot of death.” But then he talked about “the light at the end of the tunnel.”
Another characteristic shared by the two presidents is an avoidance of strong presidential action; each proved reluctant to use the full power of the federal government.
Any discussion of presidential leadership must first recognize that Hoover was not a laissez-faire bystander as the depression worsened.
However, Hoover’s initiatives were constrained by his conservative political philosophy. He had strong ideological resistance to excessive federal intervention—a profound belief that such action would undermine initiative and responsibility. He expressed his strong views in his 1922 book American Individualism, which highlighted the danger of collectivism and a reliance too much on the federal government. In this regard he believed that assistance should be handled on a local, voluntary basis rather than on the federal level.
The American public would have to wait until President Franklin Roosevelt initiation of the New Deal and mobilization efforts during the World War II to witness dramatic model of full government intervention.
Like his overconfident pronouncements, Hoover’s principled resistance to extensive federal intervention did not serve him well as president and may have undermined his political future. Hoover was elected with 444 electoral votes winning all but 8 states in 1928. Four years later he received 59 electoral votes and carried just 6 states.
Today no politician mentions him, except to compare their political opponent to him.
If history shows Hoover followed the wrong path for principled reasons, what will it say about Donald Trump, who has several tools that were not available to Hoover? Unlike Hoover, Trump could use such tools as War Production act and Defense Production act that date to World War II and the Korean War era, plus he has the precedent of the New Deal. All of these things happened after Hoover was president, and although available to Trump, he nonetheless is choosing not to use them as part of his action plan.
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/04/historian-explains-why-donald-trumps-covid-19-response-is-remarkably-similar-to-herbert-hoovers-failed-crisis-leadership/
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Of course, the January 6th Select Committee is going to issue an invitation to members of Congress to come forward with information about January 6th before issuing a subpoena, expecting them to honor their Oath of Office. Of course, Republicans don't care about their Oath of Office. Of course, they're going to falsely claim victimhood and allege the Commitee is a political witch hunt. Of course, they're not going to cooperate. Of course, Republicans will continue to Gaslight, Obstruct, and Project, putting personal and party interests before country. Of course, outside of a small handful of Congressional Republicans, they are not leaders, but followers in a fascist, nihilistic GOP cult. Of course, they continue to push the Big Lie, whether actively or silently complicit, fomenting domestic terrorism while undermining and degrading our democracy and republic.
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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Republican Sen. Tim Scott is like having a 1943 German Jew train conductor extolling to passengers the comforts of Auschwitz. Kentucky AG Daniel Cameron who, like Tim Scott, found time to be a supporting guest speaker at this year's RNC to renominate racist, fascist Toxic Trump--rather than obtaining justice for Breonna Taylor--is no different. Rep. Will Hurd--a former U.S. CIA intelligence officer, no less--didn't impeach racist, fascist Toxic Trump despite overwhelming evidence of his crimes in the Mueller Report and Ukraine shakedown detailing the Traitor-'n-Thief's attempts to use foreign interference to win elections, compromising himself with our principle foreign adversary, grievously endangering our democracy and national security.
What the HELL is wrong with these people, these so-called leaders who are supposed to be public servants; have they no shame, no character, no integrity, no decency, nor even any sense of self-preservation whatsoever? Do they really think their supporting, aiding and abetting a racist and fascist President makes them somehow immune from the inevitable consequences of the hate being promoted against them? Are they really that lost in tribalistic partisanship, the Republican cult, blind ideology, and greed for corrupt power and fame that they would behave thus?!? Maybe someone can explain how this isn't selling their own brothers and sisters down the river, because it is simply unconscionable and incomprehensible.
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@TiffyVella1 ~ The Republican cult engages in willful ignorance----or, as someone put it to me just the other day, deliberate obtuseness. Amounts to the same thing. More accurately, the people spreading the Big Lies are feeding them the crap they want to hear. Sure, a few of them really are that dumb and gullible. But not the majority of the Republican cult. Have posted the following comment numerous times:
Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian nationalism religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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05/07/20 -- (Incomplete) 1,288,000+ confirmed cases; 76,500+ deaths.
05/06/20 -- 1,260,000 confirmed cases; 74,500 deaths.
05/05/20 -- 1,233,000 confirmed cases; 72,000 deaths.
05/04/20 -- 1,208,000 confirmed cases; 69,600 deaths. CDC projects cases increasing to 200,000 per day with deaths rising to 3,000 per day by June because of states, localities and people not following guidelines and reopening their economies too soon.
05/03/20 -- 1,184,000 confirmed cases; 68,300 deaths. Every 44 seconds, another American dies from COVID-19. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/02/20 -- 1,158,000 confirmed cases; 67,000 deaths.
05/01/20 -- 1,129,000 confirmed cases; 65,500 deaths.
04/30/20 -- 1,094,000 confirmed cases; 63,600 deaths. The U.S. accounts for over a third of the world's cases, and over a quarter of COVID-19 deaths--despite possessing only 5% of the world's population. Yet--even now--we still lack the adequate testing capabilities that are critically needed to safely reopen the economy, and remain sorely lacking the necessary rational national leadership so vital to saving American lives and livelihoods.
04/29/20 -- 1,064,000 confirmed cases; 61,500 deaths. The U.S. now has as many COVID-19 deaths in just NINE WEEKS as there was for all TWELVE YEARS of the Vietnam War.
04/28/20 -- 1,034,000 confirmed cases; 59,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/27/20 -- 1,009,000 confirmed cases; 56,500 deaths.
04/26/20 -- 985,000 confirmed cases; 55,400 deaths.
04/25/20 -- 958,000 confirmed cases; 54,000 deaths.
04/24/20 -- 927,000 confirmed cases; 52,400 deaths.
04/23/20 -- 890,000 confirmed cases; 50,400 deaths.
04/22/20 -- 853,000 confirmed cases; 47,800 deaths (+2,674*)
04/21/20 -- 825,000 confirmed cases; 45,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/20/20 -- 788,000 confirmed cases; 43,200 deaths.
04/19/20 -- 760,000 confirmed cases; 41,700 deaths.
04/18/20 -- 735,000 confirmed cases; 39,900 deaths.
04/17/20 -- 702,000 confirmed cases; 37,000 deaths.
04/16/20 -- 671,000 confirmed cases; 33,100 deaths. Less COVID-19 testing performed this week than last, despite desperate need to ramp up volume to reopen economy.
04/15/20 -- 640,000 confirmed cases; 30,800 deaths. The United States recorded its first coronavirus fatality on Feb. 29. It took 38 days to reach 10,000 deaths and just nine more days to go from 10,000 fatalities to 30,000. An increase in fatalities over the last 48 hours was expected, but was also due to new CDC policy, starting on 04/14, to include probable COVID-19 deaths...finally.
04/14/20 -- 609,000 confirmed cases; 26,600 deaths (+2,364 - *New worst daily death toll)
04/13/20 -- 583,000 confirmed cases; 24,200 deaths
04/12/20 -- 558,000 confirmed cases; 22,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S. With just 4.25% of the world's population, the U.S. has 30% of the COVID-19 infections and 20% of the COVID-19 deaths. So far, the U.S. has the very WORST response of ANY nation, something formerly inconceivable, and inexcusable that it could now be allowed to happen here. In the U.S., we have 1.5 million seniors in 15,000 nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Despite forming only 0.45% of the U.S. population, they make up almost 10% of deaths, primarily because our federal government is not doing enough to protect them. Reported that many hospitals are no longer accepting COVID-19 patients from nursing homes, preferring they die there, instead. Our seniors, who helped build, grow and make America great, are being sacrificed, solely to ignorance.
04/11/20 -- 530,000 confirmed cases; 20,500 deaths.
04/10/20 -- 502,000 confirmed cases; 18,800 deaths.
04/09/20 -- 466,000 confirmed cases; 16,700 deaths.
04/08/20 -- 432,000 confirmed cases; 15,900 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S.
04/07/20 -- 400,000 confirmed cases; 13,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. Figures indicate a Covid-19 fatality rate for TESTED Americans at 3.25%.
04/06/20 -- 369,000 confirmed cases; 11,000 deaths.
04/05/20 -- 338,000 confirmed cases; 9,700 deaths.
04/04/20 -- 312,000 confirmed cases; 9,400 deaths.
04/03/20 -- 278,000 confirmed cases; 7,150 deaths.
04/02/20 -- 246,000 confirmed cases; 6,050 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/01/20 -- 217,000 confirmed cases; 5,150 deaths.
03/31/20 -- 190,000 confirmed cases; 4,200 deaths.
03/30/20 -- 165,000 confirmed cases; 3,250 deaths.
03/29/20 -- 143,000 confirmed cases; 2,450 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
(Update 5: Friday, 03/27/20, confirmed U.S. cases 105,000--which is 50% over NIH high-end estimate; deaths 1,700 by end of day. The perspective for cases is significantly skewed low and thus highly misleading, however, as just 0.17% of U.S. population has been tested to date.)
"As many as 70,000 Americans could be confirmed as infected with coronavirus by the end of next week, marking a “pretty dramatic” increase in the number of confirmed cases," the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, told his employees in an agency-wide conference call on 03/20/20.
Except 03/21/20 saw a 33% jump in U.S. cases, from 18,000 to over 24,000. If continuing at 33% every 24 hours, the number of confirmed cases is trending much higher than just 70,000 by 03/27/20. Suspect confirmed cases will be double that. Bear in mind, states hardest hit are not testing many people, saving the tests for those most in need. So the actual number of infected Americans is going to be far higher than just what limited testing of the population has so far confirmed. Don't think this fact is being given enough attention. More important than the number of cases confirmed is the number contracting the disease and not getting tested, spreading the disease, in many cases unknowingly. Hospital projections are for about 100 MILLION Americans to become infected, with about 500,000 dead from covid-19.
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Rep. Cheney gave a powerful and defiant speech speaking truth to the dysfunctional Republican party to which she belongs, which has abdicated its duty to be LOYAL opposition----except for one thing. Republicans did not end communism in the former USSR or cause its dissolution. A consistent foreign policy by both Democratic and Republican leaders in the Executive Branch and Congress (and our NATO allies, as well) over decades played a role, but it was the work and decisions of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev that were the decisive factor and which deserve most credit. He instituted policies of glasnost and perestroika, changed Soviet law to allow other parties to compete against the Communist Party, motivated because he saw clearly that Russia was dysfunctional, its costly imperialism, political and economic structure moribund and detrimental to Russia's progress. For his courage and actions, for speaking the truth to the Russian people, Gorbachev paid a much higher price politically than is Liz Cheney currently, who is displaying the same kind of courage as he did.
Gorbachev received the Nobel Peace prize in 1990 for all that he did for Russia and ending the Cold War, and it is wrong for Cheney to falsely attribute all credit to her Republican party for the results largely due to his independent decisions, engaging in history revisionism for the benefit of her political party. Isn't that exactly why the GOP----and Liz Cheney----find themselves in their present predicament in the first place? So, it is heavily ironic that Cheney does not extend the same due for his bravery and patriotism in telling the truth to the Russian people that she is exhibiting telling the truth about the 2020 election to the American people. It is also heavily ironic that the credit she is falsely attributing to the Republican party for the USSR becoming more democratic comes at a time when the Republican party is corroding democracy and seeking to make America less democratic.
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GOP cult is NOT the party of law and order, NOT the party of the Constitution and patriots, NOT the party of "values," NOT the party of "Christianity,"_* NOT the party of fiscal responsibility, NOT the party of clean government, NOT the party of freedom. It's the party of terrorism, lawlessness, corruption, fascism, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry, misogyny, Big Lies, crackpot conspiracy theories, unmitigated greed, gross hypocrisy, socialized taxpayer payouts for plutocrats, sedition, traitors, and tyranny.
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'Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America' by Kathleen Belew (Harvard University Press, 2018)
The movement “brought together members of the Klan, militias, radical tax resisters, white separatists, neo-Nazis, and proponents of white theologies such as Christian Identity, Odinism, and Dualism” (ix). What was it about the movement that brought these ideologies together?
The promise of violence — rather, the promise that members would get to inflict violence on other people. Belew writes that as the white power movement matured, it became more violent, and “[as] violence came to the fore of the movement, distinctions among white power factions melted away” (60). Belew calls this process “violent community formation” (34). Yet as a social movement, Belew makes a distinction between the white power movement’s “revolutionary violence” and the Ku Klux Klan’s “vigilante violence.”
Vigilante violence “served to constitute, shore up, and enforce systemic power” (106). Given that the U.S. government has a long history of “defending vigilante violence by refusing to enforce the law” (99), law enforcement inaction and vigilante violence may be understood together as a case of one hand washing the other. Revolutionary violence, however, sought to overthrow the state. It is the white power movement’s goal of overthrowing the federal government that sets it apart in the history of white supremacy in the U.S.
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The following UNPRECEDENTED statement from ALL members of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff just issued will hopefully finally knock some sense into the very thick skulls of the Republican cult. Top military officials prefer to stay out of anything tinged with politics. FOR EVEN ONE to say something after last week’s event would be noteworthy and rare enough. For all eight Joint Chiefs to speak out together demonstrates just how PERILOUS they deem this moment to be, indicative of just how very much a CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER to the nation's security posed by the Traitor-'n-Thief:
“The violent riot in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021 was a direct assault on the U.S. Congress the Capitol building, and our Constitutional process. We witnessed actions inside the Capitol building that were inconsistent with the rule of law. The rights of freedom of speech and assembly do not give anyone the right to resort to violence, sedition and insurrection.
As Service Members, we must embody the values and ideals of the Nation. We support and defend the Constitution. Any act to disrupt the Constitutional process is not only against our traditions, values, and oath; it is against the law.
President-elect Joe Biden will be inaugurated and will become our 46th Commander in Chief.”
General Mark A. Milley, U.S. Army, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
General John E. Hyten, U.S. Air Force, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
General James C. McConville, U.S. Army, Chief of Staff of the Army
General David H. Berger, U.S. Marine Corps, Commandant of the Marine Corps
Admiral Michael M. Gilday, U.S. Navy, Chief of Naval Operations
General Charles Q. Brown Jr., U.S. Air Force, Chief of Staff of the Air Force
General John W. Raymond, U.S. Space Force, Chief of Space Operations
General Daniel R. Hokanson, U.S. Army, Chief of the National Guard Bureau
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast would soon come to consume them.
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GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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U.S. SCROTUM's Chief Jester "KILLER" Roberts -- America's worst!
By a 5–4 Vote, SCOTUS Lets Wisconsin Throw Out Tens of Thousands of Ballots
The conservative majority just approved one of the most brazen acts of voter suppression in modern times.
By Mark Joseph Stern -- Slate -- April 06, 2020
Unfortunately for the nation, Wisconsin Republicans decided that they would prefer to exploit the pandemic to suppress Democratic votes. Their state Supreme Court, dominated by partisan Republicans, allowed them to do so. And now the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned the only protection in place to ensure that voters could still safely cast ballots even if the state fails to provide them expediently. This election looks increasingly like a sham tainted by partisan manipulation. And now the most powerful court in the nation has approved these tactics. An election that forces voters to choose between protecting their health and casting a ballot is not a free and fair election. Nor should its results be treated as indisputably legitimate. The courts may have permitted Republicans to rig this election, but Wisconsinites are under no obligation to pretend that its outcome reflects the will of the people.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/04/supreme-court-wisconsin-absentee-ballots.html
NOTE: This was all about Republicans forcing an election during a pandemic to suppress Democrat voters, so they could win the deciding seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The reason why this partisan power play by Republicans in Wisconsin State Legislature, Wisconsin Supreme Court, and U.S. Supreme Court bent over backwards to endanger, sicken, and kill Wisconsin voters and their families: so that after a decade of egregious Republican voter suppression and gerrymandering in Wisconsin, they want their Republican judge to decide a case throwing out 200,000 Wisconsin voter registrations, further disenfranchising and suppressing voters there. But, it gets even worse. A further detrimental effect of this Republican attack against democracy was that they robbed vital PPE from medical and other front-line workers at a very critical time, to be wasted on poll workers unnecessarily, because the election could have been easily suspended, just aa 13 other states had already done.
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~ Bad Vibration, Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization duration
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
What location revitalization?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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Even worse than the deplorable, despicable rudeness, arrogance, adolescence, and disrespect displayed by some Senate Republicans during Trump's second impeachment trial is their gaslighting, conferencing with and advising Trump's defense team, and hiding behind the fallacious process argument of "no jurisdiction" for Senate impeachment trial, when the Traitor-'n-Thief Trump was impeached BEFORE leaving office. For comparison, as long as a person is indicted for a crime before the statute of limitations had expired for their alleged crime, it matters not that the trial takes place after that expiration date--the criminal does not get a "free pass." Moreover, this isn't a criminal trial, it's merely a disciplinary employment measure. Think of someone resigning, then the company determining that employee had committed crimes or other egregious behavior, thereby deciding at some point afterward that that person could not be rehired, and is also deprived of any post-employment rewards. Besides, there is ample precedent for impeaching after someone has left office, anyway.
Moreover, the fact is, the House and Senate determine their own rules for impeachment and trial--something confirmed already previously by SCOTUS decisions. Given that the Senate voted that this Senate trial of Toxic Trump is Constitutional, that is the ruling ALL Senators are bound by. What these Republican Senators hiding behind the fallacious "jurisdiction" argument are essentially doing is refusing to abide by their own Senate rules and laws, placing themselves above the law. So much for Republicans being the party of "law and order," taking personal responsibility, supporting law enforcement, and setting a good example for Americans.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
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Who'd have ever equated voting in America with survival? But that's pretty much what it has boiled down to, hasn't it? Survival of ourselves, survival of our democracy, survival of our nation, and survival of our planet. The irony is that Republicans have always tried to paint Democrats as an existential threat...but in doing so it is actually they who have become exactly that.
Democrat voters need an even greater turnout in '22 and '24, put the final fork in Trumpism! Republicans want to engage in Jim Crow voter suppression laws, voter intimidation, and egregious gerrymandering? Republicans want to engage in corruption, gaslight their corruption, coverup their corruption? Republicans want to turn a blind eye to Russian election interference and knowingly disseminate Russian propaganda for Putin? Republicans want to instigate and sanction Reich-wing domestic terrorist insurrection? Republicans want to live in delusion and denial about the major problems confronting the nation and planet? Let's just prove that's fuel for the fire, and make their fascist antidemocratic corruption backfire on them!
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@jensweeney4128 ~The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or "the Wall") is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle's name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called "leaders" in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 -- than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to--and a barrier against--our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It's design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge--and help teach--people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see...if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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@jensweeney4128 ~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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'Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America' by Kathleen Belew (Harvard University Press, 2018)
The movement “brought together members of the Klan, militias, radical tax resisters, white separatists, neo-Nazis, and proponents of white theologies such as Christian Identity, Odinism, and Dualism” (ix). What was it about the movement that brought these ideologies together?
The promise of violence — rather, the promise that members would get to inflict violence on other people. Belew writes that as the white power movement matured, it became more violent, and “[as] violence came to the fore of the movement, distinctions among white power factions melted away” (60). Belew calls this process “violent community formation” (34). Yet as a social movement, Belew makes a distinction between the white power movement’s “revolutionary violence” and the Ku Klux Klan’s “vigilante violence.”
Vigilante violence “served to constitute, shore up, and enforce systemic power” (106). Given that the U.S. government has a long history of “defending vigilante violence by refusing to enforce the law” (99), law enforcement inaction and vigilante violence may be understood together as a case of one hand washing the other. Revolutionary violence, however, sought to overthrow the state. It is the white power movement’s goal of overthrowing the federal government that sets it apart in the history of white supremacy in the U.S.
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Beginning to think that President Biden needs to declare martial law to get Covid-19 under control. It's appalling and sad that it's gotten to this point because of corrupt Republican leaders who care only about their political ambitions and nothing about their constituent's health or lives, and a bunch of anti-science morons lacking basic decency and even a modicum of common sense.
In a sane America----one where a third of the population wasn't programmed into a mindless, fascist Republican cult----we would have universal Covid-19 vaccine passports, masks and social distancing required wherever and whenever deemed necessary by public health officials, and mandatory vaccinations for all those able to receive it. Actually, in a sane America, none of that would be necessary, because everyone able would be voluntarily getting vaccinated, and everybody would be faithfully following CDC guidelines like wearing masks and socially distancing. They would be doing so because it is in there own best interest; because it is the moral and ethical thing to do to protect our fellow citizens; because we need to prevent the creation of new, more deadly variants; because it is the best way to recover the economy; because it is the best way to get things back to normal; because it is the civic, patriotic thing to do; and because it is just plain old-fashioned common sense.
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Trump is desperately seeking to avoid blame
Opinion by Jill Filipovic -- CNN - 04/08/20
President Donald Trump has royally screwed up the federal government's coronavirus response, and he knows it. And he's doing what he always does: Instead of fixing any of the many problems he's caused, he's trying to weasel his way out of blame and doing all he can to dodge oversight and responsibility.
On Tuesday, Trump demoted Glenn Fine, the man tapped last month to independently oversee spending on the $2 trillion federal coronavirus stimulus package. Because Fine, who was the acting inspector general from the Defense Department, was removed from that role, he also lost his chairmanship of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (only inspectors general are eligible to be on that committee). No explanation was offered.
This isn't just about the specter of the President potentially attempting to assert free rein over the outlay of taxpayer-funded relief. American lives are at stake. The health of our economy -- not just Wall Street winnings, but the livelihoods of tens of millions of Americans, and our basic ability to put food on our tables and care for our families -- is at risk.
Fine's role -- the one that will now be assumed in an "acting" capacity by Sean W. O'Donnell, who will do this along with his other job as Environmental Protection Agency Inspector General -- was to make sure that an enormous stimulus package was being spent as allocated, with minimal waste and no abuse or corruption.
It's disturbing that Americans now may have to worry that our President and his cronies could turn a relief package into a vehicle for self-dealing and a sweetheart deal for the rich, but here we are.
Fine had been picked by a group of independent federal inspectors general who determined he would do the best job. According to The New York Times, the former Justice Department inspector general "earned a reputation for aggression and independence in scrutinizing the FBI's use of surveillance and other law enforcement powers in the years after the September 11, 2001, attacks."
But in Trumpland, such competence and expertise aren't a requirement but a barrier, especially when it comes to oversight duties. The incompetent man at the top is desperate not to have his inadequacy revealed.
Fine's head is just the latest to roll as the President has been systematically guillotining watchdogs across the federal government. In a transparently vindictive move, he also removed Michael Atkinson last Friday as the Intelligence Community inspector general. Atkinson had done his job in informing Congress about the whistleblower complaint that led to Trump's impeachment. Trump doesn't like being held responsible for his actions, so Atkinson was out.
On Monday Trump also attacked Health and Human Services Inspector General Christi Grimm for doing her job. Grimm's office had reported what Americans already know: That there are widespread delays in testing for coronavirus, and serious supply shortages at the nation's hospitals. None of this is news to anyone. But Trump nonetheless tweeted that the report was "Another Fake Dossier!"
Trump seems to fancy himself more of a king than a President. The same man who once pledged to "drain the swamp" seems to love mucking around in it, and attacks anyone who tries to clean it up.
No administration is perfect -- remember the Obamacare rollout debacle? Nobody expects error-free governance, but good leaders are able to deal with mistakes, swiftly correct them, and accept independent oversight. Anything else isn't democracy, it's dictatorship. Americans in urgent need of relief during and after the pandemic need to see this stimulus plan wisely and efficiently dispatched.
There are about 400,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and more than 12,800 dead -- and those numbers may be significant underestimates. Without effective oversight -- and there is no reason to believe that Glenn Fine would not have provided it -- it will be impossible to tell if the stimulus package is being used efficiently to help as many people as possible. Without immediate, unflinching feedback on how Health and Human Services is managing this crisis, it will be harder to know the ways to improve the stimulus in real time and stem the tide of disease, death and financial ruin.
Donald Trump could not care less about the health and well-being of the American people. He has no attachment to good governance, professional ethics, or public service. He doesn't like independent watchdogs because they're inconvenient for him; he prefers lapdogs. And so he is exploiting the pandemic to sack anyone who might point out just how terribly he has mangled the response.
The result won't just be a swampier and more corrupt White House. We Americans may pay with our lives.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/trump-is-desperately-seeking-to-avoid-blame/ar-BB12iBMR?ocid=spartanntp
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law?
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Sure, we believe in challenging the system...but not throwing your vote away, allowing true evil to win. Don't believe it fair to characterize Democrats as 'evil,' either. About 90% of Blacks who vote Democrat, many of them actively supporting Democrats of all race, creed, sexual orientation, creed, and social class, might beg to differ with that misguided assessment, as well. His vote and others like him who chose supporting a third-party candidate instead of the only viable alternative to Toxic Trump had real world consequences that were detrimental overall to the people and causes for which he claims to advocate. Just goes to show how intelligent people can make stupid choices, too. Now, after four years of a racist President, and a nation upon the precipice of fascist authoritarianism, this joker needs to be "wooed" to make the only logical, sensible choice, or he will do what? Help Trump win AGAIN by throwing his vote away again on a third-party candidate? Repeat the same mistake, hoping for a different result? Simply unbelievable.
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Hypocritical Republican cult whines about cancel culture...
--while making death threats against those disagreeing with them
--while conducting a terrorist attack against the nation's Capitol in insurrection, beating and killing police, intent on killing lawmakers and the Republican VP, attempting a coup to overthrow the results of a free and fair election...just because their candidate lost.
--while trying to cancel out the votes of millions of Democrats and minorities by objecting solely to their votes, enacting numerous voter suppression measures, and engaging in egregious gerrymandering.
--while labeling MSM "the enemy of the people."
--while censoring and moving to remove fellow Republicans of integrity who speak up for truth and decency, and against GOP lies, terrorism, and crackpot conspiracy theories.
--while Reich-wing media turns off comments yet rants against "censorship."
--while Faux News fires its news editor for truthfully reporting that Arizona had been called for Biden.
--while trying to run a Biden campaign bus off the road.
--while Rep. Marjorie Greene prevents press from covering town hall meetings where nobody wore a mask.
--after seriously injuring over 140 police officers and killing one in the Republican cult's seditious terrorist attack of insurrection against the nation's Capitol, Republican cult terrorists threaten to call the cops on reporters trying to get their side of the story.
--after canceling out millions of American's jobs under George W. Bush's recession and the largest loss of jobs since the great Depression under Toxic Trump due to his gross incompetence, lies, and willful criminal negligence in responding to a global pandemic.
--while canceling out the lives of hundreds of thousands of their fellow Americans by spreading lies about COVID-19, politicizing a deadly pandemic, and refusing to follow common sense health guidelines.
--while threatening to cancel baseball's anti-trust exemption for exercising their right to free speech
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What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil. They are either actively or silently complicit in fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorist violence, Reich-wing insurrection, and Reich-wing undermining of our democracy and Constitution.
It's crystal clear that Trump, Boebert, Greene, Gosar and other Republicans like them are fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorism. The GOP has become radicalized to such an extent that it has essentially become a fascist terrorist organization, with members that fantasize and promote violence against their fellow Americans. While those Republican elected officials must be condemned and sanctioned, they are only a symptom of the disease poisoning a third of America, the most visible part of the cancer infecting our nation.
The GOP has been mainstreaming radicalization of their voter base for decades, ALLOWING Reich-wing media and Reich-wing demagogues to take over the party, to the point it has become a fascist, nihilistic cult. Because just as now, Republican politicians and their plutocratic masters have always seen it as the ends justifying whatever means to win power. Remember the Republican Tea Party? This catastrophe with the GOP didn't start with Trump, who just exploited what Republicans had already built.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle for graft and to grift their voters and us taxpayers. You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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You don't get denialism without nihilism. As life-long conservative Bill Kristol astutely pointed out, the Republican party has embraced nihilism. Republicans still labeling COVID-19 a "hoax;" Republicans still refusing to wear masks or social distance after over half-a-million American fatalities from COVID-19; Congressional Republicans obstructing a COVID-19 stimulus bill certain to pass just to delay vital and urgently needed relief to Americans desperate for help; not one Congressional Republican in either chamber voting for the badly needed stimulus bill; Republican governors dropping mask mandates and all restrictions on businesses, heedless of rising case counts in their states and deadly new variants of the virus; and Republican leaders continuing to push the Big Lie that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen without evidence and in disregard of plentiful evidence and facts to the contrary, even AFTER their Big Lie incited a terrorist attack by a mindless Republican mob against the nation's Capitol in insurrection against the government, attempting to overturn a legitimate election, sieging, storming, sizing, sacking, defiling, defacing and disgracing America's citadel of, and temple to, democracy--these are all prime examples of nihilism.
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--Instead of striving to bring out the best in people, Toxic Trump reveled in bringing out the very worst.
--Instead of uniting the country, Toxic Trump sought to divide us.
--Instead of abiding by and honoring our Constitution and the rule of law, Toxic Trump held them in disdain, disregarded them, and degraded them.
--Instead of strengthening democracy and our cherished institutions, Toxic Trump worked to diminish and destroy them, inciting a terrorist insurrection against his own government, attempting a coup to steal an election.
--Instead of insuring a peaceful transfer power after losing the election, Toxic Trump kept insisting against all evidence that he won, and incited a terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol.
--Instead of confronting a serious threat to Americans with a deadly global pandemic, Toxic Trump lied to the American people about it, ignored it, and refused to take any responsibility for his gross homicidal criminal negligence that resulted in one out of every 800 Americans dying from COVID-19--over 400,000 lives in just ten months, as many casualties as all of WWII.
--Instead of creating jobs, Toxic Trump was the first President since the Great Depression to preside over a net loss of jobs over his tenure.
--Instead of lowering the national deficit, Toxic Trump increased it from 19.2 trillion to 27 trillion.
--Instead of raising our standing and security in the world, Toxic Trump lowered and weakened it.
--Instead of draining the swamp, Toxic Trump turned it into a noxious overflowing Republican sewer.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian nationalism religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast would soon come to consume them.
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Republicans: "I pledge allegiance to the lies of Trump, and to the racism, bigotry, crimes, corruption, crackpot conspiracies, delusions and ignorance for which he stands, one dysfunctional lunatic fascist cult under Trump, a nation forever divided, with plutocracy, autocracy and injustice for all."
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The inequality in vaccine distribution between Israel and the oPt is typical, and exemplifies racist, colonizing, apartheid Israel. This is nothing less than a form of genocide and ethnic cleansing Israel is committing against Palestinians, whose lands they have continually coveted and have brutally militarily occupied and colonized for over FIFTY-FOUR years. Even Palestinian citizens of Israel, constituting over 20% of the population, are subjected to at least 50 Israeli laws which discriminate against them. Those persecuted by the state have become the persecutors in Israel, with very few Jewish Israelis there showing any remorse or acknowledgement of the reversal and their role in it. Instead, they rationalize, make pathetic excuses, dehumanize Palestinians. Without justice and human rights for Palestinians, there can be no true, lasting peace.
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Toxic Trump: "I'm the BEST, just absolutely CRUSHING the competition, with over TWO POINT THREE MILLION coronavirus cases and over 120--one-hundred and twenty!!!--THOUSAND deaths! They ALL got eighty-sixed, 'cause nobody else even comes close! With a third of the world's cases and a quarter of deaths--can you even imagine how truly great, how awesome, that achievement is, with only just FOUR PERCENT of the world's population to work with? Believe it or not, I accomplished in only FIVE WEEKS what it took the Vietnam War a whole TWELVE YEARS to do! PLUS, we're not even counting ALL the COVID-19 cases and deaths here in the U.S.! Those other weaklings and losers don't stand a chance, because we're going to keep right on winning--as long as I'm in charge! Now, vacation's over; time to get back to work on increasing those numbers, people! Let's keep America great, get rid of all the excess baggage! As wartime President, I am commanding all CIVILIANS to senselessly sacrifice their lives for my arrogance, stupidity, vanity, malevolence, and greed!"
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“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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@whitleypedia ~ No, Democrats don't "demand absolute control of everyone's lives," Doc. No, Democrats don't label concerned parents as "domestic terrorists." No, being opposed to things like racism, bigotry, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and the like doesn't make one a member of any cult, it just makes them a decent, enlightened individual. Would agree that Republicans are desperate, but for different reasons than you imagine, and the need for survival mode? Get real.
For years, Republicans have been trying to falsely portray Democrats as an existential threat, which is highly ironic and clearly just more Reich-wing projectionism, considering that is precisely what the GOP is increasingly becoming. The number one national security threat today isn't from the dire situation with climate change or from any foreign nation----the consensus of our national intelligence is that it come from Reich-wing domestic terrorists...which continue being further fueled and inflamed by Republican politicians, Republican media, Republican plutocrats, and Republican demagogues along with other assorted Republican grifters.
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@BlownMacTruck ~ Yeah, I think most of us not in the Republican cult (including some conservatives) feel the same frustration. There's a lack of good faith on their part to have a reasonable discussion, as they constantly engage in intellectual dishonesty. It's propaganda-speak that is learned behavior from Reich-wing politicians, media and demagogues, which is toxic to our national discourse, harmony, and nation.
You raised a good point, and it was well stated, so credit to you. I merely expounded upon the topic, as occasionally am wont to do. Connor Ammons also raised a couple of excellent points here. Not all Democrats are necessarily liberals or progressives. The critique engages in generalities and contains critical omissions. Also found it rather selective in its examples and lacking nuance, too. Nonetheless, I welcomed the criticism, appreciated it, and valued it. Democrats as a whole should do better----need to do better----living up to our ideals.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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"Without accountability, an attempted autogolpe or insurrection is just practice."
"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over four decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, nihilistic, hyper-partisan fascist cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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***MEDIA FAIL*** -- Smercartoonish: "One side is following the science, experts, doctors, facts, data, and plain old-fashioned common sense. The other side is killing more Americans by making a deadly global pandemic political. I'm asking you to take part in an unreliable, unscientific poll sampling of this CNN audience that tells us absolutely nothing, because it's the really important thing for you to do right now! The question is, 'Do you think Toxic Trump and his band of bioterrorists will prevail in killing more Americans in reelecting him, so he can continue his killing spree for four more years?'" MEDIA BE BETTER, WE BE BETTER!
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian nationalism religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast would soon come to consume them.
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Trump excluded the Afghan government from his surrender negotiations with the Taliban, legitimizing the Taliban by making a separate peace deal with them and delegitimizing the government we worked so long and hard at so much cost to build and support, while releasing 5,000 Taliban prisoners which included the worst of the worst and allowed them to return to fight against Afghan and U.S. forces, while agreeing to withdraw all U.S. forces by May 1, 2021, guaranteeing failure. Previously, in 2018, Trump had Pakistan release the current leader of the Taliban, who had been their top military leader. Moreover, Trump eviscerated the refugee program for Afghan and Iraqi allies visa programs, creating a huge backlog over four years. A federal judge even ruled Trump's delaying of those visas illegal. Furthermore, Trump abandoned are Kurdish allies in Syria and Iraq. Trump and Pompeo could hardly have screwed up our foreign policy any worse, and the damage they did will take decades to repair. But the Republican cult morons are too stupid to know and too stupid to care; they'll just deny and try to shift blame, as usual.
Liz Cheney's right----it didn't have to happen this way: her father, Dick Cheney, and George Bush were responsible for the deterioration of affairs in Afghanistan by diverting troops and resources to conduct an illegal invasion of Iraq on the false premise of WMD and Iraq harboring terrorists. The situation in Afghanistan never recovered from that fatal mistake by Cheney and Bush; it allowed the Taliban to regroup and come back bigger and stronger than ever. Cheney and Bush's illegal war in Iraq also resulted in the emergence of ISIS.
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“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
~ How Fascism Works, The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(Reference also Father Charles E. Coughlin and Henry Ford in regards to the first America First movement.)
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
Malcolm Nance: We Are In A Neo-Fascist Era In American Politics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_RxUAe2zeM
Political Analyst Tells Joy Reid: Forget Trumpism, IT’s Neo-Fascism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IgNp84JA4A
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 – than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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Let's face it; this American fall towards fascism didn't just happen overnight. Since before the '70s Republicans have engaged in dog whistles and pursued a racist agenda, hidden behind various facades. Reagan helped Goldwater using dog-whistles; Nixon was infamous for his use of them. Roger Ailes micromanaged Nixon's appearances, and stoked racial fears and resentments. Reagan employed them getting elected governor of California. Lee Atwater, who greatly admired Nixon's 'Southern strategy,' worked on Reagan's Presidential campaign, teaming up with Ailes. A year after Reagan's victory, Atwater gave what was then an anonymous interview, and perhaps lulled by the anonymity, he offered an unusually candid response to a question about Reagan, the Southern strategy, and the drive to attract the Wallace voters:
"You start out in 1954 by saying, "N------, N------, N-------." By 1968 you can't say "N-------," that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states' rights and all that stuff. You're getting so abstract now, you're talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you're talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is, blacks get hurt worse than whites. And subconsciously maybe that is part of it. I'm not saying that. But I'm saying that if it is getting that abstract, and that coded, that we are doing away with the racial problem one way or the other. You follow me; because obviously sitting around saying, "We want to cut taxes and we want to cut this," is much more abstract than even the busing thing, and a hell of a lot more abstract than "N------, N------." So anyway you look at it, race is coming on the back burner."
Humiliated and stunned by Nixon's forced resignation, Republicans anointed Reagan their hero, and have long insisted on regarding him as such, despite his repeated use of racial dog-whistles and his mediocre record. In 1980, Reagan characterized food stamp recipients as, "That strapping young buck in front of you at the checkout buying T-bone steak, while you wait in line to buy hamburger," and kicked off his campaign outside Philadelphia, Mississippi--notorious for the KKK lynching of four volunteer civil rights workers just 16 years earlier--by delivering the promise that, "I believe in state's rights!" Reagan returned in 1984 to another cheering crowd, this time endorsing the neo-Confederate slogan, "The South shall rise again!"
Lee Atwater went on to work with Roger Ailes on George H.W. Bush's Presidential campaign, which shamelessly stoked racial fear through the infamous Willie Horton political ad and other means. Roger Ailes would go on to head Fox News for Rupert Murdoch, until numerous allegations of sexual harassment and improprieties, along with related lawsuits against Fox, forced his removal. Ailes was a polarizing influence, who has been called the most destructive force in American politics in 50 years.
Conservative plutocrats and the GOP created the beast over decades with round-the-clock propaganda, but were swallowed whole by their own mutated creations of daily outrage, white grievance politics, and phony populism; first by the Tea Party, then by Trump. Unable to go back, and clearly having no way forward, they remain planted in their own muck and mire, trapped by the cult of their own making. The pundits and conservatives rejecting Trump are trying to salvage their party, but any person of principle and sense ought to know enough to defect the rotten machine.
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Confronted with a conundrum contrary or conflicting, the Republican cult instinct for self-preservation induces a cease of circulation to the cranium, causing confusion, chaos, crisis, corruption, and criminality! Cult for cult, con for con, convolution after convolution, corny concocted cockamamie crackpot conspiracy after corny concocted cockamamie crackpot conspiracy, cover-up after cover-up, the GOP is alone, in a league all its own!
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Toxic Trump is sick, depraved, deranged and ignorant: a clear and present danger to America, doing us tremendous harm for over three years, who is clearly unfit for ANY high office--much less the highest in the land.
Yet, he is but one man. Though he cannot be absolved from guilt or responsibility, it is those who have enabled him, and continue enabling him, who share most responsibility for the harm he has done us. They, as a group, cannot claim to ALL possess the mental illness and mental disorder which plagues Toxic Trump.
Particularly those elected to be LEADERS, who have instead proven themselves to be nothing but liars and cheats, corrupt to their core, consumed by a partisan cult. One may bitterly oppose and detest the words, deeds, and behaviors of Trump, but still have some pity, out of understanding his affliction forming the basis, which was not self-chosen. The same is not true for Congressional Republicans and the GOP, for whom we hold only contempt. Trump should have been removed from office LONG ago, and could even now be removed IMMEDIATELY, but his enablers STILL refuse to ACT, despite their CRIMINAL negligence KILLING MORE Americans.
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CNN supports DEFUNDING the POLICE!!! CNN supports RIOTING, BURNING, and LOOTING!
That's what a bunch of Reich-wingers are saying, so why isn't CNN giving THOSE claims credence? CNN knows Jamie Harrison doesn't support defunding the police, but CNN and Smearcartoonish are lending credence to that claim here. Seems rather hypocritical, self-serving, and a disservice to the public. Smearcartoonish knows that Republican attack ads routinely conduct such dirty smears against their opponents, but doesn't want to address the root of the problem, instead attacking the victims of the propaganda, adding insult to injury, getting it all backward. Why? Media is as much of a problem as the dirty Republican tricks they nourish and perpetuate. Are CNN and Smearcartoonish really that stupid as to be tool fools manipulated so easily by Republican partisans?
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“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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Dr. Birx played a Trump toady, sent mixed messages, was silent when she should have been speaking out, laughed off Trump's nonsensical answers to reporter's COVID-19 questions, waffled on safety measures, and withheld the full truth from the American people about a deadly global pandemic. Since then trying to regain public trust, but after having proven herself not to be a credible source, losing the trust of many Americans, ruining her formerly sterling reputation, she is not someone people want to hear from, anymore. Moreover, this interview demonstrates how she continues to rationalize a totally botched COVID-19 response, refusing to fully take responsibility for her own culpability in a spectacular, colossal failure leading to an epic preventable tragedy involving needless untold suffering on a massive scale and the senseless loss of hundreds of thousands of Americans.
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GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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@g1u2y345 ~ Nothing you said changes the facts stated in my comment, so your objection is rather pointless.
Crimean Tatars are a Turkic ethnic group and nation, who are an indigenous people of Crimea. The formation and ethnogenesis of Crimean Tatars occurred during the 13th–17th centuries, from Cumans that appeared in Crimea in the 10th century, with strong contributions from all the peoples who ever inhabited Crimea, including Greeks, Italians and Goths.
Crimean Tatars constituted the majority of Crimea's population from the time of ethnogenesis until the mid-19th century, and the largest ethnic population until the end of the 19th century. Almost immediately after the retaking of Crimea from Axis forces, in May 1944, the USSR State Defense Committee ordered the deportation of all of the Crimean Tatars from Crimea, including the families of Crimean Tatars serving in the Soviet Army. The deportees were transported in trains and boxcars to Central Asia, primarily to Uzbekistan. The Crimean Tatars lost a significant portion of their population as a result of the deportation.
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@g1u2y345 ~ Like I said, argue with the Association of Indigenous Peoples and the experts. You won't do that, of course, because you know the case you are trying to make is complete BS. Personally, I find your arguments rather ignorant, narrow-minded, and unconvincing, and the sum of your replies to constitute intellectual dishonesty. Trying to educate people who are stupid, pig-headed, dishonest and don't want to be educated is a waste of time.
From the start, it's been obvious that all you've been doing is trying to blow smoke. And what is it, anyway, that you hoped to prove; that Russia's ethnic cleansing of Tatars and its Crimean land grab from Ukraine wasn't wrong? You're defending crimes against humanity and Putin? Really?
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Corrupt antidemocratic Congressional Republicans and fascist GOP cult are not upset about the horrific carnage resulting from Traitor-'n-Thief Trump's autogolpe and seditious terrorist insurrection on January 6th...only that it failed. Nor do they care about all the other related fraudulent attempts by Trump and Republicans to overturn a free and fair election, or about the undermining of our democracy and weakening of our nation that they have caused and continue causing.
It must be remembered that Republicans are still whipping up the crazies, still fomenting unfounded anti-government sentiment, violence and domestic terrorism. Not just the Republicans actively doing so like Greene, Gosar and Gaetz, but all those other Republicans who are silently acquiescent and who aid and abet them. Unfortunately, because it has refused to clean up its act, the GOP has become rotten to the core, transformed into a fascist, nihilistic cult.
'Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America' by Kathleen Belew (Harvard University Press, 2018)
The movement “brought together members of the Klan, militias, radical tax resisters, white separatists, neo-Nazis, and proponents of white theologies such as Christian Identity, Odinism, and Dualism” (ix). What was it about the movement that brought these ideologies together?
The promise of violence — rather, the promise that members would get to inflict violence on other people. Belew writes that as the white power movement matured, it became more violent, and “[as] violence came to the fore of the movement, distinctions among white power factions melted away” (60). Belew calls this process “violent community formation” (34). Yet as a social movement, Belew makes a distinction between the white power movement’s “revolutionary violence” and the Ku Klux Klan’s “vigilante violence.”
Vigilante violence “served to constitute, shore up, and enforce systemic power” (106). Given that the U.S. government has a long history of “defending vigilante violence by refusing to enforce the law” (99), law enforcement inaction and vigilante violence may be understood together as a case of one hand washing the other. Revolutionary violence, however, sought to overthrow the state. It is the white power movement’s goal of overthrowing the federal government that sets it apart in the history of white supremacy in the U.S.
While the group claims to defend the Constitution, the entire Oath Keepers organization is based on a set of baseless conspiracy theories about the federal government working to destroy Americans’ liberties.
~ Southern Poverty Law Center
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Toxic Trump: "I'm the BEST, just absolutely CRUSHING the competition, with over TWO POINT FIVE MILLION coronavirus cases and over 123--one-hundred and twenty-three!!!--THOUSAND deaths! Easy as 1-2-3! They ALL got eighty-sixed, 'cause nobody else even comes close! With a QUARTER of the world's cases AND deaths--can you even imagine how truly great, how awesome, that achievement is, with only just FOUR PERCENT of the world's population to work with? Believe it or not, I accomplished in only FIVE WEEKS what it took the Vietnam War a whole TWELVE YEARS to do! Not done with the fun--and not to be outdone--I then doubled down on the death toll from Vietnam in just FOUR MONTHS! PLUS, we're not even counting ALL the COVID-19 cases and deaths here in the U.S.! And, with only SEVEN PERCENT of the U.S. population already infected, we're just getting started with all the sickness and death; there's PLENTY more to come! Those other weaklings and losers don't stand a chance, because we're going to keep right on winning--as long as I'm in charge! Now, vacation's over; time to get back to work on increasing those numbers, people! Let's keep America great, get rid of all the excess baggage! As wartime President, I am commanding all CIVILIANS to senselessly sacrifice their lives for my arrogance, stupidity, vanity, malevolence, and greed!"
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It's that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don't care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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Welcome to war. This is what war is. It's terrible, it's tragic, it's ugly, it stinks, it's unfair, it's sad, it's wasteful, it's hell, innocents die, and things always go wrong. You think we'd have learned that by now, but no, it's a lesson that has to be repeatedly learned, evidently. The consensus is that nobody foresaw the Afghan government and its armed forces completely capitulating so quickly as they did. Some say there should have been a contingency plan for this, but even though hindsight is 20/20, have yet to hear any rational plan that could have dealt with this situation. Shit happens, and Biden got handed a turd with Afghanistan. Instead of allowing the crap to continue, Biden made the hard, responsible decision to pull the U.S. out of another country's civil war. Fallout was inevitable, and Republicans trying to capitalize on that politically or media trying to profit from it is truly degenerate.
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@michaelhill2402 ~ So THAT'S your "proof," Doc? Really? So, if someone envisions a better society and uses the words "new world order," then that automatically equates to the crackpot conspiracy theory NWO in your simpleton mind? Black helicopters with the guys dressed all in black to take over and rule the world? C'mon man! Get real!
You're right about fascist Reich-wing thugs itching for another Civil War, but they're cowards and a fringe minority even within the Republican party, and that isn't going to happen unless we all ignore the threat, just stand by, and allow it. Maybe you wish to be passive and complacent, and don't want to fight against them for Constitution and country, but there's plenty of others like me who will, and it doesn't require guns or violence, but rather voices and votes.
You use a lot of buzz words that don't amount to a hill of beans, like "pseudo-intellectual." In your usage, that is apparently those espousing ideas you don't understand or with which you disagree. You talk about an Orwellian society, but engage in false equivalence, failing to see that it is only Republicans choosing to live in an Orwellian dystopian alternate reality.
The vast majority of Americans "LOVE this country." That's no guarantee that your particular views are right or rational, however. The seditious insurrectionists that committed a terrorist attack against the nation's Capitol on January 6 in an attempt to overturn a legitimate election were waving the American flag, claiming their cause was in the name of Constitution and country. But they couldn't have been more wrong.
Dissenting opinions not based upon fact and reason ARE uninformed and ignorant, which has nothing to do with anyone's belief system or political ideology.
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07/08/20 -- 3,159,000 confirmed cases; 134,900 deaths.
07/07/20 -- 3,097,000 confirmed cases; 133,900 deaths.
07/06/20 -- 3,041,000 confirmed cases; 133,000 deaths.
07/05/20 -- 2,984,000 confirmed cases; 132,500 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
07/04/20 -- 2,936,000 confirmed cases; 132,300 deaths.
07/03/20 -- 2,890,000 confirmed cases; 132,100 deaths.
07/02/20 -- 2,837,000 confirmed cases; 131,500 deaths.
07/01/20 -- 2,780,000 confirmed cases; 130,800 deaths.
06/30/20 -- 2,722,000 confirmed cases; 129,400 deaths. NIH predicts 100,000 cases per day soon from premature reopening and people not following CDC guidelines.
06/29/20 -- 2,682,000 confirmed cases; 128,800 deaths.
06/28/20 -- 2,638,000 confirmed cases; 128,400 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
06/27/20 -- 2,597,000 confirmed cases; 128,200 deaths.
06/26/20 -- 2,553,000 confirmed cases; 127,600 deaths. CDC projects TEN times as many COVID-19 cases as confirmed; approximately 25 million, or 7% of U.S. pop.
06/25/20 -- 2,505,000 confirmed cases; 126,800 deaths.
06/24/20 -- 2,463,000 confirmed cases; 124,300 deaths.
06/23/20 -- 2,424,000 confirmed cases; 123,500 deaths.
06/22/20 -- 2,388,000 confirmed cases; 122,600 deaths.
06/21/20 -- 2,357,000 confirmed cases; 122,200 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
06/20/20 -- 2,331,000 confirmed cases; 122,000 deaths.
06/19/20 -- 2,297,000 confirmed cases; 121,400 deaths.
06/18/20 -- 2,264,000 confirmed cases; 120,700 deaths.
06/17/20 -- 2,235,000 confirmed cases; 119,900 deaths.
06/16/20 -- 2,199,000 confirmed cases; 118,800 deaths.
06/15/20 -- 2,182,000 confirmed cases; 118,200 deaths.
06/14/20 -- 2,162,000 confirmed cases; 117,800 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
06/13/20 -- 2,139,000 confirmed cases; 117,500 deaths. Latest projection has 200,000 Americans dead from COVID-19 before October.
06/12/20 -- 2,117,000 confirmed cases; 116,800 deaths.
06/11/20 -- 2,090,000 confirmed cases; 116,000 deaths.
06/10/20 -- 2,066,000 confirmed cases; 115,100 deaths.
06/09/20 -- 2,046,000 confirmed cases; 114,100 deaths.
06/08/20 -- 2,026,000 confirmed cases; 113,000 deaths.
06/07/20 -- 2,007,000 confirmed cases; 112,500 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
06/06/20 -- 1,976,000 confirmed cases; 111,900 deaths.
06/05/20 -- 1,949,000 confirmed cases; 111,000 deaths.
06/04/20 -- 1,924,000 confirmed cases; 110,100 deaths.
06/03/20 -- 1,902,000 confirmed cases; 109,100 deaths.
06/02/20 -- 1,881,000 confirmed cases; 108,000 deaths.
06/01/20 -- 1,860,000 confirmed cases; 107,000 deaths.
05/31/20 -- 1,837,000 confirmed cases; 106,200 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/30/20 -- 1,817,000 confirmed cases; 105,600 deaths.
05/29/20 -- 1,793,000 confirmed cases; 104,500 deaths.
05/26/20 -- 1,725,000 confirmed cases; 100,600 deaths.
05/25/20 -- 1,706,000 confirmed cases; 99,800 deaths.
05/24/20 -- 1,686,000 confirmed cases; 99,300 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/23/20 -- 1,667,000 confirmed cases; 98,700 deaths.
05/22/20 -- 1,645,000 confirmed cases; 97,600 deaths.
05/17/20 -- 1,528,000 confirmed cases; 91,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/16/20 -- 1,497,000 confirmed cases; 89,400 deaths.
05/11/20 -- 1,379,000 confirmed cases; 81,500 deaths.
05/10/20 -- 1,364,000 confirmed cases; 80,600 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/07/20 -- 1,289,000 confirmed cases; 76,500 deaths.
05/06/20 -- 1,260,000 confirmed cases; 74,500 deaths.
05/05/20 -- 1,233,000 confirmed cases; 72,000 deaths.
05/04/20 -- 1,208,000 confirmed cases; 69,600 deaths. CDC projects cases increasing to 200,000 per day with deaths rising to 3,000 per day by June because of states, localities and people not following guidelines and reopening their economies too soon.
05/03/20 -- 1,184,000 confirmed cases; 68,300 deaths. Every 44 seconds, another American dies from COVID-19. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/02/20 -- 1,158,000 confirmed cases; 67,000 deaths.
05/01/20 -- 1,129,000 confirmed cases; 65,500 deaths.
04/30/20 -- 1,094,000 confirmed cases; 63,600 deaths. The U.S. accounts for over a third of the world's cases, and over a quarter of COVID-19 deaths--despite possessing only 5% of the world's population. Yet--even now--we still lack the adequate testing capabilities that are critically needed to safely reopen the economy, and remain sorely lacking the necessary rational national leadership so vital to saving American lives and livelihoods.
04/29/20 -- 1,064,000 confirmed cases; 61,500 deaths. The U.S. now has as many COVID-19 deaths in just NINE WEEKS as there was for all TWELVE YEARS of the Vietnam War.
04/28/20 -- 1,034,000 confirmed cases; 59,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/27/20 -- 1,009,000 confirmed cases; 56,500 deaths.
04/22/20 -- 853,000 confirmed cases; 47,800 deaths (+2,674*)
04/21/20 -- 825,000 confirmed cases; 45,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/20/20 -- 788,000 confirmed cases; 43,200 deaths.
04/16/20 -- 671,000 confirmed cases; 33,100 deaths. Less COVID-19 testing performed this week than last, despite desperate need to ramp up volume to reopen economy.
04/15/20 -- 640,000 confirmed cases; 30,800 deaths. The United States recorded its first coronavirus fatality on Feb. 29. It took 38 days to reach 10,000 deaths and just nine more days to go from 10,000 fatalities to 30,000. An increase in fatalities over the last 48 hours was expected, but was also due to new CDC policy, starting on 04/14, to include probable COVID-19 deaths...finally.
04/14/20 -- 609,000 confirmed cases; 26,600 deaths (+2,364 - *New worst daily death toll)
04/13/20 -- 583,000 confirmed cases; 24,200 deaths
04/12/20 -- 558,000 confirmed cases; 22,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S. With just 4.25% of the world's population, the U.S. has 30% of the COVID-19 infections and 20% of the COVID-19 deaths. So far, the U.S. has the very WORST response of ANY nation, something formerly inconceivable, and inexcusable that it could now be allowed to happen here. In the U.S., we have 1.5 million seniors in 15,000 nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Despite forming only 0.45% of the U.S. population, they make up almost 10% of deaths, primarily because our federal government is not doing enough to protect them. Reported that many hospitals are no longer accepting COVID-19 patients from nursing homes, preferring they die there, instead. Our seniors, who helped build, grow and make America great, are being sacrificed, solely to ignorance.
04/11/20 -- 530,000 confirmed cases; 20,500 deaths.
04/08/20 -- 432,000 confirmed cases; 15,900 deaths.
04/07/20 -- 400,000 confirmed cases; 13,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. Figures indicate a Covid-19 fatality rate for TESTED Americans at 3.25%.
04/06/20 -- 369,000 confirmed cases; 11,000 deaths.
04/02/20 -- 246,000 confirmed cases; 6,050 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/01/20 -- 217,000 confirmed cases; 5,150 deaths.
03/31/20 -- 190,000 confirmed cases; 4,200 deaths.
03/29/20 -- 143,000 confirmed cases; 2,450 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
(Update 5: Friday, 03/27/20, confirmed U.S. cases 105,000--which is 50% over NIH high-end estimate; deaths 1,700 by end of day. The perspective for cases is significantly skewed low and thus highly misleading, however, as just 0.17% of U.S. population has been tested to date.)
"As many as 70,000 Americans could be confirmed as infected with coronavirus by the end of next week, marking a “pretty dramatic” increase in the number of confirmed cases," the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, told his employees in an agency-wide conference call on 03/20/20.
Except 03/21/20 saw a 33% jump in U.S. cases, from 18,000 to over 24,000. If continuing at 33% every 24 hours, the number of confirmed cases is trending much higher than just 70,000 by 03/27/20. Suspect confirmed cases will be double that. Bear in mind, states hardest hit are not testing many people, saving the tests for those most in need. So the actual number of infected Americans is going to be far higher than just what limited testing of the population has so far confirmed. Don't think this fact is being given enough attention. More important than the number of cases confirmed is the number contracting the disease and not getting tested, spreading the disease, in many cases unknowingly. Hospital projections are for about 100 MILLION Americans to become infected, with about 500,000 dead from covid-19.
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06/27/20 -- 2,597,000 confirmed cases; 128,200 deaths.
06/26/20 -- 2,553,000 confirmed cases; 127,600 deaths.
06/25/20 -- 2,505,000 confirmed cases; 126,800 deaths.
06/24/20 -- 2,463,000 confirmed cases; 124,300 deaths.
06/23/20 -- 2,424,000 confirmed cases; 123,500 deaths.
06/22/20 -- 2,388,000 confirmed cases; 122,600 deaths.
06/21/20 -- 2,357,000 confirmed cases; 122,200 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
06/20/20 -- 2,331,000 confirmed cases; 122,000 deaths.
06/19/20 -- 2,297,000 confirmed cases; 121,400 deaths.
06/18/20 -- 2,264,000 confirmed cases; 120,700 deaths.
06/17/20 -- 2,235,000 confirmed cases; 119,900 deaths.
06/16/20 -- 2,199,000 confirmed cases; 118,800 deaths.
06/15/20 -- 2,182,000 confirmed cases; 118,200 deaths.
06/14/20 -- 2,162,000 confirmed cases; 117,800 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
06/13/20 -- 2,139,000 confirmed cases; 117,500 deaths. Latest projection has 200,000 Americans dead from COVID-19 before October.
06/12/20 -- 2,117,000 confirmed cases; 116,800 deaths.
06/11/20 -- 2,090,000 confirmed cases; 116,000 deaths.
06/10/20 -- 2,066,000 confirmed cases; 115,100 deaths.
06/09/20 -- 2,046,000 confirmed cases; 114,100 deaths.
06/08/20 -- 2,026,000 confirmed cases; 113,000 deaths.
06/07/20 -- 2,007,000 confirmed cases; 112,500 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
06/06/20 -- 1,976,000 confirmed cases; 111,900 deaths.
06/05/20 -- 1,949,000 confirmed cases; 111,000 deaths.
06/04/20 -- 1,924,000 confirmed cases; 110,100 deaths.
06/03/20 -- 1,902,000 confirmed cases; 109,100 deaths.
06/02/20 -- 1,881,000 confirmed cases; 108,000 deaths.
06/01/20 -- 1,860,000 confirmed cases; 107,000 deaths.
05/31/20 -- 1,837,000 confirmed cases; 106,200 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/30/20 -- 1,817,000 confirmed cases; 105,600 deaths.
05/29/20 -- 1,793,000 confirmed cases; 104,500 deaths.
05/28/20 -- 1,768,000 confirmed cases; 103,300 deaths.
05/27/20 -- 1,746,000 confirmed cases; 102,100 deaths.
05/26/20 -- 1,725,000 confirmed cases; 100,600 deaths.
05/25/20 -- 1,706,000 confirmed cases; 99,800 deaths.
05/24/20 -- 1,686,000 confirmed cases; 99,300 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/23/20 -- 1,667,000 confirmed cases; 98,700 deaths.
05/22/20 -- 1,645,000 confirmed cases; 97,600 deaths.
05/21/20 -- 1,621,000 confirmed cases; 96,400 deaths.
05/20/20 -- 1,593,000 confirmed cases; 94,900 deaths.
05/19/20 -- 1,571,000 confirmed cases; 93,500 deaths.
05/18/20 -- 1,550,000 confirmed cases; 92,000 deaths.
05/17/20 -- 1,528,000 confirmed cases; 91,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/16/20 -- 1,497,000 confirmed cases; 89,400 deaths.
05/15/20 -- 1,473,000 confirmed cases; 88,200 deaths.
05/14/20 -- 1,448,000 confirmed cases; 86,500 deaths.
05/13/20 -- 1,421,000 confirmed cases; 84,800 deaths.
05/12/20 -- 1,400,000 confirmed cases; 83,000 deaths.
05/11/20 -- 1,379,000 confirmed cases; 81,500 deaths.
05/10/20 -- 1,364,000 confirmed cases; 80,600 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/09/20 -- 1,344,000 confirmed cases; 79,700 deaths.
05/08/20 -- 1,318,000 confirmed cases; 78,200 deaths.
05/07/20 -- 1,289,000 confirmed cases; 76,500 deaths.
05/06/20 -- 1,260,000 confirmed cases; 74,500 deaths.
05/05/20 -- 1,233,000 confirmed cases; 72,000 deaths.
05/04/20 -- 1,208,000 confirmed cases; 69,600 deaths. CDC projects cases increasing to 200,000 per day with deaths rising to 3,000 per day by June because of states, localities and people not following guidelines and reopening their economies too soon.
05/03/20 -- 1,184,000 confirmed cases; 68,300 deaths. Every 44 seconds, another American dies from COVID-19. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/02/20 -- 1,158,000 confirmed cases; 67,000 deaths.
05/01/20 -- 1,129,000 confirmed cases; 65,500 deaths.
04/30/20 -- 1,094,000 confirmed cases; 63,600 deaths. The U.S. accounts for over a third of the world's cases, and over a quarter of COVID-19 deaths--despite possessing only 5% of the world's population. Yet--even now--we still lack the adequate testing capabilities that are critically needed to safely reopen the economy, and remain sorely lacking the necessary rational national leadership so vital to saving American lives and livelihoods.
04/29/20 -- 1,064,000 confirmed cases; 61,500 deaths. The U.S. now has as many COVID-19 deaths in just NINE WEEKS as there was for all TWELVE YEARS of the Vietnam War.
04/28/20 -- 1,034,000 confirmed cases; 59,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/27/20 -- 1,009,000 confirmed cases; 56,500 deaths.
04/24/20 -- 927,000 confirmed cases; 52,400 deaths.
04/23/20 -- 890,000 confirmed cases; 50,400 deaths.
04/22/20 -- 853,000 confirmed cases; 47,800 deaths (+2,674*)
04/21/20 -- 825,000 confirmed cases; 45,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/20/20 -- 788,000 confirmed cases; 43,200 deaths.
04/17/20 -- 702,000 confirmed cases; 37,000 deaths.
04/16/20 -- 671,000 confirmed cases; 33,100 deaths. Less COVID-19 testing performed this week than last, despite desperate need to ramp up volume to reopen economy.
04/15/20 -- 640,000 confirmed cases; 30,800 deaths. The United States recorded its first coronavirus fatality on Feb. 29. It took 38 days to reach 10,000 deaths and just nine more days to go from 10,000 fatalities to 30,000. An increase in fatalities over the last 48 hours was expected, but was also due to new CDC policy, starting on 04/14, to include probable COVID-19 deaths...finally.
04/14/20 -- 609,000 confirmed cases; 26,600 deaths (+2,364 - *New worst daily death toll)
04/13/20 -- 583,000 confirmed cases; 24,200 deaths
04/12/20 -- 558,000 confirmed cases; 22,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S. With just 4.25% of the world's population, the U.S. has 30% of the COVID-19 infections and 20% of the COVID-19 deaths. So far, the U.S. has the very WORST response of ANY nation, something formerly inconceivable, and inexcusable that it could now be allowed to happen here. In the U.S., we have 1.5 million seniors in 15,000 nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Despite forming only 0.45% of the U.S. population, they make up almost 10% of deaths, primarily because our federal government is not doing enough to protect them. Reported that many hospitals are no longer accepting COVID-19 patients from nursing homes, preferring they die there, instead. Our seniors, who helped build, grow and make America great, are being sacrificed, solely to ignorance.
04/11/20 -- 530,000 confirmed cases; 20,500 deaths.
04/08/20 -- 432,000 confirmed cases; 15,900 deaths.
04/07/20 -- 400,000 confirmed cases; 13,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. Figures indicate a Covid-19 fatality rate for TESTED Americans at 3.25%.
04/06/20 -- 369,000 confirmed cases; 11,000 deaths.
04/02/20 -- 246,000 confirmed cases; 6,050 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/01/20 -- 217,000 confirmed cases; 5,150 deaths.
03/31/20 -- 190,000 confirmed cases; 4,200 deaths.
03/29/20 -- 143,000 confirmed cases; 2,450 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
(Update 5: Friday, 03/27/20, confirmed U.S. cases 105,000--which is 50% over NIH high-end estimate; deaths 1,700 by end of day. The perspective for cases is significantly skewed low and thus highly misleading, however, as just 0.17% of U.S. population has been tested to date.)
"As many as 70,000 Americans could be confirmed as infected with coronavirus by the end of next week, marking a “pretty dramatic” increase in the number of confirmed cases," the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, told his employees in an agency-wide conference call on 03/20/20.
Except 03/21/20 saw a 33% jump in U.S. cases, from 18,000 to over 24,000. If continuing at 33% every 24 hours, the number of confirmed cases is trending much higher than just 70,000 by 03/27/20. Suspect confirmed cases will be double that. Bear in mind, states hardest hit are not testing many people, saving the tests for those most in need. So the actual number of infected Americans is going to be far higher than just what limited testing of the population has so far confirmed. Don't think this fact is being given enough attention. More important than the number of cases confirmed is the number contracting the disease and not getting tested, spreading the disease, in many cases unknowingly. Hospital projections are for about 100 MILLION Americans to become infected, with about 500,000 dead from covid-19.
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The American workplace isn't ready for an epidemic. Many Americans have no insurance, many others can ill-afford deductibles, still more can't afford to take off work when not feeling well; more than a third of jobs don't offer sick days, and even where available, they may have been already used, or employees try saving them for more serious illness--all making us extremely vulnerable to epidemics such as COVID-19. Many jobs in America involve low-paying work in the service industry, where employees are in constant contact with, and exposed to, a huge swath of the public on a daily basis. These folks typically don't get sick days or insurance benefits, and can ill-afford to miss any work because of loss of money and the threat of losing their job. Many are ill-educated, and may not pay sufficient heed to health warnings, further exacerbating the spread of the epidemic facing us all.
In plausible worst-case-scenarios given the pattern of the outbreak thus far, the country could experience acute shortages not just in ventilators but also health workers to operate them and care for patients; hospital beds; and masks and other protective equipment. Trump administration facing increasing criticism for not using these many weeks after learning of COVID-19 to prepare increased hospital capacity, stockpile medications, obtain adequate amounts of respirators and other equipment that will be vitally needed in the U.S.
“Even during mild flu pandemics, most of our I.C.U.s are filled to the brim with severely ill patients on mechanical ventilation,” said Dr. Eric Toner, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and an expert on health care preparedness. “I hope and pray Covid-19 turns out to be a moderate pandemic, but if not, we’re in serious trouble,” he said.
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Whole trouble is that the U.S. still doesn't have any rational national pandemic response, nor the prerequisite adequate testing capabilities. That's why the U.S. STILL remains the epicenter of this pandemic after four months. It's why we now need the whole nation to lock down with only truly essential workers, until we bring the raging inferno down to a few small brush fires. Thing is, if EVERYONE followed the simple guidelines during lockdown, we could probably have COVID-19 under firm control with proper testing and tracing within just six weeks. Even if not everyone cooperates, we'd still have saved countless Americans, and put ourselves in a much better position to begin slowly reopening the economy. Unfortunately, because of Toxic Trump, irresponsible, corrupt Congressional Republicans, and a mindless Republican cult, we're ALL stuck in a disaster zone for the near foreseeable future.
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
― Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, but also to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
Trump and Republicans are like Jack and his band of boys in 'Lord of the Flies.' Ralph, Simon, Piggy and the other group of boys represent the rest of us. Just as Jack and his band turned savage, killing and cannibalizing their fellow students on the deserted island they landed upon, Trump and Republicans have also turned savage, rejecting responsibility, reason, civility, morality, and science, killing their fellow Americans and cannibalizing our government. Except there will be no adults arriving to save those of us trying to do the right thing, like in the classic tale. We are the adults, and it is strictly up to us to save ourselves and this country from the fascistic, nihilistic impulses of Trump and Republicans.
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GOP cult: “Democracy is great…only so long as we can subvert it with lies, a multitude of Jim Crow voter suppression laws, egregious gerrymandering, obstruction, sedition, and terrorism to gain power and maintain our corrupt, plutocratic, minority fascist rule!”
It's quite obvious that these Republican efforts purportedly to promote election integrity are a sham and a fraud designed to do exactly the opposite: undermine confidence in the electoral process in America, and undermine our democracy. Republicans are doing this to impose their minority rule over the majority----the very antithesis of democracy.
Meet the new ugly face of white supremacy in America! Funny--it looks just like the old ugly face. Except this time they got their Imperial Wizard installed as Chief Jester of the Supreme Court, where he magically declared racism somehow no longer a problem in America, paving the way for thousands of new Jim Crow laws and egregious gerrymandering suppressing and disenfranchising millions of American voters. Of course, harsh realities will continue to exist irrespective of any blind eye or pretentious, capricious edicts by some Supreme Court. And Roberts' conservative SCOTUS decisions only confirm how the white supremacist problem and its perpetual "fix" on the American judicial branch and justice system has never gone away, as America continues to struggle with overcoming a racist history of colonialism, slavery, and discrimination.
"...we must recognize that one of the two political parties is routinely engaged in sabotaging free elections with voter-suppression efforts aimed at the minority voters it cannot win over at the ballot box. These anti-democratic power grabs became a GOP staple decades before Donald Trump, culminating in the actions of a George W. Bush–anointed chief justice, John Roberts, whose Supreme Court shredded the Voting Rights Act of 1965. As Roberts famously put it in his 2007 opinion for the plurality, “The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.” Since then, discrimination on the basis of race has only expanded in states like Georgia and Florida, where Black voting rights have been cavalierly undermined and trashed."
~ Frank Rich, November 9, 2020 (Written well before the rash of new Jim Crow laws now being proposed and passed by Republicans in many states.)
Chief Justice Roberts and his fellow conservative SCOTUS justices: the architects of a new era of Jim Crow in America.
Need to expand SCOTUS to 15 justices, do away with the filibuster, pass a new Voting Rights Act, and let Biden appoint six new justices to bring sanity and justice back to the Supreme Court.
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
― Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again." ― Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney
More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
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It's like rowing or paddling upstream, or into a stiff wind--if you ease-up too much or stop, you will only have to paddle twice as hard to make up all the previous hard-earned progress that was quickly lost. Failing to maintain isolation and other measures for sufficient time to stop the spread of COVID-19 transmission will cost U.S. more in time, effort, money, and LIVES. Reopening and relaxing measures too early in defiance of the science and data is the ultimate in colossal ignorance, greed, ruthlessness, and arrogance.
We have a segment of Republican cult willfully ignorant, who malevolently seek to sabotage containment efforts. But many do not grasp how important it is that we treat ourselves and everyone else as being infected.
This is because people know that is very unlikely, especially outside dense urban areas, where incidence rates are low. Because of the delay in onset of the disease and asymptomatic carriers, COVID-19 is a stealth killer that uses Americans against each other as its foot soldiers, transporting it, keeping the disease and its train of transmission alive. This is further complicated because people cannot see a virus, see it attacking, see it spreading, until it is too late. For many of us, seeing is believing, and people are incapable or reluctant to make that leap of logic required to keep them and everyone safe--even with the massive public education efforts.
Of course, the problem becomes greatly exacerbated when the President refuses to wear a mask, and his administration works against itself in fighting this deadly global pandemic, sending conflicting messages to the public. Toxic Trump, his administration, and all the Republicans who have aided and abetted him, are directly responsible in our view for the senseless deaths of tens and thousands of Americans. The dead are the worst of it, but there is also the tremendous needless suffering and economic loss accompanying their wanton criminal negligence.
No national testing, no rational national coordinated pandemic response. Republican governors reopening too quickly in defiance of CDC guidelines are only following the President's lead. Democratic governors in many states likewise being adversely pressured by Toxic Trump's pandemic disinformation and Republican opposition to requisite lockdowns. Problem starts at the top. Don't fault even the worst Republican governors as much as this President. The President needed to take the lead, take the hit for the hard decisions--not put all the weight on governors as he as.
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Republican cult morons rail against the very "elite" they keep voting for, who give tax cuts to the rich and have created the greatest income inequality and wealth disparity in American history.
Why? They are driven by the divisive fear and bigotry programmed into them 24/7 by the Reich-wing media and propaganda owned or funded by the plutocracy. It's absolutely Orwellian, and it began around 1984 in America. What is witnessed now is just the rotten results from the poisoned tree bearing fruition. It's the disease killing America that existed long before COVID-19, and which is likely to persist long after.
Republican cult going to believe what the Republican cult wants to believe, whatever the truth, whatever proof, whatever anybody says. "Healing" the country means deprogramming the 30-40% of Americans deep in cultdom. That needs to be recognized, acknowledged, and acted upon if we truly wish to revive the patient, America, and restore it to glory.
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It's like rowing or paddling upstream, or into a stiff wind--if you ease-up too much or stop, you will only have to paddle twice as hard to make up all the previous hard-earned progress that was quickly lost. Failing to maintain isolation and other measures for sufficient time to stop the spread of COVID-19 transmission will cost U.S. more in time, effort, money, and LIVES. Reopening and relaxing measures too early in defiance of the science and data is the ultimate in colossal ignorance, greed, ruthlessness, and arrogance.
We have a segment of Republican cult willfully ignorant, who malevolently seek to sabotage containment efforts. But many do not grasp how important it is that we treat ourselves and everyone else as being infected.
This is because people know that is very unlikely, especially outside dense urban areas, where incidence rates are low. Because of the delay in onset of the disease and asymptomatic carriers, COVID-19 is a stealth killer that uses Americans against each other as its foot soldiers, transporting it, keeping the disease and its train of transmission alive. This is further complicated because people cannot see a virus, see it attacking, see it spreading, until it is too late. For many of us, seeing is believing, and people are incapable or reluctant to make that leap of logic required to keep them and everyone safe--even with the massive public education efforts.
Of course, the problem becomes greatly exacerbated when the President refuses to wear a mask, and his administration works against itself in fighting this deadly global pandemic, sending conflicting messages to the public. Toxic Trump, his administration, and all the Republicans who have aided and abetted him, are directly responsible in our view for the senseless deaths of tens and thousands of Americans. The dead are the worst of it, but there is also the tremendous needless suffering and economic loss accompanying their wanton criminal negligence.
No national testing, no rational national coordinated pandemic response. Republican governors reopening too quickly in defiance of CDC guidelines are only following the President's lead. Democratic governors in many states likewise being adversely pressured by Toxic Trump's pandemic disinformation and Republican opposition to requisite lockdowns. Problem starts at the top. Don't fault even the worst Republican governors as much as this President. The President needed to take the lead, take the hit for the hard decisions--not put all the weight on governors as he as.
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Trump Has Sabotaged America’s Coronavirus Response
by Laura Garrett
In 2018, the Trump administration fired the government’s entire pandemic response chain of command, including the White House management infrastructure. In numerous phone calls and emails with key agencies across the U.S. government, the only consistent response I encountered was distressed confusion.
....
White House efforts included reducing $15 billion in national health spending and cutting the global disease-fighting operational budgets of the CDC, NSC, DHS, and HHS. And the government’s $30 million Complex Crises Fund was eliminated.
In May 2018, Trump ordered the NSC’s entire global health security unit shut down, calling for reassignment of Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer and dissolution of his team inside the agency. The month before, then-White House National Security Advisor John Bolton pressured Ziemer’s DHS counterpart, Tom Bossert, to resign along with his team. Neither the NSC nor DHS epidemic teams have been replaced. The global health section of the CDC was so drastically cut in 2018 that much of its staff was laid off and the number of countries it was working in was reduced from 49 to merely 10. Meanwhile, throughout 2018, the U.S. Agency for International Development and its director, Mark Green, came repeatedly under fire from both the White House and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. And though Congress has so far managed to block Trump administration plans to cut the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps by 40 percent, the disease-fighting cadres have steadily eroded as retiring officers go unreplaced.
Public health advocates have been ringing alarm bells to no avail.
Ronald Klain, who directed U.S. efforts on Ebola, has been warning for two years that the United States was in grave danger should a pandemic emerge. In 2017 and 2018, the philanthropist billionaire Bill Gates met repeatedly with Bolton and his predecessor, H.R. McMaster, warning that ongoing cuts to the global health disease infrastructure would render the United States vulnerable to, as he put it, the “significant probability of a large and lethal modern-day pandemic occurring in our lifetimes.” And an independent, bipartisan panel formed by the Center for Strategic and International Studies concluded that lack of preparedness was so acute in the Trump administration that the “United States must either pay now and gain protection and security or wait for the next epidemic and pay a much greater price in human and economic costs.”
https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/31/coronavirus-china-trump-united-states-public-health-emergency-response/
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or "the Wall") is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle's name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called "leaders" in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 -- than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to--and a barrier against--our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It's design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge--and help teach--people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see...if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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@TheSilverRule ~ Americans started using the word patriotic and dropped use of the word 'nationalistic' after WWII, Doc. There was a reason for that. It was because nationalism became closely associated with fascism.
There are good and bad kinds of nationalism. There is civic nationalism and ethnic nationalism, for instance. Nazi Germany was a radical form of ethnic nationalism. What scholars of history and political observers both in America and elsewhere have observed happening with the GOP is a decline into fascism. There is no question that the GOP has become radicalized, and it is centered around Christian religious and White ethnic nationalism.
Of course, Republicans are going to deny this, because either they don't wish to be branded for what they have become, or because they refuse to accept what their party has become.
Unlike Republicans who have constantly attempted to falsely label Democrats as 'socialist' or 'communist' purely for partisan gain, or because they are too stupid to know better and swallow whatever lies the Reich-wing machine and media tell them, I have never even thought to label the GOP as fascist in the past, and had been reluctant to do so initially in the present. It isn't a term I use lightly, nor is it used falsely for partisan gain. Furthermore, my own conclusion was drawn independently from my own observations and analysis, even before others in the media started naming it neo-fascism, or proto-fascism, or just plain fascism.
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As of 03/02/20 in the U.S.A., we still don't have the testing kits we need yet; just announced yesterday that test kits for 75,000 will be released over the next two weeks, with 50,000 more following. Reported 15,000 sent out over weekend. Reliable testing protocol absolutely vital to assessing and containment of COVID-19! Health experts and American public both in the dark without massive testing about which Americans, how many Americans have COVID-19--and where--so they can be isolated and treated before infecting others. Health experts have criticized Trump administration for inexplicably not adopting W.H.O. test much earlier. In the U.S. the CDC has conducted just 500 tests for COVID-19 to date, with 102 cases now known in the U.S. For perspective, compare to the U.K., with a much smaller population, who already tested 10,400 people, finding 23 COVID-19 cases.
~03/02/20 Four new COVID-19 related deaths, bringing total to six.
~03/02/20 There are now new or confirmed cases of novel coronavirus COVID-19 in California (33), Massachusetts (1), Washington state (17), Arizona (1), Illinois (3), Wisconsin (1), Oregon (2), Rhode Island (2), Utah (1), Nebraska (13), Texas (11), New York (1) and Florida (2).
~Number of confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases in U.S. has jumped from 64 on 02/29/20, to 71 reported morning of 03/01/20, to reported total of 102 evening of 03/02/20. Business and individuals starting to cancel travel plans due to COVID-19, both global and domestic, impacting airlines, hotels and many other businesses in a cascading effect.
~03/02/20 Stock future drops 110 points on volatile overnight trading, indicating another rough week for Wall St.
~03/01/20 The White House has scrambled to gain control of a rudderless response defined by bureaucratic infighting, confusion and misinformation. “It’s complete chaos,” one senior administration official said.
~Face masks--which unless surgical-grade N95--have limited effectiveness and are impractical for extended wear. Recommended for those exhibiting any flu or cold-like symptoms; not yet recommended for those healthy at this point.
~CDC: "People should understand that their lives may be significantly disrupted."
~Trump administration ignored and went against the advice of CDC top medical experts, brought infected patients back to the U.S. from Wuhan, China on the same plane as uninfected evacuees.
~U.S. workers WITHOUT protective gear assisted coronavirus evacuees, HHS whistleblower report states. Workers received Wuhan evacuees at two military bases in California without proper training or appropriate protective gear, alongside CDC in full hazmat attire. Whistleblower claims they were potentially exposed to COVID-19.
~Trump places science-denier V.P. Pence--who also has no medical expertise--in charge of Federal response to COVID-19.
~The American workplace isn't ready for an epidemic. Many Americans have no insurance, many others can ill-afford deductibles, still more can't afford to take off work when not feeling well; more than a third of jobs don't offer sick days, and even where available, they may have been already used, or employees try saving them for more serious illness--all making us extremely vulnerable to epidemics such as COVID-19. Many jobs in America involve low-paying work in the service industry, where employees are in constant contact with, and exposed to, a huge swath of the public on a daily basis. These folks typically don't get sick days or insurance benefits, and can ill-afford to miss any work because of loss of money and the threat of losing their job. Many are ill-educated, and may not pay sufficient heed to health warnings, further exacerbating the spread of the epidemic facing us all.
~In plausible worst-case-scenarios given the pattern of the outbreak thus far, the country could experience acute shortages not just in ventilators but also health workers to operate them and care for patients; hospital beds; and masks and other protective equipment. Trump administration facing increasing criticism for not using these many weeks after learning of COVID-19 to prepare increased hospital capacity, stockpile medications, obtain adequate amounts of respirators and other equipment that will be vitally needed in the U.S..
“Even during mild flu pandemics, most of our I.C.U.s are filled to the brim with severely ill patients on mechanical ventilation,” said Dr. Eric Toner, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and an expert on health care preparedness. “I hope and pray Covid-19 turns out to be a moderate pandemic, but if not, we’re in serious trouble,” he said, referring to the name given the disease caused by the virus.
~“The Chinese bought us a month of time to prepare ourselves by imposing these astonishing and draconian measures,” said J. Stephen Morrison, senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, which last year issued a report that identified flaws in the nation’s health security. “Unfortunately, we didn’t make good use of that time and now we’re heading into a very dangerous situation.”
~03/01/20 The FDA expanded coronavirus testing by speeding up hospitals’ abilities to test, though some worried that the changes fell short. The number of confirmed cases is likely to increase given the expansion in testing. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said Sunday that the administration is watching for possible drug shortages from disruptions to the pharmaceutical supply chain in China.
~03/01/20 Coronavirus has also caused significant supply-chain disruptions affecting toys, medical equipment, auto parts and smartphones from China, none of which will be easy to smooth out, even if the virus ebbs within a month or two. The twin blows to consumer confidence and supply chains have significantly raised the chance of a recession, according to economists.
~03/01/20 State of Washington announces second death from COVID-19 in U.S. First presumptive death in U.S. also from King County on 02/29/20; a 50-year-old man with health conditions. Deceased had unknown origin of contact with virus. Long-term health care facility there with many sick elderly residents suspected to have outbreak of COVID-19. In response, Trump finally vows to screen travelers entering the U.S., but only from certain areas in a few select nations. No details as to when screening will begin, what the screening process is or how effective, or how many travelers will be affected.
~First case in NY state confirmed. Three new cases in Oregon reported 02/28/20, one believed to be from community spread. Now three from community spread in California; one in Washington, and one in Oregon state. Third case in Illinois announced in Chicago 02/29/20, first two have recovered.
~03/01/20 Two new COVID-19 cases were confirmed in Washington state in King County on Sunday, bringing that state’s total to ten. Governor declares state emergency. Rhode Island also announced its first probable case. Florida announces two cases, health emergency.
~02/29/20 First suspected community-spread case in N. California was untested for DAYS after disease contracted. CDC acknowledged Thursday that a California woman with coronavirus was made to wait days before she was tested for the disease because of the agency’s restrictive criteria about who may get tested. As a result of this case, CDC announces a whole new testing criteria is needed.
~On 02/29/20, two new cases of COVID-19 in California and Oregon announced. Total cases in U.S. now stands at 64. Trump continues to lie about the epidemic, insisting only 15 Americans are infected.
~On 02/28/20, we learned that there is a second SEPARATE COVID-19 case identified in California. Indications are that we have community spread from the unprotected government workers Trump administration sent to receive the Wuhan evacuees--once again, against the advice of medical experts.
~Trump continues spreading misinformation on COVID-19, overly downplaying risk and danger, contradicting his own administration's health experts.
~02/28/20 DOW loses almost 1,200 in biggest single day loss EVER. Follows two previous day market losses around 1,000--$3.6 TRILLION from the American stock market ERASED for the week.. After the week, total market loss now stands at over 12%, ERASING all gains made in the market under Trump over three years in just one WEEK..
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
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#defundCBPandICE Appears Toxic Trump is turning CBP into Nazi SS Stormtroopers. Here's the thing, though: CBP personnel aren't military, can quit anytime. Short of that, they can refuse the assignments, citing conscientious objection, in a bid to save their job. If the Traitor-'n'-Thief President Nero was using me to terrorize and brutalize my fellow citizens, would first refuse the assignment. If they threatened to terminate employment, would quit. Would also be organizing my fellow CBP coworkers to join together in protesting and taking action against such unethical and immoral (and possibly even illegal) assignment. All of these CBP and other Federal law enforcement allowing themselves to be used against the civilian population by Toxic Trump are willing participants in his bid to foment destruction, discord and divisiveness -- if not outright civil war -- among Americans. No doubt, many of these are volunteers for the dirty work--the very worst of the worst CBP has to offer, which is really quite horrifying. #defundCBPandICE
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For three years, Republicans have propped up and protected a racist, corrupt, sociopathic narcissistic menace to society, gaslighting and covering up Traitor Trump crimes, ineptness, and incompetence. Republicans don't really care about our country; time and again, for decades now, they have put their politics and greed for power above the welfare of this nation. The destructiveness of GOP politics on American government began under Nixon, but starting with Reagan it became a Republican selling point. Conservatism won't die, but Republicanism has become a zero-sum game for losers. This incarnation of the GOP needs to die, or it will be the end of American greatness.
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--Instead of striving to bring out the best in people, Toxic Trump reveled in bringing out the very worst.
--Instead of uniting the country, Toxic Trump sought to divide us.
--Instead of abiding by and honoring our Constitution and the rule of law, Toxic Trump held them in disdain, disregarded them, and degraded them, running the most corrupt administration in U.S. history..
--Instead of strengthening democracy and our cherished institutions, Toxic Trump worked to diminish and destroy them, inciting a terrorist insurrection against his own government, attempting a coup to steal an election.
--Instead of insuring a peaceful transfer power after losing the election, Toxic Trump kept insisting against all evidence that he won, continuously repeating the Big Lie that resulted in the terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol.
--Instead of confronting a serious threat to Americans with a deadly global pandemic, Toxic Trump lied to the American people about it, ignored it, and refused to take any responsibility for his gross homicidal criminal negligence that resulted in one out of every 800 Americans dying from COVID-19--over 400,000 lives in just ten months, as many casualties as all of WWII.
--Instead of confronting the ever-increasing existential crisis from climate change and its harmful effects, Toxic Trump gutted regulations, exacerbating the problem and poisoning citizens.
--Instead of creating jobs, Toxic Trump was the first President since the Great Depression to preside over a net loss of jobs over his tenure.
--Instead of lowering the national deficit, Toxic Trump increased it from 19.2 trillion to 27 trillion.
--Instead of helping out the least among us, Toxic Trump widened the wealth and income disparity gap. 50% of his $1.9 trillion tax cut went to the top 5%; 65% went to the top 20%, with the top 40% benefiting next most, and the bottom 20% only receiving 1%.
--Instead of building bridges, humane immigration reform, and infrastructure, Toxic Trump built walls, cages, and concentration camps, separated children from mothers, allowed American infrastructure to decline and deteriorate, rejected economic opportunity.
--Instead of raising our standing and security in the world, Toxic Trump lowered and weakened it.
--Instead of draining the swamp, Toxic Trump turned it into a noxious overflowing sewer of Republican corruption.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation—only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regurgitation
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump’s COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration…
Now reaching vacation destination!
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***MEDIA FAIL*** -- Fascist reporter Amber Phillips, who works for the liberal Washington Post owned by the monopoly giant Amazon, which is owned by gazillionaire Bezos, thinks competing journalist's ideology is somehow relevant to their Pulitzer Prize-worthy journalism! Do we detect a hint of reporter envy, Ms. Phillips? Sorry, you'll never be as good as Rachel, but you should at least try a bit harder to be better!
Pardon the satire; otherwise, thought it was put together very well. It's the Cliff's Notes version of the news; a concise way for those with little time to get the big picture. Segments like this have their place, but remain a poor substitute for the non-condensed versions and the in-depth analysis of pertinent issues related.
Having watched a good number of these WashPo pieces, including most of their live impeachment proceedings, consider their coverage excellent overall. Really like the host, Libby, as well as their reporters, like Aaron Blake, Ashley Parker and many others. However, there's something about Amber, who isn't stupid, but has a bad habit of over-politicizing things. Don't find her analysis very insightful or illuminating, either. There's also something about her demeanor and speech that makes her come across like a whining victim. Don't know if that is unintentional, or just the typical behavior displayed so widely among conservatives. Don't know what her ideology is, don't care. Judge journalists on their merits, not their politics.
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@mikeswiental4815 ~ You might want to learn some history. The Spanish Civil War involved the fascists against the left-leaning Republicans. The fascists were supplied arms by Nazi Germany and Mussolini's Italy. The U.S. and other European nations who ended up fighting against the Axis in WWII chose non-intervention, but thousands of their citizens voluntarily fought on the side of the left-leaning Republicans against the Spanish fascists in the International Brigades.
The fascists ended up winning, and installed a military dictator, General Francisco Franco. It was not until 1978 that Spain reestablished a Constitution with a parliamentary system. For a number of years after WWII under fascist Franco's rule, Spain was treated as a pariah by most Western nations, including the U.S. The people you are siding with and calling "patriots" were fascists that installed a dictator. You probably think the Nazis were patriots, too.
Truth is, it is today's GOP that is descending into fascism and nihilism, while the Democratic party is neither socialist nor communist. Moreover, it is the Republican party that is actually betraying our Constitution and American principles, while it is Democrats who are the patriots defending them. Just more Republican cult projectionism propaganda crap that you were spoon-fed, swallowed whole, and regurgitate on cue, like a good little programmed sheep.
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Islndstyles ~ Your assertion is inaccurate. In the Election of 1860, the Democratic Party split into two parties, the Northern Democratic Party and the Southern Democratic Party.
By the late 1850s, the Democratic Party was split over the issue of slavery. Northern Democrats generally opposed slavery's expansion while many Southern Democrats believed that slavery should exist across the United States. In the presidential election of 1860, the Democratic Party split in two, with Stephen Douglas running for the Northern Democratic Party, and John C. Breckinridge representing the Southern Democratic Party. Two other political parties competed in this election as well. One of these parties was the Republican Party, with Abraham Lincoln as its candidate. Lincoln and the Republican Party opposed slavery's expansion. The other party was the Constitutional Union Party. The party's candidate, John Bell, hoped to compromise the differences between the North and South by extending the Missouri Compromise line across the remainder of the United States. Slavery would be permitted in new states established south of the line, while the institution would be illegal in new states formed north of the line. The Northern and Southern Democratic Parties only officially existed in the election of 1860.
No party politics were allowed in the Confederacy, whose political leadership, mindful of the welter prevalent in antebellum American politics and with a pressing need for unity, largely viewed political parties as inimical to good governance and as being especially unwise in wartime. Consequently, the Democratic Party halted all operations in the South during the life of the Confederacy (1861–1865).
War Democrat, in the history of the United States, any of the Northern Democrats who supported the continued prosecution of the American Civil War.
The great majority of Northern Democrats stayed loyal to the Union after the South seceded. So-called Peace Democrats (or “Copperheads” in pejorative Unionist terminology) opposed the war and advocated a negotiated peace with concessions to the South so that it would rejoin the Union.
War Democrats, while supporting the war, objected to Republican economic policies and to President Abraham Lincoln’s abrogation of civil rights. During the 1864 presidential election, they joined with Republicans in forming the Union Party, which renominated Lincoln for president and selected War Democrat Andrew Johnson of Tennessee as Lincoln’s running mate.
The Civil War very much was North versus South, and very little Republican versus Democrat. In the North, War Democrats greatly outnumbered Peace Democrats. Most Northern Democrats, whether War or Peace, opposed slavery, as did Republicans, and both Northern Democrats and Republicans ran on platforms opposing the EXPANSION of slavery, not its abolishment. It was the South that forced the issue by seceding, which led to the abolishment of slavery after they lost the war.
Upon secession there was no more Democratic party in the South, a fact of which today's Republicans are either ignorant, or which they deliberately omit to mislead in order to demonize their opponents. Moreover, they also are ignorant or deliberately omit the split between Northern and Southern Democrats on slavery BEFORE the Civil War.
The two parties have switched platforms several times since the Civil War. But it was Democrats who passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, despite opposition from Dixiecrats. And it was the Dixiecrats who thereafter abandoned the Democratic party en masse, switching to the Republican party. And it is the Republican party of today that overwhelmingly voted against the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the For the People Voting Rights Act. It is also the Republican party of today that is reenacting Jim Crow 2.0 voter suppression laws in states and engaging in racist gerrymandering.
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GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, John Eastman and all other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed? If Garland doesn't stand up for the rule of law, justice and democracy, this nation is soon doomed.
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
18 U.S.C. §2383 -- Rebellion or insurrection
Whoever incites, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof … shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.
18 U.S.C. §2384 -- Seditious conspiracy
If two or more persons … in any place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof, … they shall each be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.
18 U.S.C. §2385 -- Advocating overthrow of Government
Whoever knowingly or willfully advocates, abets, advises, or teaches the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying the government of the United States or the government of any State … by force or violence, ... they shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.
18 U.S. Code § 2331 -- Domestic Terrorism (Supplemental penalty of up to 17 years imprisonment)
(5) the term “domestic terrorism” means activities that—
(A) involve acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State;
(B) appear to be intended—
(i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population;
(ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or
(iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and
(C) occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States
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Trump and Republicans are like Jack and his band of boys in 'Lord of the Flies.' Ralph, Simon, Piggy and the other group of boys represent the rest of us. Just as Jack and his band turned savage, killing and cannibalizing their fellow students on the deserted island they landed upon, Trump and Republicans have also turned savage, rejecting responsibility, reason, civility, morality, and science, killing their fellow Americans and cannibalizing our government. Except there will be no adults arriving to save those of us trying to do the right thing, like in the classic tale. We are the adults, and it is strictly up to us to save ourselves and this country from the fascistic, nihilistic impulses of Trump and Republicans.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
― Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or "the Wall") is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle's name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called "leaders" in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. has ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 -- than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to--and a barrier against--our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It's design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge--and help teach--people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see...if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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JSTR ~ Well, his dirty shenanigans aren't going to work in his favor. Senate trial begins in two weeks, with more evidence against the Traitor-'n-Thief coming in every day. Toxic Trump can't find any competent counsel to represent him, scraping the bottom of the barrel searching. Thing is, Republican corrupt cowards were never going to convict, anyway, so Moscow McCoverup's weasel ways only put the GOP in a worse light, demonstrating they are unwilling to operate in good faith, while allowing for a more robust prosecution against Trump in the Senate, putting him in a worse light, too. But even though Senate Republicans will wimp out after Trump threatened their very lives, Democrats can still prevent him from holding office again, either through the Senate trial process or by using the 14th Amendment.
Toxic Trump and the Turtle, Moscow Mitch McCoverup, destroying the GOP? Priceless!
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which supplies about 90% of the state with its power, said Tuesday that wind power is responsible for just a fraction of the loss.
"Of the power shortfall that hit Texas, over 80% was due to problems at coal- and gas-fired plants," PolitiFact reported.
Experts say traditional energy sources, including coal and natural gas, performed below expectations, while wind power actually performed above expectations.
"Main story continues to be the failure of thermal power plants — natural gas, coal, and nuclear plants — which ERCOT counts on to be there when needed. They've failed," Princeton engineering professor Jesse Jenkins tweeted Tuesday. "Those of you who have heard that frozen wind turbines are to blame for this, think again. The extreme demand and thermal power plant outages are the principle cause."
Just to also note; this is the third time Texas has experienced power losses due to winter weather events. It happened before in 1986 and 2011, and the Texas legislature and Governors have repeatedly ignored warnings of catastrophe and recommendations that power generating infrastructure urgently needed upgrading to winterize it. In fact, it was current Texas Governor Greg Abbott who sued the EPA in 2011 as Texas AG to resist compliance with Federal energy grid regulations. Compounding the problem is that Texas and ERCOT decided to be independent of the national grid to avoid regulations, which would have helped ameliorate power losses. Now, instead of Texas having spent a little money to insure themselves energy security, U.S. taxpayers will be bailing out hundreds of millions in aid to Texas because of their ignorance, greed, and criminal negligence.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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Republicans can't handle reality, would rather traffic and believe in lies. The GOP is a fascist, nihilistic cult that would destroy democracy and America if given sufficient opportunity. And THAT, folks, is your reality check.
What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil. They are either actively or silently complicit in fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorist violence, Reich-wing insurrection, and Reich-wing undermining of our democracy and Constitution.
It's crystal clear that Trump, Boebert, Greene, Gosar and other Republicans like them are fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorism. The GOP has become radicalized to such an extent that it has essentially become a fascist terrorist organization, with members that fantasize and promote violence against their fellow Americans. While those Republican elected officials must be condemned and sanctioned, they are only a symptom of the disease poisoning a third of America, the most visible part of the cancer infecting our nation.
The GOP has been mainstreaming radicalization of their voter base for decades, ALLOWING Reich-wing media and Reich-wing demagogues to take over the party, to the point it has become a fascist, nihilistic cult. Because just as now, Republican politicians and their plutocratic masters have always seen it as the ends justifying whatever means to win power. Remember the Republican Tea Party? This catastrophe with the GOP didn't start with Trump, who just exploited what Republicans had already built.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle for graft and to grift their voters and us taxpayers. You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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It's like rowing or paddling upstream, or into a stiff wind--if you ease-up too much or stop, you will only have to paddle twice as hard to make up all the previous hard-earned progress that was quickly lost. Failing to maintain isolation and other measures for sufficient time to stop the spread of COVID-19 transmission will cost U.S. more in time, effort, money, and LIVES. Reopening and relaxing measures too early in defiance of the science and data is the ultimate in colossal ignorance, greed, ruthlessness, and arrogance.
We have a segment of Republican cult willfully ignorant, who malevolently seek to sabotage containment efforts. But many do not grasp how important it is that we treat ourselves and everyone else as being infected.
This is because people know that is very unlikely, especially outside dense urban areas, where incidence rates are low. Because of the delay in onset of the disease and asymptomatic carriers, COVID-19 is a stealth killer that uses Americans against each other as its foot soldiers, transporting it, keeping the disease and its train of transmission alive. This is further complicated because people cannot see a virus, see it attacking, see it spreading, until it is too late. For many of us, seeing is believing, and people are incapable or reluctant to make that leap of logic required to keep them and everyone safe--even with the massive public education efforts.
Of course, the problem becomes greatly exacerbated when the President refuses to wear a mask, and his administration works against itself in fighting this deadly global pandemic, sending conflicting messages to the public. Toxic Trump, his administration, and all the Republicans who have aided and abetted him, are directly responsible in our view for the senseless deaths of tens and thousands of Americans. The dead are the worst of it, but there is also the tremendous needless suffering and economic loss accompanying their wanton criminal negligence.
No national testing, no rational national coordinated pandemic response. Republican governors reopening too quickly in defiance of CDC guidelines are only following the President's lead. Democratic governors in many states likewise being adversely pressured by Toxic Trump's pandemic disinformation and Republican opposition to requisite lockdowns. Problem starts at the top. Don't fault even the worst Republican governors as much as this President. The President needed to take the lead, take the hit for the hard decisions--not put all the weight on governors as he as.
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"Without accountability, an attempted autogolpe or insurrection is just practice."
"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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@DSmith264 ~ Rachel Maddow broke down the numbers just yesterday. Check it out, if you hadn't already. Not trying to either inflate or deflate the impact, but 3,000,000 appears the most likely if--and that's a big if--herd immunity in the U.S. was adopted as official policy. Which seems highly unlikely, in any event, since there are a number of variables, such as widespread public opposition, and a vaccine becoming widely available sometime in the second half of 2021--to name just two. The 5% was an early estimate based upon incomplete data. Unclear that there is even now a reliable COVID-19 morbidity rate. If you have a reliable source giving the medical and scientific consensus on COVID-19 morbidity, would be very much interested to know, would very much appreciate you sharing it with us! As always, we treasure valid, rational questioning and challenging of our beliefs, so thank-you for that.
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@DSmith264 No, you're cool. The hyperbole reference was not any implication on you, just our own personal standpoint. If anything, higher estimates should cause some of these morons to take this pandemic more seriously. We know the death toll is undercounted, because many dying at home from COVID-19 were never tested, never recorded as COVID-19 fatalities. And, because we can compare national death rates to past years, showing the true death toll is likely now as much as 230,000.
Definitely agree on the willful negligent homicide of Toxic Trump, and the possibility of mutations is something on the mind constantly, pointed out. It's likely mutations would be more benign, because they would be more successful than those killing off their hosts, but there's never any guarantee of that. We certainly don't confuse this with the flu, and that's not something we've done here. 2,000,000 deaths is definitely NOT the flu. Believe we're basically on the same wavelength, which is good.
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@DSmith264 ~ Thanks, and likewise for the pleasant discourse. The Spanish Flu (which actually most likely originated in the U.S.; Spain, a neutral country, was the first to report it publicly because nations didn't want to signal weakness during WWI, so it was downplayed, ignored, and covered-up) is an excellent object lesson from which all should learn. Of course, they didn't have vaccines, therapeutics, and medical treatment was rudimentary, at best, so those things need to be taken into account. Also, it appears to have stricken people down much more quickly. Called the Blue Death, because the lack of oxygen prevented from entering the bloodstream by the disease turned people a bluish tint. Similar in that aspect to COVID-19. Many don't know that the first laws were passed against spitting in public, because it was suspected or known to spread the disease, with signs posted throughout America prohibiting spitting because of the pandemic!
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There is only one reality. Yet, here we are, a month later, and Republicans still keep pretending the Mueller Report and its implications don't exist. This, despite open war on Congress, Constitution and justice being waged by Trump to cover-up. Surely, they're not residing in this universe. It's become clear now, the body snatchers people were right all along...America has been invaded by traitorous aliens! For exhibit (A), allow me to present for your inspection:
SENATOR Graham advises Don Jr. to ignore SENATE Subpoena!?!?!
Lindsey Graham, Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Cover-up Kommittee (SICK)
also, Co-Chairman of the Senate Unconcealed Cover-up Kommittee Sub (SUCKS)
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Unfortuantely, given the Court balance, there's plenty more in the wheelhouse for corrupt, activist, partisan hack Republican jokers on the Court than just raping women's Constitutionally protected reproductive health rights! They're also about rigging elections for Republicans and corrupting our government (Bush v Gore, Citizens United, gutting the Voting Rights Act), anti-labor/worker, stripping federal powers, enhancing state powers, anti-regulatory, and whatever else comes along they think they can get away with that serves their bankrupt ideology, political agenda, corruption, and Reich-wing plutocrat elite masters. They manipulate important cases through the shadow docket, which lacks transparency, and by declining them a hearing, keeping their nefarious deeds on the downlow. They have also expedited 15 cases they wanted to decide that hadn’t been yet heard by an appeals court since 2018. From 2004 through 2017, zero such petitions were granted.
More important matters ahead, expect more irrational, activist, extremist and partisan hack decisions from these Reich-wing racist, misogynist jokers that have no sound basis in existing law, precedent, or the Constitution, which they interpret arbitrarily and capriciously at whim wherever suited to their evil ends, turning back progress and harming the nation while delegitimizing themselves and the Court.
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Toxic Trump: "I'm the BEST, just absolutely CRUSHING the competition, with over TWO POINT FIVE MILLION coronavirus cases and over 125--one-hundred and twenty-five!!!--THOUSAND deaths! Easy as 1-2-3! They ALL got eighty-sixed, 'cause nobody else even comes close! With a QUARTER of the world's cases AND deaths--can you even imagine how truly great, how awesome, that achievement is, with only just FOUR PERCENT of the world's population to work with? Believe it or not, I accomplished in only FIVE WEEKS what it took the Vietnam War a whole TWELVE YEARS to do! Not done with the fun--and not to be outdone--I then doubled down on the death toll from Vietnam in just FOUR MONTHS! PLUS, we're not even counting ALL the COVID-19 cases and deaths here in the U.S.! And, with only SEVEN PERCENT of the U.S. population already infected, we're just getting started with all the sickness and death; there's PLENTY more to come! Those other weaklings and losers don't stand a chance, because we're going to keep right on winning--as long as I'm in charge! Now, vacation's over; time to get back to work on increasing those numbers, people! Let's keep America great, get rid of all the excess baggage! As wartime President, I am commanding all CIVILIANS to senselessly sacrifice their lives for my arrogance, stupidity, vanity, malevolence, and greed!"
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There has never been a graceful exit for the losing side in any war.
Truth is, our hasty withdrawal from Vietnam was even worse if you look at the numbers and the whole picture. Only 7,000 were evacuated from Vietnam during the fall of Saigon, with many more left behind, including two dead American soldiers----the last to die in the Vietnam War----left behind in a hospital and not returned until a year later by the Vietnamese. That evacuation occurred under hostile NVA and Vietcong fire. Over 17,000 have already been evacuated from Afghanistan despite the complete capitulation of the Afghan government and Afghan Army in just 11 days, with no hostile fire upon American troops by the Taliban so far. Moreover, the January 27, 1973 peace agreement signed by the Americans with the North Vietnamese ended all direct U.S. military involvement in Vietnam, and provided sixty days for troop removal. Just as with Afghanistan, all troops were removed. However, it was over two years later, on April 30, 1975, when the fall of Saigon occurred. So, the U.S. had nearly two-and-a-half years to evacuate everyone else before the fall of the South Vietnamese government and armed forces, instead of just 11 days like in Afghanistan.
The other thing in stark contrast between Vietnam and Afghanistan is that no Democrats----including Carter, who was running against Ford for President----tried to use the situation for political gain like Republicans are so desperately and depravedly doing now. That, despite the fact that it was the previous Trump administration which bears the brunt of the blame for the current situation.
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The highly-coveted Top Prize for our contestants today is an all-funeral-expenses-paid romantic getaway for two aboard the magnificent Corona Queen, taking you for an exclusive extended cruise, to a secluded stay on the exotic, remote, tropical Isle of Covid-19, where the fun is SUPER-contagious, and you will luxuriously bask in fabulous face masks and rejuvenating oxygen respirators, with the wonderful scent of disinfectant surrounding you! Sure to be a lifetime experience for some lucky few! Just remember--the couple that dies together, stays together!
BONUS: Providing accompanying entertainment is Chief Jester Roberts and the entire Trump comedy team, featuring the Clown Commander, for laughs and coughs! There just ain't no cure, for them ocean cruise blues! Bon voyage!
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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What we are witnessing and feeling is an ongoing train wreck, from the vantage point of the passengers. The lunatic conductor of the LOCO-motive, Toxic Trump, knew the end-of-the-line was coming, yet kept increasing acceleration, anyway. He's still trying to pump the gas, even with the train off the track! We on the HELL bound train, now, Lucifer's demented and depraved minion absolutely determined, dedicated, DEVOTED to getting us all there on time!
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of corruption, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their deal with the Devil.
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To protect our health care and front-line workers, it is critical to protect ourselves and others! Protecting those most vulnerable groups among us--like the elderly, homeless, prisoners, minorities, and migrants--is one of the best ways of protecting ourselves! It's a win-win situation, folks--even without a global pandemic, but now especially! Conversely, it is actually Trump and the GOP's fear-mongering, stigmatization, bigotry, xenophobia, racism, cruelty and lack of compassion which endangers Americans. Ignorance kills.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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"Without accountability, an attempted autogolpe or insurrection is just practice."
"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ― Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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There has never been a graceful exit for the losing side in any war.
Truth is, our hasty withdrawal from Vietnam was even worse if you look at the numbers and the whole picture. Only 7,000 were evacuated from Vietnam during the fall of Saigon, with many more left behind, including two dead American soldiers----the last to die in the Vietnam War----left behind in a hospital and not returned until a year later by the Vietnamese. That evacuation occurred under hostile NVA and Vietcong fire. Since August 14, over 120,000 have already been evacuated from Afghanistan despite the complete capitulation of the Afghan government and Afghan Army, with no hostile fire upon American troops by the Taliban so far. Over 125,000 have been evacuated since the end of July. Moreover, the January 27, 1973 peace agreement signed by the Americans with the North Vietnamese ended all direct U.S. military involvement in Vietnam, and provided sixty days for troop removal. Just as with Afghanistan, all troops were removed. However, it was over two years later, on April 30, 1975, when the fall of Saigon occurred. So, the U.S. had nearly two-and-a-half years to evacuate everyone else before the fall of the South Vietnamese government and armed forces, instead of just the two weeks like in Afghanistan so far.
The other thing in stark contrast between Vietnam and Afghanistan is that no Democrats----including Carter, who was running against Ford for President----tried to use the situation for political gain like Republicans are so desperately and depravedly doing now. That, despite the fact that it was the previous Trump administration which bears the brunt of the blame for the current situation.
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@privatename3621 ~ From the viewpoint of those in bondage, a Civil War that had resulted in the splitting of the Union would have been catastrophic, and the South could certainly not have then been categorized as a representative democracy, either. Moreover, the potential consequences and ramifications of such a scenario would have extended far beyond slavery, affecting the future of both sides in unpredictable ways. More civil wars between the two sides would have been a possibility, if not probability, as each fought the other for new territory, and a greatly weakened United States would have certainly resulted, regardless.
A good many in the Republican cult ignorantly WANT another civil war. A recent poll found 40% of Republicans supporting a violent overthrow of government. Following is a comment have been posting for a couple of months, and a book review have been posting for the last few weeks:
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
'Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America' by Kathleen Belew (Harvard University Press, 2018)
The movement “brought together members of the Klan, militias, radical tax resisters, white separatists, neo-Nazis, and proponents of white theologies such as Christian Identity, Odinism, and Dualism” (ix). What was it about the movement that brought these ideologies together?
The promise of violence — rather, the promise that members would get to inflict violence on other people. Belew writes that as the white power movement matured, it became more violent, and “[as] violence came to the fore of the movement, distinctions among white power factions melted away” (60). Belew calls this process “violent community formation” (34). Yet as a social movement, Belew makes a distinction between the white power movement’s “revolutionary violence” and the Ku Klux Klan’s “vigilante violence.”
Vigilante violence “served to constitute, shore up, and enforce systemic power” (106). Given that the U.S. government has a long history of “defending vigilante violence by refusing to enforce the law” (99), law enforcement inaction and vigilante violence may be understood together as a case of one hand washing the other. Revolutionary violence, however, sought to overthrow the state. It is the white power movement’s goal of overthrowing the federal government that sets it apart in the history of white supremacy in the U.S.
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@privatename3621 ~ Fully concur. A lot of people blame the Fairness Doctrine, but it doesn't apply to cable news networks, never has, so reinstating the law that Reagan abolished would be, at best, a superficial remedy. The following commentary echoes much of the same perspective, and have been posting it for nearly five years in various incarnations, with minor updates:
The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over four decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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@privatename3621 ~ Education to the fascist Republican cult means programming lies, fears, and hate into people, while discouraging critical reasoning, independent thought, and objectivity.
Who'd have ever equated voting in America with survival? But that's pretty much what it has boiled down to, hasn't it? Survival of ourselves, survival of our democracy, survival of our nation, and survival of our planet. The irony is that Republicans have always tried to paint Democrats as an existential threat...but in doing so it is actually they who have become exactly that.
The above are two comments regularly posted, and are supplied here in concurrence with your threat assessment. Also, it is interesting to note that Reich-wing domestic terrorism has replaced climate change as the U.S. intelligence community's top threat to America, which is no mean feat.
I fully agree with your assessment about social media and for-hire political influencing operations like Cambridge Analytics. The fire was already burning, and those things were, and remain, akin to pouring gasoline upon it. Furthermore, what social media has done is allow bad actors to gather together independently in a way never before possible or so easy, creating in effect hundreds and thousands of separate, spreading wildfires.
As far as those close to Trump getting burned, they were already weak and corrupt, or they wouldn't have put themselves in that position----or, after finding themselves in such a position, would have left before allowing themselves to be tainted and ruined. So, I have little sympathy for them, for they brought the shame and disgrace upon themselves, and have no one else to blame but themselves for it.
It is for Republican so-called "leaders" especially for whom I have the least regard and the most condemnation; for they well know better, or should, but choose to exploit the situation for their own selfish ends, putting themselves not only before their oath and country, but also even before the best interests of their own political party. However, I also condemn and have little regard for the Republican cult voters who also are abdicating a duty they have, who choose deliberate obtuseness, or willful ignorance, over truth, reason, and decency, who willingly allow themselves to be manipulated and used as receptacles for the poison poured into them. They share responsibility, too, and are not innocent.
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@privatename3621 ~ That's the $64,000 question, isn't it? To which there are no good answers, or to which possible solutions are being blocked by intransigent Republicans. Worse, the situation and threat is being exacerbated by anti-democratic rhetoric and laws passed by Republicans.
My answer is using every tool at our disposal. Individual citizens condemning the GOP, voting Democrat, convincing others of the danger and to likewise vote Democrat. DOJ, state, and local prosecutors going after Trump and his cronies for crimes they have committed. Charging everyone involved with the January 6 terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol, including those responsible for inciting it, with sedition. Disbarment of and sanctions against any and all lawyers involved with perpetuating the Big Lie in our nation's court system through frivolous and baseless lawsuits. Lawsuits against Reich-wing media outlets and social media platforms when propaganda they carry causes harm, as with the events of January 6. Boycotting corporations making political donations to the GOP or its members. Civics education better teaching the fragile and delicate nature of our democracy, which stresses our individual responsibilities to stay informed, stay objective, vote wisely, and participate.
There is more that can and should be done, such as with Congress passing laws to better protect our institutions and voting rights, to better protect against corruption, and to inscribe expected norms into laws. However, such efforts are being, or are sure to be, blocked by Republicans.
Also support eliminating the Electoral College, and putting in place universal ranked or cardinal choice voting. Furthermore, believe the Senate has become an antiquated, undemocratic, and overly abused element of our government that is overdue for modification. Those changes are also unlikely to occur anytime soon, but support needs to be grown for them so that they one day become reality.
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@privatename3621 ~ I agree with your dire assessment. And how is it that when Republicans lose the popular vote but win they Presidency, anyway, that they claim a popular mandate, but when Democrats win the popular vote, the Presidency, the Senate, and the House, they deny Democrats a popular mandate?
My opinion is the filibuster needs to either be reformed so its use is extremely limited and restricted, or abolished. Since the change in Senate rules allowing it to be abused, it has become a joke and a tool for deadlock. Couple comments of mine previously posted on this, which match your own perspective:
Silly Sinema and Charlie Brown Manchin pretend not to understand the carrot and stick approach and how effective it can be. The want to neuter Senate Democrats by taking away the stick, deliberately obtuse that Republicans in Congress haven't been acting in good faith for many, many years, that they have no desire for bipartisanship, and that there is no incentive for them to change. Both ignore how Republicans ended the filibuster for SCOTUS nominees, and would eliminate it altogether in a heartbeat if found to their advantage. Silly Sinema and Charlie Brown Manchin care more about holding onto power and their own personal interests than their constituents and the good of the country.
Congressional Republicans just proved--once again--they are unwilling to operate in good faith, first in the House, now in the Senate, unwilling to even pass a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate the January 6 insurrection! Then, they filibustered EVEN debating the We the People Act, which has broad public support among both Democrats and Republicans! How many times does Lucy have to pull the football out at the last minute before Charlie Brown Manchin and Silly Sinema finally wise up? New voting rights protections sorely needed in the wake of new Republican Jim Crow legislation nationwide, a badly needed infrastructure and jobs bill, and numerous other pieces of critical legislation the Democrats want to pass don't stand a chance if the filibuster is allowed to stand. If Republicans are going to abuse the filibuster, then it's time to LOSE THE FILIBUSTER!!!
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Donald Trump, at White House press conference on 04/07/20:
And we’re going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO. We’re going to put a very powerful hold on it, and we’re going to see.
Trump later at that same press conference:
Q: Thanks. A quick follow-up on that. So is the time to freeze funding to the WHO during a pandemic of this magnitude?
THE PRESIDENT: No, maybe not. I mean, I’m not saying I’m going to do it, but we’re going to look at it.
Q: You did say that you’re going to —
THE PRESIDENT: We give a tremendous —
Q: You said you’d put a hold on it.
THE PRESIDENT: No, I didn’t.
Toxic Trump, one week later, on 04/14/20: "I'm withholding WHO funding!"
ME, US, the world: WTF?? Why in HELL is that raving lunatic STILL in charge during this major pandemic health crisis?!? Hasn't he KILLED enough Americans, ALREADY?!?
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As of 02/29/20 in the U.S.A., we still don't have the testing kits we need yet; don't know exactly when they will be available from CDC or elsewhere!!! Reliable testing protocol absolutely vital to assessing and containment of COVID-19!
~Oregon announes first presumptive death in U.S. from COVID-19, three new cases, one believed to be from community spread.
~Trump administration ignored and went against the advice of CDC top medical experts, brought infected patients back to the U.S. from Wuhan, China on the same plane as uninfected evacuees.
~U.S. workers WITHOUT protective gear assisted coronavirus evacuees, HHS whistleblower report states. Workers received Wuhan evacuees at two military bases in California without proper training or appropriate protective gear, alongside CDC in full hazmat attire. Whistleblower claims they were potentially exposed to COVID-19.
~First suspected community-spread case in N. California was untested for DAYS after disease contracted. CDC acknowledged Thursday that a California woman with coronavirus was made to wait days before she was tested for the disease because of the agency’s restrictive criteria about who may get tested. As a result of this case, CDC announces a whole new testing criteria is needed.
~On 02/28/20, we learned that there is a second SEPARATE COVID-19 case identified in California. Indications are that we have community spread from the unprotected government workers Trump administration sent to receive the Wuhan evacuees--once again, against the advice of medical experts.
~On 02/29/20, two new cases of COVID-19 in California and Oregon announced. Total cases in U.S. now stands at 64. Trump continues to lie about the epidemic, insisting only 15 Americans are infected.
~Trump places science-denier V.P. Pence--who also has no medical expertise--in charge of Federal response to COVID-19.
~Trump continues spreading misinformation on COVID-19, overly downplaying risk and danger, contradicting his own administration's health experts.
~DOW loses almost 1,200 in biggest single day loss EVER. Follows two previous day market losses of over 1,000--$3 TRILLION erased from American stocks in just THREE days. After seven straight days of losses, total market loss now stands at 12%, ERASING all gains made in the market under Trump over three years in just one WEEK..
~Face masks--which unless surgical-grade N95--have limited effectiveness and are impractical for extended wear. Recommended for those exhibiting any flu or cold-like symptoms; not yet recommended for those healthy at this point.
~CDC: "People should understand that their lives may be disrupted."
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian nationalism religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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"Without accountability, an attempted autogolpe or insurrection is just practice."
"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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"Without accountability, an attempted autogolpe or insurrection is just practice."
"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ― Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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Instead of insuring adequate testing, contact tracing, surveillance testing, medical equipment, staff, and medical supplies like PPE -- as just as critically, if not more, public adherence to pandemic guidelines like wearing masks and social distancing -- Toxic Trump and Republican leaders pushed strongly for reopening the economy too soon, against CDC guidelines, despite the grave warnings of scientists, experts, and doctors; despite common sense. Most Republican governors took the Putin puppet President's lead, not taking a deadly global pandemic seriously. We need to shutdown, again, and stay that way until we have testing and other capabilities, and we have the current raging spread back under FIRM control. Which means back to isolation for the American public. No sea cruise. No airline flight. No theme park. No barber or beauty salon. No tattoo. No school. Just stay at home. Again. All only because of criminal negligence by Republican leaders and some Americans who just had to be stupid, inconsiderate, and heartless. The whole nation suffers and mourns; the innocents punished alongside the perpetrators of this insanity.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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@angel794 ~ As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation—only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regurgitation
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump’s COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration…
Now reaching vacation destination!
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It's crystal clear that Trump, Boebert, Greene, Gosar and other Republicans like them are fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorism. The GOP has become radicalized to such an extent that it has essentially become a fascist terrorist organization, with members that fantasize and promote violence against their fellow Americans. While those Republican elected officials must be condemned and sanctioned, they are only a symptom of the disease poisoning a third of America, the most visible part of the cancer infecting our nation.
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
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Trump excluded the Afghan government from peace negotiations with the Taliban, legitimizing the Taliban by making a separate peace deal with them and delegitimizing the government we worked so long and hard at so much cost to build and support, while releasing 5,000 Taliban prisoners and agreeing to withdraw all U.S. forces by May 1, 2021, guaranteeing failure. Moreover, Trump eviscerated the refugee program for Afghan and Iraqi allies visa programs, creating a huge backlog over several years. A federal judge even ruled Trump's delaying of those visas illegal. Furthermore, Trump abandoned are Kurdish allies in Syria and Iraq. Trump and Pompeo could hardly have screwed up our foreign policy any worse, and the damage they did will take decades to repair. But the Republican cult morons are too stupid to know and too stupid to care; they'll just deny and try to shift blame, as usual.
Liz Cheney's right----it didn't have to happen this way: her father, Dick Cheney, and George Bush were responsible for the deterioration of affairs in Afghanistan by diverting troops and resources to conduct an illegal invasion of Iraq on the false premise of WMD and Iraq harboring terrorists. The situation in Afghanistan never recovered from that fatal mistake by Cheney and Bush; it allowed the Taliban to regroup and come back bigger and stronger than ever. Cheney and Bush's illegal war in Iraq also resulted in the emergence of ISIS.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
Democrats, Independents, others: WTF?!?
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If someone is chasing you with a gun and you have committed no crime, catches up with you and threatens you with said gun, do you just let them shoot you, or do you try to disarm them? It's no longer self-defense when someone puts their own self in harm's way, provoking violence, as the McMichaels did. Most police departments discourage citizen's arrests, expect people to call the police, not act on their own initiative to detain a suspect. What if Aubrey had been armed, and used his weapon to defend himself, killing the three White men? He would have been within his rights, and this story would have gone down very differently. How much you want to bet Aubrey would have been immediately arrested, anyway, unlike the three White men, simply because he was Black in a more rural area of Georgia? How much you want to bet that if it had been a White jogger who stopped for a brief time to explore a house under construction and left without having taken anything that nothing would have happened? I remember as a kid often exploring homes under construction, to see how they were built, to see how the floor plans were laid out, imagining how they might be after fully constructed. Never stole anything, never vandalized or tampered with anything, just walked around and looked. It was a pretty common practice among kids in my neighborhood. But Aubrey was Black, so it appears that right away the assumption was made that he was involved in something nefarious. Do you see the problem? If you don't, it's only because you choose to wear blinders. This is little or no different than the vigilante justice of the KKK, and the three White men have been indicted on federal charges of committing a hate crime and attempted kidnapping.
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@Pinky-lg3lz ~ Suspect that Aubrey was all ran out. He had jogged about 40 minutes already before turning around to go back home after stopping briefly to look at the house under construction, when the three White men chased him down with their vehicles. They must have had security cameras at the house under construction, because there is video of Aubrey just looking around, not touching anything. Thing is, Aubrey was wearing running shorts and a t-shirt, and there was no need to confront an unarmed man with a gun for what at worst might have been trespassing.
I'd like to think there isn't a racial aspect to this, that it was a horrible tragedy, but in light of all the facts about this case known, it's awfully hard to conclude otherwise. And it's easy to conclude that had not the three White men behaved as they did, Aubrey would still be alive. But some people are always looking to blame the victim in cases like this, which points to the larger problem of systemic racism in America. This also points to the problem of vigilante justice, and the use of force or weapons to make citizen's arrests.
Personally, in this situation, I wouldn't have assumed the worst simply because of the color of a person's skin. But even had I observed something more suspicious, or seen him stealing something from the construction site, I would have called the police. And if felt inclined to do more, it would have been to follow at a discreet distance on foot or in a vehicle to further help the police in locating him or potentially identifying him. There was really no need for any confrontation, especially with a gun.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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Question: Which are worse, Russian bots/apparatchiks attacking America to divide and weaken us, or their tools, the Republican cult dupes helping them?
Answer: The American fools, of course. While hostile foreign powers are an ever-present reality, the treasonous behaviors of the GOP against its own nation's democracy, well-being, and national security, and even its members own welfare, is the far greater evil. If it persists, this mighty nation will certainly perish in ignominy.
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“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Asked by reporters about the protestors gathering against pandemic lockdowns, the vast majority not wearing face masks or observing social distancing, Toxic Trump--who tweeted his supporters to "Liberate" three states with Democratic governors critical to his reelection, against his own administrations pandemic edicts and guidance, and in foment of partisan rebellion against state's governors during a Federal National Emergency declared against this pandemic--said, "They seem to be very responsible people to me!"
Trumpette insanity that should have us ALL livid with outrage! Not only are these Republican cult fools putting themselves, their loved ones, and everyone else in danger, they are putting an increased burden upon our already over-stressed health care workers and system, FURTHER endangering them and those they would serve. They put all our other essential front-line workers at increased risk, as well--those we need for our groceries and supplies, to keep the government, electric, gas and other critical infrastructure functioning. What's really, really stupid about their aberrant, irrational partisan cult behavior, is that they are only PROLONGING restrictive measures to contain COVID-19, EXTENDING the time until our economy can reopen fully, REDUCING the amount our economy can be opened--all of which DAMAGES Trump's reelection chances! But that isn't the worst of it. These Trumpettes ignorantly protesting are KILLING actual Americans, just as surely as they put a gun to their heads and pulled the trigger. Toxic Trump shares responsibility, but it is these GOP idiots who own primary responsibility for manslaughter. They should be charged, tried, and convicted, in our view. At the very, very least, they should have all been arrested for public endangerment. Ludicrous and lethal ignorance!
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Toxic Trump, at coronavirus press briefing 04/20/20, "We're looking at maybe "only" 50-60,000 deaths in the U.S.!" Just three days later, the toll surpassed 50,000; six days after that, it went over 61,000. On 05/04/20--a mere two weeks after Trump's delusional pronouncement--the U.S. reached 70,000 deaths. Less than a week later, on 05/10/20, the toll went over 80,000 American deaths. Because of many state and local governments opening up their economies too soon is blatant disregard of Trump administration's own guidelines, the CDC Mayday report projects new highs of 3,000 deaths and 200,000 new cases per DAY by June. That would put us at 100-150,000 deaths--just by the end of June, alone. That's acceptable, here in America? Since when?
New CDC projection on 05/15/20 of over 100,000 COVID-19 deaths by end of May. However, CDC projections have consistently undercounted cases and deaths, and this latest projection likewise appears to once again underestimate the deadly results of the U.S. sore lacking of national leadership in combating a deadly global pandemic. Fear COVID-19 deaths by the end of June will in actuality reach 150,000 - 200,000, nearly doubling in one month.
04/22/20 saw a new worst of nearly 2,700 COVID-19 deaths in a single day, topping the nearly 2,400 Americans lost on 04/14/20. Trump's claim was simply more of his wishful thinking, lies, and bogus claims. Clueless, disinterested, deranged, disengaged, and detached from reality are not the qualities you want in a leader during a major global pandemic crisis. That's a lethal combination that has already cost more American lives in just eight weeks than the Vietnam War in its entire twelve-year span.
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Elmer Fudd's always trying to convince me he just wants unity.
What he really means is that he wants to eat me.
Unity and compromise is a two-way street that only works if both parties operate in good faith. Republicans have a long history of failing to do that--or even try. Recent history since Biden won the election shows no indication of them changing their divisive, destructive words, attitudes, and acts. Tyrant Trump incited a terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol to overthrow an election, endangering his VP and members of Congress, sat by and gleefully reveled in watching it happen for hours, ignoring desperate pleas for help, and only a very few Republican are willing to speak out, impeach him, convict him, and prevent him from holding public office again? That's not loyal opposition; that's a dangerous terrorist political cult of fascists.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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'Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America' by Kathleen Belew (Harvard University Press, 2018)
The movement “brought together members of the Klan, militias, radical tax resisters, white separatists, neo-Nazis, and proponents of white theologies such as Christian Identity, Odinism, and Dualism” (ix). What was it about the movement that brought these ideologies together?
The promise of violence — rather, the promise that members would get to inflict violence on other people. Belew writes that as the white power movement matured, it became more violent, and “[as] violence came to the fore of the movement, distinctions among white power factions melted away” (60). Belew calls this process “violent community formation” (34). Yet as a social movement, Belew makes a distinction between the white power movement’s “revolutionary violence” and the Ku Klux Klan’s “vigilante violence.”
Vigilante violence “served to constitute, shore up, and enforce systemic power” (106). Given that the U.S. government has a long history of “defending vigilante violence by refusing to enforce the law” (99), law enforcement inaction and vigilante violence may be understood together as a case of one hand washing the other. Revolutionary violence, however, sought to overthrow the state. It is the white power movement’s goal of overthrowing the federal government that sets it apart in the history of white supremacy in the U.S.
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Worst economic downturn in American history, catastrophically botched COVID-19 pandemic response with over 160,000 senseless American deaths. TWENTY straight weeks of over ONE MILLION new unemployment claims. Deaths projected to double by the end of year due to most corrupt, incompetent, racist, and ignorant President in U.S. history. A treasonous President that compromised himself with Russia, who refuses to hold the U.S. principle foreign adversary accountable for its attacks on America, who won't even speak out against Russian bounties on U.S. soldiers. Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy: "Toxic Trump is doing a helluva job!" Rabid right-wing cult media is DESTROYING America!
What's really confusing America is Newsmax, Faux News, and all the other rabid right-wing media outlets propagating and spreading disinformation. Without the supporting cast of willing supplicant proto-fascist right-wing media exploiting and profiting from them, the lies and distortions of Toxic Trump and Republicans would hold very little power, and could not persist.
Anyone really all that surprised that the CEO of Newsmax, Chris Ruddy, is a dishonest partisan hack with no character or integrity whatsoever? If so, that's only because you've never seen Newsmax.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law?
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
~ "Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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You don't get denialism without nihilism. As life-long conservative Bill Kristol astutely pointed out, the Republican party has embraced nihilism. Republicans denying systemic racism; Republicans still labeling COVID-19 a "hoax;" Republicans refusing to wear masks or social distance after over half-a-million American fatalities from COVID-19; Congressional Republicans obstructing a COVID-19 stimulus bill certain to pass just to delay vital and urgently needed relief to Americans desperate for help; not one Congressional Republican in either chamber voting for the badly needed stimulus bill; Republican governors dropping mask mandates and all restrictions on businesses, heedless of rising case counts in their states and deadly new variants of the virus; and Republican leaders continuing to push the Big Lie that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen without evidence and in disregard of plentiful evidence and facts to the contrary, even AFTER their Big Lie incited a terrorist attack by a mindless Republican mob against the nation's Capitol in insurrection against the government, attempting to overturn a legitimate election, sieging, storming, sizing, sacking, defiling, defacing and disgracing America's citadel of, and temple to, democracy; and now Republicans attempting history revisionism, trying to sweep the January 6 insurrection under the rug, refusing to support a January 6 bipartisan commission----these are all prime examples of nihilism.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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Setting aside the sleazy immoral Reich-wing grifters at the top -- people like Trump, Congressional Republicans, Reich-wing demagogues and media -- the rank-and-file of the GOP has become a fascist cult. To be clear, Trump did not create the cult, it existed before him. He merely served as a unifying figure they chose to rally around and worship as their fool's gold god. Trump appealed to their basest nature and told them what they wanted to hear. Now, those Reich-wing grifters may have cultivated their cult to exploit for their own greed, power and vanity, but at least to some extent the Republican cult in turn seeks to exploit the GOP for their own various misguided purposes. They CHOOSE to be willfully ignorant, to believe or espouse the lies, because as a political calculus they shortsightedly see it as expedient to their ends.
What must also be taken into consideration are the characteristics of a cult. Why do people join a cult? Why do they choose to remain in a cult? No need to go into detail; the answers are largely common knowledge or easily researched. But it should be pointed out that in a complex world, the simplistic and rigid beliefs embraced by cults can be very alluring, no matter how fantastical and removed from reality. It should also be acknowledged that the Republican cult is not a monolithic entity, but an amalgamation of sects, including White supremacists, Christian nationalists, libertarians, sovereign nationals, anarchists, tax resistors, Qanon and other extremist fringe groups. Of course, not every Republican is an extremist, a fascist, or untethered from reality. But this latter more benign group is nevertheless part of the fascist Republican cult, complicit in their support of the whole, whether through their silent acquiescence and votes or willing assistance.
It's a very dangerous feedback loop, a vicious circle, one that as it sinks further into depravity its threat correspondingly rises, for as the Republican cult has over time been becoming increasingly more radicalized, we witness the election of more radical politicians to represent them, more radicalized Reich-wing media and demagogues to feed them propaganda. While some Republicans are leaving the GOP and some others are speaking out and trying to save their party, they constitute a weak minority, unfortunately.
In a normal, sane world, the Republican cult would have ended or been marginalized after the Mueller Report, after Trump's Ukraine shakedown and impeachment, after Trump's horrendous handling of a deadly global pandemic, after his election defeat, or after January 6th and his second impeachment. But that hasn't happened. Instead, the Republican cult continues to become increasingly more radicalized and extreme. As President Biden says, "We are in a battle for the soul of this nation." And that battle is far from over.
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--Instead of striving to bring out the best in people, Toxic Trump reveled in bringing out the very worst.
--Instead of uniting the country, Toxic Trump sought to divide us.
--Instead of abiding by and honoring our Constitution and the rule of law, Toxic Trump held them in disdain, disregarded them, and degraded them.
--Instead of strengthening democracy and our cherished institutions, Toxic Trump worked to diminish and destroy them.
--Instead of confronting a serious threat to Americans with a deadly global pandemic, Toxic Trump lied to the American people about it, ignored it, and refused to take any responsibility for his gross homicidal negligence.
--Instead of creating jobs, Toxic Trump was the first President since the Great Depression to preside over a net loss of jobs over his tenure.
--Instead of raising our standing and security in the world, Toxic Trump lowered and weakened it.
--Instead of draining the swamp, Toxic Trump turned into a noxious overflowing sewer.
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So, if as a clerk in my small conservative town I spew out anti-conservative jokes, my boss shouldn't reprimand me or fire me for exercising my right to free speech and driving away much of his/her business, because that would be stupid and illiberal of my boss? So, when the pedophile uses his free speech to advocate pedophilia, other people can't exercise their free speech to condemn such, because that would be stupid and illiberal? So, when fascism came to Nazi Germany, those speaking out against it and opposing it were stupid and illiberal?
The problem with this piece is that it engages in the logical fallacies of false equivalence and both-sidesism, without giving due consideration to, and glossing over, what has happened and continues to happen on the right. For instance, why does the 11% of those on the left think it may become necessary to resort to violence? It it because of the 30% on the right calling for violence to overthrow the government; the right promoting and girding for another civil war; the right arming themselves to the teeth, buying body armor and assault rifles; the growth of right-wing vigilantism; the right-wing armed protests at, and invasions of, state capitols; all the right-wing death threats against teachers, school board members, election officials, Democratic politicians; right-wing domestic terrorism becoming the #1 U.S. security threat according to U.S. intelligence agencies; the violent right-wing seditious insurrection seeking to overturn an election and democracy on January 6? Is that not then a perfectly rational reaction in the face of those circumstances? Conversely, the rational on the right for violence is to impose minority rule over the majority or a form of anarchy.
This piece ignores how extremism on one side causes a stiffening of resistance on the other side. It points out that most of those believing in conspiracy theories are extremists, but critically omits mention that nearly all of the conspiracy theorists are on the right. It critically omits how the right constantly traffics in lies, distortions, denialism, nihilism, racism, bigotry, Whataboutism, projectionism and propaganda. John Avalon knows all that, because he has covered it extensively before and how damaging and dangerous it is, but neglected to include that into consideration in this discussion.
No, Jonathon Haidt, the vast majority of those on the left are not "prejudiced" against business owners, the military, and Christians. In fact, many on the left serve or have served in the military, are business owners and workers, are Christians. What those on the left are opposed to is unnecessary, unjust, endless costly wars and the military industrial complex; Christian nationalists who would make America a (White) theocracy; businesses unjustly exploiting workers, violating safety and environmental regulations, buying off and corrupting politicians, and not paying their fair share of taxes.
When someone on the right says racist, homophobic, xenophobic, misogynistic, Islamophobic or other bigoted things, people on the left aren't saying you can't say that; they are saying it is wrong to say that and you shouldn't say that. Jonathan Haidt falsely labels that authoritarianism, which it is most certainly not. And if someone says racist or bigoted things at work, it doesn't matter if the boss in on the right or the left, that kind of behavior is not tolerated in the workplace, and that person is likely to be disciplined or terminated. That shouldn't be classified as authoritarianism, either.
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Let's just call January 6 what it actually was -- a Republican smash and grab, an act of violent larceny against democracy and our government, sedition employing domestic terrorism right out in open sight. It was just one of Trump's failed attempts to achieve an autogolpe.
"Without accountability, an attempted autogolpe and insurrection is just practice."
"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ― Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
So, why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. Because our democracy, our institutions, and our very security are seriously endangered. And because rule of law and justice for all really does matter.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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GOP cult is NOT the party of law and order, NOT the party of the Constitution and patriots, NOT the party of "values," NOT the party of "Christianity,"_* NOT the party of fiscal responsibility, NOT the party of clean government, NOT the party of freedom. It's the party of terrorism, lawlessness, corruption, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry, misogyny, Big Lies, crackpot conspiracy theories, unmitigated greed, gross hypocrisy, socialized taxpayer payouts for plutocrats, sedition, traitors, and tyranny.
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"As many as 70,000 Americans could be confirmed as infected with coronavirus by the end of next week, marking a “pretty dramatic” increase in the number of confirmed cases, the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, told his employees in an agency-wide conference call on 03/20/20."
Except 03/21/20 saw a 33% jump in U.S. cases, from 18,000 to over 24,000. If continuing at 33% every 24 hours, the number of confirmed cases is trending much higher than just 70,000 by 03/27/20. Suspect confirmed cases will be double that. Bear in mind, states hardest hit are not testing many people, saving the tests for those most in need. So the actual number of infected Americans is going to be far higher than just what limited testing of the population has so far confirmed. Don't think this fact is being given enough attention. More important than the number of cases confirmed is the number contracting the disease and not getting tested, spreading the disease, in many cases unknowingly. Hospital projections are for about 100 MILLION Americans to become infected, with about 500,000 dead from covid-19.
(Update 5: Friday, 03/27/20, confirmed U.S. cases 105,000--which is 50% over NIH high-end estimate; deaths 1,700 by end of day. The perspective for cases is significantly skewed low and thus highly misleading, however, as just 0.17% of U.S. population has been tested to date.)
03/29/20 -- 143,000 confirmed cases; 2,450 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
03/30/20 -- 165,000 confirmed cases; 3,250 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
03/31/20 -- 190,000 confirmed cases; 4,200 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
04/01/20 -- 217,000 confirmed cases; 5,150 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
04/02/20 -- 246,000 confirmed cases; 6,050 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/03/20 -- 278,000 confirmed cases; 7,150 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/04/20 -- 312,000 confirmed cases; 9,400 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/05/20 -- 338,000 confirmed cases; 9,700 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
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@brianmayabella5992 ~ That must be why the Vatican has all those problems, Doc! Besides, the Vatican is merely a small enclave within the city of Rome, Italy containing functionaries of the Catholic Church. It's just a small piece of land set aside for a religious order. Very different from a country with many citizens of all kinds.
As far as my family goes, none of us act like royalty or views each other as royalty. We treat each other with love and respect, and we earn love and respect in return. We work together for the common good. We make decisions together--nobody is a king, or a queen, or a prince or princess. If one calls their daughter princess (and who calls their son 'prince,' anyway?) it is used only as a form of endearment.
We have no servants, we expect no entitlements. Perhaps one day it is my turn to clean the bathroom; the next time one of the children's turn, then maybe the wife takes a turn at the chore. Perhaps the wife is the main breadwinner in the family, and the husband the principle caretaker of the house and children. This is modern life, and we are all richer for it. If you wish to live in the past, that is your choice...but then it is you who is ignorant.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
Democrats, Independents, others: WTF?!?
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Toxic Trump: "I'm the BEST, just absolutely CRUSHING the competition, with over TWO MILLION coronavirus cases and over 118--one-hundred and eighteen!!!--THOUSAND deaths! They ALL got eighty-sixed, 'cause nobody else even comes close! With a third of the world's cases and a quarter of deaths--can you even imagine how truly great, how awesome, that achievement is, with only just FOUR PERCENT of the world's population to work with? Believe it or not, I accomplished in only FIVE WEEKS what it took the Vietnam War a whole TWELVE YEARS to do! PLUS, we're not even counting ALL the COVID-19 cases and deaths here in the U.S.! Those other weaklings and losers don't stand a chance, because we're going to keep right on winning--as long as I'm in charge! Now, vacation's over; time to get back to work on increasing those numbers, people! Let's keep America great, get rid of all the excess baggage! As wartime President, I am commanding all CIVILIANS to senselessly sacrifice their lives for my arrogance, stupidity, vanity, malevolence, and greed!"
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Mr. McGringus ~ Don't agree at all with such cynicism as you express, which appears to reveal a degree of political naivete. For one thing, it is part of the problem, not any solution. Such false equivalencies give people a false excuse to support a thoroughly corrupt GOP and Republican cult created by decades of 24/7 Reich-wing media programming.
The above comment wasn't to suggest that every Democrat is perfect, or that the Democratic Party as a whole is perfect. Perfection can be an enemy of the good, and is, at any rate, a goal seldom realized. It is an overall look at the respective political parties, what they represent, what they hope to represent, and the trajectories each have taken.
Found it ironic that you categorically reject the entirety of our comment, while your last statement stands in confirmation of it.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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@ghostfenrir2338 ~ Positions of the two parties have flopped several times over the decades since Lincoln. To be clear, in Lincoln's time, Democrats were split between North and South on the issue of slavery, with many Democrats fighting on the Union side during the Civil War. However, the Republican party still bills itself as "the party of Lincoln." The party of Lincoln died shortly after he did. It's just another GOP lie in a long string of lies they constantly feed their Republican cult, just a disingenuous branding tactic, really.
The Republican party has actually become Orwellian; there is nothing whatsoever Lincolnesque about it, anymore. Meanwhile, the Democratic Party still firmly remains the party of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, Truman's desegregation of the military, and Johnson's Civil Rights, ever looking to expand upon those efforts in creation of a more inclusive, equal, just, and perfect union.
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TRUM_PLANNED_EMIC!
Given plenty of advance warnings about COVID-19, Toxic Trump chose not to heed the sound advice provided. We could have been Taiwan, with a comparative 100 deaths in the U.S.; or South Korea, with a comparative 1500 deaths here, after adjusted for population size. Taiwan had just seven deaths; South Korea less than 300. We got over 135,000 deaths already, with the count still rapidly rising, while we remain, still, firmly mired in the first wave of the disease. Even worse, after six months, we STILL lack the adequate testing and rational national response to contain the disease.
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"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic hyper-partisan Republican cult placing political party over truth, reason, and country.
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Last sighted, SD governor looked like a deer in between the rails, trapped in the headlight of a speeding locomotive. Decided her political religion and faith in Trump is more important than science, common sense, and the citizens of her state and nation. Her own medical experts warned her she was endangering people and the nation's food supply, but she still refuses to listen and lockdown the state, despite now having one of the nation's largest clusters of COVID-19. Our ignorance is killing us, people. And, it will only force isolation and other more onerous mitigation efforts to be prolonged, damaging our economy further, making recovery harder.
South Dakota’s governor resisted ordering people to stay home. Now it has one of the nation’s largest coronavirus hot spots.
Griff Witte -- Washington Post -- 04/13/20
As governors across the country fell into line in recent weeks, South Dakota’s top elected leader stood firm: There would be no statewide order to stay home.
Such edicts to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus, Gov. Kristi L. Noem said disparagingly, reflected a “herd mentality.” It was up to individuals — not government — to decide whether “to exercise their right to work, to worship and to play. Or to even stay at home.”
And besides, the first-term Republican told reporters at a briefing this month, “South Dakota is not New York City.”
But now South Dakota is home to one of the largest single coronavirus clusters anywhere in the United States, with more than 300 workers at a giant pork-processing plant falling ill. With the case numbers continuing to spike, the company was forced to announce the indefinite closure of the facility Sunday, threatening the U.S. food supply.
Increasingly exasperated local leaders, public health experts and front-line medical workers begged Noem to intervene Monday with a more aggressive state response.
“A shelter-in-place order is needed now. It is needed today,” said Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken, whose city is at the center of South Dakota’s outbreak and who has had to improvise with voluntary recommendations in the absence of statewide action.
But the governor continued to resist. Instead, she used a media briefing Monday to announce trials of a drug that President Trump has repeatedly touted as a potential breakthrough in the fight against the coronavirus, despite a lack of scientific evidence.
“It’s an exciting day,” she boasted, repeatedly citing her conversations with presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner.
The piecemeal approach to combating the coronavirus in South Dakota offers a throwback to America’s not-so-distant past, the period around a month ago when governors were still leery of using their powers to shut down restaurants and bars or to order people, for the greater good, to stay at home.
It also may offer a glimpse of the country’s near-term future, as pressure builds — not least from the president — to reopen after a weeks-long shutdown. Trump has been eager to get the economy on its feet again by the beginning of May after record rises in unemployment claims and dramatic falls in the stock market.
Yet as South Dakota’s experience shows, no part of the country is immune to being ravaged by the virus. And rescinding orders that people stay at home — or declining to issue them, as in the case of South Dakota and four other states — offers plenty of peril.
Reopening the country by May is “not even remotely achievable,” said TenHaken, who, like Trump and Noem, is a Republican. “We’re in the early innings of this thing in Sioux Falls.”
Already, the experience has been harrowing: As of early April, the city had relatively few cases. But over the course of last week, the numbers surged as the virus ripped through the city’s Smithfield Foods production plant, a colossus that employs 3,700 people — many of them immigrants — and churns out 18 million servings of pork product per day.
On Monday alone, 57 more workers were confirmed to have positive diagnoses, bringing the total well above 300 — and making it one of the country’s largest clusters. Other major clusters include Cook County Jail in Chicago and the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier.
The Smithfield cases amount to more than a third of the state’s overall total, which stood at 868 on Monday, including six deaths, in a state of nearly 900,000 people.
Over the weekend, Smithfield bowed to growing pressure and said it would shutter the facility indefinitely in a bid to contain the spread — though Smithfield leaders cautioned that the action could severely disrupt the nation’s food supplies. The factory, like other food production facilities, had earlier been deemed essential by the federal government.
The shutdown of the Sioux Falls plant, coupled with other closures, “is pushing our country perilously close to the edge in terms of our meat supply,” Kenneth Sullivan, Smithfield president and chief executive, said in a statement. “It is impossible to keep our grocery stores stocked if our plants are not running.”
Before the closure, workers had complained that they were not given sufficient access to protective gear, such as masks. The company said Thursday that it had taken steps to reduce the spread, including “adding extra hand sanitizing stations, boosting personal protective equipment, continuing to stress the importance of personal hygiene.” But workers said they were required to work so closely together that it was impossible to stay healthy.
“There is no social distance,” said Lily, a 30-year-old Mexican immigrant who had worked at the plant for nearly 13 years but quit because she feared bringing the coronavirus home to her husband and young daughter.
Lily, who spoke on the condition that her last name not be published for fear of retribution, said it is not only at work where she feared the virus. “Many people are sick. Not only in the plant — in the whole city,” she said.
Without a more assertive response from state government — including stay-at-home orders in at least the surrounding counties and a declaration of a statewide public health emergency — Sioux Falls mayor TenHaken said he fears the spread will continue.
“The virus doesn’t know boundaries. The virus doesn’t know city limits,” he said. “We’re responding the best we can at the local level but quite honestly with a limited tool set.”
TenHaken’s plea for state action has also been made by public health professionals.
The South Dakota State Medical Association wrote Noem a letter April 3 warning the governor that the state “may soon face the challenges and hardships currently being seen in New York and other large cities across the country if a shelter in place order is not issued immediately.”
Noem is one of five governors representing relatively rural states — North Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska and Arkansas are the others — still resisting such calls. All are Republicans, and all have used similar justifications for going against the national grain.
In Arkansas, Gov. Asa Hutchinson has boasted of his state’s “very targeted response” and argued that other states have so many exemptions to their stay-at-home orders that they “override the rule.”
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has said that keeping people at home takes a toll on their mental health and that “suicides and domestic abuse” would rise.
Noem has perhaps gone even further than others, however, citing the principle of individual liberty and the limitations of government to dictate people’s behavior — even when public health may depend on it.
Citing scientific modeling, the governor acknowledged this month that up to 70 percent of residents in her state may ultimately fall ill with covid-19. But, she suggested, it wasn’t up to government to tell them how to behave.
“The people themselves are primarily responsible for their safety,” she said. “They are the ones that are entrusted with expansive freedoms.”
Noem on Monday continued to defend her approach, saying the state had high levels of voluntary participation in social distancing strategies — “much greater than some of those states that issued shelter-in-place orders.”
She also said that spikes in case numbers, such as the one at Smithfield, had been “expected” and that the state’s numbers overall were trending in the right direction.
Noem, who said she was closely coordinating with the White House, focused her remarks on a trial of hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malarial drug that President Trump has frequently touted as a possible remedy for the coronavirus, though its effectiveness has not been proved. Scientists in Brazil stopped a study of a similar drug in coronavirus patients after some developed irregular heart rates.
She batted away questions about a statewide stay-at-home order — or even countywide ones. But public health experts say such an order is what’s needed, even in a rural state such as South Dakota.
“In rural areas, there’s less access to health care,” said DenYelle Kenyon, director of the public health program at the University of South Dakota. “And all it takes is one case to spread to a small community.”
Front-line medical workers, too, have been outspoken in calling for the state to step up.
More than 160 county and city leaders in South Dakota have also petitioned Noem, urging her to declare a statewide public health emergency.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/south-dakotas-governor-resisted-ordering-people-to-stay-home-now-it-has-one-of-the-nations-largest-coronavirus-hot-spots/ar-BB12zTcc?li=BBnb7Kz
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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If you're not very sophisticated, know little about the Constitution and impeachment, and didn't listen objectively to the other three expert witnesses on Constitutional law, then you might come away with the wrong idea that Professor Turley was credible. You do realize that Turley's whole testimony ADVOCATES impeachment, simply asking for more witnesses, which Democrats very much want to have testify, but refuse to let Trump run out the clock in the courts with baseless legal appeals blocking evidentiary materials and their testimony?
Professor Turley disgraced himself and his employer, Georgetown University, getting taken to the mat repeatedly and completely outclassed by three experts from other universities. While clearly knowledgeable about Constitutional law and history, Professor Turley failed to present any rational academic argument against impeachment, choosing instead to turn a blind eye to high crimes, unprecedented total obstruction of Congress oversight and impeachment powers, this President's penchant for perversions and abuses of power, and dire national security concerns...while making false allegations, engaging in false equivalencies, projecting undue bias and playing coy. Although much value and greatly appreciate opposing perspectives, Professor Turley's performance was an act of bad faith and intellectual dishonesty, demonstrating a critical lack of integrity, of which Georgetown University, its students, and its alumni should all be ashamed, as it reflects very poorly on them and their fine institution. This was a fool willingly made a Republican cult tool, and the motivation appears more self-interst than altruistic--at a time when all sane, loyal hands are crucially required on deck.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance.
In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump leaves office, the one out of every 800 Americans will have died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 400,000 fatalities, about as many American casualties as WWII. It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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U.S. SCROTUM's Chief Jester "KILLER" Roberts -- America's worst!
By a 5–4 Vote, SCOTUS Lets Wisconsin Throw Out Tens of Thousands of Ballots
The conservative majority just approved one of the most brazen acts of voter suppression in modern times.
By Mark Joseph Stern -- Slate -- April 06, 2020
Unfortunately for the nation, Wisconsin Republicans decided that they would prefer to exploit the pandemic to suppress Democratic votes. Their state Supreme Court, dominated by partisan Republicans, allowed them to do so. And now the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned the only protection in place to ensure that voters could still safely cast ballots even if the state fails to provide them expediently. This election looks increasingly like a sham tainted by partisan manipulation. And now the most powerful court in the nation has approved these tactics. An election that forces voters to choose between protecting their health and casting a ballot is not a free and fair election. Nor should its results be treated as indisputably legitimate. The courts may have permitted Republicans to rig this election, but Wisconsinites are under no obligation to pretend that its outcome reflects the will of the people.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/04/supreme-court-wisconsin-absentee-ballots.html
NOTE: This was all about Republicans forcing an election during a pandemic to supress Democrat voters, so they could win the deciding seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The reason why this partisan power play by Republicans in Wisconsin State Legislature, Wisconsin Supreme Court, and U.S. Supreme Court bent over backwards to endanger, sicken, and kill Wisconsin voters and their families: so that after a decade of egregious Republican voter suppression and gerrymandering in Wisconsin, they want their Republican judge to decide a case throwing out 200,000 Wisconsin voter registrations, further disenfranchising and supressing voters there. But, it gets even worse. A further detrimental effect of this Republican attack against democracy was that they robbed vital PPE from medical and other front-line workers at a very critical time, to be wasted on poll workers unnecessarily, because the election could have been easily suspended, just aa 13 other states had already done.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It's that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don't care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another five months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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@robm.4512 ~ Agreed. The willful ignorance exhibited is pathetic and disturbing.
Also, there's no substitute for reading and teaching appreciation of good literature to gain empathy, understanding of the human condition and different cultures, imagination, critical thinking, equality and tolerance.
Here in the U.S. the Republican cult skews to the older. Some are middle-aged, but the few younger ones tend to live mostly in less-populated rural areas, where social culture lags. It's a dying breed taking it's last big, desperate gasp. Not that the threat is going away anytime in the very near future, or that remnants won't remain, but expect its size and relevance to soon start dwindling, and be history before too long.
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@robm.4512 ~ You "ramble on" less than we do, so no worries, mate. Think that what has happened in the U.S. with Trump has been a confluence of events, resulting in a 'perfect storm,' if you will.
Entropy, certainly, as our standards of living increase (if not a corresponding increase in happiness), there is a tendency to become too comfortable, too complacent. Democracy can be a very fragile thing, long and hard-won, yet quickly and easily lost, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence by its citizenry. Another factor, which you pointed out, is a culture backlash. A loose analogy might be a mountain-climbing team, whose speed of ascent is limited by the slowest member of the team. Other aspects include anti-science, anti-intellectualism resentment, fears of a dwindling White majority, a feedback loop between the exploited and those exploiting--both becoming subsumed by, both becoming part and parcel of, the whole. A misunderstanding and irrational fear of globalization, for which there can be legitimate concerns involved. A resistance to change, which may be requisite, such as in the case of global warming, due to fear, disinformation, and misinformation provoking misunderstanding, content with the status-quo, and an unwillingness to make needed sacrifices and alterations to people's routines.
This list is doubtless incomplete; there are certain to be other aspects or factors we are missing or forgetting here, but it should provide ample evidence of the confluence mentioned, nonetheless. It also shows how the problem should not be viewed too simplistically. Don't know if you caught it, but one our replies above in this thread to Desean Long contains an excellent article and link on the problem of nationalism that has been manifesting itself in the U.S. and other nations around the world. Being in the UK you are of course intimately familiar with Brexit. Nationalism had always been closely associated with fascism, and not to be confused with patriotism, but as the decades pass and new generations are born, we have collectively begun to forgot or misplace the importance of those hard-learned lessons.
If you hadn't already read it, reposted below the article and link mentioned, and we will append a second reply (because of length restrictions) sharing some of our own thoughts on the Republican cult.
America’s Next Authoritarian Will Be Much More Competent
Zeynep Tufekci -- November 6, 2020
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/america-s-next-authoritarian-will-be-much-more-competent/ar-BB1aLJ6q?ocid=msedgntp
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@robm.4512 ~ You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It’s that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes have to KNOW at some level he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don’t care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn’t want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it’s more than hope—those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another two months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn’t really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
“The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.”
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump’s hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic hyper-partisan Republican cult placing political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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GOP cult: “Democracy is great…only so long as we can subvert it with lies, cheating, a multitude of Jim Crow voter suppression laws, egregious gerrymandering, obstruction, coups, election interference, election fraud, sedition, insurrection and terrorism to gain power and maintain our corrupt, plutocratic, minority fascist rule!”
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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In typical Republican Orwellian fashion, down is up, white is black, and anti-fascists are fascists. But do you know why the Reich-wing hates anti-fascists so much and tries so hard to demonize and vilify them? It's not really because anti-fascists try to deter and counter violence from fascist white supremacists, although that does dull efforts by white supremacists to intimidate and terrorize decent folk. No, the primary reason is because anti-fascists expose and publicize the identities of white supremacists. And in typical Republican Orwellian fashion, the creepy Cringeshow video engages in projectionism, trying to project strength, patriotism, and fearlessness upon fascist Republicans, and the opposite upon those opposing them, when, in fact, it is fascist Republicans who have continually demonstrated themselves to be weak, unpatriotic, and cowardly.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Just For Fun ~ Just ignore the Russian bot troll sock-puppets; they're not going to be convinced of anything. Of course, sane people were listening to ALL the doctors and experts, and conflicting reports from the White House Chief of Staff, so it was obvious Trump's medical team were acting as spin doctors, instead of responsible doctors informing the public properly so as NOT to induce doubt, conspiracies, and panic.
And, sure enough, we come to find out they were NOT being truthful to the public. They still aren't telling us the whole truth about the timeline when Toxic Trump got himself infected, because that would make him look bad, going around as some kind of Typhoid Mary, spreading COIVD-19 to his donors, staff, government workers, and supporters.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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You don't get denialism without nihilism. As life-long conservative Bill Kristol astutely pointed out, the Republican party has embraced nihilism. Republicans still labeling COVID-19 a "hoax;" Republicans still refusing to wear masks or social distance after over half-a-million American fatalities from COVID-19; Congressional Republicans obstructing a COVID-19 stimulus bill certain to pass just to delay vital and urgently needed relief to Americans desperate for help; not one Congressional Republican in either chamber voting for the badly needed stimulus bill; Republican governors dropping mask mandates and all restrictions on businesses, heedless of rising case counts in their states and deadly new variants of the virus; and Republican leaders continuing to push the Big Lie that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen without evidence and in disregard of plentiful evidence and facts to the contrary, even AFTER their Big Lie incited a terrorist attack by a mindless Republican mob against the nation's Capitol in insurrection against the government, attempting to overturn a legitimate election, sieging, storming, sizing, sacking, defiling, defacing and disgracing America's citadel of, and temple to, democracy--these are all prime examples of nihilism.
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Merrick Garland: "Trump and Congressional Republicans screwed me out of a seat on the Supreme Court...that's why now as AG I can't prosecute them for the many crimes they've committed!"
Merrick Garland’s House Testimony Demonstrated the Failure of His Hyper-Cautious Approach to His Job
Despite Garland’s many efforts to not appear political by declining to investigate Trump and his cronies for possible crimes and by using DOJ resources to actively protect Trump from civil liability, Republicans are still portraying him as the most political attorney general in history.
The other weakness of Garland’s timid approach was on full view during his opening statement and responses to Democratic members of Congress. “The essence of the rule of law is that like cases are treated alike. That there not be one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans; one rule for friends, another for foes,” Garland stated grandly. But by declining to investigate Trump and his associates, Garland is enabling further attacks on our democracy. (While proving inequity by putting Republicans above the law.)
Crucially, the two parties are not the same. Garland’s standard sets up a false equivalency between the Democratic Party and a political party whose national leader, Donald Trump, incited and celebrated a violent assault on our nation’s Capitol to overthrow the results of a free and fair election and who continues to portray the insurrection as a glorious “protest.” To that end, in the middle of the attorney general’s testimony, Trump issued a statement highlighting Garland’s feebleness at failing to even investigate the organizers and leaders of the Jan. 6 events, declaring “the insurrection took place on November 3, Election Day. January 6 was the Protest!”
Garland’s efforts to depoliticize the DOJ have proved to be an abdication of his responsibility to protect the rule of law. Take just a few examples: Garland’s failure to reconsider the obstruction of justice case against the former president, his deferral of an investigation of possible financial crimes by Trump and his organization to local prosecutors in New York City and Westchester, his use of the DOJ to protect Trump from defamation allegations, and his deferral of a soliciting of voter fraud felony probe in Georgia to local prosecutors there. By abdicating his responsibility, Garland is also opening the door for Trump to commit these possibly criminal abuses all over again, this time with the full support of the Republican Party, and maybe ultimately return to power.
--Mark Stern
"Try as he may, Merrick Garland cannot perform boring independence fast enough to outrun GOP claims that he’s a wild-eyed, violent socialist. And while the GOP currently exists only to cast everything you thought you believed into doubt, the real endgame is vigilantism. The endgame is to ensure that people mistrust government, election systems, school boards, (teachers, health care officials) the media, and the justice system enough to lend a hand in their destruction."
--Dahlia Lithwick
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Child-in-Chief Toxic Traitor Trump went to the poisoned well once too often, got caught by Mommy with BOTH hands in the cookie jar! Now, after he's done paying the Piper Pelosi, there's still gonna be the very Devil to pay! Appears as if his whole crazy, corrupt, clueless crew is going down with the MF ship; B.S. Barr, Munchkin Mnunchin, Goofy Giuliani, RossPutin, KKK McKleenan, Misfit Morgan, SmellyAnne Con-her-way, Poopy Pants Pompass Pompeo, Stephen "Mole" Miller, Captain Confused Carson, Voss Be The Problem, OG Kushner, etc. etc. Good riddance and Godspeed!
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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@ashroskell ***MEDIA FAIL**** -- The "good" German soldier: "I didn't leave the Nazi party, it left me!" Sounds just like some Republicans, doesn't it? Problem for them is, no matter how they might pride themselves on being right in opposing Trump, they're still supporting the machine supporting him. They're still enabling Trump, in the mistaken belief the GOP represents their values, when it never really did in the first place. This Republican reporter from the Daily Beast points to his strong conviction in the rule of law, no less! Gee, as if that was only a Republican trait, instead of the basic expectation of any good American, irrespective of political affiliation! He doesn't understand his own brainwashing, how he is part of the problem!
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Republican cult placing political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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GOP cult is NOT the party of law and order, NOT the party of the Constitution and patriots, NOT the party of "values," NOT the party of fiscal responsibility, NOT the party of clean government, NOT the party of freedom. It's the party of terrorism, lawlessness, corruption, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry, misogyny, Big Lies, socialized taxpayer payouts for plutocrats, sedition, traitors, and tyranny.
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No question that Toxic Trump wants to manipulate the data to paint a rosy picture, sacrificing American lives for his own personal gain. But states are doing nearly all the testing, not the feds. State and private labs are doing nearly all the test processing. The big failure regarding this aspect of the catastrophically failed pandemic response is Putin puppet-pie President Nero's criminal negligence in failing to authorize the Defense Production Act to build capacity for testing and TIMELY processing.
It's not just about quantity of tests. More important is quality. Most critically, it is taking TWO WEEKS or more to obtain the TEST RESULTS unless hospitalized. Due to the long lab processing times due to lack of capability and backlog, the contact tracing needed to contain and control the spread becomes no longer practical or tenable, creating an untenable situation of contagion, hospitalizations, and subsequent avoidable deaths. While some infected people waiting for test results may quarantine themselves, many others taking routine tests, who may be positive and asymptomatic, will not, unwilling or unable to wait that long for their results to come back. This latter group is spreading the disease in their communities. Until we have TIMELY TEST RESULTS, the quantity of tests administered is a largely MEANINGLESS figure. While true the U.S. is STILL only performing just a fraction of the COVID-19 testing needed, ramping up testing won't help unless or until the turnaround processing time problem is fixed and ALL test results can be obtained within less than 48 hours.
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Trump and Republicans are like Jack and his band of boys in 'Lord of the Flies' who went native and turned barbaric. Ralph, Simon, Piggy and the other group of boys represent the rest of us who value civilization and order. Just as Jack and his band turned savage, killing and cannibalizing their fellow students on the deserted island they landed upon, Trump and Republicans, manically obsessed with power, money and vanity, have also turned savage, rejecting responsibility, reason, civility, morality, and science, killing their fellow Americans and cannibalizing our government. Except there will be no adults arriving to save those of us trying to do the right thing, like in the classic tale. We are the adults, and it is strictly up to us to save ourselves and this country from the fascistic, nihilistic impulses of Trump and Republicans.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
― Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again." ― Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney
More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of plutocrats, the party of corruption, the party of anti-democracy, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their pact with the Devil.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion. obstruction of justice, and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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@spud8500 ~ No, you were wrong because Jefferson "legally" owned all his slaves, and he did not "free all of them," nowhere even close to that. In fact, there was no lien upon any of the slaves he held. His property and his slaves were not seized and auctioned off by his debtors. Instead, just as Jefferson had inherited some debt from his father-in-law, his offspring inherited his debt. He could have freed all of his slaves before his death had he wished, but he didn't.
Moreover, Jefferson admitted that he spent too much on luxurious items, such as building Monticello, and that he was a poor manager of money. Also, Jefferson benefited from both a fund-raising effort and a public lottery to settle some of his debt before he died. So, because Jefferson was careless with his financial affairs, that was somehow the fault of his slaves, and it was right that they must bear the price of his negligence and spendthrift ways by being sold off as human chattel to other slaveowners? Don't think so. You're wrong on the facts, and wrong on the moral argument.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or "the Wall") is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle's name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called "leaders" in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 -- than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to--and a barrier against--our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It's design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge--and help teach--people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see...if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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America's enemies don't need to spread disinformation, doubt, discord, and division to weaken America, kill Americans--Republican politicians, Reich-wing demagogues, Faux News, OAN, Newsmax, Breitbart and the rest of the Reich-wing media do that so effectively for them, already. More Americans need to realize that the GOP has abdicated it's duty as loyal opposition, and that its prioritization of party over country and welcoming embrace of violent radical Reich-wing extremists diminishes both our government and our national security, endangering ALL Americans, as well as weakening and endangering America itself.
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War against a foreign country only happens when the moneyed classes think they are going to profit from it. ~ George Orwell
"Peace is not a very big thing to ask for, is it?" ~ Fatima Gailani, Afghan activist and negotiator, pleading for continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan
It is when asking the Taliban, who do not seek peace or to bargain in good faith, but total domination once again. U.S. has spent 20 years and over $2 trillion trying to achieve peace in Afghanistan, losing over 4000 American lives (military and civilian contractors), with tens of thousands of Americans wounded there.
"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials … have given Afghans little reason to support their government," Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the commander of U.S. forces in the country, wrote in a 2009 memorandum. "This crisis of confidence, coupled with a distinct lack of economic and educational opportunity, has created fertile ground for the insurgency."
That was 11 years ago, and little has changed since. Thought the invasion of Afghanistan by Bush was a mistake that would lead to a quagmire, and have been proven correct. Still, initially supported efforts to bring peace and stability there, along with basic human and civil-rights, because after invading felt we had an obligation to rebuild. However, while U.S. blunders there have contributed to a failure, Afghans are their own worst enemy, and no one can help them until enough of them are willing to help themselves.
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Whole trouble is that the U.S. still doesn't have any rational national pandemic response, nor the prerequisite adequate testing capabilities. That's why the U.S. STILL remains the epicenter of this pandemic after four months. It's why we now need the whole nation to lock down with only truly essential workers, until we bring the raging inferno down to a few small brush fires. Thing is, if EVERYONE followed the simple guidelines during lockdown, we could probably have COVID-19 under firm control with proper testing and tracing within just six weeks. Even if not everyone cooperates, we'd still have saved countless Americans, and put ourselves in a much better position to begin slowly reopening the economy. Unfortunately, because of Toxic Trump, irresponsible, corrupt Congressional Republicans, and a mindless Republican cult, we're ALL stuck in a disaster zone for the near foreseeable future.
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@crash24420 ~ Agreed. Toxic Trump is the symptom, the inevitable culmination, the rotten fruit of the poisoned tree. The disease creating the Republican cult existed long before, and will likely persist for some time after.
Republican cult morons rail against the very "elite" they keep voting for, who give tax cuts to the rich and have created the greatest income inequality and wealth disparity in American history.
Why? They are driven by the divisive fear and bigotry programmed into them 24/7 by the Reich-wing media and propaganda owned or funded by the plutocracy. It's absolutely Orwellian, and it began around 1984 in America. What is witnessed now is just the rotten results from the poisoned tree bearing fruition. It's the disease killing America that existed long before COVID-19, and which is likely to persist long after.
Republican cult going to believe what the Republican cult wants to believe, whatever the truth, whatever proof, whatever anybody says. "Healing" the country means deprogramming the 30-40% of Americans deep in cultdom. That needs to be recognized, acknowledged, and acted upon if we truly wish to revive the patient, America, and restore it to glory.
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@theimmortal4718 ~ Clearly, you're the one got triggered and butthurt, Doc, so you lie, you deny, you point fingers at the other guy! Keep proving our point, again, and again! Gotta love it, but it's starting to get redundant, proving what we already knew, anyway. But, go ahead, knock yourself out if you want. Prove how the so-called "Immortal" is only an infinitely boring mortal, after all.
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of corruption, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their deal with the Devil.
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@cherylnichollsjones4862 ~ As with all of my YouTube commentary, feel free to repost or share--no accreditation even necessary! Some other original commentary you may also appreciate:
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian nationalism religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or "the Wall") is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle's name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called "leaders" in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. has ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 -- than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to--and a barrier against--our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It's design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge--and help teach--people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see...if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
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Bush v. Gore, Citizens United, Shelby County v. Holder, Rucho v. Common Cause, Chief Jester Roberts smiling and nodding along while presiding over sham Senate impeachment trial, Assassination Goon B.S. Barr butchering the law, slaughtering justice, politicizing and weaponizing the DOJ. So, now, thanks to conservative Justices on SCOTUS, we have partisan Republican judges deciding elections instead of voters; a return to Jim Crow laws promoting voter suppression; unlimited dark money in elections buying off politicians; a lack of accountability enabling the Executive Branch to blackmail and coerce foreign governments into interfering in our elections, severely degrading our national security; and legalization of even the most egregious Republican gerrymandering. In essence, a deck stacked heavily in favor of corrupt, racist, anti-democratic Republican minority rule over the majority. It's why we lost all respect for these conservative Supreme Courts, the law, and the justice system in this country.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle to grift their voters and us taxpayers.
You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
Republicans have had lots and lots of practice gaslighting and revising history. Pretty soon, they're going to make the GOP disappear! They're already on the wrong side of history, yet keep edging ever closer to extinction.
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and disturbing. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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Merrick Garland: "Trump and Congressional Republicans screwed me out of a seat on the Supreme Court...that's why now as AG I can't prosecute them for the many crimes they've committed!"
Merrick Garland’s House Testimony Demonstrated the Failure of His Hyper-Cautious Approach to His Job
Despite Garland’s many efforts to not appear political by declining to investigate Trump and his cronies for possible crimes and by using DOJ resources to actively protect Trump from civil liability, Republicans are still portraying him as the most political attorney general in history.
The other weakness of Garland’s timid approach was on full view during his opening statement and responses to Democratic members of Congress. “The essence of the rule of law is that like cases are treated alike. That there not be one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans; one rule for friends, another for foes,” Garland stated grandly. But by declining to investigate Trump and his associates, Garland is enabling further attacks on our democracy. (While proving inequity by putting Republicans above the law.)
Crucially, the two parties are not the same. Garland’s standard sets up a false equivalency between the Democratic Party and a political party whose national leader, Donald Trump, incited and celebrated a violent assault on our nation’s Capitol to overthrow the results of a free and fair election and who continues to portray the insurrection as a glorious “protest.” To that end, in the middle of the attorney general’s testimony, Trump issued a statement highlighting Garland’s feebleness at failing to even investigate the organizers and leaders of the Jan. 6 events, declaring “the insurrection took place on November 3, Election Day. January 6 was the Protest!”
Garland’s efforts to depoliticize the DOJ have proved to be an abdication of his responsibility to protect the rule of law. Take just a few examples: Garland’s failure to reconsider the obstruction of justice case against the former president, his deferral of an investigation of possible financial crimes by Trump and his organization to local prosecutors in New York City and Westchester, his use of the DOJ to protect Trump from defamation allegations, and his deferral of a soliciting of voter fraud felony probe in Georgia to local prosecutors there. By abdicating his responsibility, Garland is also opening the door for Trump to commit these possibly criminal abuses all over again, this time with the full support of the Republican Party, and maybe ultimately return to power.
--Mark Stern
"Try as he may, Merrick Garland cannot perform boring independence fast enough to outrun GOP claims that he’s a wild-eyed, violent socialist. And while the GOP currently exists only to cast everything you thought you believed into doubt, the real endgame is vigilantism. The endgame is to ensure that people mistrust government, election systems, school boards, (teachers, health care officials) the media, and the justice system enough to lend a hand in their destruction."
--Dahlia Lithwick
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@chrisccc22 ~ As an atheist, am largely in agreement with many of your observations. Religious texts forming the basis of many religions is generally neither all bad, nor all good, however. As with many things, it requires a process of separating the wheat from the chaff, the nutritious from the poisoned. It should be noted that for most Christian denominations--Catholics, Protestants, Methodists, Episcopalians, etc.--the focus and heavy emphasis is placed upon the New Testament, not the Old.
The problem with many Christians is not that they have not read the Bible (or had sections read to them repeatedly), it's that too much of it is taken literally, without proper objective analysis and interpretation, and that there are too many religious leaders who are nothing more than grifters. This is true for other religions, as well.
Despite the inherent danger of faith-based religions corrupting or impeding rationality, which can lead to bigotry and anti-social behaviors, they also have the ability to inspire and pacify, to accomplish good, which shouldn't be ignored or dismissed out of hand. Most importantly, think it important to realize the critical need for both those religious and those not to practice tolerance.
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@chrisccc22 ~ As a life-long progressive who opposed Biden's stance on bussing, the crime bill championed by Biden and passed by Clinton, the centrist policies and right-wing economics under Clinton, Obama's sweeping of U.S. torture by the previous administration under the rug, his expanded drone use, and some of his harsh immigration policies, find that, while there is some truth to what you say, you are also engaging in false equivalency and oversimplification of the problems.
While believing that Democrats could have handled many of these issues better, and have for too long given the progressive view short shrift, also know that these were complex issues that to be properly understood can not be removed from the historical and political context in which they occurred. In politics, one is often forced to compromise, with half a loaf being better than no bread at all. Such was the case with bussing. That didn't make Biden racist, and few were hurling that baseless accusation at the time. Demonizing the Democrats for the crime bill without regard for the crack cocaine epidemic and Republicans slaughtering the Democrats in elections by labeling them "soft on crime" does not demonstrate good care or understanding of the situation as it existed at the time.
The real issue isn't the Democratic party so much as it is the constant vicissitude of the electorate's attitudes, which are often misinformed, ill-informed, or uninformed. To stay in the game, to compete, the Democratic party must react and respond accordingly in order to advance meaningful change. It can be disappointing, discouraging, and disheartening, but that is the ugly reality which must be faced and dealt with.
Think that the Democratic party needs to make more effort reaching out and educating the public, needs to do better at sticking to their principles and standing up for what is right (a winning strategy), and will then position itself to deliver more of the ideals it espouses and policies which progressives advocate. So, yes, it is good to be critical of the Democratic party, to hold it accountable. Overall, I think Democrats are pretty good at doing that. However, we should strive to make that criticism constructive, and it must be grounded in a thorough understanding of the issues put in proper perspective. If we are to get to the destination we want, it is essential we not unnecessarily damage or disable the vehicle needed to get us there--but that should never mean becoming like the GOP, where the ostensible ends justify whatever means, and party is placed before country. That can be a delicate balancing act, with a fine line where care must be taken that we not cross over and start down the slippery slope.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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Toxic Trump, at coronavirus press briefing 04/20/20, "We're looking at maybe "only" 50-60,000 deaths in the U.S.!" Just three days later, the toll surpassed 50,000; six days after that, it went over 61,000. On 05/04/20--a mere two weeks after Trump's delusional pronouncement--the U.S. reached 70,000 deaths. Less than a week later, on 05/10/20, the toll went over 80,000 American deaths. Because of many state and local governments opening up their economies too soon is blatant disregard of Trump administration's own guidelines, the CDC Mayday report projects new highs of 3,000 deaths and 200,000 new cases per DAY by June. That would put us at 100-150,000 deaths--just by the end of June, alone. That's acceptable, here in America? Since when?
New CDC projection on 05/15/20 of over 100,000 COVID-19 deaths by end of May. However, CDC projections have consistently undercounted cases and deaths, and this latest projection likewise appears to once again underestimate the deadly results of the U.S. sore lacking of national leadership in combating a deadly global pandemic. Fear COVID-19 deaths by the end of June will in actuality reach 150,000 - 200,000, nearly doubling in one month.
04/22/20 saw a new worst of nearly 2,700 COVID-19 deaths in a single day, topping the nearly 2,400 Americans lost on 04/14/20. Trump's claim was simply more of his wishful thinking, lies, and bogus claims. Clueless, disinterested, deranged, disengaged, and detached from reality are not the qualities you want in a leader during a major global pandemic crisis. That's a lethal combination that has already cost more American lives in just eight weeks than the Vietnam War in its entire twelve-year span.
It's like rowing or paddling upstream, or into a stiff wind--if you ease-up too much or stop, you will only have to paddle twice as hard to make up all the previous hard-earned progress that was quickly lost. Failing to maintain isolation and other measures for sufficient time to stop the spread of COVID-19 transmission will cost U.S. more in time, effort, money, and LIVES. Reopening and relaxing measures too early in defiance of the science and data is the ultimate in colossal ignorance, greed, ruthlessness, and arrogance.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-‘n-‘Thief, Toxic Trump, so much—although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages—as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, homophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, divisive, anti-democratic raving lunatic and his corruption, a man compromised by foreign nations, including our principle adversary, through his tremendous debt. Between that, his catastrophic, irresponsible handling of COVID-19, and his incitement of anti-democratic violent Reich-wing groups, Trump has made himself America's #1 most serious national security threat. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself, mental illness, and his upbringing, who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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Donald Trump, at White House press conference on 04/07/20:
And we’re going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO. We’re going to put a very powerful hold on it, and we’re going to see.
Trump later at that same press conference:
Q: Thanks. A quick follow-up on that. So is the time to freeze funding to the WHO during a pandemic of this magnitude?
THE PRESIDENT: No, maybe not. I mean, I’m not saying I’m going to do it, but we’re going to look at it.
Q: You did say that you’re going to —
THE PRESIDENT: We give a tremendous —
Q: You said you’d put a hold on it.
THE PRESIDENT: No, I didn’t.
Toxic Trump, one week later, on 04/14/20: "I'm withholding WHO funding!"
ME, US, the world: WTF?? Why in HELL is that raving lunatic STILL in charge during this major pandemic health crisis?!? Hasn't he KILLED enough Americans, ALREADY?!?
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@richardmillhousenixon ~ The comment is nothing more than a fallacious strawman argument to deflect from the immediate issue, which is people not using common sense or exercising personal responsibility and their civic duty to get vaccinated and follow public health guidelines.
Of course people on the left are interested to know the origination of Covid-19. However, we also understand that is not a simple task, and scientists may never be able to discover a definitive answer of precisely how it came about. In fact, the final answer may well turn out to be only the probability of a number of scenarios involving natural transmutation from animal(s) to human.
Your hypothesis given is one such scenario, similar to circumstances I had envisioned. It didn't even have to start out in China; it could have originated in an adjacent Southeast Asian country, and didn't mutate into a more infectious and deadly strain until after a traveler brought it into China, where it then became first noticeable. For example, a women in Vietnam chasing a bat from her house gets bitten, but suffers no ill effect, although infected. She unknowingly passes the disease on to her husband, who embarks upon a business trip to Wuhan, China, unwittingly passing it on to resident of that city with which he interacts. Afterwards, the disease is passed among residents of the city, but none of them are getting sick until the coronavirus mutates, thereupon making its presence known.
The point is, there are many such possibilities, and there is a very good chance we may never know exactly how Covid-19 originated. While it's good to try to discover as much as we can about its origination to protect ourselves in the future from new emergent diseases, it's not as critical as the things we KNOW everyone can do now to protect ourselves from the present disease. People using common sense have their priorities straight, placing the most focus where it needs to be, unlike this dishonest moron's comment trying to deflect.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Republican cult morons rail against the very "elite" they keep voting for, who give tax cuts to the rich and have created the greatest income inequality and wealth disparity in American history.
Why? They are driven by the divisive fear and bigotry programmed into them 24/7 by the Reich-wing media and propaganda owned or funded by the plutocracy. It's absolutely Orwellian, and it began around 1984 in America. What is witnessed now is just the rotten results from the poisoned tree bearing fruition. It's the disease killing America that existed long before COVID-19, and which is likely to persist long after.
Republican cult going to believe what the Republican cult wants to believe, whatever the truth, whatever proof, whatever anybody says. "Healing" the country means deprogramming the 30-40% of Americans deep in cultdom. That needs to be recognized, acknowledged, and acted upon if we truly wish to revive the patient, America, and restore it to glory.
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Dr. "Babbling" Birx is laying bricks, lying and dissembling! Says she trusts churches and churchgoers to make it safe, not go to church if sick--knowing asymptomatic people don't know they're sick, and can't be detected! Then, there's the fact that many religious people gather at religious shrines and places of worship hoping to be "healed" when sick. Moreover, she knows "Pastor" Tony Spelling in Louisiana was packing his megachurch during the middle of a severe outbreak, busing them in from a 50-mile radius; she knows all about the devastating spread in South Korea from religious services, she knows about the super-spreader event at the church in Oregon defying state lockdown orders. Dr. Birx KNOWS the U.S. lacks the requisite testing capabilities to reopen safely. Dr. Birx KNOWS how Toxic Trump has ignorantly politicized a global pandemic, sent conflicting messages to the public. Dr. Birx KNOWS a good proportion of Americans are NOT following basic CDC guidelines; NOT wearing masks, NOT social distancing. And she knows without detailed specific CDC federal guidelines, we got chaos, sickness, and MORE senseless deaths. Birx needs to have her medical license revoked. She can be the next SmellyAnne Con-Her-Way, that's what she wants.
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Setting aside the sleazy immoral Reich-wing grifters at the top -- people like Trump, Congressional Republicans, Reich-wing demagogues and media -- the rank-and-file of the GOP has become a fascist cult. To be clear, Trump did not create the cult, it existed before him. He merely served as a unifying figure they chose to rally around and worship as their fool's gold god. Trump appealed to their basest nature and told them what they wanted to hear. Now, those Reich-wing grifters may have cultivated their cult to exploit for their own greed, power and vanity, but at least to some extent the Republican cult in turn seeks to exploit the GOP for their own various misguided purposes. They CHOOSE to be willfully ignorant, to believe or espouse the lies, because as a political calculus they shortsightedly see it as expedient to their ends.
What must also be taken into consideration are the characteristics of a cult. Why do people join a cult? Why do they choose to remain in a cult? No need to go into detail; the answers are largely common knowledge or easily researched. But it should be pointed out that in a complex world, the simplistic and rigid beliefs embraced by cults can be very alluring, no matter how fantastical and removed from reality. It should also be acknowledged that the Republican cult is not a monolithic entity, but an amalgamation of sects, including White supremacists, Christian nationalists, libertarians, sovereign nationals, anarchists, tax resistors, Qanon and other extremist fringe groups. Of course, not every Republican is an extremist, a fascist, or untethered from reality. But this latter more benign group is nevertheless part of the fascist Republican cult, complicit in their support of the whole, whether through their silent acquiescence and votes or willing assistance.
It's a very dangerous feedback loop, a vicious circle, one that as it sinks further into depravity its threat correspondingly rises, for as the Republican cult has over time been becoming increasingly more radicalized, we witness the election of more radical politicians to represent them, more radicalized Reich-wing media and demagogues to feed them propaganda. While some Republicans are leaving the GOP and some others are speaking out and trying to save their party, they constitute a weak minority, unfortunately.
In a normal, sane world, the Republican cult would have ended or been marginalized after the Mueller Report, after Trump's Ukraine shakedown and impeachment, after Trump's horrendous handling of a deadly global pandemic, after his election defeat, or after January 6th and his second impeachment. But that hasn't happened. Instead, the Republican cult continues to become increasingly more radicalized and extreme. As President Biden says, "We are in a battle for the soul of this nation." And that battle is far from over.
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GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and disturbing. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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America's enemies don't need to spread disinformation, doubt, discord, and division to weaken America, kill Americans--Republican politicians, Reich-wing demagogues, Faux News, OAN, Newsmax, Breitbart and the rest of the Reich-wing media do that so effectively for them, already. More Americans need to realize that the GOP has abdicated it's duty as loyal opposition, and that its prioritization of party over country diminishes both our government and our national security, endangering ALL Americans, as well as weakening and endangering America itself.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. Sure, some of them truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Republican cult placing political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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This video reminds me why I get so exasperated and perturbed when people uninformed about our government, issues, and political parties try to equate the two respective sides as both being bad or hopelessly corrupt. That couldn't be more wrong, and that attitude is what leads to dysfunctional Republicans getting elected. While have watched the Democratic party grow, mature, and improve over the past 60 years, have likewise observed the decline of the GOP--particularly over the past four decades--to the point where is has now essentially become a corrupt, mindless fascist cult of radical reactionaries. It is a Republican cult that knowingly places lies before truths, personal and political interests over the best interests of the nation--and can thus no longer be realistically regarded as loyal opposition. The GOP no longer stands for conservatism or any actual ideology, unless "owning the libs" is to be considered a political ideology. If so, it would be a bankrupt ideology, for Republicans have bankrupted their political party, willfully sacrificing character, integrity, principles, ethics, morals, and honor in their blind quest to win at any cost. Like all bankrupt ideologies and soul sacrifices, the GOP's descent into greed, corruption and lunacy only guarantees that Republicans must ultimately lose and fail.
However, there is still much damage that they can do to Americans and America; as already witnessed, Republicans are willing to also sacrifice both Americans and America in order to gain and retain power. Which is why the critical need to correctly identify the Republican political party as not operating in good faith, as the political party abdicating its responsibility to be loyal opposition. In America, we get the government we deserve, because we elect our leaders. We have a fairly good system of government, but it is only as good as the people elected to serve in it. Ultimately, it is up to American voters to better inform themselves, make wiser choices, retaining good Democrats, removing Republican bad actors so they can be replaced with other good leaders. But those people ignorantly lumping politicians together as "all the same" and helplessly throwing their hands up in the air are not any solution but, rather, a big part of the problem, counterproductive to the simple fix available to all voters.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian nationalism religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian nationalism religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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The following UNPRECEDENTED statement from ALL members of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff just issued will hopefully finally knock some sense into the very thick skulls of the Republican cult. Top military officials prefer to stay out of anything tinged with politics. FOR EVEN ONE to say something after last week’s event would be noteworthy and rare enough. For all eight Joint Chiefs to speak out together demonstrates just how PERILOUS they deem this moment to be, indicative of just how very much a CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER to the nation's security posed by the Traitor-'n-Thief:
“The violent riot in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021 was a direct assault on the U.S. Congress the Capitol building, and our Constitutional process. We witnessed actions inside the Capitol building that were inconsistent with the rule of law. The rights of freedom of speech and assembly do not give anyone the right to resort to violence, sedition and insurrection.
As Service Members, we must embody the values and ideals of the Nation. We support and defend the Constitution. Any act to disrupt the Constitutional process is not only against our traditions, values, and oath; it is against the law.
President-elect Joe Biden will be inaugurated and will become our 46th Commander in Chief.”
General Mark A. Milley, U.S. Army, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
General John E. Hyten, U.S. Air Force, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
General James C. McConville, U.S. Army, Chief of Staff of the Army
General David H. Berger, U.S. Marine Corps, Commandant of the Marine Corps
Admiral Michael M. Gilday, U.S. Navy, Chief of Naval Operations
General Charles Q. Brown Jr., U.S. Air Force, Chief of Staff of the Air Force
General John W. Raymond, U.S. Space Force, Chief of Space Operations
General Daniel R. Hokanson, U.S. Army, Chief of the National Guard Bureau
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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"Peace is not a very big thing to ask for, is it?" ~ Fatima Gailani, Afghan activist and negotiator, pleading for continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan
It is when asking the Taliban, who do not seek peace or to bargain in good faith, but total domination once again. U.S. has spent 20 years and $2 trillion trying to achieve peace in Afghanistan, losing over 4000 American lives (military and civilian contractors), with tens of thousands of Americans wounded there.
"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials … have given Afghans little reason to support their government," Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the commander of U.S. forces in the country, wrote in a 2009 memorandum. "This crisis of confidence, coupled with a distinct lack of economic and educational opportunity, has created fertile ground for the insurgency."
That was 11 years ago, and little has changed since. Thought the invasion of Afghanistan by Bush was a mistake that would lead to a quagmire, and have been proven correct. Still, initially supported efforts to bring peace and stability there, along with basic human and civil-rights, because after invading felt we had an obligation to rebuild. However, while U.S. blunders there have contributed to a failure, Afghans are their own worst enemy, and no one can help them until enough of them are willing to help themselves.
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Reich-wing Republican cult brown shirt protestors breached the Capitol building after Toxic Trump incited them to storm it, attempting a coup. They are roaming the Capitol building and could be armed, not having gone through metal detectors and security protocols. Senate and House are being evacuated. VP Pence and Speaker Pelosi were rushed to safety by the Secret Service. So much for hypocritical Republican cult supporting law and order.
All of this only proving how GOP is the enemy of democracy, especially as Congress was gathered and in the process of certifying the Electoral College votes.
One person already shot, presumably by Capitol police, but victim and shooter unknown at this time. Victim was removed and taken to hospital by EMT. Capitol police have already discovered at least one unexploded IED device WITHIN the Capitol. Do think that strong measures need to be taken to reassert control of this situation, can't believe it is taking so long to retake the Capitol of the United States from a lawless, mindless Reich-wing mob of radical extremists, or that they have been allowed to take control of the building in the first place in an attempted coup. Shocking, appalling, disgusting, sickening.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of crackpot conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of greed, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of plutocrats, the party of corruption, the party of anti-democracy, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their pact with the Devil.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again." ― Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney
More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They have essentially become a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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***MEDIA FAIL*** -- How many times is media going to keep regurgitating the same story? 2020 is NOT 2016, Biden is not Clinton, and Trump has a rotten track record, is no longer a beltway outsider--he's instead proven himself to be a corrupt, incompetent, unstable lunatic. This time around, most Democratic voters realize they can't be complacent, as evidenced by the unprecedented early voting, some lines stretching for blocks just to drop off their ballot. 2016 didn't have a failed COVID-19 response and BLM. This segment tells us nothing that wasn't already known, adds nothing to the discussion. Found it a disappointing waste of time, hyping the same old fearmongering, which may well turn out to be unjustified, based upon a freak anomaly. Not to be misunderstood, we should always encourage everyone to vote, and voters should never be influenced by polls. However, voters would likely be better served by a factual comparison between the two candidates, than by rehashing a story that's already been beaten well into the ground. Media BE better, WE be better.
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Question: Which are worse, Russian bots/apparatchiks attacking America to divide and weaken us, or their tools, the Republican cult dupes helping them?
Answer: The American fools, of course. While hostile foreign powers are an ever-present reality, the treasonous behaviors of the GOP against its own nation's democracy, well-being, and national security, and even its members own welfare, is the far greater evil. If it persists, this mighty nation will certainly perish in ignominy.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-‘n-‘Thief, Toxic Trump, so much—although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages—as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption, a man compromised by foreign nations, including our principle adversary, through his tremendous debt, presenting our most serious national security threat. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself, mental illness, and his upbringing, who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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You see all these willing guinea pigs running around, and you wonder how it is that you care more about them than they care about their own survival.
Dr. Lying Brix: "Do as I say, not as I do!" If we can't trust "Doctor" Birx to follow her own guidelines--wear a mask and social distance properly to protect the President, her government coworkers, and other high government officials for all those months as a deadly global pandemic was raging--then, how can we trust churches and their congregations to comply, employers and workers to comply, businesses and their customers to comply?
Dr. Lying Brix, if you'll kindly let us know when you've convinced the Republican legislators in Pennsylvania to wear masks and follow CDC guidelines while on the job, so they're not killing their fellow legislators and state government coworkers, or putting them at risk. Also, when you got the Wisconsin Republican legislature and Republican Supreme Court convinced to follow their own State law, common sense, and your own CDC guidelines--giving back the Health department its powers needed for the state to prevail against a deadly global pandemic. Then, after that, you've got a whole lot more convincing to do before it's safe to reopen anything...because that is only the tip of the COVID-19 iceberg of Republican cult ignorance in this nation killing us.
Can you at least understand that NONE of us are safe--none of us can BE safe--with Republican cult morons ignoring CDC guidelines, downplaying and politicizing a deadly pandemic, at the cost of human misery and suffering. Can you at least understand that if the public isn't protected and kept safe, there is no real economy? Can you understand how in communities all across this nation, us sane, responsible people are being kept unjustly confined longer than necessary, unwilling to go out, because of all the insane Republican cult morons acting irresponsibly make it too risky?
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. Sure, some of them truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Republican cult placing political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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America's enemies don't need to spread disinformation, doubt, discord, and division to weaken America, kill Americans--Republican politicians, Reich-wing demagogues, Faux News, OAN, Newsmax, Breitbart and the rest of the Reich-wing media do that so effectively for them, already. More Americans need to realize that the GOP has abdicated it's duty as loyal opposition, and that its prioritization of party over country and welcoming embrace of violent radical Reich-wing extremists diminishes both our government and our national security, endangering ALL Americans, as well as weakening and endangering America itself.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
~ "Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts."
~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-‘n-‘Thief, Toxic Trump, so much—although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages—as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, homophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, divisive, anti-science, anti-democratic raving lunatic and his corruption, a man compromised by foreign nations, including our principle adversary, through his tremendous debt. Between that, his catastrophic, irresponsible handling of COVID-19, and his incitement of anti-democratic violent Reich-wing groups, Trump has made himself America's #1 most serious national security threat. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself, mental illness, and his upbringing, who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast would soon come to consume them.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth and justice--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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It's like rowing or paddling upstream, or into a stiff wind--if you ease-up too much or stop, you will only have to paddle twice as hard to make up all the previous hard-earned progress that was quickly lost. Failing to maintain isolation and other measures for sufficient time to stop the spread of COVID-19 transmission will cost U.S. more in time, effort, money, and LIVES. Reopening and relaxing measures too early in defiance of the science and data is the ultimate in colossal ignorance, greed, ruthlessness, and arrogance.
We have a segment of Republican cult willfully ignorant, who malevolently seek to sabotage containment efforts. But many do not grasp how important it is that we treat ourselves and everyone else as being infected.
This is because people know that is very unlikely, especially outside dense urban areas, where incidence rates are low. Because of the delay in onset of the disease and asymptomatic carriers, COVID-19 is a stealth killer that uses Americans against each other as its foot soldiers, transporting it, keeping the disease and its train of transmission alive. This is further complicated because people cannot see a virus, see it attacking, see it spreading, until it is too late. For many of us, seeing is believing, and people are incapable or reluctant to make that leap of logic required to keep them and everyone safe--even with the massive public education efforts.
Of course, the problem becomes greatly exacerbated when the President refuses to wear a mask, and his administration works against itself in fighting this deadly global pandemic, sending conflicting messages to the public. Toxic Trump, his administration, and all the Republicans who have aided and abetted him, are directly responsible in our view for the senseless deaths of tens and thousands of Americans. The dead are the worst of it, but there is also the tremendous needless suffering and economic loss accompanying their wanton criminal negligence.
No national testing, no rational national coordinated pandemic response. Republican governors reopening too quickly in defiance of CDC guidelines are only following the President's lead. Democratic governors in many states likewise being adversely pressured by Toxic Trump's pandemic disinformation and Republican opposition to requisite lockdowns. Problem starts at the top. Don't fault even the worst Republican governors as much as this President. The President needed to take the lead, take the hit for the hard decisions--not put all the weight on governors as he as.
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Gee, it's almost like the CDC is following the science and calibrating policies accordingly in the most practicable way possible. Imagine if everyone followed the CDC recommendations, how many American lives could have been saved, and could still be saved. What has been confusing is the misinformation and disinformation that came from the former Trump administration (excluding the CDC, NIH and the Surgeon General office under that regime), and from Reich-wing media and Reich-wing sites on social media. But listening to reputable media sources such as this one explaining the recommendations, the CDC, the NIH, reputable doctors, public health experts, and epidemiologists, I have not been confused at all about the best ways to protect myself, loved ones, and others from serious injury or death from Covid-19 throughout this pandemic. What I do find puzzling is the number of Americans who are anti-science and unwilling to follow common sense health recommendations, who seemingly have a death wish and a sociopathic disregard for others well-being.
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Fiona Hill thinks the political result from Russian election interference should be ignored, so that a bipartisan approach to the Russian threat can be enabled. However, that is impossible when the President continues to enlist that foreign election interference from Russia and others (that's why you testified about Ukraine, remember Fiona?). The "dirty political games" are being committed by Republicans, not Democrats, who are only trying to get to the truth of the matter, and to hold those involved accountable. Furthermore, the American people need to be fully informed about those committing felonies enlisting foreign aid in our elections, so that they can make informed voting choices to keep America secure and strong. All those elected Republicans aiding and abetting our Traitor-'n-Thief Toxic Trump to escape accountability and justice pose a severe national security threat in and of themselves, and deserve to be held accountable for their malfeasance by voters. The political element is inseparable from the national security element in this case, and should not be shoved aside or ignored. Don't fault anything else Ms. Hill had to say here, but her analysis on this point was fatally, fundamentally, flawed.
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** MEDIA FAIL ** -- Apparently, Smercartoonish would say Hitler was a "gifted showman" and orator, too. Limbaugh used divisive demagoguery to peddle lies, fear, bigotry, hypocrisy, and hate--purely for his vanity and greed. He may have achieved the most popularity among the Republican cult he was partly instrumental in creating, but he was only one instrument out of many who exploited the masses in the same way. Together, they were all the "John the Baptist," making way for America's version of Hitler, the Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump. There was nothing complicated about any of it--many of us have been calling out this Reich-wing demagoguery for what it is and where it would lead us for decades. Media BE better, WE be better!
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over four decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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@JosephKerr27 - Your reply only proves our point. It is on you to elucidate your views--not fob that responsibility off on others, asking them to guess your thoughts.
Pointing out your defensiveness and the passive-aggressive nature of asking such a question, while continuing to evade the arguments presented to you, was simply a frank assessment. It may have been unflattering, but frankness is certainly not passive-aggressive, and you have no one but yourself to blame if putting yourself in a bad light. By responding to the arguments, you would have helped others to better understand your viewpoint. Furthermore, attempting to transfer or project that in which you engaged is precisely the kind of intellectual dishonesty observed so often from the right-wing.
Oddly enough, in this last reply you did finally address at least some of those arguments. To be frank, again, your responses to them were still found wanting. We had already conceded that while there is some truth to the quote, it is not the empirical truth being presented by Herbert.
Finally, we suspect you misunderstand our quest for honest discussion. We presented our view and the reasoning for it. Not because of any obsession with being correct, but with the hope to have it rigorously questioned, even proven wrong. Believe it or not, would rather be shown where wrong than proven right. Also, we value different perspectives, and tend to believe, often erroneously, that others feel the same about evaluating their own beliefs, having them questioned. Too often, though, people can be too thin-skinned, take undue offense, and become overly defensive. That's a pity, because it can hinder or prevent more rational, fruitful discourse.
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#unfoxmycablebox Sorry to say, most of their revenue doesn't come from advertisers, but from the outrageous contracts they negotiate with cable providers. You really want to hit Faux News where it hurts, threaten cable TV providers that you will "drop the box" if they keep supporting and carrying Faux News. The good news is that cable TV providers have no desire to pay the outlandish sums Faux News demands, and would love to have us provide the excuse needed! There is already a non-profit organization out there pushing this, which can provide one more information if needed:
Pay for cable or satellite TV? You’re subsidizing Fox News whether you watch it or not.
Your cable or satellite TV provider pays a subscriber fee to carry Fox News. That cost is passed directly on to YOU.
Every network charges cable and satellite providers a small fee per subscriber; the one for Fox News is extraordinarily high. A typical household pays Fox News almost $2 per month—about $20 per year— via their cable or satellite provider, regardless of whether they actually watch the channel.
In 2021, a wave of big contracts between Fox News and TV providers for subscriber fees are set to expire. These contracts make up about 65% if Fox News’ subscriber fee revenue. If we want to stop paying the Fox News “tax,” now is the time to act.
Fox News makes approximately $1.8 billion per year from hidden subscriber fees–twice as much as CNN and three times as much as MSNBC.
The network's extra-high fees, which make up most of its revenue, protect Fox News from the advertisers that are quickly abandoning it.
https://unfoxmycablebox.com/
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast would soon come to consume them.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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@anneshirley4942 ~ Your narrative is in contrast to witness testimony.
Ritchie McGinnis, who testified at the trial, was reporting for the Daily Caller, which was founded by Tucker Carlson and another conservative with funding from another conservative. Media Bias rates it as right-wing. It was McGinnis who attempted to give Rosenbaum first aid, not Rittenhouse. When he asked Rittenhouse to dial 911, Rittenhouse instead called his friend to tell him that he shot someone. McGinnis testified that the presence of armed vigilantes "escalated" the situation. “Any time that there are guns, that elevates the level of danger in my mind,” McGinnis said. According to McGinnis' testimony, Rittenhouse misrepresented himself as an adult and an EMT. McGinniss said he has not come across medics armed with AR-15-style rifles at any other protests. McGinnis testified that a group of protesters complained that Rittenhouse pointed his rifle at them. FBI aerial video showed Rittenhouse chasing Rosenbaum BEFORE Rosenbaum began chasing Rittenhouse. There is no evidence that Rittenhouse made any effort to offer medical assistance to ANY of his victims, and it appears that others began pursuing Rittenhouse only AFTER he fled the scene of the shooting, whereupon he was perceived as an active shooter attempting to escape justice.
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@nomic5921 ~ Nothing snooty about simply stating the truth. Or, did you really imagine that you presented a better case than Rittenhouse's defense lawyers did? You quoted my statement about watching the trial, so why would you think just repeating some of the same arguments less eloquently would prove convincing?
But it is actually that and your arguments which are irrelevant here. What part didn't you understand about my reply having to do with the OP's comment, and NOT some debating contest on the merits of guilt or innocence, right or wrong, as you wish to make it?
What you call "rambling" was to encourage you to think about the OP's comment and my objections to it. The questions were to elicit responses on how you felt about the claims made in the OP's comment and intended to get the discussion back on track.
But all you're interested in is "I'm right, and you're wrong about the verdict and the morality." Now, you petulantly refuse to answer any of my questions unless I first answer your question designed to steer this discussion off track, while trying to arrogantly dictate the topic of discussion to be instead what you want it to be. Sorry, not interested in playing your silly, dishonest games. If you're not interested in discussing the actual topic at hand in this comment and my response to it, that's fine; then you don't have to participate. But should you continue to play the unruly child at the dinner table clamoring for attention while the adults try to talk, you will be ignored.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth and justice--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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Merrick Garland’s House Testimony Demonstrated the Failure of His Hyper-Cautious Approach to His Job
Despite Garland’s many efforts to not appear political by declining to investigate Trump and his cronies for possible crimes and by using DOJ resources to actively protect Trump from civil liability, Republicans are still portraying him as the most political attorney general in history.
The other weakness of Garland’s timid approach was on full view during his opening statement and responses to Democratic members of Congress. “The essence of the rule of law is that like cases are treated alike. That there not be one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans; one rule for friends, another for foes,” Garland stated grandly. But by declining to investigate Trump and his associates, Garland is enabling further attacks on our democracy. (While proving inequity by putting Republicans above the law.)
Crucially, the two parties are not the same. Garland’s standard sets up a false equivalency between the Democratic Party and a political party whose national leader, Donald Trump, incited and celebrated a violent assault on our nation’s Capitol to overthrow the results of a free and fair election and who continues to portray the insurrection as a glorious “protest.” To that end, in the middle of the attorney general’s testimony, Trump issued a statement highlighting Garland’s feebleness at failing to even investigate the organizers and leaders of the Jan. 6 events, declaring “the insurrection took place on November 3, Election Day. January 6 was the Protest!”
Garland’s efforts to depoliticize the DOJ have proved to be an abdication of his responsibility to protect the rule of law. Take just a few examples: Garland’s failure to reconsider the obstruction of justice case against the former president, his deferral of an investigation of possible financial crimes by Trump and his organization to local prosecutors in New York City and Westchester, his use of the DOJ to protect Trump from defamation allegations, and his deferral of a soliciting of voter fraud felony probe in Georgia to local prosecutors there. By abdicating his responsibility, Garland is also opening the door for Trump to commit these possibly criminal abuses all over again, this time with the full support of the Republican Party, and maybe ultimately return to power.
--Mark Stern
"Try as he may, Merrick Garland cannot perform boring independence fast enough to outrun GOP claims that he’s a wild-eyed, violent socialist. And while the GOP currently exists only to cast everything you thought you believed into doubt, the real endgame is vigilantism. The endgame is to ensure that people mistrust government, election systems, school boards, (teachers, health care officials) the media, and the justice system enough to lend a hand in their destruction."
--Dahlia Lithwick
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Donald Trump, at White House press conference on 04/07/20:
And we’re going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO. We’re going to put a very powerful hold on it, and we’re going to see.
Trump later at that same press conference:
Q: Thanks. A quick follow-up on that. So is the time to freeze funding to the WHO during a pandemic of this magnitude?
THE PRESIDENT: No, maybe not. I mean, I’m not saying I’m going to do it, but we’re going to look at it.
Q: You did say that you’re going to —
THE PRESIDENT: We give a tremendous —
Q: You said you’d put a hold on it.
THE PRESIDENT: No, I didn’t.
Toxic Trump, one week later, on 04/14/20: "I'm withholding WHO funding!"
WHO held a important meeting on COVID-19 vaccines at the beginning of May, with all nations attending...except, unbelievably, no U.S. medical and scientific representatives sent by the Trump Administration, without any explanation. The absence particularly stunning in light that U.S. has half of world's cases and a quarter of the deaths, although possessing just 4% of the global population. Then, on May 29, Toxic Trump announced the U.S. was completely withdrawing from the World Health Organization!
ME, US, the world: WTF?? Why in HELL is that raving lunatic STILL in charge during this major pandemic health crisis?!? Hasn't he KILLED enough Americans, ALREADY?!?
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People should understand that protecting those most vulnerable groups among us--like the elderly, homeless, prisoners, and migrants--is one of the best ways of protecting ourselves! It's a win-win situation, folks--even without a global pandemic, but now especially! Conversely, it is actually Trump and the GOP's fear-mongering, stigmatization, bigotry, xenophobia, racism, cruelty and lack of compassion which endangers Americans. Ignorance kills.
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People like to think they're done with Covid-19, but Covid-19 isn't done with us. We're at war with an invisible enemy, and we should be treating it as a war, willing to make sacrifices, to do whatever it takes to save lives. Too many don't seem to comprehend that, and hundreds of thousands of Americans have senselessly died already. That's appalling and deeply disturbing, as is the level of ignorance being displayed by those refusing to listen to common sense, doctors, experts and science. Instead of all being on the same side against a common enemy, Republicans have chosen to betray their country and their fellow citizens, taking the side of Covid-19, costing 845,000 Americans their lives already while sickening and injuring many more.
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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Not many men competing for low-wage child care providers, and women often end up doing more than their fair share when it comes to relationships between men and women. So this is all just B.S.! You fail to understand the misogyny because you lack that capacity, apparently. It isn't that you're not intelligent enough to grasp the concept of sexist discrimination and its causes and harms. If so many others like me can logically and ethically see the validity of her complaint despite our masculinity, why is it that others cannot? Moreover, if elected to office, his conduct would be illegal. You cannot deny access to anyone based upon gender. You can't have male advisors allowed to privately advise the governor on sensitive matters one-on-one, but prohibit female advisors that same unfettered access. Same with reporters, or within any other group with which the Governor may be required to interact. The big public stink is about haters hating, and it began with a hater hating merely to get public exposure for a weak campaign. You seem to be one of the haters. Sucks to be you. If we started allowing men and women in the workplace to make the kind of stupid demands this Mississippi yahoo made, there goes our whole economy, as that would require companies to hire additional people to be so-called "chaperones," with the added labor costs putting many--if not most--companies out of business, and making everything much more costly to American consumers. Republicans got to get past the tribalism and start using their brains!
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of plutocrats, the party of corruption, the party of anti-democracy, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their pact with the Devil.
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@arithia5874 ~ Not sure what any of that had to do with our comment. No fan of big pharma, but Pfizer didn't take government money for producing a vaccine, didn't want any part of rushing a vaccine under "Project Warp Speed" at the expense of safety, and only announced after results from third phase of vaccine trial had been analyzed. No evidence that the announcement's timing had anything to do with any election--even Pfizer's CEO wasn't made aware until after the election, as soon as the results of the analysis had been completed.
If you know anything about the industry, you'd know that vaccines are traditionally not very profitable for pharmaceutical companies, and they're not likely to start gouging governments now in the middle of a devastating, deadly global pandemic. They'd be cutting their own throats. Good PR is worth far more to them.
Besides, Republican cult doesn't care about anything but gaining political power for their party--even at their own expense. Sure, if Republicans can get credit for lowering drug prices, they're all for it. But--like with the ACA--if it's a Democratic proposal, even one that saves them more money, then suddenly they're virulently opposed, making up all kinds of lies and wild tales to sink the bill.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of crackpot conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of greed, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of plutocrats, the party of corruption, the party of anti-democracy, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their pact with the Devil.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans were KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump accountable for his many FEDERAL crimes, or are they going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a President is a King and above the law?
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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So many people not taking this pandemic seriously enough, reminding one of little kids who think they're invincible and need to be constantly reminded not to run out into the street. Try explaining to them that this coronavirus isn't just an opportunistic killer, affecting only the very old or very vulnerable, but also a random killer, striking people of all ages in the peak of health. Try explaining to them how even if they don't suffer, their failure to follow common-sense health guidelines causes many others to suffer and die needlessly. They don't want to hear any of it, because it might interfere with them going to a bar or restaurant, going to the gym, getting together with friends, etc. While the bulk of responsibility for the excess suffering and deaths America has experienced goes to an abject failure in leadership by Trump and many other Republicans, individuals behaving with wanton recklessness bear some responsibility, too.
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President Nero stoked racial animosities, igniting the embers, keeps feeding the flames. Lynching, murder of innocent civilians by law enforcement, followed by protests, riots, civil unrest, people hurt, property damaged--those were all inevitable with an arsonist in the Oval, even if his gross criminal negligence with COVID-19 wasn't presently so starkly highlighting the social and economic divides in this nation. You didn't see this train wreck burning, it's only because you refused to look.
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It's not just about quantity of tests. More important is quality. Most critically, it is taking up to TWO WEEKS or more to obtain the TEST RESULTS unless hospitalized. Due to the long lab processing times due to lack of capability and backlog, the contact tracing needed to contain and control the spread becomes no longer practical or tenable, creating an untenable situation of contagion, hospitalizations, and subsequent avoidable deaths. While some infected people waiting for test results may quarantine themselves, many others taking routine tests, who may be positive and asymptomatic, will not, unwilling or unable to wait that long for their results to come back. This latter group is spreading the disease in their communities. Until we have TIMELY TEST RESULTS, the quantity of tests administered is a largely MEANINGLESS figure. While true the U.S. is STILL only performing just a fraction of the COVID-19 testing needed, ramping up testing won't help unless or until the turnaround processing time problem is fixed and ALL test results can be obtained within less than 48 hours. We also desperately need the capability and capacity for assurance testing, so that those interacting with others--workers, school children, etc.--can get tested daily and receive instant results.
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GOP cult is NOT the party of law and order, NOT the party of the Constitution and patriots, NOT the party of "values," NOT the party of fiscal responsibility, NOT the party of clean government, NOT the party of freedom. It's the party of terrorism, lawlessness, corruption, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry, misogyny, big lies, socialized taxpayer payouts for plutocrats, sedition, traitors, and tyranny.
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Gee, didn't you know? Republicans don't care anything about protecting workers, public health, law, justice, or the environment...only about maximizing profits! That's how we got into this pickle in the first place, with a 100,000 Americans dead in just three months; that's why other nations have stopped the spread, but we're STILL in the first wave, losing more than a 1,000 Americans daily, remember?
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again." ― Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney
More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, phony culture wars, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They have essentially become a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law?
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Tucker Carlson and Faux News: mainstreaming American fascism and deadly lies, killing America and Americans purely for profit.
America's enemies don't need to spread disinformation, doubt, discord, and division to weaken America, kill Americans--Republican politicians, Reich-wing demagogues, Faux News, OAN, Newsmax, Breitbart and the rest of the Reich-wing media do that so effectively for them, already. More Americans need to realize that the GOP has abdicated it's duty as loyal opposition, and that its prioritization of party over country and welcoming embrace of violent radical Reich-wing extremists diminishes both our government and our national security, endangering ALL Americans, as well as weakening and endangering America itself.
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We got Big Brag Daddy Baghdad Bob broadcasting direct from Washington, D.C. daily, with Toxic Trump and a revolving cast of his sycophantic minions! Happy talk, disinformation, empty promises, idle threats, vicious smears, bogus pandemic models, dog whistles, continuous crackpot conspiracies--they got it all, and more!
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GOP cult is NOT the party of law and order, NOT the party of the Constitution and patriots, NOT the party of "values," NOT the party of fiscal responsibility, NOT the party of clean government, NOT the party of freedom. It's the party of terrorism, lawlessness, corruption, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry, misogyny, Big Lies, socialized taxpayer payouts for plutocrats, sedition, traitors, and tyranny.
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GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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@shawncarter7188 ~ No, you're wrong, spreading a well-debunked lie. In fact, deaths increased in 2020 from the two previous years.
If the numbers of total deaths from 2020, 2019, and 2018 are similar, that would mean COVID-19 has not had as much of an impact as many scientists and politicians claim. If the number for 2020 is significantly higher, the difference would largely be explained by the coronavirus.
Our source for this information is the Centers for Disease Control. In its weekly flu report, it includes a dataset that lists the number of deaths from all causes each week going back more than seven years.
Using data provided through the 48th week of 2020: So far this year, the CDC reports that 2,877,601 people have died. At the same point in 2018, the number was 2,606,928, and in 2019, it was 2,614,950. The number of deaths to this point in 2020 is at least 260,000 greater than either of the past two years. But that number is an underestimate because the CDC publishes data based on the number of death certificates it has received. Since it can take a couple of weeks for all death certificates to be recorded, the numbers for the last two weeks, at least, will increase as time goes by. If the last two weeks produce a similar number of deaths as the weeks before, the margin to this point will actually be close to 310,000.
Another way to see the effect of COVID-19 is that more people have died already this year than did in the entirety of either 2018 or 2019. There were 2,831,836 deaths in all of 2018 and 2,845,793 in all of 2019.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the population of the United States has increased by .48-.73 percent over the last five years. The increase in deaths to this point in 2020 is 10%, far outpacing population growth.
Therefore, we can verify that the number of deaths from all causes is up in 2020 compared to years past.
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~ You're trying to advance an ignorant, dishonest argument. Sure, COVID-19 is a highly contagious, deadly pandemic. But that doesn't account for how nations like South Korea, New Zealand, Canada, and Australia, and many others who followed the science and controlled the spread of the disease, thus experiencing very few cases and deaths. Or how in comparison, the U.S.--the richest and most advanced nation in the world, with only 4.25% of the global population--has averaged 20% of the entire world's cases and deaths for eight months straight.
Curious--are you yet another one of Putin's sock-puppet pawns, spreading doubt and disinformation to weaken America and kill Americans? Or you just helping America's enemies, doing their dirty work for them? #moreRussiasanctions
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~ Gee, more dishonesty by you. Surprise, surprise! First, you tried to disingenuously advance the logical fallacy of a strawman argument, now you're twisting our answer in a way that ignores Toxic Trump lying, denying, and downplaying COVID-19, failing to take it seriously enough, and failing to properly mobilize a rational national response.
The difference between the U.S. being the worst response to COVID-19 and those other nations escaping this pandemic relatively unscathed--as you surely well know yet are loathe to admit--is they had competent leadership at the top listening to the science, whereas Trump ignored and rejected the science and sound advice of our top experts. Toxic Trump's failed leadership--sowing doubt about the science, refusing to wear a mask, refusing to take any responsibility, spending more time on golf than doing his job, and conducting super-spreader events--set the worst possible example, leading to many Americans, particularly Republicans, failing to take the proper and necessary individual responsibility.
BTW, we didn't accuse you of being Putin's sock-puppet pawn; we questioned it. Your reply only affirms our suspicion. #moreRussiasanctions
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected this pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Republican cult placing political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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A School Administrator Contracted Coronavirus on a Class Trip. A Week Later, Parents Found Out.
BOSTON — Students and teachers at the private St. Raphael Academy in Rhode Island had recently returned from a study trip to Italy and two other countries last week when a travel advisory was issued warning of a coronavirus outbreak there.
Few were worried, until reports began circling that a school administrator who had gone on the trip was sick, possibly with the flu or pneumonia. A reassuring email went out from the principal on Saturday, telling parents not to overreact to “information being shared through various media outlets” about the staff member’s health. State health officials, the principal said, had not advised testing or a quarantine.
Then on Sunday, a second email arrived. It had a different tone.
The administrator, who had returned on Feb. 22 from the weeklong trip with 38 students and chaperones, had tested positive for coronavirus, making it Rhode Island’s first case. A few hours later, a third email informed parents that a teenage girl on the same trip had also tested positive and that a second adult chaperone, a woman in her 30s, had developed symptoms and was also undergoing testing.
School, it said, would be closed for a week. Students should avoid gathering in large groups. Suzanne Arena, whose 16-year-old daughter is friends with the sick teenager, has gone over the timeline again and again since then, wondering how much exposure occurred before the teacher was tested, and before those test results were made public.
She learned about the sick staff member, she said, when a rival school refused to compete against St. Raphael Academy in a cheerleading contest scheduled for Sunday morning — team members had heard there was coronavirus at St. Raphael.
“These kids are all at school, and they weren’t given guidance,” Ms. Arena said. “Did they really not know? How many days does it take the Department of Health to figure this out? How hard is it to run a test? Are we doing it by pony?”
As the number of coronavirus cases in the United States reached 103 on Monday, the wide potential exposure at places like schools was becoming increasingly problematic.
At least a dozen schools were ordered closed Monday in Washington State, where six people have died after exposure to coronavirus. A school in Oregon was ordered closed through Thursday after a school employee had the illness diagnosed.
The unfolding investigation at St. Raphael Academy, a Catholic preparatory school near Providence, shows how difficult it is for school officials to provide accurate warnings and timely responses to a fast-spreading virus that, in this case, began reaching multiple possible points of contact long before public health officials and school administrators were able to act.
This week, public health officials were scrambling to follow the trail of potential exposure that followed the school group’s return to the United States. But every day that has elapsed since the end of the trip — nine days ago — has made that more difficult.
The school administrator called in sick right away, but state officials were not informed of the specifics of the case — a patient with respiratory symptoms and recent travel history to Italy — until Feb. 26, four days after the group’s return, according to Joseph Wendelken, a spokesman for Rhode Island’s Department of Health.
The man spent those first days at home, with what seemed like the flu, but had contact with his wife and children, who in turn had contact with others until Feb. 27, when they were given orders to isolate themselves. None of his family members have developed symptoms, Nicole Alexander-Scott, the director of Rhode Island’s Department of Health, said on Sunday.
The administrator’s specimens had been collected earlier, but could not be tested until Feb. 29, a week after the group returned, Mr. Wendelken said. “This is a brand-new test,” he said.
Once they were able, officials hurried “to run the test extremely quickly in response to this urgent situation,” he said, and the positive results were available the same day.
The coronavirus diagnosis triggered further actions: All 38 students and faculty members who went on the trip were instructed to self-quarantine for 14 days, and tests were administered to the two other people on the trip, the chaperone and the student, who had developed symptoms, Mr. Wendelken said. Both were positive.
The following day, on Sunday, officials announced their decision to suspend school, first for a few days and then for the week.
On Monday, Rhode Island officials announced the temporary closing of a second school, the Achievement First Academy, where the ill chaperone worked, pending the outcome of her coronavirus test.
State officials said they had been in touch all over Rhode Island to make sure that responses were as quick as they could be.
“Last night we were on the phone with all the school superintendents, we are in contact today with teachers and superintendents, making sure they have all the supplies they need,” Gov. Gina Raimondo said.
Dr. Alexander-Scott said officials were conducting “extensive contact tracing work” to identify anyone who might have had contact with the St. Raphael group that traveled to Europe.
Administrators at St. Raphael would not respond to questions about the quarantine, referring all inquiries to the state Department of Health. In a Q. and A. published on the school’s website, officials said the school was informed of the “possible cause” of its staff member’s illness on Feb. 26, four days after the group returned from Europe, and immediately alerted state authorities.
Ms. Arena, whose daughter attends the school, said she worried about a backlash directed at the sick teenager, whose illness was not confirmed until after the testing on Feb. 29, from people saying he should have stayed home when he first felt symptoms.
But even St. Raphael students, she said, are wondering why school was allowed to go on as usual after the illness of the administrator, who also served on the faculty, was diagnosed.
“Clearly the teacher was sick,” she said. “Wouldn’t logic dictate, given the environment that we are currently in, that it would have made sense to quarantine these students?”
Concern has spread beyond the boundaries of the now-closed schools.
One of the students on the Europe trip — though not one who has developed symptoms or been tested — served food to around 20 needy people at the Pawtucket Food Kitchen on Feb. 28, said Adrienne Marchetti, the kitchen’s executive director.
“We’re just worried for our people, because they’re vulnerable and could get sick,” she said. “You don’t know, it’s just one of those crapshoot things. Of course everyone’s worried.”
She said the atmosphere in the neighborhood had been transformed by the school’s closing. “It’s like a ghost town around here,” she said. “People are petrified.”
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The Molotov cocktail recipe:
Mix in equal parts of mental illness, lies, willful ignorance, fear, hate, greed, decades of 24/7 Reich-wing disinformation, misinformation, and crackpot conspiracy programming by Republican politicians, plutocrats, media and demagogues, add supplemental divisive Russian propaganda attacking and weakening America, stir well, garnish with COVID-19, and you have the mindless Republican cult descending into fascism, committing terrorism and sedition. Then, grab a stiff drink--you'll need it.
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Let's be clear; Congressional Republicans have been pointing a gun at the heart of legitimate self-government for four years, now. The only exception is FORMER Republican Rep. Justin Amash, who was essentially ejected from the GOP--solely for his honesty and integrity. Even Republican Sen. Mitt Romney over his two years in Congress has only made half-steps in rejecting Trump's authoritarianism, corruption, and lawlessness, demonstrating how he, too, cares more about his ambition and raw partisan power than he does his country. And it hasn't been just Congressional Republicans; nearly the entire GOP has been complicit in aiding and abetting what is clearly the most corrupt, criminal, despotic, rotten, and incompetent President and administration in U.S. history.
Which is why it is felt the only good Republican is a former Republican. The GOP no longer stands for any rational ideology. Instead, it has become a mindless political cult, based upon hate, lies, delusions, denials, and the blind lust for power at any cost.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It's that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don't care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another five months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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GOP cult is NOT the party of law and order, NOT the party of the Constitution and patriots, NOT the party of "values," NOT the party of "Christianity,"_* NOT the party of fiscal responsibility, NOT the party of clean government, NOT the party of freedom. It's the party of terrorism, lawlessness, corruption, fascism, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry, misogyny, Big Lies, crackpot conspiracy theories, unmitigated greed, gross hypocrisy, socialism for plutocrats, sedition, traitors, and tyranny.
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@JBond-zf4dj ~'Liberal hack' is what Russian bots call moderate conservatives who don't parrot their propaganda for Putin. Deflect, distract, divert, divide, deceive, disseminate disinformation to weaken America, kill Americans. Real Republican cult morons don't watch reputable news media. Not here for any rational discussion of the content, not going to be convinced of anything. Witness how bot reply is irrelevant to the video and comment, devoid of substance--just ad hominem to incite. Don't take the bait, helping it succeed in changing the subject, wasting everyone's time--just ignore the nonsense, or call them out: #moreRussiasanctions
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regurgitation
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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Personally rather be shown where wrong than proven right. Why? Because I WANT the truth. And, because I don't want to unwittingly spread misinformation or disinformation to others. Trouble is, Republican leaders and cult stopped caring about the truth, honesty, and integrity long ago, long before Toxic Trump. They KNOWINGLY spread lies if they think it will help them politically, gain them partisan advantage. They simply deny inconvenient truths and science. They eschew reality for a delusional Reich-wing bubble world. We are, and have been, in the era of Republican dishonesty and unreason, and it's destroying the nation they claim to love so much. Unfortunately, they refuse to see that, and some don't care, don't really love democracy, don't want to be responsible or held accountable, really prefer some form of anarchy, theocracy, or white nationalism.
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GOP is NOT the party of law and order, NOT the party of the Constitution and patriots, NOT the party of "values," NOT the party of fiscal responsibility, NOT the party of clean government. It's the party of terrorism, lawlessness, corruption, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry, misogyny, big lies, sedition, and traitors.
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regurgitation
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!*~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~*
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regurgitation
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
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SE CUPP -- 1) It may not have captured every single aspect of the inappropriateness of Trump's July 4th cheesy spectacle, but your analysis nonetheless provided a very thorough and compelling deconstruction outlining the wrongness of the misappropriation. Nice!
2) Excellent job focusing on Amash principles and GOP lacking thereof. More please! Necessary for impeachment!!
3) You couldn't be more wrong! "'Tis not, 'my country, right or wrong;' 'tis, 'my country, what is right to be kept right, what is wrong to be set right!'" -- Carl Schurz
Long before there was Amash, there was principled progressive visionary Republican Carl Schurz. German revolutionary, journalist, American statesman, abolitionist and superb orator who campaigned tirelessly in support for Lincoln, U.S. diplomat, beloved Union Army General, U.S. Senator for Missouri, helped shape a Reconstruction policy that enfranchised the freed slaves, championed civil service reform, a founder of the Republican Party in Wisconsin, founded the Liberal Republican movement, was a leader of the "Mugwump" exodus from the Republican party, denounced American imperialism in the Spanish-American War, and passionate advocate for the conservationist movement in America which he helped to create. His wife started the first kindergarten in the U.S.
At the age of 19 he was a leader of the student movement that became the spearhead of democratic revolutionary ferment in many parts of Germany. In 1849 Schurz was commissioned a lieutenant in the revolutionary army, which was finally defeated by the Prussians. Knowing he would be shot if captured, he fled the country. He later returned under a false passport to rescue a professor from Spandau prison and spirit him out of Germany in the most daring exploit of the entire revolution. Schurz came to the U.S. in 1852.
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FINAL SHOWDOWN ROUND INTER-GOVERNMENTAL MATCHUP: CBP/ICE versus Secret Service/U.S. Marshals
WHEN: High noon.
WHERE: OK Corral and Cage Them All Up, somewhere on the U.S. southern border.
THE STAKES: Rule of Law, sanity, America, future of humanity.
THE PRIZE: Justice, hopefully.
The long-awaited, much anticipated showdown is finally here, the nation anxiously perched at the edge of its seat! CBP/ICE team can be identified by their Confederate grey uniforms, swastikas, and white pointy hats. Secret Service/Marshals dressed in red, white, and blue. It's looking to be a short and very punishing affair for CBP/ICE, their opponents possessing all the advantages on their side. Expectations are CBP/ICE will attempt to compensate using child abuse, rape, torture, and other dirty tricks, sealing its own doom.
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What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle to grift their voters and us taxpayers.
You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
Republicans have had lots and lots of practice gaslighting and revising history. Pretty soon, they're going to make the GOP disappear! They're already on the wrong side of history, yet keep edging ever closer to extinction.
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-‘n-‘Thief, Toxic Trump, so much—although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages—as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption, a man compromised by foreign nations, including our principle adversary, through his tremendous debt, presenting our most serious national security threat. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself, mental illness, and his upbringing, who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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The highly-coveted Top Prize for our contestants today is an all-funeral-expenses-paid romantic getaway for two aboard the magnificent Corona Queen, taking you for an exclusive extended cruise, to a secluded stay on the exotic, remote, tropical Isle of Covid-19, where the fun is SUPER-contagious, and you will luxuriously bask in fabulous face masks and rejuvenating oxygen respirators, with the wonderful scent of disinfectant surrounding you! Sure to be a lifetime experience for some lucky few! Just remember--the couple that dies together, stays together!
BONUS: Providing accompanying entertainment is Chief Jester Roberts and the entire Trump comedy team, featuring the Clown Commander, for laughs and coughs! There just ain't no cure, for them ocean cruise blues! Bon voyage!
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It's that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don't care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another five months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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Professor Turley disgraced himself and his employer, Georgetown University, getting taken to the mat repeatedly and completely outclassed by three experts from other universities. While clearly knowledgeable about Constitutional law and history, Professor Turley failed to present any rational academic argument against impeachment, choosing instead to turn a blind eye to high crimes, unprecedented total obstruction of Congress oversight and impeachment powers, this President's penchant for perversions and abuses of power, and dire national security concerns...while making false allegations, engaging in false equivalencies, projecting undue bias and playing coy. Although much value and greatly appreciate opposing perspectives, Professor Turley's performance was an act of bad faith and intellectual dishonesty, demonstrating a critical lack of integrity, of which Georgetown University, its students, and its alumni should all be ashamed, as it reflects very poorly on them and their fine institution. This was a fool willingly made a Republican cult tool, and the motivation appears more self-interst than altruistic--at a time when all sane, loyal hands are crucially required on deck.
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@justafidemyself ~ It's called free speech, Doc, maybe you've heard of it before? See, the way it works is you get to say stuff and other people get to say stuff back. Or, they can say stuff and you can say stuff back. You seem to have a problem with the concept of free speech. Why is that? Maybe you've been living in Belgium so long you forgot, but don't they practice free speech there, too? You sound like one of those people that whine about cancel culture while being the first and most prolific in using it.
You just don't like that my replies get in the way of your little hate fest, debunk your nonsense, and demonstrate your weak intellect. Since you're so free with making baseless accusations smearing and slandering people, thanks for admitting the fact you're a crazy liar, though!
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Welcome to war. This is what war is. It's terrible, it's tragic, it's ugly, it stinks, it's unfair, it's sad, it's wasteful, it's hell, innocents die, and things always go wrong. You think we'd have learned that by now, but no, it's a lesson that has to be repeatedly learned, evidently. The consensus is that nobody foresaw the Afghan government and its armed forces completely capitulating so quickly as they did. Some say there should have been a contingency plan for this, but even though hindsight is 20/20, have yet to hear any rational plan that could have dealt with this situation. Shit happens, and Biden got handed a turd with Afghanistan. Instead of allowing the crap to continue, Biden made the hard, responsible decision to pull the U.S. out of another country's civil war. Fallout was inevitable, and Republicans trying to capitalize on that politically or media trying to profit from it is truly degenerate.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian nationalism religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast would soon come to consume them.
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You the one Sarge puts on the machine gun emplacement, and as soon as the first bullet is fired, start spraying wildly and indiscriminately in every direction, spinning 360 degrees, round and round, killing friend and foe alike! Not about age, doofus...or race, or religion, gender, or sexual orientation. It's about the Republican Party! Even then, there remains a few patriotic Republicans rejecting Trump, and some like Mueller working to bring him down. Let's please correctly identify the targets before opening fire!
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Republican cult placing greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation—only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regurgitation
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump’s COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration…
Now reaching vacation destination!
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast would soon come to consume them.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
~ "Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts."
~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
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Agree that Mueller conducted himself appropriately with honor, while Barr disgraced himself and the DOJ. However, Mueller had an obligation to more fully support his work in the aftermath of his investigation and report, and he failed the American people in that regard. Also agree with Holder on the need for Democrat's current strategy, using courts to set precedent and help check Executive overreaches while overcoming this administration's obstruction, so that evidence, witnesses, and testimony can be obtained to further accountability and critically enhance the prospect for impeachment success. Fast and Furious was a Republican witch hunt, and Holder should never have been held in contempt of Congress for protecting a necessary Constitutional principle (not Obama). Holder is right about Comey being wrong, as well, but more forgiving than warranted. However, sharply disagree that Nixon should have been pardoned, or that Trump should be pardoned or not prosecuted. If Holder had his way, the Civil War wouldn't have been fought, because it "was too damaging to the nation!"
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NIH Director is part of Trump administration, serves at the President's pleasure. He's was not being entirely forthcoming or honest in latest CNN interview, because his job is on the line. Director Collins is playing the political game to protect himself and those under him like Dr. Fauci. Which is probably a futile attempt, anyway, with a cruel, lunatic President that accepts no responsibility, ever. Truth is, nearly every other nation has responsibly instituted a NATIONAL response to this pandemic, which the Trump administration has inexplicably and inexcusably failed to do. It is criminal negligence by Toxic Trump, pure and simple. Which has already cost the senseless, avoidable deaths of tens of thousands of Americans, and continues to kill thousands more Americans by the week.
As part of the Trump administration and it's catastrophically botched pandemic response, NIH Director Collins shares direct responsibility. Director Collins is unwilling to confront that fact, be honest to the media and American people, deal with it as adults should. Truth and lives are more important than anyone's job. That is especially true for physicians such as Dr. Collins. It is Doctor Collins who is really playing politics, by shading the truth, deflecting away from the grim reality in which we find ourselves--and are forced to deal with, whatever one's politics. The U.S. critically REQUIRES a robust, rational national response when at war. Right now, every nation is fighting a war against this deadly global pandemic. In the U.S., we've yet to conquer the ignorance fighting the science (motivated by misguided, perceived political gain by Trump and Republicans) that is requisite in uniting together to defeat the common enemy.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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@triopsate3 ~ Not a fan at all of the Chinese government, and their initial response to COVID-19 was to cover it up, which had detrimental world-wide implications. You also seem to be confusing the U.S. poor pandemic response to America as a whole, instead of properly to the last Republican administration's politicization of a global health threat and its totally botched response. To China's credit, after their initial failures, they took this pandemic very seriously; by using strict isolation measures combined with massive testing and tracing programs they have been able to keep their case rate relatively quite low. There are other factors involved, as well, such as many people were already wearing masks due to very severe problems with pollution and air quality. While the U.S. initially pioneered mask wearing during the Spanish Flu and exported the practice around the world, where it was first met by cultural impediments in Asian countries like China, a century later we find the cultural impediments have to some extent been reversed--although in the U.S. this has certainly been due mostly to Republican politicization, diminishment, and denial of a deadly global health care crisis.
However, your information on China's vaccine rollout is erroneous. It was projected just recently that by mid-February only about 50 million of Chinese citizens would be vaccinated, or about 3.5% of its population. China's Sinopharm vaccine is not as effective as more modern U.S. varieties Moderna and Pfizer, and it takes longer to manufacture. To bolser its international relations, China is distributing its vaccine to other nations, at the expense of its own citizens getting vaccinated sooner. China has a similar vaccine coming online from Sinovac soon, which will undoubtedly help bolster production, making more available for distribution. In comparison, by mid-February the U.S. will have over 3.7% of its population vaccinated, most of those vaccinated in the highest-risk category, slightly leading China. At current trends and projections, the U.S. is on track to reach herd immunity through vaccinations months ahead of China.
As for your departing sarcastic criticisms, while there is some truth to them, again, the problems are almost entirely due to a dysfunctional Republican political party, rather than to the U.S. as a whole. Perhaps if you were talking to relatives in Hong Kong, instead of Beijing, or your relatives were Uighers, you would gain a more realistic view of China as a whole, and the continuing superiority of American government and life in comparison, despite its problems and flaws, which--unlike China--are not hidden away or denied.
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@triopsate3 ~ Just so we don't give the wrong impression, want to make clear that I first consider myself a citizen of the world. After that a citizen of my country, my state, my county, then my town, village, or city. I genuinely like the people of Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran, think that they are composed mostly of good people. Think that is true for most every nation, despite differences in ideology and culture.
You are mistaken in your facts. Shanghai is the most populous city in China, not Beijing. But a more accurate way to direct resources equitably would be to look at the population of Chinese provinces. Among provinces, Beijing ranks only 26th out of 33 in population, placing it towards the bottom.
Your argument about Republicans could likewise be made just the same for the Chinese government, except it's not just half the government--it's the whole government. That makes it twice as bad, then, if that's the way you wish to look at it. There are good things and bad things that could be said for just about any country, but it is the overall picture, the totality of conditions, that should determine which is better.
It should first be recognized that we all are going to have a bias towards our home country, because that is what we are most familiar with, that is the place to which we have become adapted--and I am certainly no exception to that. But do think we are capable of being objective, despite that. For instance, don't think that the U.S. is necessarily the best country in which to live. Don't think that the U.S. puts enough focus and emphasis on the immeasurable quality of happiness, for just one example.
Nevertheless, out of all of the other countries I might choose to live if choosing to leave the U.S., China would not be among those choices. That choice would have nothing to do with the Chinese people, or the many dialects of the Chinese language. Nor am I alone; few immigrants choose China in which to live permanently, but the U.S. remains a prime destination, regardless of its current dysfunctional Republican party, or its lack of universal health care.
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What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle to grift their voters and us taxpayers.
You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
Republicans have had lots and lots of practice gaslighting and revising history. Pretty soon, they're going to make the GOP disappear! They're already on the wrong side of history, yet keep edging ever closer to extinction.
GOP = Fascism The few patriots in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism needs to be called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
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@brigitteslabon4089 - You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It's that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don't care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another five months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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@averydaymond1560 Nobody's that stupid, unless...
***NEW CDC UPDATE***
TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome)
Fortunately, the disease and contagion has confined itself solely to the two Trump supporter sects, Trumputin and Trumpturd. All others possess natural immunity. Expecting some casualties from this disease among the cult following Trump demise, but the general population is safe, the nation should survive, albeit with a stain upon it.
Any remaining Trumpezoids should be rendered mostly harmless, although the possibility exists of continued recurring cross-contamination. Treatment is simple and relatively painless. Trumpezoids must be kept from spoon-fed Russian government/Republican propaganda for an extended period, until returning back to normal.
Yes, Doc, it seems the ugly stain will remain upon the nation. But the cure was always there. Republicans are choking to death from their own propaganda, having copiously binge gorged until they became sick, and a sickness upon society. No Grecian legend foretold this tale (well, OK, maybe the lust for power, narcissism, abandonment of reason, obsession with wealth, vanity, hubris, and doomed ending parts), but a lesson shouldn't have been required. Only common sense.
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GOP cult is NOT the party of law and order, NOT the party of the Constitution and patriots, NOT the party of "values," NOT the party of fiscal responsibility, NOT the party of clean government, NOT the party of freedom. It's the party of terrorism, lawlessness, corruption, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry, misogyny, Big Lies, unmitigated greed, gross hypocrisy, socialized taxpayer payouts for plutocrats, sedition, traitors, and tyranny.
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An intelligent conversation about Gov. Cuomo's foibles SHOULD include the double-standard applied by Republicans, their gross hypocrisy and the resulting lack of a level playing field. Which isn't to engage in the dishonest Whataboutism typical of Republicans, because am willing to hold Gov. Cuomo accountable regardless of any malfeasance committed by GOP officials.
Don't think we necessarily need to wait for the courts to weigh in, either. Cuomo admits to cracking jokes like the one that drew the complaint. Even if his motivation is innocent, he should know better. Like the lack of transparency with the nursing home deaths in NY, his decision to send people with COVID-19 to nursing homes exacerbating deaths in nursing homes there, he made poor decisions. Should more credible complaints of sexual harassment or unwanted sexual advances occur, then expect calls for his resignation from Democrats to increase, and expect him to do the honorable thing and resign. Because we Democrats are NOT like Republicans, and we do NOT want to be like Republicans. We're better than that, and we expect better from our elected officials.
That said, humans are going to be human, and it's not all that unusual for a boss and employee to discover feelings of mutual attraction, whether in the public or private sector. But exploring those feelings should not occur on the job or be connected in any way to the job. Don't think that every flirtation or relationship between a boss and employee should be necessarily be characterized as an abuse of power. Think such should generally be avoided by both superior and subordinate, think there are times when it rises to the level of inappropriate behavior, and think there are times when it clearly does rise to the level of an abuse of power. Should a relationship develop between boss and employee, then one of them needs to switch departments or employers, in fairness to other workers, and to prevent the appearance or even hint of any impropriety.
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Alright, watched the video, prefer progressive over Biden, disagree slightly with some of the analysis, but this was not an endorsement of Biden or a disparagement of any other Dem candidate; it was simply an analysis of the Dem front runner status and strategy, and also an attempt to make a frank assessment of the nation's political outlook. Why all the negative comments, thumbs down, and attacks against CNN? As a frequent media critic, definitely not warranted for this video. This was a fairly objective piece, and it pains me to see Dems acting like Republicans to news they don't like. In this case, apparently just because the front-runner is getting publicity--and it isn't even flattering! We better than this, Dems! Better to save that criticism for when it is justified than using it unjustly trying to influence the refs! (Voted Bernie last time, like Warren better this time around, but would be quite pleased with either.)
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Woman's reproductive choice is a Constitutional right under Roe v. Wade, which was rendered 50 years ago in a 7-2 decision by a SCOTUS containing a 7-2 conservative majority. For the past five decades, an overwhelmingly majority of Americans have consistently supported that decision. Besides, Republicans don't give a crap about zygotes, embryos, fetuses, children, or women, as repeatedly and amply proven by their policies. And if Republicans really cared about human life, they wouldn't be banning mask and vaccine mandates during a deadly global pandemic that has already taken over 660,000 American lives in just 18 months. Fascist GOP is a Jim Jones-style cult pro-death party full of heinous hypocrites!
“The lie that abortion is murder is right-wing propaganda designed to demonize Democrats. Abortion is legal all over the world because a fetus without a cerebral cortex cannot think or feel before the 27th week. According to the CDC almost all abortions happen before the 13th week.”
― Oliver Markus Malloy
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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Tucker Carlson and Faux News: mainstreaming American fascism purely for profit.
America's enemies don't need to spread disinformation, doubt, discord, and division to weaken America, kill Americans--Republican politicians, Reich-wing demagogues, Faux News, OAN, Newsmax, Breitbart and the rest of the Reich-wing media do that so effectively for them, already. More Americans need to realize that the GOP has abdicated it's duty as loyal opposition, and that its prioritization of party over country and welcoming embrace of violent radical Reich-wing extremists diminishes both our government and our national security, endangering ALL Americans, as well as weakening and endangering America itself.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It’s that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don’t care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn’t want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it’s more than hope—those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another three months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn’t really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
“The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.”
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump’s hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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Welcome to war. This is what war is. It's terrible, it's tragic, it's ugly, it stinks, it's unfair, it's sad, it's wasteful, it's hell, innocents die, and things always go wrong. You think we'd have learned that by now, but no, it's a lesson that has to be repeatedly learned, evidently. The consensus is that nobody foresaw the Afghan government and its armed forces completely capitulating so quickly as they did. Some say there should have been a contingency plan for this, but even though hindsight is 20/20, have yet to hear any rational plan that could have dealt with this situation. Shit happens, and Biden got handed a turd with Afghanistan. Instead of allowing the crap to continue, Biden made the hard, responsible decision to pull the U.S. out of another country's civil war. Fallout was inevitable, and Republicans trying to capitalize on that politically or media trying to profit from it is truly degenerate.
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We got Big Brag Daddy Baghdad Bob broadcasting direct from Washington, D.C. daily, with Toxic Trump and a revolving cast of his sycophantic minions! Happy talk, disinformation, empty promises, idle threats, vicious smears, bogus pandemic models, dog whistles, continuous crackpot conspiracies--they got it all, and more!
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Before U.S. gun manufacturers bought off the NRA and the GOP to create a bogus political issue and instill fear, mass shootings weren't a thing in America and schools were much safer. Today, over 393 MILLION guns are owned by citizens, which translates to about 120 guns for every 100 citizens. A record number, 40 MILLION, were sold in 2020 alone. However, over 2/3 of Americans do NOT own ANY firearm; less than a third of U.S. citizens own all the firearms, which amounts to a whopping third of all civilian firearms owned in the world are in the U.S. The sheer number of firearms present in the U.S. makes accidental gun injury and death, rampant gun violence, and mass shootings a certainty. Ironically, the inescapable truth is that those purchasing and owning guns, mostly for self defense, are making America less safe for everyone.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It's that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don't care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another five months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
~ "Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts."
~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme.
~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history."
~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind."
~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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@crusaderking1602 ~ If the case is so "open and shut," then why hasn't Rittenhouse plead guilty? These are not trivial charges brought against Rittenhouse by the prosecutor, and no trial by jury is ever to be conducted by any judge as "open and shut." So, you don't know what you're talking about, and your so-called "defense" of the judge is no defense at all.
My question to you is why Rittenhouse was there illegally, putting himself in harm's way, while illegally carrying an illegally obtained assault rifle. Rittenhouse wasn't even a resident of Wisconsin, much less Kenosha.
A number of people testified that before the fracas at the gas station started between Rittenhouse and Rosenbaum, protestors were complaining because Rittenhouse and other armed men at the gas station were pointing guns at them, which is illegal and constitutes reckless endangerment or assault in most states. And, in fact, reckless endangerment is one of the charges Rittenhouse was indicted upon and faces in this trial.
No, the testimony so far does not favor Rittenhouse. One of the other armed men at the gas station with Rittenhouse testified that Rosenbaum was belligerent but posed no real threat. And, in fact, Rosenbaum harmed no one that night. Also, Rittenhouse had presented himself as an EMT that night, but instead of attempting to save Rosenbaum's life after shooting him, he ran away. The person who did try to treat Rosenbaum for his injuries asked Rittenhouse to call 911 before he ran away. But Rittenhouse never did call 911. Instead, he called his friend while running away, telling him that he had just shot someone. Those are not the actions of an innocent person.
Truth is, Rittenhouse had broken a number of laws, deliberately put himself in harms way, and fled the scene of his crime, only turning himself in the next day after he had been identified as the active shooter. And it wasn't just Rosenbaum he shot, but two others trying to apprehend him to make a citizen's arrest.
Truth is, it isn't up to the judge to decide guilt or innocence, it is up to the jury. The judge is there to serve as an impartial arbiter, and his actions so far show him to be failing in that regard.
Truth is, Kyle Rittenhouse wasn't necessarily a bad kid. He took a wrong turn and got sucked into something he had no business being a part of. He was young, naïve, and inexperienced, which led to him making some awful choices. The tragedy is two people died and one was injured because of Kyle's poor decisions. But the tragedy is also that Kyle Rittenhouse made himself a victim through his own misguided actions. Given all that is already known, it is my view that Kyle deserves to be found guilty and punished. If found guilty, I hope that his punishment is neither too harsh nor too lenient.
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@crusaderking1602 ~ If someone points a gun at you, are they not threatening your life, and do you not have the right to act in self-defense? If two armed robbers rob a bank and don't plan to shoot anyone, just steal the money, but one of the robbers shoots someone trying to stop them, are not both robber charged with homicide, one as an accessory?
Kyle Rittenhouse was in the process of committing several crimes when he shot three people. He wasn't defending the law; he was breaking the law. He put his own self in harm's way. His fleeing the scene of the crime is evidence of guilt. Rittenhouse shot two people trying to make a citizen's arrest after he had already shot another person, killing one and wounding the other. He did not call 911, did not try to help those he shot, he did not turn himself in until the next day, after he had already been identified. Taken altogether, what it adds up to is murder.
The prosecution does not typically bring cases to trial unless they feel their is strong evidence and a sound basis for the charges to present a winning case. In this case, I hope that justice prevails, and Rittenhouse is found guilty on all counts.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of conspiracy theories, the party of hate, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of corruption, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their deal with the Devil.
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Oh, there's plenty more in the wheelhouse for corrupt, activist, partisan hack Republican jokers on the Court than just raping women's Constitutionally protected reproductive health rights! They're also about rigging elections for Republicans and corrupting our government (Bush v Gore, Citizens United, gutting the Voting Rights Act), anti-labor/worker, stripping federal powers, enhancing state powers, anti-regulatory, and whatever else comes along they think they can get away with that serves their bankrupt ideology, political agenda, corruption, and Reich-wing plutocrat elite masters. They also manipulate important cases through the shadow docket, which lacks transparency, and by declining them a hearing, keeping their nefarious deeds on the downlow. More important matters ahead, expect more irrational, activist, extremist and partisan hack decisions from these Reich-wing racist, misogynist jokers that have no sound basis in existing law, precedent, or the Constitution, which they interpret arbitrarily and capriciously at whim wherever suited to their evil ends, turning back progress and harming the nation while delegitimizing themselves and the Court.
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Conservatism--the endless, futile quest to justify greed. For many in the tribalistic partisan Republican cult, it's a blind faith in capitalism and liberty that deliberately ignores the limitations and responsibilities involved with each, often driven by ignorant anarchist impulses, which are in turn rooted in ignorance such as greed, bigotry, racism, xenophobia, and religion. They reject societal norms that places reasonable restrictions on those things in benefit of the common good.
You see the well-dressed, well-fed pandemic lock-down protestors, most driving newer, expensive vehicles. You KNOW these people are nowhere near destitute, that they got money and time to waste. Then, you think about all the African-Americans being very disproportionately affected in inner cities, who ARE suffering greatly, yet grimly continue to give selflessly on the front lines of this war against COVID-19, and abide by guidelines despite the hardships affecting low-income and poverty sectors far worse. Many of them feel FORCED to work to pay the bills, WISHING they had a non-essential job where they could receive unemployment, be on vacation at home with family, and not be put at risk in general society, where they have typically been ill-protected by their employers. They are put at greater increased risk by protestors.
You also think about ALL the other essential medical and front-line workers being put at greater increased risk by ignorant protestors--and about the suffering and deaths you KNOW will result from their ignorance. From their continued rejection of truth, reason, facts, science, and even common sense. We have to wonder at the willful ignorance, despite knowing the reasons, appalled at their irrationalism, and fearful for our nation, our families and friends, and ourselves.
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Market drops over 3,000 in just three days, wiping out $3.6 TRILLION from our accounts and economy in one WEEK--setting records for biggest losses EVER in the stock market for a day and for a week. Bankruptcy king Trump, dismissing COVID-19 as a "hoax": "Our Big Pharma, Big Med, and disinfectant companies are prospering!" That was last week. Monday, 03/08/20, market recorded it's new single biggest point loss day EVER--over 2,000 drop in the Dow, with nearly 8% loss in S&P and other benchmarks. Wednesday, 3/11/20, the market lost another 1,600 points, double the brief correction bounce it wiped out from the previous day.
On 03/12/20, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 2,352 points, or 10%. The index had its worst drop since the 1987 Black Monday market crash, when it collapsed by more than 22%.The S&P 500 plummeted 9.5%, joining the Dow in a bear market. The S&P 500 also hat its worst day since 1987. The Nasdaq closed 9.4% lower. Both the Dow and the S&P are now officially in a bear market (-20%), down more than 26% from its record high set just last month.
Thursday’s plunge came after yet another wild session on Wall Street and the demise of the Dow’s record-setting bull market run that began in March 2009. The blue-chip index tumbled 1,464.94 points, or 5.9%, to close at 23,553.22. The 30-stock average closed in a bear market, putting to end an expansion that started in 2009 amid the financial crisis. The Dow also plummeted more than 2,000 points on Monday.
“These markets have been impossible to predict,” said David Lafferty, chief market strategist at Natixis Investment Managers. “I think of them as kind of wind-sock markets. They’re just changing with whatever way sentiment is. There’s no fundamentals under these markets right now.”
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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Merrick Garland: "Trump and Congressional Republicans screwed me out of a seat on the Supreme Court...that's why now as AG I can't prosecute them for the many crimes they've committed!"
Merrick Garland’s House Testimony Demonstrated the Failure of His Hyper-Cautious Approach to His Job
Despite Garland’s many efforts to not appear political by declining to investigate Trump and his cronies for possible crimes and by using DOJ resources to actively protect Trump from civil liability, Republicans are still portraying him as the most political attorney general in history.
The other weakness of Garland’s timid approach was on full view during his opening statement and responses to Democratic members of Congress. “The essence of the rule of law is that like cases are treated alike. That there not be one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans; one rule for friends, another for foes,” Garland stated grandly. But by declining to investigate Trump and his associates, Garland is enabling further attacks on our democracy. (While proving inequity by putting Republicans above the law.)
Crucially, the two parties are not the same. Garland’s standard sets up a false equivalency between the Democratic Party and a political party whose national leader, Donald Trump, incited and celebrated a violent assault on our nation’s Capitol to overthrow the results of a free and fair election and who continues to portray the insurrection as a glorious “protest.” To that end, in the middle of the attorney general’s testimony, Trump issued a statement highlighting Garland’s feebleness at failing to even investigate the organizers and leaders of the Jan. 6 events, declaring “the insurrection took place on November 3, Election Day. January 6 was the Protest!”
Garland’s efforts to depoliticize the DOJ have proved to be an abdication of his responsibility to protect the rule of law. Take just a few examples: Garland’s failure to reconsider the obstruction of justice case against the former president, his deferral of an investigation of possible financial crimes by Trump and his organization to local prosecutors in New York City and Westchester, his use of the DOJ to protect Trump from defamation allegations, and his deferral of a soliciting of voter fraud felony probe in Georgia to local prosecutors there. By abdicating his responsibility, Garland is also opening the door for Trump to commit these possibly criminal abuses all over again, this time with the full support of the Republican Party, and maybe ultimately return to power.
--Mark Stern
"Try as he may, Merrick Garland cannot perform boring independence fast enough to outrun GOP claims that he’s a wild-eyed, violent socialist. And while the GOP currently exists only to cast everything you thought you believed into doubt, the real endgame is vigilantism. The endgame is to ensure that people mistrust government, election systems, school boards, (teachers, health care officials) the media, and the justice system enough to lend a hand in their destruction."
--Dahlia Lithwick
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of crackpot conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of plutocrats, the party of corruption, the party of anti-democracy, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their pact with the Devil.
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Gov. Hogan claims to be against divisive politics, but is blind to his hyper-partisanship! Still trying to defend a GOP gone rogue. Moreover, as if voting for competent, moderate Hillary who never saw a deal she didn't want to compromise would have been just oh, so, so horrible--the end of the America as we know it! Better to allow a lunatic in the Oval than conquer Hogan's Zeroes own blind bias and lack of objectivity. Right. Just another Republican hypocrite, and he does a poor job of hiding it. Hogan's Zeroes inability to refrain from false equivalencies to demonize and demagogue the opposition party demonstrates his own divisiveness. All well and good that Hogan's Zeroes isn't a Trump acolyte, but Toxic Trump is merely the most troublesome symptom of the disease Hogan's Zeroes himself contracted. Hogan's Zeroes is part of the Republican cult, part of the problem, lacking the capacity and therefore unfit to be part of the solution. Hogan's Zeroes STILL supports a GOP that is VIGOROUSLY promoting the reelection of the most divisive, ignorant, incompetent, cruel, psychotic, uncaring, amoral, and corrupt President ever--the worst President in American history, by far! A President that does nothing when Russia places a bounty on our sons and daughters, our brothers and sisters, serving in uniform. A President that commuted the sentence for seven felonies of a crony to cover-up his own crimes. A President whose stupidity, megalomania, corruption, and incompetence is directly responsible for the deaths of over 100,000 Americans. That's the Republican party Hogan's Zeroes is supporting. If one's political party is promoting a President for reelection that is already a known danger to himself, others, the nation, and the world, then it's time to stop identifying with that political party, don't you think, Hogan's Zeroes? Or, is it that you just don't like to think, rather play partisan politics?
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GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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"Peace is not a very big thing to ask for, is it?" ~ Fatima Gailani, Afghan activist and negotiator, pleading for continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan
It is when asking the Taliban, who do not seek peace or to bargain in good faith, but total domination once again. U.S. has spent 20 years and $2 trillion trying to achieve peace in Afghanistan, losing over 4000 American lives (military and civilian contractors), with tens of thousands of Americans wounded there.
"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials … have given Afghans little reason to support their government," Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the commander of U.S. forces in the country, wrote in a 2009 memorandum. "This crisis of confidence, coupled with a distinct lack of economic and educational opportunity, has created fertile ground for the insurgency."
That was 11 years ago, and little has changed since. Thought the invasion of Afghanistan by Bush was a mistake that would lead to a quagmire, and have been proven correct. Still, initially supported efforts to bring peace and stability there, along with basic human and civil-rights, because after invading felt we had an obligation to rebuild. However, while U.S. blunders there have contributed to a failure, Afghans are their own worst enemy, and no one can help them until enough of them are willing to help themselves.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law?
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~ Bad Vibration, Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
What location revitalization?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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It's like rowing or paddling upstream, or into a stiff wind--if you ease-up too much or stop, you will only have to paddle twice as hard to make up all the previous hard-earned progress that was quickly lost. Failing to maintain isolation and other measures for sufficient time to stop the spread of COVID-19 transmission will cost U.S. more in time, effort, money, and LIVES. Reopening and relaxing measures too early in defiance of the science and data is the ultimate in colossal ignorance, greed, ruthlessness, and arrogance.
We have a segment of Republican cult willfully ignorant, who malevolently seek to sabotage containment efforts. But many do not grasp how important it is that we treat ourselves and everyone else as being infected.
This is because people know that is very unlikely, especially outside dense urban areas, where incidence rates are low. Because of the delay in onset of the disease and asymptomatic carriers, COVID-19 is a stealth killer that uses Americans against each other as its foot soldiers, transporting it, keeping the disease and its train of transmission alive. This is further complicated because people cannot see a virus, see it attacking, see it spreading, until it is too late. For many of us, seeing is believing, and people are incapable or reluctant to make that leap of logic required to keep them and everyone safe--even with the massive public education efforts.
Of course, the problem becomes greatly exacerbated when the President refuses to wear a mask, and his administration works against itself in fighting this deadly global pandemic, sending conflicting messages to the public. Toxic Trump, his administration, and all the Republicans who have aided and abetted him, are directly responsible in our view for the senseless deaths of tens and thousands of Americans. The dead are the worst of it, but there is also the tremendous needless suffering and economic loss accompanying their wanton criminal negligence.
No national testing, no rational national coordinated pandemic response. Republican governors reopening too quickly in defiance of CDC guidelines are only following the President's lead. Democratic governors in many states likewise being adversely pressured by Toxic Trump's pandemic disinformation and Republican opposition to requisite lockdowns. Problem starts at the top. Don't fault even the worst Republican governors as much as this President. The President needed to take the lead, take the hit for the hard decisions--not put all the weight on governors as he as.
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“Don’t give me the MyPillow guy doing a song-and-dance up here on a Monday afternoon when people are dying in Queens,” Francesa said. “Get the stuff made, get the stuff where it needs to go, and get the boots on the ground! Treat this like the crisis it is!”
New York sports talk radio icon Mike Francesa, a longtime and vocal defender of Trump, delivered an on-air tirade Tuesday about the president’s leadership. Francesa seized upon Trump’s comments Monday that if the total number of coronavirus fatalities in the United States is between 100,000 and 200,000, that would count as a good job.
“How can you have a scoreboard that says 2,000 people have died and tell us, ‘It’s okay if another 198,000 die, that’s a good job,’ ” Francesa said. “How is that a good job in our country? It’s a good job if nobody else dies! Not if another 198,000 people die! So now 200,000 people are disposable?”
Jesus freak fervently praying for God to save our pillowed butts in WH presser...because, God knows, Trump sure as hell ain't doing it!
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Translation: Two conservative SCOTUS justices decided they couldn't weasel their way out of ruling properly on civil rights protecting LBGTIQ workers, confined by the law and legal precedent--as well as the current incendiary political climate, with large, multi-generational, multi-ethnic, multi-sexual ongoing protests occurring in nearly every city and town in the nation, passionately protesting for equality and social justice. The other three conservative SCOTUS justices don't care about equal rights, morals, ethics, the law, or our Constitution.
All five conservative justices had just previously ruled dying is part of voting in a massive GOP voter-suppression scheme, so you might wonder if they are improving. Don't be fooled. They remain the same weak, hyper-partisan, narrow-minded, ideologically-blinded cowards and cockroaches which can't be trusted. That Roberts and Gorsuch had at least enough sense or survival instinct to read the writing on the wall, deciding not to make themselves and their Republican SCROTUM irrelevant and the laughing stock of the world, inspires neither confidence nor trust in them.
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Toxic Trump: "I'm the BEST, just absolutely CRUSHING the competition, with over TWO POINT THREE MILLION coronavirus cases and over 120--one-hundred and twenty!!!--THOUSAND deaths! They ALL got eighty-sixed, 'cause nobody else even comes close! With a third of the world's cases and a quarter of deaths--can you even imagine how truly great, how awesome, that achievement is, with only just FOUR PERCENT of the world's population to work with? Believe it or not, I accomplished in only FIVE WEEKS what it took the Vietnam War a whole TWELVE YEARS to do! PLUS, we're not even counting ALL the COVID-19 cases and deaths here in the U.S.! Those other weaklings and losers don't stand a chance, because we're going to keep right on winning--as long as I'm in charge! Now, vacation's over; time to get back to work on increasing those numbers, people! Let's keep America great, get rid of all the excess baggage! As wartime President, I am commanding all CIVILIANS to senselessly sacrifice their lives for my arrogance, stupidity, vanity, malevolence, and greed!"
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of corruption, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their deal with the Devil.
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You don't get denialism without nihilism. As life-long conservative Bill Kristol astutely pointed our just recently in a tweet, the Republican party has embraced nihilism. Republicans still labeling COVID-19 a "hoax;" Republicans still refusing to wear masks or social distance after over half-a-million American fatalities from COVID-19; Congressional Republicans obstructing a COVID-19 stimulus bill certain to pass just to delay vital and urgently needed relief to Americans desperate for help; Republican governors dropping mask mandates and all restrictions on businesses, heedless of rising case counts in their states and deadly new variants of the virus; and Republican leaders continuing to push the Big Lie that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen without evidence and in disregard of plentiful evidence and facts to the contrary, even AFTER their Big Lie incited a terrorist attack by a mindless Republican mob against the nation's Capitol in insurrection against the government, attempting to overturn a legitimate election, sieging, storming, sizing, sacking, defiling, defacing and disgracing America's citadel of, and temple to, democracy--these are all prime examples of nihilism.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of crackpot conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of plutocrats, the party of corruption, the party of anti-democracy, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their pact with the Devil.
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Donald Trump, at White House press conference on 04/07/20:
And we’re going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO. We’re going to put a very powerful hold on it, and we’re going to see.
Trump later at that same press conference:
Q: Thanks. A quick follow-up on that. So is the time to freeze funding to the WHO during a pandemic of this magnitude?
THE PRESIDENT: No, maybe not. I mean, I’m not saying I’m going to do it, but we’re going to look at it.
Q: You did say that you’re going to —
THE PRESIDENT: We give a tremendous —
Q: You said you’d put a hold on it.
THE PRESIDENT: No, I didn’t.
Toxic Trump, one week later, on 04/14/20: "I'm withholding WHO funding!"
WHO held a important meeting on COVID-19 vaccines at the beginning of May, with all nations attending...except, unbelievably, no U.S. medical and scientific representatives sent by the Trump Administration, without any explanation. The absence particularly stunning in light that U.S. has half of world's cases and a quarter of the deaths, although possessing just 4% of the global population. Then, on May 29, Toxic Trump announced the U.S. was completely withdrawing from the World Health Organization!
ME, US, the world: WTF?? Why in HELL is that raving lunatic STILL in charge during this major pandemic health crisis?!? Hasn't he KILLED enough Americans, ALREADY?!?
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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Worst economic downturn in American history, catastrophically botched COVID-19 pandemic response with over 160,000 senseless American deaths. TWENTY straight weeks of over ONE MILLION new unemployment claims. Deaths projected to double by the end of year due to most corrupt, incompetent, racist, and ignorant President in U.S. history. A treasonous President that compromised himself with Russia, who refuses to hold the U.S. principle foreign adversary accountable for its attacks on America, who won't even speak out against Russian bounties on U.S. soldiers. Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy: "Toxic Trump is doing a helluva job!" Rabid right-wing cult media is DESTROYING America!
What's really confusing America is Newsmax, Faux News, and all the other rabid right-wing media outlets propagating and spreading disinformation. Without the supporting cast of willing supplicant proto-fascist right-wing media exploiting and profiting from them, the lies and distortions of Toxic Trump and Republicans would hold very little power, and could not persist.
Anyone really all that surprised that the CEO of Newsmax, Chris Ruddy, is a dishonest partisan hack with no character or integrity whatsoever? If so, that's only because you've never seen Newsmax.
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Worst economic downturn in American history, catastrophically botched COVID-19 pandemic response with over 160,000 senseless American deaths. TWENTY straight weeks of over ONE MILLION new unemployment claims. Deaths projected to double by the end of year due to most corrupt, incompetent, racist, and ignorant President in U.S. history. A treasonous President that compromised himself with Russia, who refuses to hold the U.S. principle foreign adversary accountable for its attacks on America, who won't even speak out against Russian bounties on U.S. soldiers. Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy: "Toxic Trump is doing a helluva job!" Rabid right-wing cult media is DESTROYING America!
What's really confusing America is Newsmax, Faux News, and all the other rabid right-wing media outlets propagating and spreading disinformation. Without the supporting cast of willing supplicant proto-fascist right-wing media exploiting and profiting from them, the lies and distortions of Toxic Trump and Republicans would hold very little power, and could not persist.
Anyone really all that surprised that the CEO of Newsmax, Chris Ruddy, is a dishonest partisan hack with no character or integrity whatsoever? If so, that's only because you've never seen Newsmax.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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The Coronavirus Test Is Too Hard for Trump
Jamelle Bouie -- NY Times 04/04/20
The list of presidential failures is long and varied. But when it comes to failure in the face of an external force — a natural disaster or an economic meltdown — it is difficult to find anything as catastrophic as President Trump’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak, even at this early stage of the crisis.
There are moments that come close. There was President James Buchanan’s indifference to the secession crisis of 1860. Other than to give a speech — clarifying his view that secession was an extra-constitutional action — the outgoing president did little but watch as most of the South left the Union in the wake of Abraham Lincoln’s election.
There was President Herbert Hoover’s response to the 1929 stock market crash and subsequent Great Depression. He urged calm — “The fundamental business of the country, that is production and distribution of commodities is on a sound and prosperous basis” — encouraged volunteer action and pressured employers to keep wages up. But he wasn’t intellectually or politically equipped to go further — “We cannot legislate ourselves out of a world economic depression, we can and will work ourselves out” — and the country suffered as a result.
I would also include President George W. Bush’s response to Hurricane Katrina and his handling of the subsequent crisis in New Orleans. His management of the situation — from his initial lack of interest to the abject failure of his disaster response team — produced devastation for thousands of people and marked the effective end of his presidency.
Trump hasn’t just failed to anticipate the way Buchanan did or failed to respond like Hoover or failed to prepare like Bush — he’s done all three. He inherited everything he needed to respond to a pandemic: explicit guidance from the previous administration and a team of experienced experts and intelligence agencies attuned to the threat posed by the quick spread of deadly disease. He even had some sensible advisers who, far from ignoring or making light of the virus, urged him to take it seriously.
The federal government may not have been able to stop coronavirus from reaching the United States — that was impossible to avoid in a globalized, highly-mobile world — but it was well equipped to deal with the problem once it reached our shores.
But as the world knows, Trump ignored, downplayed and dismissed the problem until it became one of the worst crises in our nation’s history.
It was just over a month ago, for example, that Trump told Americans that the virus would vanish of its own accord. “Because of all we’ve done, the risk to the American people remains very low,” he said during a news conference at the White House on Feb. 26. He emphasized the small number of cases at the time (“We have a total of 15”) and added that “the fifteen within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero.”
“We have it so well under control,” he continued, “I mean, we really have done a very good job.”
Now, of course, the message is quite different. The White House expects a six-figure death toll — 100,000 to 240,000 deaths, provided most Americans follow federal guidelines for social distancing. This, Trump says, would be a victory, since it could be much worse. “So you’re talking about 2.2 million deaths, 2.2 million people from this. And so if we could hold that down, as we’re saying, to 100,000. It’s a horrible number, maybe even less — but to 100,000. So we have between 100 and 200,000, and we altogether have done a very good job.” These numbers, it should be said, come from several different projections that use several different models for the disease. The death toll could be lower, or it could be much, much higher.
We should put this death toll in context. At the low end, Covid-19 will have killed roughly as many Americans as died in the Korean War, the Vietnam War, Desert Storm and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan combined. At the high end, it’s that number plus all American deaths in the Spanish-American War and the First World War. The difference is that deaths from Covid-19 will occur in a matter of months versus a number of years. And at that scale, this won’t just afflict the old and infirm — many of the dead will have been in the prime of their lives. And all of this as the economy collapses on itself — as of Thursday, nearly 10 million Americans had filed for unemployment benefits, compressing the job losses of the 18-month Great Recession in 2008-9 (and then some) into a two-week period.
Trump is very likely, over the next several months, to preside over the deaths of at least a hundred thousand Americans in a crisis he chose to ignore until there was no choice but to act. He’ll try to say — is already trying to say — that this was the best he could do, but that will be a lie. He’ll make excuses or cite mitigating factors. But Trump wasn’t distracted by an impeachment trial or focused on any other area of concern. In February, as the crisis deepened, he was holding rallies for voters and parties for supporters, as well as golfing at his private club.
It’s true that Trump imposed some travel restrictions on foreign nationals coming from China as the virus came into public view. But he had the time, energy and responsibility to do far more. He didn’t. Instead, he said things like this — “I think the numbers are going to get progressively better as we go along” — and continued to do everything he could to minimize the threat.
It was only after action from states, colleges and other institutions that the White House began to take this seriously. And by then, it was too late to move off the path to disaster.
As we enter the second full month of the pandemic in the United States, the cost of the president’s indifference is clear: thousands dead and thousands who will die because their government didn’t care to protect them.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/the-coronavirus-test-is-too-hard-for-trump/ar-BB127hVP?ocid=spartanntp
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and disturbing. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of crackpot conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of greed, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of plutocrats, the party of corruption, the party of anti-democracy, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their pact with the Devil.
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"Peace is not a very big thing to ask for, is it?" ~ Fatima Gailani, Afghan activist and negotiator, pleading for continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan
It is when asking the Taliban, who do not seek peace or to bargain in good faith, but total domination once again. U.S. has spent 20 years and $2 trillion trying to achieve peace in Afghanistan, losing over 4000 American lives (military and civilian contractors), with tens of thousands of Americans wounded there.
"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials … have given Afghans little reason to support their government," Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the commander of U.S. forces in the country, wrote in a 2009 memorandum. "This crisis of confidence, coupled with a distinct lack of economic and educational opportunity, has created fertile ground for the insurgency."
That was 11 years ago, and little has changed since. Thought the invasion of Afghanistan by Bush was a mistake that would lead to a quagmire, and have been proven correct. Still, initially supported efforts to bring peace and stability there, along with basic human and civil-rights, because after invading felt we had an obligation to rebuild. However, while U.S. blunders there have contributed to a failure, Afghans are their own worst enemy, and no one can help them until enough of them are willing to help themselves.
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“The lie that abortion is murder is right-wing propaganda designed to demonize Democrats. Abortion is legal all over the world because a fetus without a cerebral cortex cannot think or feel before the 27th week. According to the CDC almost all abortions happen before the 13th week.”
― Oliver Markus Malloy
"A simple reading" of the Christian Bible tells you that abortion is not immoral:
After God formed man in Genesis 2:7, He “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and it was then that the man became a living being”. Although the man was fully formed by God in all respects, he was not a living being until after taking his first breath.
In Job 33:4, it states: “The spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”
Again, to quote Ezekiel 37:5&6, “Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.”
In Exodus 21:22 it states that if a man causes a woman to have a miscarriage, he shall be fined; however, if the woman dies then he will be put to death. It should be apparent from this that the aborted fetus is not considered a living human being since the resulting punishment for the abortion is nothing more than a fine; it is not classified by the bible as a capital offense.
According to the bible, destroying a living fetus does not equate to killing a living human being even though the fetus has the potential of becoming a human being. One can not kill something that has not been born and taken a breath. This means that a stillborn would not be considered a human being either. Of course, every living sperm has the potential of becoming a human being although not one in a million will make it; the rest are aborted.
God has decreed, for one reason or another, that at least one-third of all pregnancies shall be terminated by a spontaneous abortion during the first trimester of pregnancy and that a number will be terminated after the first trimester. It would appear that God does not have any more regard for the loss of a fetus than he does for the loss of a placenta or a foreskin despite the fact that these were living tissue as the result of conception.
It is only after birth that a baby is christened with a name and baptized in the Christian faith. As a legal matter in the U.S., only after birth does a baby achieve personhood and citizenship, receiving a birth certificate with their given name and a social security number.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, John Eastman and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
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Dr. "Babbling" Birx is laying bricks, lying and dissembling! Says she trusts churches and churchgoers to make it safe, not go to church if sick--knowing asymptomatic people don't know they're sick, and can't be detected! Then, there's the fact that many religious people gather at religious shrines and places of worship hoping to be "healed" when sick. Moreover, she knows "Pastor" Tony Spelling in Louisiana was packing his megachurch during the middle of a severe outbreak, busing them in from a 50-mile radius; she knows all about the devastating spread in South Korea from religious services. Dr. Birx KNOWS a good proportion of Americans are NOT following basic CDC guidelines; NOT wearing masks, NOT social distancing. And she knows without detailed specific CDC federal guidelines, we got chaos, sickness, and MORE senseless deaths. Birx needs to have her medical license revoked. She can be the next SmellyAnne Con-Her-Way, that's what she wants.
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"Peace is not a very big thing to ask for, is it?" ~ Fatima Gailani, Afghan activist and negotiator, pleading for continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan
It is when asking the Taliban, who do not seek peace or to bargain in good faith, but total domination once again. U.S. has spent 20 years and $2 trillion trying to achieve peace in Afghanistan, losing over 4000 American lives (military and civilian contractors), with tens of thousands of Americans wounded there.
"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials … have given Afghans little reason to support their government," Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the commander of U.S. forces in the country, wrote in a 2009 memorandum. "This crisis of confidence, coupled with a distinct lack of economic and educational opportunity, has created fertile ground for the insurgency."
That was 11 years ago, and little has changed since. Thought the invasion of Afghanistan by Bush was a mistake that would lead to a quagmire, and have been proven correct. Still, initially supported efforts to bring peace and stability there, along with basic human and civil-rights, because after invading felt we had an obligation to rebuild. However, while U.S. blunders there have contributed to a failure, Afghans are their own worst enemy, and no one can help them until enough of them are willing to help themselves.
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Instead of insuring adequate testing, contact tracing, surveillance testing, medical equipment, staff, and medical supplies like PPE -- as just as critically, if not more, public adherence to pandemic guidelines like wearing masks and social distancing -- Toxic Trump and Republican leaders pushed strongly for reopening the economy too soon, against CDC guidelines, despite the grave warnings of scientists, experts, and doctors; despite common sense. Most Republican governors took the Putin puppet President's lead, not taking a deadly global pandemic seriously. We need to shutdown, again, and stay that way until we have testing and other capabilities, and we have the current raging spread back under FIRM control. Which means back to isolation for the American public. No sea cruise. No airline flight. No theme park. No barber or beauty salon. No tattoo. No school. Just stay at home. Again. All only because of criminal negligence by Republican leaders and some Americans who just had to be stupid, inconsiderate, and heartless. The whole nation suffers and mourns; the innocents punished alongside the perpetrators of this insanity.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, John Eastman and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed? If Garland doesn't stand up for justice and democracy, this nation is soon doomed.
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
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@D...M...A... ~ The AG and the DOJ are dragging their feet, trying not to appear political. But appearances shouldn't matter, because justice and enforcing the law come first, and because Republicans have been painting him and the DOJ as political, anyway. Appearances shouldn't prevent the DOJ from doing its job.
Garland has already made a number of unwise decisions regarding the former administration, and the decision to prosecute Bannon holding him in contempt of Congress should not have taken weeks to decide. Bannon's hearing on that charge won't happen until July 2022.
The clock is ticking, and in about a week it will have been a year since the January 6 insurrection, and still none of the major players have been indicted yet. Nor is there any sign of the DOJ prosecuting Trump for his other crimes. That's far too long, and it is sending the wrong message to those trying to subvert our democracy.
"If the result of Garland's de-politicization is tiptoeing around the egregious serial wrongdoing of the leaders of the Republican Party, then his efforts will have exactly the opposite of the intended effect. By failing to hold Trump and Co. accountable, Garland will set the stage for them to continue unabated their efforts to turn the U.S. into a one-party state in which only Republicans can win elections and any tactics they may use to hold on to power will have been effectively validated by the inaction of Garland and his DOJ.
Garland’s behavior to date has left me apprehensive. Conversations I have had with folks inside DOJ have not eased those concerns. There, frustration with Garland begins with his management style (which insiders liken to that of a judge running his chambers in which his office is a kind of bubble apart from the department and staffed by a small team akin to the clerks he had when he was in the judiciary).
It extends to concerns that he will err too far in the name of caution and a desire not to be perceived as political. This too is a hold-over from his court days and ignores that A) he is a political appointee, B) the issues he is dealing with are hyper-politicized and c) there is no way to prosecute politicians for crimes committed in the name of partisanship without appearing political."
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“I'm not scared of the Maos and the Stalins and the Hitlers.
I'm scared of the thousands or millions of people that hallucinate them to be "authority", and so do their bidding, and pay for their empires, and carry out their orders.
I don't care if there's one looney with a stupid moustache. He's not a threat if the people do not believe in "authority".” ― Larken Rose
Setting aside the sleazy immoral Reich-wing grifters at the top -- people like Trump, Congressional Republicans, Reich-wing demagogues and media -- the rank-and-file of the GOP has become a fascist cult. To be clear, Trump did not create the cult, it existed before him. He merely served as a unifying figure they chose to rally around and worship as their fool's gold god. Trump appealed to their basest nature and told them what they wanted to hear. Now, those Reich-wing grifters may have cultivated their cult to exploit for their own greed, power and vanity, but at least to some extent the Republican cult in turn seeks to exploit the GOP for their own various misguided purposes. They CHOOSE to be willfully ignorant, to believe or espouse the lies, because as a political calculus they shortsightedly see it as expedient to their ends.
What must also be taken into consideration are the characteristics of a cult. Why do people join a cult? Why do they choose to remain in a cult? No need to go into detail; the answers are largely common knowledge or easily researched. But it should be pointed out that in a complex world, the simplistic and rigid beliefs embraced by cults can be very alluring, no matter how fantastical and removed from reality. It should also be acknowledged that the Republican cult is not a monolithic entity, but an amalgamation of sects, including White supremacists, Christian nationalists, libertarians, sovereign nationals, anarchists, tax resistors, Qanon and other extremist fringe groups. Of course, not every Republican is an extremist, a fascist, or untethered from reality. But this latter more benign group is nevertheless part of the fascist Republican cult, complicit in their support of the whole, whether through their silent acquiescence and votes or willing assistance.
It's a very dangerous feedback loop, a vicious circle, one that as it sinks further into depravity its threat correspondingly rises, for as the Republican cult has over time been becoming increasingly more radicalized, we witness the election of more radical politicians to represent them, more radicalized Reich-wing media and demagogues to feed them propaganda. While some Republicans are leaving the GOP and some others are speaking out and trying to save their party, they constitute a weak minority, unfortunately.
In a normal, sane world, the Republican cult would have ended or been marginalized after the Mueller Report, after Trump's Ukraine shakedown and impeachment, after Trump's horrendous handling of a deadly global pandemic, after his election defeat, or after January 6th and his second impeachment. But that hasn't happened. Instead, the Republican cult continues to become increasingly more radicalized and extreme. As President Biden says, "We are in a battle for the soul of this nation." And that battle is far from over.
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Trump Has Sabotaged America’s Coronavirus Response
by Laura Garrett
In 2018, the Trump administration fired the government’s entire pandemic response chain of command, including the White House management infrastructure. In numerous phone calls and emails with key agencies across the U.S. government, the only consistent response I encountered was distressed confusion.
....
White House efforts included reducing $15 billion in national health spending and cutting the global disease-fighting operational budgets of the CDC, NSC, DHS, and HHS. And the government’s $30 million Complex Crises Fund was eliminated.
In May 2018, Trump ordered the NSC’s entire global health security unit shut down, calling for reassignment of Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer and dissolution of his team inside the agency. The month before, then-White House National Security Advisor John Bolton pressured Ziemer’s DHS counterpart, Tom Bossert, to resign along with his team. Neither the NSC nor DHS epidemic teams have been replaced. The global health section of the CDC was so drastically cut in 2018 that much of its staff was laid off and the number of countries it was working in was reduced from 49 to merely 10. Meanwhile, throughout 2018, the U.S. Agency for International Development and its director, Mark Green, came repeatedly under fire from both the White House and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. And though Congress has so far managed to block Trump administration plans to cut the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps by 40 percent, the disease-fighting cadres have steadily eroded as retiring officers go unreplaced.
Public health advocates have been ringing alarm bells to no avail.
Ronald Klain, who directed U.S. efforts on Ebola, has been warning for two years that the United States was in grave danger should a pandemic emerge. In 2017 and 2018, the philanthropist billionaire Bill Gates met repeatedly with Bolton and his predecessor, H.R. McMaster, warning that ongoing cuts to the global health disease infrastructure would render the United States vulnerable to, as he put it, the “significant probability of a large and lethal modern-day pandemic occurring in our lifetimes.” And an independent, bipartisan panel formed by the Center for Strategic and International Studies concluded that lack of preparedness was so acute in the Trump administration that the “United States must either pay now and gain protection and security or wait for the next epidemic and pay a much greater price in human and economic costs.”
https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/31/coronavirus-china-trump-united-states-public-health-emergency-response/
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@come_on_now ~ You mean the way the Traitor-'n-Thief and fascist dictator wannabe Toxic Trump muzzled free press, muzzled doctors and scientists, muzzled environmental and worker's rights advocates? Or you talking about how he tried to muzzle millions of American's votes? Or maybe you're referring to how he and his Republican terrorist cult tried to silence Congress by committing sedition in an attempted coup, insurrecting against the nation's Capitol, defacing, despoiling, sacking and pillaging our temple to the Constitution, killing and beating police, attempting to kill Congressional lawmakers and VP Pence who wouldn't do Toxic Trump's illegal bidding?
You don't care about civil rights, the Constitution, our country, the Bible, or anything but your political cult party. Rights and freedoms come with responsibilities and limits, or there can be no rights and freedoms. Nobody is undeservedly losing their freedom of speech; only those abusing that right--same as it has always been. Get a clue, not a cult, Doc.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law?
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Germany's Robert Koch Institute information on Covid-19 vaccines:
Do the breakthroughs show that the vaccines are not working?
No. They prove something else that has been known so far: none of the vaccines have 100 percent protection. According to the Robert Koch Institute, the effectiveness of vaccines ranges from 82 to 83 percent. However, protection through vaccines declines over time. Six to nine months after vaccination, the antibodies in the body weaken.
One thing is for sure, however: vaccinations definitely prevent the severe development of the disease. According to Robert Koch’s statistics, a total of 67,661 cases of breaches in the immunization protection of vaccinated people have been registered in Germany this year, but only 0.52 percent of these people have been forced to go to the intensive care unit. The deaths in this group are about 1 percent, and most often it is the elderly, in whom the death risk is statistically much higher.
To what extent does the immune system weaken due to the “time” factor?
It depends a lot on the individual, on his age, on the presence of chronic diseases, on the intervals between the two doses of the vaccine. And, of course, from the type of vaccine itself. Especially in the elderly, the elderly and people with cancer or transplants, the immune system declines faster than others. That is why the Standing Committee on Immunization in Germany last week already recommended that people over the age of 70 be vaccinated with a third dose. A third dose will also be offered to all those who work in medical facilities and in homes for the helpless elderly.
Is the number of breakthroughs increasing?
Yes. However, experts from the Robert Koch Institute report that this trend is logical and easy to explain. First, the number of vaccinated in Germany is already very high, and this naturally increases the number of breakthroughs. And second, the coronavirus is now spreading quite aggressively again, which also increases the risk of infecting fully vaccinated people.
According to the Robert Koch Institute, the recent increase in hospitalizations is mainly due to non-immunized people over the age of 60. If the number of infections is expected to increase during the coming months, the infection will mainly affect non-immunized people.
It should be noted that most people in the UK have been vaccinated with the Astra-Zeneca vaccine, which is similar to the J&J vaccine and does not have quite as high an efficacy rate as the mRNA vaccines Moderna and Pfizer. December 31, 2021 Covid-19 update from the UK Health Security Agency website:
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has published a new variant technical briefing containing updated analysis on Omicron hospitalisation risk and vaccine efficacy against symptomatic disease and hospitalisation.
Protection against hospitalisation from vaccines is good against the Omicron variant. One dose of any vaccine was associated with a 35% reduced risk of hospitalisation among symptomatic cases with the Omicron variant, 2 doses with a 67% reduction up to 24 weeks after the second dose and a 51% reduced risk 25 or more weeks after the second dose. A third dose was associated with a 68% (95% confidence interval 52 to 82%) reduced risk of hospitalisation when compared to similar unvaccinated individuals. When the reduced risk of hospitalisation was combined with vaccine effectiveness against symptomatic disease, the vaccine effectiveness against hospitalisation was estimated as 52% after one dose, 72% 2 to 24 weeks after dose 2, 52% 25+ weeks after dose 2 and 88% 2 weeks after a booster dose.
Working alongside Cambridge University MRC Biostatistics unit, UKHSA analysed 528,176 Omicron cases and 573,012 Delta cases between 22 November and 26 December to assess the risk of hospitalisation in England after testing positive for Omicron. This analysis found that the risk of presentation to emergency care or hospital admission with Omicron (testing for symptomatic or asymptomatic infection) was approximately half of that for Delta, while the risk of hospital admission alone with Omicron was approximately one-third of that for Delta. In this analysis, the risk of hospitalisation is lower for Omicron cases with symptomatic or asymptomatic infection after 2 and 3 doses of vaccine, with an 81% (95% confidence interval 77 to 85%) reduction in the risk of hospitalisation after 3 doses compared to unvaccinated Omicron cases.
Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said:
This is more promising data which reinforces just how important vaccines are. They save lives and prevent serious illness. This analysis shows you are up to 8 times more likely to end up in hospital as a result of COVID-19 if you are unvaccinated.
It is never too late to come forward for your first dose and it’s vital that everyone comes forward to get boosted now as we head into the new year.
Susan Hopkins, Chief Medical Adviser at UKHSA, said:
The latest set of analysis is in keeping with the encouraging signs we have already seen.
However, it remains too early to draw any definitive conclusions on hospital severity, and the increased transmissibility of Omicron and the rising cases in the over 60s population in England means it remains highly likely that there will be significant pressure on the NHS in coming weeks.
The data once again shows that coming forward for your jab, particularly your third dose, is the best way of protecting yourself and others against infection and severe disease.
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Trump excluded the Afghan government from his surrender negotiations with the Taliban, legitimizing the Taliban by making a separate peace deal with them and delegitimizing the government we worked so long and hard at so much cost to build and support, while releasing 5,000 Taliban prisoners which included the worst of the worst and allowed them to return to fight against Afghan and U.S. forces, while agreeing to withdraw all U.S. forces by May 1, 2021, guaranteeing failure. Previously, in 2018, Trump had Pakistan release the current leader of the Taliban, who had been their top military leader. Moreover, Trump eviscerated the refugee program for Afghan and Iraqi allies visa programs, creating a huge backlog over four years. A federal judge even ruled Trump's delaying of those visas illegal. Furthermore, Trump abandoned are Kurdish allies in Syria and Iraq. Trump and Pompeo could hardly have screwed up our foreign policy any worse, and the damage they did will take decades to repair. But the Republican cult morons are too stupid to know and too stupid to care; they'll just deny and try to shift blame, as usual.
Liz Cheney's right----it didn't have to happen this way: her father, Dick Cheney, and George Bush were responsible for the deterioration of affairs in Afghanistan by diverting troops and resources to conduct an illegal invasion of Iraq on the false premise of WMD and Iraq harboring terrorists. The situation in Afghanistan never recovered from that fatal mistake by Cheney and Bush; it allowed the Taliban to regroup and come back bigger and stronger than ever. Cheney and Bush's illegal war in Iraq also resulted in the emergence of ISIS.
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"Peace is not a very big thing to ask for, is it?" ~ Fatima Gailani, Afghan activist and negotiator, pleading for continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan
It is when asking the Taliban, who do not seek peace or to bargain in good faith, but total domination once again. U.S. has spent 20 years and $2 trillion trying to achieve peace in Afghanistan, losing over 4000 American lives (military and civilian contractors), with tens of thousands of Americans wounded there.
"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials … have given Afghans little reason to support their government," Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the commander of U.S. forces in the country, wrote in a 2009 memorandum. "This crisis of confidence, coupled with a distinct lack of economic and educational opportunity, has created fertile ground for the insurgency."
That was 11 years ago, and little has changed since. Thought the invasion of Afghanistan by Bush was a mistake that would lead to a quagmire, and have been proven correct. Still, initially supported efforts to bring peace and stability there, along with basic human and civil-rights, because after invading felt we had an obligation to rebuild. However, while U.S. blunders there have contributed to a failure, Afghans are their own worst enemy, and no one can help them until enough of them are willing to help themselves.
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It's like rowing or paddling upstream, or into a stiff wind--if you ease-up too much or stop, you will only have to paddle twice as hard to make up all the previous hard-earned progress that was quickly lost. Failing to maintain isolation and other measures for sufficient time to stop the spread of COVID-19 transmission will cost U.S. more in time, effort, money, and LIVES. Reopening and relaxing measures too early in defiance of the science and data is the ultimate in colossal ignorance, greed, ruthlessness, and arrogance.
We have a segment of Republican cult willfully ignorant, who malevolently seek to sabotage containment efforts. But many do not grasp how important it is that we treat ourselves and everyone else as being infected.
This is because people know that is very unlikely, especially outside dense urban areas, where incidence rates are low. Because of the delay in onset of the disease and asymptomatic carriers, COVID-19 is a stealth killer that uses Americans against each other as its foot soldiers, transporting it, keeping the disease and its train of transmission alive. This is further complicated because people cannot see a virus, see it attacking, see it spreading, until it is too late. For many of us, seeing is believing, and people are incapable or reluctant to make that leap of logic required to keep them and everyone safe--even with the massive public education efforts.
Of course, the problem becomes greatly exacerbated when the President refuses to wear a mask, and his administration works against itself in fighting this deadly global pandemic, sending conflicting messages to the public. Toxic Trump, his administration, and all the Republicans who have aided and abetted him, are directly responsible in our view for the senseless deaths of tens and thousands of Americans. The dead are the worst of it, but there is also the tremendous needless suffering and economic loss accompanying their wanton criminal negligence.
No national testing, no rational national coordinated pandemic response. Republican governors reopening too quickly in defiance of CDC guidelines are only following the President's lead. Democratic governors in many states likewise being adversely pressured by Toxic Trump's pandemic disinformation and Republican opposition to requisite lockdowns. Problem starts at the top. Don't fault even the worst Republican governors as much as this President. The President needed to take the lead, take the hit for the hard decisions--not put all the weight on governors as he as.
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You don't get denialism without nihilism. As life-long conservative Bill Kristol astutely pointed our just recently in a tweet, the Republican party has embraced nihilism. Republicans still labeling COVID-19 a "hoax;" Republicans still refusing to wear masks or social distance after over half-a-million American fatalities from COVID-19; Congressional Republicans obstructing a COVID-19 stimulus bill certain to pass just to delay vital and urgently needed relief to Americans desperate for help; Republican governors dropping mask mandates and all restrictions on businesses, heedless of rising case counts in their states and deadly new variants of the virus; and Republican leaders continuing to push the Big Lie that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen without evidence and in disregard of plentiful evidence and facts to the contrary, even AFTER their Big Lie incited a terrorist attack by a mindless Republican mob against the nation's Capitol in insurrection against the government, attempting to overturn a legitimate election, sieging, storming, sizing, sacking, defiling, defacing and disgracing America's citadel of, and temple to, democracy--these are all prime examples of nihilism.
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What we are witnessing and feeling is an ongoing train wreck, from the vantage point of the passengers. The lunatic conductor of the LOCO-motive, Toxic Trump, knew the end-of-the-line was coming, yet kept increasing acceleration, anyway. He's still trying to pump the gas, even with the train off the track! We on the HELL bound train, now, Lucifer's demented and depraved minion absolutely determined, dedicated, DEVOTED to getting us all there on time!
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"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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Who'd have ever equated voting in America with survival? But that's pretty much what it has boiled down to, hasn't it? Survival of ourselves, survival of our democracy, survival of our nation, and survival of our planet. The irony is that Republicans have always tried to paint Democrats as an existential threat...but in doing so it is actually they who have become exactly that.
Democrat voters need an even greater turnout in '22 and '24, put the final fork in Trumpism! Republicans want to engage in Jim Crow voter suppression laws, voter intimidation, and egregious gerrymandering? Republicans want to engage in corruption, gaslight their corruption, coverup their corruption? Republicans want to turn a blind eye to Russian election interference and knowingly disseminate Russian propaganda for Putin? Republicans want to instigate and sanction Reich-wing domestic terrorist insurrection? Republicans want to live in delusion and denial about the major problems confronting the nation and planet? Let's just prove that's fuel for the fire, and make their fascist antidemocratic corruption backfire on them!
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Worst economic downturn in American history, catastrophically botched COVID-19 pandemic response with over 160,000 senseless American deaths. TWENTY straight weeks of over ONE MILLION new unemployment claims. Deaths projected to double by the end of year due to most corrupt, incompetent, racist, and ignorant President in U.S. history. A treasonous President that compromised himself with Russia, who refuses to hold the U.S. principle foreign adversary accountable for its attacks on America, who won't even speak out against Russian bounties on U.S. soldiers. Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy: "Toxic Trump is doing a helluva job!" Rabid right-wing cult media is DESTROYING America!
What's really confusing America is Newsmax, Faux News, and all the other rabid right-wing media outlets propagating and spreading disinformation. Without the supporting cast of willing supplicant proto-fascist right-wing media exploiting and profiting from them, the lies and distortions of Toxic Trump and Republicans would hold very little power, and could not persist.
Anyone really all that surprised that the CEO of Newsmax, Chris Ruddy, is a dishonest partisan hack with no character or integrity whatsoever? If so, that's only because you've never seen Newsmax.
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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FINAL SHOWDOWN ROUND INTER-GOVERNMENTAL MATCHUP: CBP/ICE versus Secret Service/U.S. Marshals
WHEN: High noon.
WHERE: OK Corral and Cage Them All Up, somewhere on the U.S. southern border.
THE STAKES: Rule of Law, sanity, America, future of humanity.
THE PRIZE: Justice, hopefully.
The long-awaited, much anticipated showdown is finally here, the nation anxiously at the edge of its seat! CBP/ICE team can be identified by their Confederate grey uniforms, swastikas, and white pointy hats. Secret Service/Marshals dressed in red, white, and blue. It's looking to be a short and very punishing affair for CBP/ICE, their opponents possessing all the advantages on their side. It's expected CBP/ICE will attempt to compensate using child abuse, rape, torture, and other dirty tricks, sealing its own doom.
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Donald Trump, at White House press conference on 04/07/20:
And we’re going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO. We’re going to put a very powerful hold on it, and we’re going to see.
Trump later at that same press conference:
Q: Thanks. A quick follow-up on that. So is the time to freeze funding to the WHO during a pandemic of this magnitude?
THE PRESIDENT: No, maybe not. I mean, I’m not saying I’m going to do it, but we’re going to look at it.
Q: You did say that you’re going to —
THE PRESIDENT: We give a tremendous —
Q: You said you’d put a hold on it.
THE PRESIDENT: No, I didn’t.
Toxic Trump, one week later, on 04/14/20: "I'm withholding WHO funding!"
WHO held a important meeting on COVID-19 vaccines at the beginning of May, with all nations attending...except no U.S. medical and scientific representatives sent by the Trump Administration, without any explanation. The absence particularly stunning in light that U.S. has half of world's cases and a quarter of the deaths, although possessing just 5% of the global population.
ME, US, the world: WTF?? Why in HELL is that raving lunatic STILL in charge during this major pandemic health crisis?!? Hasn't he KILLED enough Americans, ALREADY?!?
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Democrats: Put the least among us first to make us all strong. Religious or not, keep faith (superstition) and government (reality) separate, the former personal and private, the latter public and transparent.
Republicans: Put themselves first, prey upon the weak, hypocritical posers cowardly hiding behind their plastic Jeebus and the polyester flag, while they diminish, degrade, and destroy us with their ignorance, malevolence, arrogance, and avarice.
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
― Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again." ― Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney
More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and disturbing. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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Hypocritical Republican cult whines about cancel culture...
--while making death threats against those disagreeing with them
--while conducting a terrorist attack against the nation's Capitol in insurrection, beating and killing police, intent on killing lawmakers and the Republican VP, attempting a coup to overthrow the results of a free and fair election...just because their candidate lost.
--while trying to cancel out the votes of millions of Democrats and minorities by objecting solely to their votes, enacting numerous voter suppression measures, and engaging in egregious gerrymandering.
--while labeling MSM "the enemy of the people."
--while censoring and moving to remove fellow Republicans of integrity who speak up for truth and decency, and against GOP lies, terrorism, and crackpot conspiracy theories.
--while Reich-wing media turns off comments yet rants against "censorship."
--while Faux News fires its news editor for truthfully reporting that Arizona had been called for Biden.
--while trying to run a Biden campaign bus off the road.
--while Rep. Marjorie Greene prevents press from covering town hall meetings where nobody wore a mask.
--after seriously injuring over 140 police officers and killing one in the Republican cult's seditious terrorist attack of insurrection against the nation's Capitol, Republican cult terrorists threaten to call the cops on reporters trying to get their side of the story.
--while canceling out the lives of hundreds of thousands of their fellow Americans by spreading lies about COVID-19, politicizing a deadly pandemic, and refusing to follow common sense health guidelines.
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Seems only fair that the least Toxic Trump could do, after slaughtering over 80,000 Americans with his "greatest ever" ignorance, is to give the U.S. government his resort properties, to be quickly converted by the Army Corp of Engineers into public hospitals, medical facilities, and morgues. Too bad that's never going to happen--Turd Trump refuses to even sign order for FEMA to help fellow Americans out with OUR taxpayer money to bury their loved ones whom he killed, like they do in every other national emergency, despite repeated pleas to him, appealing for some shred of humanity, respect, and dignity be given for our dead.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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"Everybody that needs a test can get one!" Except, EVERYONE needs testing! It's not just about testing people who get sick, or even just those health care and other essential front-line workers, or those with a doctor referral. It's really all about RANDOMIZED testing, and testing for TRACKING and containment. THOSE are the testing capabilities desperately needed to safely reopen the economy--which the U.S. sorely lacks. Besides lying about virtually non-existent testing capabilities at the time, while also continually misleading Americans by touting testing kits instead of actual testing ABILITIES, the dirty, dastardly, dynamic duo of Toxic TRUMP and Plague PENCE were moving the goal posts, hoping to "score" in a game with no winners. They scored big, alright...in dead American bodies.
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And we’re going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO. We’re going to put a very powerful hold on it, and we’re going to see.
Trump later at that same press conference:
Q: Thanks. A quick follow-up on that. So is the time to freeze funding to the WHO during a pandemic of this magnitude?
THE PRESIDENT: No, maybe not. I mean, I’m not saying I’m going to do it, but we’re going to look at it.
Q: You did say that you’re going to —
THE PRESIDENT: We give a tremendous —
Q: You said you’d put a hold on it.
THE PRESIDENT: No, I didn’t.
Toxic Trump, one week later, on 04/14/20: "I'm withholding WHO funding!"
WHO held a important meeting on COVID-19 vaccines at the beginning of May, with all nations attending...except, unbelievably, no U.S. medical and scientific representatives sent by the Trump Administration, without any explanation. The absence particularly stunning in light that U.S. has half of world's cases and a quarter of the deaths, although possessing just 4% of the global population. Then, on May 29, Toxic Trump announced the U.S. was completely withdrawing from the World Health Organization!
ME, US, the world: WTF?? Why in HELL is that raving lunatic STILL in charge during this major pandemic health crisis?!? Hasn't he KILLED enough Americans, ALREADY?!?
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The following UNPRECEDENTED statement from ALL members of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff just issued will hopefully finally knock some sense into the very thick skulls of the Republican cult. Top military officials prefer to stay out of anything tinged with politics. FOR EVEN ONE to say something after last week’s event would be noteworthy and rare enough. For all eight Joint Chiefs to speak out together demonstrates just how PERILOUS they deem this moment to be, indicative of just how very much a CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER to the nation's security posed by the Traitor-'n-Thief:
“The violent riot in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021 was a direct assault on the U.S. Congress the Capitol building, and our Constitutional process. We witnessed actions inside the Capitol building that were inconsistent with the rule of law. The rights of freedom of speech and assembly do not give anyone the right to resort to violence, sedition and insurrection.
As Service Members, we must embody the values and ideals of the Nation. We support and defend the Constitution. Any act to disrupt the Constitutional process is not only against our traditions, values, and oath; it is against the law.
President-elect Joe Biden will be inaugurated and will become our 46th Commander in Chief.”
General Mark A. Milley, U.S. Army, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
General John E. Hyten, U.S. Air Force, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
General James C. McConville, U.S. Army, Chief of Staff of the Army
General David H. Berger, U.S. Marine Corps, Commandant of the Marine Corps
Admiral Michael M. Gilday, U.S. Navy, Chief of Naval Operations
General Charles Q. Brown Jr., U.S. Air Force, Chief of Staff of the Air Force
General John W. Raymond, U.S. Space Force, Chief of Space Operations
General Daniel R. Hokanson, U.S. Army, Chief of the National Guard Bureau
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***MEDIA FAIL*** -- Fareed Zakaria says a whole lot of nice things, and engages in some sophistry, which fails to hide that he doesn't present a coherent argument why he opposed a mere impeachment INQUIRY (not impeachment vote, to be clear, and not to dishonestly conflate these two very separate things, as Fareed did in this video to justify his former position) after Mueller 1.0, but now supports an impeachment inquiry regarding Mueller 2.0! Fareed can't explain how Congress would know to vote on impeachment for Mueller 1.0 if they didn't first conduct an impeachment inquiry/investigation/oversight! What, the House just wakes up one day, decides today is a good day for impeachment? Keep in mind, the Ukraine scandal is basically Trump repeating his past behavior before to get elected. Apparently, Fareed wants to give Presidents a free pass on their first criminal malfeasance, encouraging a repeat.
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***MEDIA FAIL*** -- Questions were answered, just not with a 'yes' or 'no.' CNN making mountains out of molehills, trying to stir controversy, jack ratings, mesmerize the masses for more mega-moola. It's all about the "SOUND BITE," right, CNN, not the substance of the issue here? Fact is, DCCC and AOC may have their differences, but the common ground between them is vast, far more than any petty disagreements. We all know that, but CNN not going to let the truth get in the way of fabricating a fiction for followers of such foolery.
DCCC's Bustos didn't do herself any favors, either. We expect politicians to speak diplomatically and to parse their words to please the largest proportion of people. However, here the affirmative admission was made in both instances, anyway, so a simple straightforward 'yes' answer to both questions would be appropriate, reflecting both on her and Democrats favorably. Instead, Bustos comes off as being less than honest, reflecting poorly on both herself and Democrats--pointlessly, for no good reason, whatsoever! In fact, she was being honest, if also reserved and reticent, in her answers.
The bottom line here is the reporter kept redundantly asking the same questions, despite being supplied the same AFFIRMATIVE answers each time. That's on the reporter, not the DCCC chair. Doggedly determined to dig dirt and dominate, but denied going down in the ditch, diatribe dip at the CNN desk deserved to be dangled and dissed.
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digital tribe You not a Russian bot, Doc; you Kim Dong Ill, Trump's brutally sadistic lover! How'd you enjoy torturing the American, Otto Wambier? Had you jumping up and down with glee, laughing and clapping your filthy, chubby little hands? Did that make you happy seeing him die after you turned this innocent, bright, young American into a vegetable? It's OK, you're safe for now, your lover Trump is protecting you. Not for long, though, because real Americans, real patriots, gonna be firing his traitorous, apprentice butt, one way o' the other! Then he's going to jail for awhile. Couldn't have happened to a nicer President, but I'm sure you two will write lots of nice love letters back and forth telling him how great he is and the Biggest Loser ever.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian nationalism religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or "the Wall") is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle's name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called "leaders" in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 -- than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to--and a barrier against--our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It's design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge--and help teach--people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see...if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
Toxic Trump is the twit totally trampling Twitless and TwatBook, trying to trash US down the totalitarian toilet!
Instead of responsible government, we got us a circus of Republican clowns burning down the tent--with everyone inside!
President Nero stoked racial animosities, igniting the embers, keeps feeding the flames. Lynching, murder of innocent civilians by law enforcement, followed by protests, riots, civil unrest, people hurt, property damaged--those were all inevitable with an arsonist in the Oval, even if his gross criminal negligence with COVID-19 wasn't presently so starkly highlighting the social and economic divides in this nation. You didn't see this train wreck burning, it's only because you refused to look.
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Freedoms can exist only up to the point they infringe upon the freedom of others. Religious tolerance can be practiced only up to the point it becomes intolerant of others. Our Constitution is a secular document, not a religious one, and it was certainly never intended to be a suicidal death pact. Getting vaccinated and following CDC guidelines brings freedom from preventable illness or injury, and a senseless premature death, but the mindless fascist Republican cult only believes in freeDUMB. Just as they don't understand or would deny the Constitution is as much about the common good as personal liberties, and that those two things are intrinsically and inextricably intertwined.
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge." ~ Ben Franklin, from Poor Richard's Almanack
Those who scorn public health guidelines during a deadly global pandemic and confuse a grievous public health issue with "essential" liberty to kill and harm themselves and their fellow citizens--as well as their nation--sorely lack both care and knowledge. They are also sorely lacking in common sense, something else about which Mr. Franklin was quite keen. Mr. Franklin was also one our nation's first scientists--yet these modern-day knuckleheads who ought know better refute science! Were he alive today, he would be rather dismayed, disgruntled, and disgusted with the fascist anti-science Republican cult, that much is crystal clear.
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Farmer wakes up one morning, goes outside to milk his cows, and discovers his entire herd is missing! So, he then walks over nest door to where the Republican cult lives, notices them grinding a whole bunch of beef into hamburger, and asks them, "Did you see what happened to all my cows?"
Republican cult: "Yeah, they jumped over the moon."
Farmer: "Do you have any actual evidence of that?"
Republican cult: "No, because they landed on the dark side, and you can't see them over there. But we're conducting a bunch of investigations, and we're confident evidence will soon emerge to prove it!"
Farmer: "You know, that sounds like a load of manure!"
Republican cult: "Well, that's what we all choose to believe!"
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law?
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Should have been a nationwide lockdown March 1, with US population isolating as much as possible. The lack of testing necessitated it, but Trump administration had another major malfunction in leadership, which will directly senselessly cause the suffering and deaths of many more Americans who could have been spared. (First posted weeks ago; new study estimates 83% percent could have been saved if March 1 lockdown. Instead, in the absence of any rational coordinated national pandemic response due to Trump's criminal negligence, we now have states ignorantly reopening despite rising infection rates, in defiance of medicine, science, and common sense--despite 100,000 dead in less than three months from COVID-19. Another study has found that had the U.S. followed Taiwan's example, which allowed only SEVEN deaths, U.S. deaths would have been limited to only one-hundred. Instead of 100, we have 100,000. That's just not acceptable.)
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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@Larkon979 ~ Sure thing, Doc, and I'm Bugs Bunny----see my picture? California recently became the world's fifth largest economy under Democratic leadership, bigger than any other state in the U.S., bigger than 180 other nations in the world. California also produces a good portion of the nation's food, more than any other state, as well as being the nation's technology and entertainment hub.
We got Republicans in my state trying to block and impede legal voters from voting, engaging in egregious gerrymandering, trying to cheat to win elections, besides the minor mistakes in mailing out ballots. We got skyrocketing unemployment, homelessness, price increases on food and goods, a shrinking economy, and crime (all of which began or have been exacerbated under Trump and Republican leadership). To top it off, we got massive Republican corruption.
But that's all beside the point, because this video and my comment isn't about any of that, and all you're doing is engaging in dishonest Whataboutism to deflect. Grow some integrity and get a clue----not some mindless fascist Republican cult of seditious terrorists.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth and justice--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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@djjones5715 ~ How stupid do you have to be, Doc? Get a clue, not a cult, for Christ's sake! Warnock didn't misspeak; he was referring to Andrew Young from Georgia, not Andrew Yang from California. Andrew Jackson Young Jr. (born March 12, 1932) is an American politician, diplomat, and activist. Beginning his career as a pastor, Young was an early leader in the civil rights movement, serving as executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and a close confidant to Martin Luther King Jr. Young later became active in politics, serving as a U.S. Congressman from Georgia, United States Ambassador to the United Nations in the Carter Administration, and 55th Mayor of Atlanta. Since leaving office, Young has founded or served in many organizations working on issues of public policy and political lobbying.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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@STEVENFRYFRY ~ If you had read the reply properly, it did not state "always," it said "often." For every nation example you give, one could give you multiple examples of the converse. There are also examples of dysfunctionality in Canadian multi-party government, are there not?
Moreover, there was more to the substance of our reply, advocating for a fracture in the GOP, holding the door open to the possibility of more than two major parties.
Finally, the truth is that multiple parties DO exist in the U.S., as well as candidates running as Independent. They just don't garner enough voters and support on the national level. Is it not up to the people of the nation, the voters, to make that choice? If there are two major parties in the U.S., it is because that is what the people have chosen. You may not like it, but is that not democracy?
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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@jenni0278 ~ You unwittingly are just proving the point of my comment, Doc! You can try to fool yourself, but Ben Franklin would be siding with the doctors and scientists, not the carnival barkers whose lies you swallow.
Personally know two people who were younger and perfectly healthy with no comorbidity factors t
hat died from Covid-19----one who could have gotten the vaccine, but refused despite the best efforts of me and others to convince her to get it. And there's been numerous reports detailing many others just like her who were younger and didn't have any risk factors and died from Covid-19. Also, others like her who ended up in the hospital and sustained permanent injury from Covid-19, and still others who are long-haulers suffering persistent lingering debilitating Covid-19 symptoms, some of them so severe they are unable to return to work because of it.
You want to pretend you know more than the doctors and scientists, but you're really only just demonstrating how ignorant you are. People like you seem bound and determined to prove Darwin's theory of evolution by wiping yourselves out, making the human race smarter!
Nobody is "dictating" that the Covid-19 vaccines are mandatory, and I could actually care less if a bunch of ignoramuses get themselves seriously ill or die because of their own stupidity. Especially since the ignorance of people like you hurts a lot of other innocent people, too.
However, those unvaccinated are making it more likely for new, potentially more deadly variants of Covid-19 to be created, and they are making it more likely that masks will again be required indoors in many places where Covid-19 is spiraling out of control once again, they are making it more likely that are economy will be further hurt, and they are making it more likely that those who cannot receive the vaccine for genuine medical reasons will get sick and/or die because of the lack of herd immunity and high concentrations of Covid-19 in their communities.
Your ignorance and selfishness, along with your lack of common sense, basic decency, and humanity doesn't make you any kind of patriot----just the opposite, in fact. You might as well be working for Putin or China, spreading disinformation about Covid-19 and refusing to get vaccinated. And just because an American is older or has existing health problems, their life doesn't have worth to you? What kind of monster are you, anyway?
Your idea of freeDUMB robs us all of our freedoms, but you're too stupid and stubborn to see that. You and your ilk are bringing America down, and maybe some day you'll finally realize that. But after how many more senseless American deaths? Isn't 600,000+ dead Americans in just over a year enough for you?
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Setting aside the Reich-wing grifters at the top -- people like Trump, Congressional Republicans, Reich-wing demagogues and media -- the rank-and-file of the GOP has become a fascist cult. To be clear, Trump did not create the cult, it existed before him. He merely served as a unifying figure they chose to rally around and worship as their fool's gold god. Trump appealed to their basest nature and told them what they wanted to hear. Now, those Reich-wing grifters may have cultivated their cult to exploit for their own greed, power and vanity, but at least to some extent the Republican cult in turn seeks to exploit the GOP for their own various misguided purposes. They CHOOSE to be willfully ignorant, to believe or espouse the lies, because as a political calculus they shortsightedly see it as expedient to their ends.
What must also be taken into consideration are the characteristics of a cult. Why do people join a cult? Why do they choose to remain in a cult? No need to go into detail; the answers are largely common knowledge or easily researched. But it should be pointed out that in a complex world, the simplistic and rigid beliefs embraced by cults can be very alluring, no matter how fantastical and removed from reality. It should also be acknowledged that the Republican cult is not a monolithic entity, but an amalgamation of sects, including White supremacists, Christian nationalists, libertarians, sovereign nationals, anarchists, tax resistors, Qanon and other extremist fringe groups. Of course, not every Republican is an extremist, a fascist, or untethered from reality. But this latter more benign group is nevertheless part of the fascist Republican cult, complicit in their support of the whole, whether through their silent acquiescence and votes or willing assistance.
It's a very dangerous feedback loop, a vicious circle, one that as it sinks further into depravity its threat correspondingly rises, for as the Republican cult has over time been becoming increasingly more radicalized, we witness the election of more radical politicians to represent them, more radicalized Reich-wing media and demagogues to feed them propaganda. While some Republicans are leaving the GOP and some others are speaking out and trying to save their party, they constitute a weak minority, unfortunately.
In a normal, sane world, the Republican cult would have ended or been marginalized after the Mueller Report, after Trump's Ukraine shakedown and impeachment, after Trump's horrendous handling of a deadly global pandemic, after his election defeat, or after January 6th and his second impeachment. But that hasn't happened. Instead, the Republican cult continues to become increasingly more radicalized and extreme. As President Biden says, "We are in a battle for the soul of this nation, and the fight is far from over."
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law?
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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@youngatheart-rq6ic ~ Gee, Doc, we're on the path of light, i.e., truth, reason, reality, and sanity. You chose the path of darkness, preferring lies, paranoia, irrationality, delusion, and lunacy. They say ignorance is bliss, but I say it sucks to be you.
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Let's be clear; Congressional Republicans have been pointing a gun at the heart of legitimate self-government for four years, now--including Sen. Ben Sasse. The only exception is FORMER Republican Rep. Justin Amash, who was essentially ejected from the GOP--solely for his honesty and integrity. Even Republican Sen. Mitt Romney over his two years in Congress has only made half-steps in rejecting Trump's authoritarianism, corruption, and lawlessness, demonstrating how he, too, cares more about his ambition and raw partisan power than he does his country. And it hasn't been just Congressional Republicans; nearly the entire GOP has been complicit in aiding and abetting what is clearly the most corrupt, criminal, despotic, rotten, and incompetent President and administration in U.S. history.
Which is why it is felt the only good Republican is a former Republican. The GOP no longer stands for any rational ideology. Instead, it has become a mindless political cult, based upon hate, lies, delusions, denials, and the blind lust for power at any cost.
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Even worse than the deplorable, despicable rudeness, arrogance, adolescence, and disrespect displayed by some Senate Republicans during Trump's second impeachment trial is their gaslighting and hiding behind the fallacious process argument of "no jurisdiction" for Senate impeachment trial, when the Traitor-'n-Thief Trump was impeached BEFORE leaving office. For comparison, as long as a person is indicted for a crime before the statute of limitations had expired for their alleged crime, it matters not that the trial takes place after that expiration date--the criminal does not get a "free pass." Moreover, this isn't a criminal trial, it's merely a disciplinary employment measure. Think of someone resigning, then the company determining that employee had committed crimes or other egregious behavior, thereby deciding at some point afterward that that person could not be rehired, and is also deprived of any post-employment rewards. Besides, there is ample precedent for impeaching after someone has left office, anyway.
Moreover, the fact is, the House and Senate determine their own rules for impeachment and trial--something confirmed already previously by SCOTUS decisions. Given that the Senate voted that this Senate trial of Toxic Trump is Constitutional, that is the ruling ALL Senators are bound by. What these Republican Senators hiding behind the fallacious "jurisdiction" argument are essentially doing is refusing to abide by their own Senate rules and laws, placing themselves above the law. So much for Republicans being the party of "law and order," taking personal responsibility, supporting law enforcement, and setting a good example for Americans.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and disturbing. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle to grift their voters and us taxpayers.
You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
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GOP cult: “Democracy is great…only so long as we can subvert it with lies, cheating, a multitude of Jim Crow voter suppression laws, egregious gerrymandering, obstruction, coups, election interference, sedition, and terrorism to gain power and maintain our corrupt, plutocratic, minority fascist rule!”
It's quite obvious that these Republican efforts purportedly to promote election integrity are a sham and a fraud designed to do exactly the opposite: undermine confidence in the electoral process in America, and undermine our democracy. Republicans are doing this to impose their minority rule over the majority----the very antithesis of democracy.
Whole story of the fascist Republican cult: "If you see nothing, keep looking so you can pretend it's something!"
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The highly-coveted Top Prize for our contestants today is an all-funeral-expenses-paid romantic getaway for two aboard the magnificent Corona Queen, taking you for an exclusive extended cruise, to a secluded stay on the exotic, remote, tropical Isle of Covid-19, where the fevered fun is SUPER-contagious, and you will luxuriously bask in fabulous face masks and rejuvenating oxygen respirators, with the wonderful scent of disinfectant surrounding you! Sure to be a lifetime experience for some lucky few! Just remember--the couple that dies together, stays together!
BONUS--SPECIAL CASES: Providing accompanying entertainment is Chief Jester Roberts and the entire Toxic Trump comedy crew, featuring the Clown Commander, himself, for laughs and coughs! There just ain't no cure, for them ocean cruise blues! Bon voyage!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwE7EFyQDm0 (exclusive Mardi Gras spectacular A/V version)
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Fall is already here. Schools are opening in-class without adequate testing. Still essential workers not getting adequate testing. Still no adequate supply of N-95 masks for medical personnel. Still no national plan, no national leadership. Still Republican elected officials undermining pandemic public health measures. Still Trump holding large political rallies with no masks and no social distancing. 200,000 Americans already senselessly dead, many more needlessly suffering. There is no safe place in America, as without everyone being safe, no one is safe anywhere from this highly contagious pandemic. Instead of getting the pandemic under control, America stumbles along making the same mistakes, over and over and over again. Why not give our pandemic response a grade? Why isn't that helpful? Isn't that what is needed, to jolt people awake, to make them start taking responsibility for the horrific situation they've created, for irresponsible elected officials to start taking responsibility, start exercising real leadership? How many more hundred of thousands of dead Americans from COVID-19 before Dr. Fauci can speak the simple truth that we have failed, and continue failing?
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Millions of Americans are starving, millions about to go homeless, tens of thousands of small businesses are going under, states are going under, millions of jobs lost, still lacking PPE and testing capability for COVID-19, millions of dollars need to be disbursed for vaccine distribution and vaccinations. And Congressional Republican could care less; would rather play politics, adjourn the Senate a day early and go home instead of providing desperately needed relief to the American people. So disgusted, sick, and fed-up with the Republican cult. They need to be held accountable for all this suffering and misery. Tell you one thing--not going to willingly patronize ANY Republican business anymore. If enough of us boycott them, maybe thinking about their wallets will prod them into thinking more about their fellow Americans.
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You don't get denialism without nihilism. As life-long conservative Bill Kristol astutely pointed our just recently in a tweet, the Republican party has embraced nihilism. Republicans still labeling COVID-19 a "hoax;" Republicans still refusing to wear masks or social distance after over half-a-million American fatalities from COVID-19; Congressional Republicans obstructing a COVID-19 stimulus bill certain to pass just to delay vital and urgently needed relief to Americans desperate for help; Republican governors dropping mask mandates and all restrictions on businesses, heedless of rising case counts in their states and deadly new variants of the virus; and Republican leaders continuing to push the Big Lie that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen without evidence and in disregard of plentiful evidence and facts to the contrary, even AFTER their Big Lie incited a terrorist attack by a mindless Republican mob against the nation's Capitol in insurrection against the government, attempting to overturn a legitimate election, sieging, storming, sizing, sacking, defiling, defacing and disgracing America's citadel of, and temple to, democracy--these are all prime examples of nihilism.
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Toxic Trump: "I'm the BEST, just absolutely CRUSHING the competition, with over TWO MILLION coronavirus cases and over 112--one-hundred and twelve!!!--THOUSAND deaths! They ALL got eighty-sixed, 'cause nobody else even comes close! With a third of the world's cases and a quarter of deaths--can you even imagine how truly great, how awesome, that achievement is, with only just FOUR PERCENT of the world's population to work with? Believe it or not, I accomplished in only FIVE WEEKS what it took the Vietnam War a whole TWELVE YEARS to do! PLUS, we're not even counting ALL the COVID-19 cases and deaths here in the U.S.! Those other weaklings and losers don't stand a chance, because we're going to keep right on winning--as long as I'm in charge! Now, vacation's over; time to get back to work on increasing those numbers, people! Let's keep America great, get rid of all the excess baggage! As wartime President, I am commanding all CIVILIANS to senselessly sacrifice their lives for my arrogance, stupidity, vanity, malevolence, and greed!"
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"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic hyper-partisan Republican cult placing political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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Toxic Trump: "I'm the BEST, just absolutely CRUSHING the competition, with over TWO POINT FOUR MILLION coronavirus cases and over 123--one-hundred and twenty-three!!!--THOUSAND deaths! Easy as 1-2-3! They ALL got eighty-sixed, 'cause nobody else even comes close! With a QUARTER of the world's cases AND deaths--can you even imagine how truly great, how awesome, that achievement is, with only just FOUR PERCENT of the world's population to work with? Believe it or not, I accomplished in only FIVE WEEKS what it took the Vietnam War a whole TWELVE YEARS to do! PLUS, we're not even counting ALL the COVID-19 cases and deaths here in the U.S.! Those other weaklings and losers don't stand a chance, because we're going to keep right on winning--as long as I'm in charge! Now, vacation's over; time to get back to work on increasing those numbers, people! Let's keep America great, get rid of all the excess baggage! As wartime President, I am commanding all CIVILIANS to senselessly sacrifice their lives for my arrogance, stupidity, vanity, malevolence, and greed!"
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Let's just call January 6 what it actually was -- a Republican smash and grab, an act of violent larceny against democracy and our government, sedition employing domestic terrorism right out in open sight. It was just one of Trump's failed attempts to achieve an autogolpe.
"Without accountability, an attempted autogolpe and insurrection is just practice."
"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ― Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
So, why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. Because our democracy, our institutions, and our very security are seriously endangered. And because rule of law and justice for all really does matter.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, John Eastman and all other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed? If Garland doesn't stand up for the rule of law, justice and democracy, this nation is soon doomed.
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
18 U.S.C. §2383 -- Rebellion or insurrection
Whoever incites, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof … shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.
18 U.S.C. §2384 -- Seditious conspiracy
If two or more persons … in any place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof, … they shall each be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.
18 U.S.C. §2385 -- Advocating overthrow of Government
Whoever knowingly or willfully advocates, abets, advises, or teaches the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying the government of the United States or the government of any State … by force or violence, ... they shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.
18 U.S. Code § 2331 -- Domestic Terrorism (Supplemental penalty of up to 17 years imprisonment)
(5) the term “domestic terrorism” means activities that—
(A) involve acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State;
(B) appear to be intended—
(i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population;
(ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or
(iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and
(C) occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States
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What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil. They are either actively or silently complicit in fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorist violence, Reich-wing insurrection, and Reich-wing undermining of our democracy and Constitution.
The GOP has been mainstreaming radicalization of their voter base for decades, ALLOWING Reich-wing media and Reich-wing demagogues to take over the party, to the point it has become a fascist, nihilistic cult. Because just as now, Republican politicians and their plutocratic masters have always seen it as the ends justifying whatever means to win power. Remember the Republican Tea Party? This catastrophe with the GOP didn't start with Trump, who just exploited what the Republicans had already built.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle for graft and to grift their voters and us taxpayers. You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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Republicans: "I pledge allegiance to the lies of Trump, and to the racism, bigotry, crimes, corruption, conspiracies, delusions and ignorance for which he stands, one dysfunctional lunatic fascist cult under Trump, a nation forever divided, with plutocracy, autocracy and injustice for all."
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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Republicans can't handle reality, would rather traffic and believe in lies. The GOP is a fascist, nihilistic cult that would destroy democracy and America if given sufficient opportunity. And THAT, folks, is your reality check.
What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil. They are either actively or silently complicit in fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorist violence, Reich-wing insurrection, and Reich-wing undermining of our democracy and Constitution.
It's crystal clear that Trump, Boebert, Greene, Gosar and other Republicans like them are fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorism. The GOP has become radicalized to such an extent that it has essentially become a fascist terrorist organization, with members that fantasize and promote violence against their fellow Americans. While those Republican elected officials must be condemned and sanctioned, they are only a symptom of the disease poisoning a third of America, the most visible part of the cancer infecting our nation.
The GOP has been mainstreaming radicalization of their voter base for decades, ALLOWING Reich-wing media and Reich-wing demagogues to take over the party, to the point it has become a fascist, nihilistic cult. Because just as now, Republican politicians and their plutocratic masters have always seen it as the ends justifying whatever means to win power. Remember the Republican Tea Party? This catastrophe with the GOP didn't start with Trump, who just exploited what Republicans had already built.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle for graft and to grift their voters and us taxpayers. You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian nationalism religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil. They are either actively or silently complicit in fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorist violence, Reich-wing insurrection, and Reich-wing undermining of our democracy and Constitution.
It's crystal clear that Trump, Boebert, Greene, Gosar and other Republicans like them are fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorism. The GOP has become radicalized to such an extent that it has essentially become a fascist terrorist organization, with members that fantasize and promote violence against their fellow Americans. While those Republican elected officials must be condemned and sanctioned, they are only a symptom of the disease poisoning a third of America, the most visible part of the cancer infecting our nation.
The GOP has been mainstreaming radicalization of their voter base for decades, ALLOWING Reich-wing media and Reich-wing demagogues to take over the party, to the point it has become a fascist, nihilistic cult. Because just as now, Republican politicians and their plutocratic masters have always seen it as the ends justifying whatever means to win power. Remember the Republican Tea Party? This catastrophe with the GOP didn't start with Trump, who just exploited what Republicans had already built.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle for graft and to grift their voters and us taxpayers. You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation—only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regurgitation
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump’s COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration…
Now reaching vacation destination!
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No, silly, it just means obeying the law, which serves good purpose. Clear purpose of Census law is to count ALL people, not just citizens. Accurate Census benefits the country, regardless of whether or not it confers any political benefit. That you don't understand what Americans have always clearly understood about the Census serves as living testament to the degradation of the Republican Party, and their ignorance--real or pretend--about their government. Trump or GOP tells dupes to believe something, they're chasing a bone like a dog after a juicy steak. Party before country, or just a dupe? The reason for removing the citizenship question was to help insure accuracy, as you probably already knew, anyway. Republicans just hate facts! An accurate Census is a fact they wish not to confront. Really stupid, but they're too stupid to know sabotaging that benefits no one in the end. Unless it's the Russians trying to divide and weaken America, that is--they know inaccurate Census will not help America. You one of those, Doc?
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast would soon come to consume them.
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It's like rowing or paddling upstream, or into a stiff wind--if you ease-up too much or stop, you will only have to paddle twice as hard to make up all the previous hard-earned progress that was quickly lost. Failing to maintain isolation and other measures for sufficient time to stop the spread of COVID-19 transmission will cost U.S. more in time, effort, money, and LIVES. Reopening and relaxing measures too early in defiance of the science and data is the ultimate in colossal ignorance, greed, ruthlessness, and arrogance.
We have a segment of Republican cult willfully ignorant, who malevolently seek to sabotage containment efforts. But many do not grasp how important it is that we treat ourselves and everyone else as being infected.
This is because people know that is very unlikely, especially outside dense urban areas, where incidence rates are low. Because of the delay in onset of the disease and asymptomatic carriers, COVID-19 is a stealth killer that uses Americans against each other as its foot soldiers, transporting it, keeping the disease and its train of transmission alive. This is further complicated because people cannot see a virus, see it attacking, see it spreading, until it is too late. For many of us, seeing is believing, and people are incapable or reluctant to make that leap of logic required to keep them and everyone safe--even with the massive public education efforts.
Of course, the problem becomes greatly exacerbated when the President refuses to wear a mask, and his administration works against itself in fighting this deadly global pandemic, sending conflicting messages to the public. Toxic Trump, his administration, and all the Republicans who have aided and abetted him, are directly responsible in our view for the senseless deaths of tens and thousands of Americans. The dead are the worst of it, but there is also the tremendous needless suffering and economic loss accompanying their wanton criminal negligence.
No national testing, no rational national coordinated pandemic response. Republican governors reopening too quickly in defiance of CDC guidelines are only following the President's lead. Democratic governors in many states likewise being adversely pressured by Toxic Trump's pandemic disinformation and Republican opposition to requisite lockdowns. Problem starts at the top. Don't fault even the worst Republican governors as much as this President. The President needed to take the lead, take the hit for the hard decisions--not put all the weight on governors as he as.
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'IMMIGRATION FOR DUMMIES' -- by Activated Head of Fatherland Security, Kevin K. McAleenan
"So...What I did was I worked really hard with Trump administration to make draconian changes to immigration policies that creates bottlenecks, backlogs, and a HUGE increase in detention rates. So...We did this despite knowing that our lack of capabilities could only lead to greatly overcrowded facilities (concentration camps, if you prefer); poor conditions; human rights abuses against children, refugees, and migrants of color; lasting traumatic damage done to the children; vastly increased costs to the American taxpayer; the demoralization, desensitization, destabilization, depletion and destruction of our vital government workforce securing our borders and dealing with immigration. So...Just to be clear here, at the end of the day, the only goal was to extort money from Congress by torturing children and innocent people we hold hostage. Call it kidnapping if you want. So...Then we take the money and hand it over to our crony friends running the "detention centers" that they may profit from all this misery! So...You can see how our diabolical plan worked to perfection, we got our ransom money for CBP. So...That's why I'm working with my Republican cohorts in Congress to run the same scam again for ICE! So...Yes, we were experiencing difficulties achieving the profit margins anticipated with our wall street, but that open-ended venture continues to pay dividends for our money men and sycophants, as well!"
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, John Eastman and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed? If Garland doesn't stand up for justice and democracy, this nation is soon doomed.
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of conspiracy theories, the party of hate, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of corruption, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, don't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their deal with the Devil.
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@scott4097 ~ If not political, then why call it the "Red" Plague?
Sure, the small minority of anti-vaxxers included people on the left before the pandemic, and there are many from across the political spectrum who have been unwilling to make the small sacrifices required to keep cases, hospitalizations, injuries and deaths down. And there have been some Republican governors who have tried to be responsible stewards of public health during Covid-19.
None of which negates that Trump and Republicans made this pandemic political and have consistently fought against protective public health measures. It is also those on the right largely responsible for spreading Covid-19 misinformation and disinformation.
The Republican justices on SCOTUS recent horrendous decision to strike down OSHA's ability to protect workers against Covid-19 after 845,000 American deaths is just the latest glaring example of Republican pro-Covid-19 policies. Whether you yourself are political or not, right-wing anti-government, anti-regulatory, anti-science ideology has played a large role in why we have fared so poorly against Covid-19 as a nation throughout this pandemic.
We're in a war against a common invisible enemy. In a war, you can't have one set of troops working at cross-purposes to the other, because even if you don't manage to lose the war, there will be many, many unnecessary casualties from that inability to work together in unison. There are plenty of Americans who aren't that political, and they are influenced by the ignorant, detrimental words and behaviors of Republicans during this pandemic. "Well, no one else is wearing a mask or following CDC guidelines in my conservative town, why should I?"
United we stand, divided we fall. Because of Republican divisiveness, far too many Americans have fallen, and continue to fall. Nor should we fall into the logical fallacy trap of both-sidesism or false equivalence, because the two sides are not the same. One side is advocating common sense, science, and unity of purpose, and the other is rejecting those things.
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@scott4097 ~ Yeah, we're definitely on the same page, and your explanation of the name was what was presumed.
The conundrum in pointing out Republican politicization of Covid-19 is that it can be perceived as being political. My comment was written to demonstrate the Republican politicization, ignorance, and rank hypocrisy at work. But the intent behind the ridicule is to save American lives, regardless of their political affiliation. In fact, as you note, it is mostly Republicans dying.
The core problem is that the GOP has been radicalized to such extent as to become essentially a cult. As I've remarked before:
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America could have confronted and conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism.
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@scott4097 ~ Appreciate you sharing your background. As someone born in the Eisenhower era, was used to Americans freely, civilly, honestly, and rationally discussing religion, politics and our differences. Used to be able to respect conservatives, regarded them as loyal opposition, despite differences in ideology or on the issues, and could often find common ground or at least mutual understanding. That is very rarely the case anymore, those times are sadly long gone.
Likewise mark the turning point as beginning with President Reagan, although consider his role in the decline of the GOP as modest. What has happened to the Republican party transcends any President, be it Reagan or Trump, involving a whole cast of characters. Republican voters themselves share much, if not most, of the blame for that degradation. That devolution and radicalization of the GOP has been a gradual process that increased in pace over the years, and was further exacerbated by a fascist narcistic sociopath, Trump.
Believe that what has precipitated or been the genesis of the deterioration of the GOP was Nixon's forced resignation and Ford's subsequent blanket pardon just a month later. Republican use of the "Southern strategy" during Nixon's time, which continues to this day, is also a significant factor in pushing the GOP to the far right. Of course, those events also did a severe disservice to our nation, but they invoked a sense of shame, disgrace and insecurity among Republicans. After Watergate, many Republicans were unwilling or reluctant to admit they voted for Nixon. The Republican ship was unmoored, set drifting a flounder. Republicans, unable to defend the indefensible of Watergate, Nixon's pardon and racist appeals, encumbered by shame, disgrace, and insecurity, yet unwilling to abandon their political party, reacted in unhealthy ways.
Rather than defending their own party, they increasingly took to making scurrilous attacks to tear down their political opponents, with President Carter being the first to suffer. By the time Clinton got into office, the smears and attacks had gotten far worse. With President Obama, there was the Tea Party movement and Birtherism, the first flexing of the White power movement's political influence upon the GOP. Under Trump, the dark underbelly of American fascism was brought out into the open and sanctioned as "America First," a movement which bears uncanny resemblance to the original America First fascist movement of the 1920's and '30's.
Another destructive reaction by Republicans was the use of lies, denials, obfuscations, propaganda techniques and propaganda for political gain, and the abandonment of truth, reason, integrity, scruples, honor and principle. While those undesirable traits have become ubiquitously present within and synonymous with the Republican party for a number of years now, it was a gradual process that worsened over time, and continues to worsen. The Republican party has chosen to separate itself from a common shared reality based upon truth and reason in blind pursuit of political power, placing party before common good and country, creating for itself a dystopian, nihilistic, Orwellian fantasy world. It is these things which are the most highly corrosive to the moral fabric of our society and most damaging to the nation.
To be sure, there have been other significant factors involved in the radicalization of the GOP which should not be discounted, such as the rise of right-wing demagogues like Rush Limbaugh and right-wing media like Fox. Would also acknowledge that the GOP is not a monolithic entity; people have different reasons for voting Republican, varying degrees of commitment to and involvement in the party. Not all Republicans are racist, bigoted, xenophobic, misogynistic, or unhinged extremists, although, unfortunately, such ignorance and hate has come to predominance in the GOP. There are many Republicans who are otherwise decent folk, if politically misguided and/or radicalized. However, with the exception of those Republicans leaving the party or vociferously and actively fighting against the rot and dysfunction occurring, even those who through their silent acquiescence and votes are complicit in enabling, aiding and abetting the evil being perpetuated by the GOP, and comprise part of what has for all intents and purposes become a cult.
Not to get sidetracked, but there is a direct correlation between what has happened to the GOP and 845,000 American Covid-19 fatalities. The projection of ~3,000 new deaths a day is not good, either. The average has currently been around 2,000 a day, which is also not good, considering that many or most of those cases were probably from the Omicron variant, which is not as virulent. What people don't seem to understand is that what Omicron lacks in virulency it makes up for in transmissibility and sheer volume of cases, making it just as deadly.
There are some good books on what happened to the GOP. Susan Jacoby's 'The Age of Unreason' was written in 2004 and updated in 2018. Thomas Frank has a number of books on the subject that are insightful and written with a humorous and humanitarian flair, such as 'What Happened to Kansas?'
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@scott4097 ~ Sorry if you felt saddled with the historical perspective and appreciate you taking the time. Your reference to breaking from the GOP under Reagan was the impetus that inspired the soliloquy. But it's all good. It's cathartic to express one's thoughts, and a good exercise in articulating those thoughts when written down into words. And even if not your cup of tea, in a public forum such as this there is always the chance there could be others who might appreciate it more.
Social media is only as good as those using it make it. What matters to me about a comment is the content, not its length. The reason for me watching these news videos is to gain perspective and knowledge about issues and events. The same applies to comments. Many of the comments are crap, some are amusing, but occasionally there are comments worth reading that offer astute observations and analysis, or additional knowledge.
Which has always been my intent and goal with comments; to share my perspective, observations, analysis, and knowledge with others for the common good. To educate, enlighten, provoke thought, and sometimes to entertain. It's equally important we all speak up for the truth and what is right. For me, it's not about convincing people. Ultimately, it's the people who are going to be the ones convincing themselves, not anyone else. Besides, Republican partisan hacks and trolls who come to reputable news sites (not to mention the Russian bots helping them to divide and weaken America) have a cult mentality, with closed minds that reject truth and reason. Such are only here to flame and spread deceitful right-wing propaganda. Trying to convince them of anything would be a fool's errand.
Frequently post short essays and sometimes article or book clips relevant to the news video. Have received a lot of positive feedback and heartfelt appreciation for them from many different people. While such comments and replies are not as popular as the one or two-line zingers, they do seek to elevate the discussion, which is also a goal of mine here. It is also both privilege and pleasure to occasionally provoke and be able to engage in intelligent discourse, as we have done here.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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Donald Trump, at White House press conference on 04/07/20:
And we’re going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO. We’re going to put a very powerful hold on it, and we’re going to see.
Trump later at that same press conference:
Q: Thanks. A quick follow-up on that. So is the time to freeze funding to the WHO during a pandemic of this magnitude?
THE PRESIDENT: No, maybe not. I mean, I’m not saying I’m going to do it, but we’re going to look at it.
Q: You did say that you’re going to —
THE PRESIDENT: We give a tremendous —
Q: You said you’d put a hold on it.
THE PRESIDENT: No, I didn’t.
Toxic Trump, one week later, on 04/14/20: "I'm withholding WHO funding!"
WHO held a important meeting on COVID-19 vaccines at the beginning of May, with all nations attending...except no U.S. medical and scientific representatives sent by the Trump Administration, without any explanation. The absence particularly stunning in light that U.S. has half of world's cases and a quarter of the deaths, although possessing just 5% of the global population.
ME, US, the world: WTF?? Why in HELL is that raving lunatic STILL in charge during this major pandemic health crisis?!? Hasn't he KILLED enough Americans, ALREADY?!?
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast would soon come to consume them.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of crackpot conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of plutocrats, the party of corruption, the party of anti-democracy, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their pact with the Devil.
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Republicans are willing to gain and hold power at any cost...even if the price is our democracy!
Farmer wakes up one morning, goes outside to milk his cows, and discovers his entire herd is missing! So, he then walks over nest door to where the Republican cult lives, notices them grinding a whole bunch of beef into hamburger, and asks them, "Did you see what happened to all my cows?"
Republican cult: "Yeah, they jumped over the moon."
Farmer: "Do you have any actual evidence of that?"
Republican cult: "No, because they landed on the dark side, and you can't see them over there. But we're conducting a bunch of investigations and fraudits, and we're confident evidence will soon emerge to prove it!"
Farmer: "You know, that sounds like a load of manure!"
Republican cult: "Well, that's what we all choose to believe!"
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Only the Republicans not doing their jobs, who are just interested in passing tax breaks for the rich, confirming extremist far-right conservative judges, obstructing meaningful legislation supported by the majority of Americans, refusing to even bring it to the floor for debate, pushing lies and conspiracy theories causing the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans, while gaslighting, denying, and burying their heads in the sand for Trump's gross incompetence, homicidal criminal negligence, multiple crimes, abuses of power, and insurrection. If Congressional Republicans got serious about doing their jobs, putting country before party and their own personal interest, there wouldn't need to be so many executive orders. You must not have figured that out, must have been asleep at the wheel for the past few decades, as Reich-wing politicians and demagogues have been acting as a wrecking-ball to our our democratic republic, or you wouldn't be lumping them all together, engaging in false equivalencies. You want good government, support the good politicians, get rid of the bad--regardless of their political ideology.
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It's like rowing or paddling upstream, or into a stiff wind--if you ease-up too much or stop, you will only have to paddle twice as hard to make up all the previous hard-earned progress that was quickly lost. Failing to maintain isolation and other measures for sufficient time to stop the spread of COVID-19 transmission will cost U.S. more in time, effort, money, and LIVES. Reopening and relaxing measures too early in defiance of the science and data is the ultimate in colossal ignorance, greed, ruthlessness, and arrogance.
We have a segment of Republican cult willfully ignorant, who malevolently seek to sabotage containment efforts. But many do not grasp how important it is that we treat ourselves and everyone else as being infected.
This is because people know that is very unlikely, especially outside dense urban areas, where incidence rates are low. Because of the delay in onset of the disease and asymptomatic carriers, COVID-19 is a stealth killer that uses Americans against each other as its foot soldiers, transporting it, keeping the disease and its train of transmission alive. This is further complicated because people cannot see a virus, see it attacking, see it spreading, until it is too late. For many of us, seeing is believing, and people are incapable or reluctant to make that leap of logic required to keep them and everyone safe--even with the massive public education efforts.
Of course, the problem becomes greatly exacerbated when the President refuses to wear a mask, and his administration works against itself in fighting this deadly global pandemic, sending conflicting messages to the public. Toxic Trump, his administration, and all the Republicans who have aided and abetted him, are directly responsible in our view for the senseless deaths of tens and thousands of Americans. The dead are the worst of it, but there is also the tremendous needless suffering and economic loss accompanying their wanton criminal negligence.
No national testing, no rational national coordinated pandemic response. Republican governors reopening too quickly in defiance of CDC guidelines are only following the President's lead. Democratic governors in many states likewise being adversely pressured by Toxic Trump's pandemic disinformation and Republican opposition to requisite lockdowns. Problem starts at the top. Don't fault even the worst Republican governors as much as this President. The President needed to take the lead, take the hit for the hard decisions--not put all the weight on governors as he as.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or "the Wall") is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle's name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called "leaders" in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 -- than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to--and a barrier against--our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It's design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge--and help teach--people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see...if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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U.S. SCROTUM's Chief Jester "KILLER" Roberts -- America's worst!
By a 5–4 Vote, SCOTUS Lets Wisconsin Throw Out Tens of Thousands of Ballots
The conservative majority just approved one of the most brazen acts of voter suppression in modern times.
By Mark Joseph Stern -- Slate -- April 06, 2020
Unfortunately for the nation, Wisconsin Republicans decided that they would prefer to exploit the pandemic to suppress Democratic votes. Their state Supreme Court, dominated by partisan Republicans, allowed them to do so. And now the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned the only protection in place to ensure that voters could still safely cast ballots even if the state fails to provide them expediently. This election looks increasingly like a sham tainted by partisan manipulation. And now the most powerful court in the nation has approved these tactics. An election that forces voters to choose between protecting their health and casting a ballot is not a free and fair election. Nor should its results be treated as indisputably legitimate. The courts may have permitted Republicans to rig this election, but Wisconsinites are under no obligation to pretend that its outcome reflects the will of the people.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/04/supreme-court-wisconsin-absentee-ballots.html
NOTE: This was all about Republicans forcing an election during a pandemic to suppress Democrat voters, so they could win the deciding seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The reason why this partisan power play by Republicans in Wisconsin State Legislature, Wisconsin Supreme Court, and U.S. Supreme Court bent over backwards to endanger, sicken, and kill Wisconsin voters and their families: so that after a decade of egregious Republican voter suppression and gerrymandering in Wisconsin, they want their Republican judge to decide a case throwing out 200,000 Wisconsin voter registrations, further disenfranchising and suppressing voters there. But, it gets even worse. A further detrimental effect of this Republican attack against democracy was that they robbed vital PPE from medical and other front-line workers at a very critical time, to be wasted on poll workers unnecessarily, because the election could have been easily suspended, just aa 13 other states had already done.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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GOP cult: “Democracy is great…only so long as we can subvert it with lies, cheating, a multitude of Jim Crow voter suppression laws, egregious gerrymandering, obstruction, coups, election interference, sedition, and terrorism to gain power and maintain our corrupt, plutocratic, minority fascist rule!”
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian nationalism religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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@pseudohippie55 ~ Keep in mind that the YouTube notification system often fails to deliver notifications before judging people for not responding. Also, some people don't spend much time on YouTube. While I use YouTube quite often, there are times when I am not on it for days because of other obligations. So it's possible that a reply to me may go unanswered for several days or more, but there is no nefarious reason for that.
I didn't take Vinny's reply as smug, nor was it taken literally. It was taken to demonstrate the farcical nature of the comment. Because any severe side affects are extremely rare and may not necessarily even be attributable to the vaccine, the risk of not taking a vaccine is much greater than the risk associated with any of the vaccines approved by the FDA, whether fully or for emergency use.
Because comments like this one posted on social media casting doubt on vaccines have become so ubiquitous, it is also very obvious there is an agenda at work and such as this should not automatically be taken at face value.
I'm also quite skeptical of the particular claim in this comment for two further reasons. First, there is no causality proven between getting the vaccine and the alleged disease. It's like someone gets the vaccine and then gets hit by a drunk driver on the way home. There is no reason to assume the vaccine had anything to do with it, and reasonable people wouldn't jump to that hasty conclusion. In fact, reasonable people would look at the evidence, see that the drunk driver was driving on the wrong side of the road and clearly drunk, and blame the drunk driver. Nor would they insist then that the vaccine was "poison." But that is what this commenter is ludicrously doing without any adequate justification.
Secondly, aplastic anemia is a very rare disease which causes the bone marrow not to produce enough blood cells. It has not been linked or listed as a potential severe side affect for any of the vaccines.
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@pseudohippie55 ~ You know what's funny? How is "multiple" different from a "bunch?" How is "too many" different from a "bunch?" You use those terms without defining any number or specifics----the very thing to which you objected in Vinny's reply. Could you possibly demonstrate yourself to be any more of a hypocrite?
You claim J&J vaccine was halted "multiple" times. That's BS. Distribution of the J&J vaccine was halted just once, only for a very brief period, and quickly resumed within a few weeks after determining that the benefits of the J&J vaccine far outweighed the risks from a possible reaction that is treatable and very rare. The FDA, the EMA (for the EU), and the WHO all support the J&J vaccine.
It appears you're attempting to be sarcastic, but you actually got it right: the fact that distribution of a vaccine was temporarily halted while a possible side effect was investigated and then distribution resumed after determining the risk is very low DOES inspire trust in the safety of the J&J vaccine, which has now been taken around the world by millions without significant adverse reaction, saving countless people from severe illness, injury and death from Covid-19.
Just because people can suffer adverse reactions to aspirin, too, that doesn't mean aspirin is "poison" and that people should not take it. What both you and the comment are failing to do is to objectively weigh and balance the risks always present in anything we do by applying a little common sense.
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@GeaM221 ~ Yeah, because there's been recalls on lettuce, tomatoes, beef, chicken, Italian-style meats, salads, and just about every other kind of food, that means we need to stop eating food! Brilliant logic you're using there, Shitlock!
J&J makes lots of products, and the recall you mention was for trace amounts in a couple of topical skin care products applied externally, where the the volatility of benzene means it would simply evaporate without likely causing any undue harm. Just more dishonesty from anti-vaxxers trying to confuse and conflate things.
And just because anyone can report anything online about vaccines doesn't make them true. The vast majority of complaints outside of mild side affects on the VAERS system turn out to be unrelated after investigated. It's no different than all the bogus leads cops get when they post a tip line. Just more of the usual dishonest anti-vaxxer hocus pocus flimflam from you.
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@apdifpapdjaapickgspjakf5937 ~ There is some amusement in toying with them by pointing out the the illogic of anti-vaxxers, but they quickly become a bore with their dishonesty and ignorance.
Creationists proving Darwin's theory on natural selection: the sweetest irony.
"Ladies, here at Jack Hoff's no-vax seed we hand produce the cream of the crop the old-fashioned way, with absolutely no vaccine and the bare-ass minimum of IQ, guaranteed to give you the delinquent dolt of your dreams!"
Amy Covid-Barrett never got vaccinated because her middle name is "Covid" and she always wanted to be Typhoid Mary more than any judge.
"Typoid Mary, full of disease, the pandemic is with you, cursed are you among women, and cursed is the fruit of thy womb, Covid. Evil Amy, Mother of Covid, cares not a whit for the innocents she kills, now or at the hour of our death."
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@GeaM221 ~ Well, Doc, I fully support people doing proper research, which the first step in any health decision involves consulting one's physician (not family and friends, as you misguided the person seeking help in making a decision here). One should also avail themselves of the premier expertise in the world that is freely offered at the CDC and the FDA. Another trustworthy source is one's local and state health departments. But don't flatter yourself; you're not about doing actual proper research. No, you're just another anti-vaxxer trying to peddle pseudo-science that will get Americans killed. You may not pull the trigger, but you're certainly a killer, all the same.
Never said it was necessary to be an absolute genius, only to have common sense----something which you obviously either lack or are unwilling to use when it comes to vaccines.
"Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge." ~ Ben Franklin, from Poor Richard's Almanack
Those who scorn public health guidelines during a deadly global pandemic and confuse a grievous public health issue with "essential" liberty to kill and harm themselves and their fellow citizens--as well as their nation--sorely lack both care and knowledge. They are also sorely lacking in common sense, something else about which Mr. Franklin was quite keen. Mr. Franklin was also one our nation's first scientists--yet these modern-day knuckleheads who ought know better refute science! Were he alive today, he would be rather dismayed, disgruntled, and disgusted with the fascist anti-science Republican cult, that much is crystal clear.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over four decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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Gee, didn't you know? Republicans don't care anything about protecting workers, school children, public health, law, justice, or the environment...only about maximizing corrupt crony profits! That's how we got into this pickle in the first place, losing over 100,000 Americans to COVID-19 in just three months; that's why other nations have stopped the spread, but we're STILL the world's epicenter, still remain stuck in the first wave, killing thousands of Americans senselessly each week, remember?
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Vote BLUE for science, humanity, sanity, truth, reason, democracy, and reality! And, don't forget to also GET OUT THE VOTE! With anti-democratic, fascist Trump and GOP, must vote to win too big to rig, too real to steal, create too much heat to cheat; if complete, Dems can't be beat.
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Donald Trump, at White House press conference on 04/07/20:
And we’re going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO. We’re going to put a very powerful hold on it, and we’re going to see.
Trump later at that same press conference:
Q: Thanks. A quick follow-up on that. So is the time to freeze funding to the WHO during a pandemic of this magnitude?
THE PRESIDENT: No, maybe not. I mean, I’m not saying I’m going to do it, but we’re going to look at it.
Q: You did say that you’re going to —
THE PRESIDENT: We give a tremendous —
Q: You said you’d put a hold on it.
THE PRESIDENT: No, I didn’t.
Toxic Trump, one week later, on 04/14/20: "I'm withholding WHO funding!"
WHO held a important meeting on COVID-19 vaccines at the beginning of May, with all nations attending...except no U.S. medical and scientific representatives sent by the Trump Administration, without any explanation.
ME, US, the world: WTF?? Why in HELL is that raving lunatic STILL in charge during this major pandemic health crisis?!? Hasn't he KILLED enough Americans, ALREADY?!?
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Contrary to Trump’s Claim, A Pandemic Was Widely Expected at Some Point
At a White House briefing March 19, President Donald Trump said, “Nobody knew there’d be a pandemic or an epidemic of this proportion.” But that’s simply not the case.
Among others, the U.S. intelligence community warned in its annual threat report for 2019 that “that the United States and the world will remain vulnerable to the next flu pandemic or large-scale outbreak of a contagious disease that could lead to massive rates of death.”
[Also, U.S. Intelligence reports to White House contained five-alarm flashing warnings about covid-19 pandemic in January and February of 2020, when Trump and his administration were downplaying the threat.]
The president made his remarks at a coronavirus task force press briefing. Trump deflected the blame when asked about the lack of coronavirus tests and medical supplies to deal with the pandemic.
Trump, March 19: "They had an obsolete system, and they had a system, simultaneously, that was not meant for this. It wasn’t meant for this. Nobody knew there’d be a pandemic or an epidemic of this proportion. Nobody has ever seen anything like this before."
But experts have warned for years about the danger of a major, potentially catastrophic outbreak of global disease, and some have sounded the alarm that the United States was not prepared to cope with it.
“The threat of pandemic flu is the number one health security concern,” Luciana Borio, then-director of Medical and Biodefense Preparedness Policy at the National Security Council, said at a symposium at Emory University in Atlanta in 2018 marking the 100th anniversary of the devastating flu outbreak of 1918. “Are we ready to respond? I fear the answer is no.”
Jennifer Horney, professor and founding director of the epidemiology program at the University of Delaware, told CNN, “we’ve been planning for and anticipating a global event like this” at least since the 2005 avian influenza outbreak.
After the novel coronavirus appeared in Wuhan, China, last December and spread around the world, Trump consistently sought to downplay the dan-ger to the United States, likening coronavirus to the flu and expressing confidence that it could go away once the weather warmed up. (See our story, “Trump’s Statements About the Coronavirus.”)
Only recently has the president begun referring to it as a major problem for the U.S. “This is a pandemic,” he said at a March 17 press conference. “I’ve felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic.”
Marc Lipsitch, an epidemiology professor at Harvard University, told us that there was plenty of evidence that a disease of this kind posed a serious threat and that the notion that it could not be foreseen is off base.
“Three years ago, experts were saying that bat coronaviruses could become a new pandemic,” he said in an email. “Almost two months ago, experts were saying that the new virus in Wuhan was potentially a global threat. One month ago, experts were saying that it was likely to be pandemic, and the White House’s response was that this was under control, despite the fact that the US’s lack of testing was demonstrably giving a false picture of the extent of infection. This was foreseeable, and foreseen, weeks and months ago, and only now is the White House coming out of denial and head-ing straight into saying it could not have been foreseen.”
The likelihood of a pandemic has been clear to experts for quite some time.
Back in 2012, the RAND Corp. issued a report called “Threats Without Threateners? Exploring Intersections of Threats to the Global Commons and National Security.” That report focused on five risks — nuclear proliferation, conflict in the Middle East, water scarcity, pandemics and climate change.
Of the five, it said, “In current circumstances, only pandemics seem to be an existential threat, capable of destroying America’s way of life.”
The report said that “a future pandemic may be virtually certain,” adding, “its timing and severity are not.” To underscore the need to focus on the subject right away, the document said, “Pandemics are a real possibility in the here and now; there is nothing future about them.”
A week before the Trump administration took office in January 2017, Obama administration officials focused on the dangers of a pandemic in a brief-ing for top Trump aides, according to Politico. One of the possible scenarios sketched out included a fast-spreading global disease leading some coun-tries to impose travel bans.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/factcheck/contrary-to-trump-s-claim-a-pandemic-was-widely-expected-at-some-point/ar-BB11tTHl?pfr=1
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Bush v. Gore, Citizens United, Chief Jester Roberts smiling and nodding along while presiding over sham Senate impeachment trial, Assassination Goon B.S. Barr butchering the law, slaughtering justice, politicizing and weaponizing the DOJ. It's why we lost all respect for the Supreme Court, the law, and the justice system in this country. Congratulations, Republicans, on turning our nation into a banana Republic, making America an object lesson to the world on how to destroy democracy!
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Before U.S. gun manufacturers bought off the NRA and the GOP to create a bogus political issue and instill fear, mass shootings weren't a thing in America and schools were much safer. Today, over 393 MILLION guns are owned by citizens, which translates to about 120 guns for every 100 citizens. A record number, 40 MILLION, were sold in 2020 alone. However, over 2/3 of Americans do NOT own ANY firearm; less than a third of U.S. citizens own all the firearms, which amounts to a whopping third of all civilian firearms owned in the world are in the U.S. The sheer number of firearms present in the U.S. makes accidental gun injury and death, rampant gun violence, and mass shootings a certainty. Ironically, the inescapable truth is that those purchasing and owning guns, mostly for self defense, are making America less safe for everyone.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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“I'm not scared of the Maos and the Stalins and the Hitlers.
I'm scared of the thousands or millions of people that hallucinate them to be "authority", and so do their bidding, and pay for their empires, and carry out their orders.
I don't care if there's one looney with a stupid moustache. He's not a threat if the people do not believe in "authority".” ― Larken Rose
Setting aside the sleazy immoral Reich-wing grifters at the top -- people like Trump, Congressional Republicans, Reich-wing demagogues and media -- the rank-and-file of the GOP has become a fascist cult. To be clear, Trump did not create the cult, it existed before him. He merely served as a unifying figure they chose to rally around and worship as their fool's gold god. Trump appealed to their basest nature and told them what they wanted to hear. Now, those Reich-wing grifters may have cultivated their cult to exploit for their own greed, power and vanity, but at least to some extent the Republican cult in turn seeks to exploit the GOP for their own various misguided purposes. They CHOOSE to be willfully ignorant, to believe or espouse the lies, because as a political calculus they shortsightedly see it as expedient to their ends.
What must also be taken into consideration are the characteristics of a cult. Why do people join a cult? Why do they choose to remain in a cult? No need to go into detail; the answers are largely common knowledge or easily researched. But it should be pointed out that in a complex world, the simplistic and rigid beliefs embraced by cults can be very alluring, no matter how fantastical and removed from reality. It should also be acknowledged that the Republican cult is not a monolithic entity, but an amalgamation of sects, including White supremacists, Christian nationalists, libertarians, sovereign nationals, anarchists, tax resistors, Qanon and other extremist fringe groups. Of course, not every Republican is an extremist, a fascist, or untethered from reality. But this latter more benign group is nevertheless part of the fascist Republican cult, complicit in their support of the whole, whether through their silent acquiescence and votes or willing assistance.
It's a very dangerous feedback loop, a vicious circle, one that as it sinks further into depravity its threat correspondingly rises, for as the Republican cult has over time been becoming increasingly more radicalized, we witness the election of more radical politicians to represent them, more radicalized Reich-wing media and demagogues to feed them propaganda. While some Republicans are leaving the GOP and some others are speaking out and trying to save their party, they constitute a weak minority, unfortunately.
In a normal, sane world, the Republican cult would have ended or been marginalized after the Mueller Report, after Trump's Ukraine shakedown and impeachment, after Trump's horrendous handling of a deadly global pandemic, after his election defeat, or after January 6th and his second impeachment. But that hasn't happened. Instead, the Republican cult continues to become increasingly more radicalized and extreme. As President Biden says, "We are in a battle for the soul of this nation." And that battle is far from over.
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Feel this woman's grief, feel for their kids and their families and friends their loss. Am glad that this woman, this wife, this mother, Katie, chose to bravely share her pain with us fellow Americans, that those not taking this deadly global pandemic seriously enough, endangering themselves and others, would take heed of the terrible cost of their ignorance. Mostly, though, feel anger and resolve, because so many Americans need not have become sick and died. How did we ever allow the senseless, preventable deaths of so many Americans to happen here?
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Democrats: Idealistic, but generally not ideologically driven, mostly objective. Embrace diversity, science, open-mindedness tempered with healthy skepticism. Always questioning their beliefs. Like our founding fathers, forward looking, progressive, peaceful. Caring, willing to work together, reach compromises to advance the common good.
Republicans: Simplistic, ideologically blinded, unwilling to be objective. Highly hypocritical. Destructively divisive, anti-science, delusional, close-minded with a critical lack of proper skepticism. Unwilling to question their beliefs. A racist, misogynist, xenophobic, homophobic, bigoted, hyper-partisan fascist political cult. Backwards looking, reactionary, displaying malevolence with violent tendencies. Selfish, intractable, create a toxic environment that disrespects and diminishes cooperation, often shun compromises for the common good, at times simply out of sick spite.
Republican cult is all about the fear; that's why they're cowards. It's what they peddle, what they traffic in, and what they carry in their pocket always. Then, they turn those fantasy fears of theirs into hate. The hate stems, grows from the fear pumped into them 24/7 by right-wing demagogues, media, politicians, and plutocrats. Stop the fear, and we can kill the hate. We can heal, be better, form a more perfect Union. But it will take time and effort.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast would soon come to consume them.
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Like and respect Rep. Schiff, but his waffling on investigations and holding the Trump administration accountable after they leave office is deeply disturbing and disheartening. So-called "healing" is just a euphemism for evading the dirty work that may be distasteful and divisive, but that vitally needs to be done to preserve our democracy.
Moreover, investigations for prosecutions involving corrupt and unlawful acts by Trump and those in his administration are not under the purview of Congress, nor up to it to decide, but are the DOJ's responsibility. This doesn't mean Congress shouldn't conduct its own investigations in order to determine security breaches, possible legislation to prevent recurrences of malfeasance, abuses of power, etc.
Another aspect of this is that "healing" is not going to happen with the GOP cult in its present state. This needs to be acknowledged, accepted, and acted upon accordingly, or Democrats are only setting themselves up for failure and weakness. Democrats need to stand up for the American people--ALL the American people, Rep. Schiff, which includes single people and young people, not just "families" and "working families." If Democrat leaders could just grow a pair, they would find the American people standing more firmly behind them. The Republican cult has declared political war, a war where they don't abide by any rules. It's a war Democrats can't and won't win by lying down and rolling over, trying to "make nice." If Democrats haven't learned that by now, this nation is in deep trouble.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, John Eastman and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
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Even worse than the deplorable, despicable rudeness, arrogance, adolescence, and disrespect displayed by some Senate Republicans during Trump's second impeachment trial is their gaslighting and hiding behind the fallacious process argument of "no jurisdiction" for Senate impeachment trial, when the Traitor-'n-Thief Trump was impeached BEFORE leaving office. For comparison, as long as a person is indicted for a crime before the statute of limitations had expired for their alleged crime, it matters not that the trial takes place after that expiration date--the criminal does not get a "free pass." Moreover, this isn't a criminal trial, it's merely a disciplinary employment measure. Think of someone resigning, then the company determining that employee had committed crimes or other egregious behavior, thereby deciding at some point afterward that that person could not be rehired, and is also deprived of any post-employment rewards. Besides, there is ample precedent for impeaching after someone has left office, anyway.
Moreover, the fact is, the House and Senate determine their own rules for impeachment and trial--something confirmed already previously by SCOTUS decisions. Given that the Senate voted that this Senate trial of Toxic Trump is Constitutional, that is the ruling ALL Senators are bound by. What these Republican Senators hiding behind the fallacious "jurisdiction" argument are essentially doing is refusing to abide by their own Senate rules and laws, placing themselves above the law. So much for Republicans being the party of "law and order," taking personal responsibility, supporting law enforcement, and setting a good example for Americans.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of corruption, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their deal with the Devil.
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Alright, watched the video, prefer progressive over Biden, disagree slightly with some of the analysis, but this was not an endorsement of Biden or a disparagement of any other Dem candidate; it was simply an analysis of the Dem front runner status and strategy, and also an attempt to make a frank assessment of the nation's political outlook. Why all the negative comments, thumbs down, and attacks against CNN? As a frequent media critic, definitely not warranted for this video. This was a fairly objective piece, and it pains me to see Dems acting like Republicans to news they don't like. In this case, apparently just because the front-runner is getting publicity--and it isn't even flattering! We better than this, Dems! Better to save that criticism for when it is justified than using it unjustly to influence the refs! (Voted Bernie last time, like Warren better this time around, but would be quite pleased with either.)
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It’s that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don’t care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn’t want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it’s more than hope—those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another four months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn’t really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
“The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.”
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump’s hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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Welcome to war. This is what war is. It's terrible, it's tragic, it's unfair, it's sad, it's wasteful, innocents die, and things always go wrong. You think we'd have learned that by now, but no, it's a lesson that has to be repeatedly learned, evidently. The consensus is that nobody foresaw the Afghan government and its armed forces completely capitulating so quickly as they did. Some say there should have been a contingency plan for this, but even though hindsight is 20/20, have yet to hear any rational plan that could have dealt with this situation. Shit happens, and Biden got handed a turd with Afghanistan. Instead of allowing the crap to continue, Biden made the hard, responsible decision to pull the U.S. out of another country's civil war.
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Been thinking for some time that President Biden needs to declare martial law to get Covid-19 under control. It's appalling and sad that it's gotten to this point because of corrupt Republican leaders who care only about their political ambitions and nothing about their constituent's health or lives, and a bunch of anti-science morons lacking basic decency and even a modicum of common sense.
In a sane America----one where a third of the population wasn't programmed into a mindless, fascist Republican cult----we would have universal Covid-19 vaccine passports, masks and social distancing required wherever and whenever deemed necessary by public health officials, and mandatory vaccinations for all those able to receive it. Actually, in a sane America, none of that would be necessary, because everyone able would be voluntarily getting vaccinated, and everybody would be faithfully following CDC guidelines like wearing masks and socially distancing. They would be doing so because it is in there own best interest; because it is the moral and ethical thing to do to protect our fellow citizens; because we need to prevent the creation of new, more deadly variants; because it is the best way to recover the economy; because it is the best way to get things back to normal; because it is the civic, patriotic thing to do; and because it is just plain old-fashioned common sense.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Republican cult placing political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil. They are either actively or silently complicit in fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorist violence, Reich-wing insurrection, and Reich-wing undermining of our democracy and Constitution.
It's crystal clear that Trump, Boebert, Greene, Gosar and other Republicans like them are fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorism. The GOP has become radicalized to such an extent that it has essentially become a fascist terrorist organization, with members that fantasize and promote violence against their fellow Americans. While those Republican elected officials must be condemned and sanctioned, they are only a symptom of the disease poisoning a third of America, the most visible part of the cancer infecting our nation.
The GOP has been mainstreaming radicalization of their voter base for decades, ALLOWING Reich-wing media and Reich-wing demagogues to take over the party, to the point it has become a fascist, nihilistic cult. Because just as now, Republican politicians and their plutocratic masters have always seen it as the ends justifying whatever means to win power. Remember the Republican Tea Party? This catastrophe with the GOP didn't start with Trump, who just exploited what Republicans had already built.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle for graft and to grift their voters and us taxpayers. You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
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Because humans have neglected to take aggressive action to curb our hydrocarbon usage and emissions, have refused to take climate change seriously, now what we are witnessing is a snowball effect, where the problem is exacerbated by fires burning in the Amazon, in Greece, in the western U.S. and Canada, raising temperatures and adding more CO2 and other greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. As the frozen tundra thaws, methane gases are being released, and as water bodies warm, methane hydrates formerly trapped at the bottom rise into the air, releasing even more methane gas. As more and more surface ice is lost on land and in the ocean, less sunlight is reflected back into space, causing more heat gain. Humans have set into motion a self-perpetuating loop; a cycle which we may well be powerless to stop, and which will destroy life on Earth as it has existed for millions of years.
What we are witnessing and experiencing is only just the beginning of the reckoning for human stupidity, greed, apathy, and short-sightedness. Pretty soon, with so many suffering, empathy will be in short supply. I fear what is to come for the human race, for our children, for their children, and all who follow after, and the sorrow I feel for them and our planet, for all that will be lost, overwhelms. Because this didn't have to happen. We knew decades ago that we were creating our own apocalypse, and took no more than token measures to stop it. And humans continue to dawdle, fiddling while the planet burns.
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'Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America' by Kathleen Belew (Harvard University Press, 2018)
The movement “brought together members of the Klan, militias, radical tax resisters, white separatists, neo-Nazis, and proponents of white theologies such as Christian Identity, Odinism, and Dualism” (ix). What was it about the movement that brought these ideologies together?
The promise of violence — rather, the promise that members would get to inflict violence on other people. Belew writes that as the white power movement matured, it became more violent, and “[as] violence came to the fore of the movement, distinctions among white power factions melted away” (60). Belew calls this process “violent community formation” (34). Yet as a social movement, Belew makes a distinction between the white power movement’s “revolutionary violence” and the Ku Klux Klan’s “vigilante violence.”
Vigilante violence “served to constitute, shore up, and enforce systemic power” (106). Given that the U.S. government has a long history of “defending vigilante violence by refusing to enforce the law” (99), law enforcement inaction and vigilante violence may be understood together as a case of one hand washing the other. Revolutionary violence, however, sought to overthrow the state. It is the white power movement’s goal of overthrowing the federal government that sets it apart in the history of white supremacy in the U.S.
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Republicans use obstructionism as a means to gain power, and power as a means to further their corruption. The Republican party is composed of grifters, grafters, white supremacists, Christian nationalists, lunatics, assorted bigots, and the gullible sheep they prey upon. Their ideology is no longer conservatism, but fascism and nihilism. It traffics in lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, ignorant culture wars, and hypocrisy.
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Toxic Trump: "I'm the BEST, just absolutely CRUSHING the competition, with over THREE MILLION coronavirus cases and over 132 -- one-hundred and thirty-two!!! -- THOUSAND deaths! Easy as 1-2-3! They ALL got eighty-sixed, 'cause nobody else even comes close! With a QUARTER of the world's cases AND deaths--can you even imagine how truly great, how awesome, that achievement is, with only just FOUR PERCENT of the world's population to work with? Believe it or not, I accomplished in only FIVE WEEKS what it took the Vietnam War a whole TWELVE YEARS to do! Not done with the fun--and not to be outdone--I then doubled down on the death toll from Vietnam in just FOUR MONTHS! PLUS, we're not even counting ALL the COVID-19 cases and deaths here in the U.S.! And, with only SEVEN PERCENT of the U.S. population already infected, we're just getting started with all the sickness and death; there's PLENTY more to come! Those other weaklings and losers don't stand a chance, because we're going to keep right on winning--as long as I'm in charge! Now, vacation's over; time to get back to work on increasing those numbers, people! Let's keep America great, get rid of all the excess baggage! As wartime President, I am commanding all CIVILIANS to senselessly sacrifice their lives for my arrogance, stupidity, vanity, malevolence, and greed!"
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GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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Republicans are willing to gain and hold power at any cost...even if the price is our democracy!
Farmer wakes up one morning, goes outside to milk his cows, and discovers his entire herd is missing! So, he then walks over nest door to where the Republican cult lives, notices them grinding a whole bunch of beef into hamburger, and asks them, "Did you see what happened to all my cows?"
Republican cult: "Yeah, they jumped over the moon."
Farmer: "Do you have any actual evidence of that?"
Republican cult: "No, because they landed on the dark side, and you can't see them over there. But we're conducting a bunch of investigations and fraudits, and we're confident evidence will soon emerge to prove it!"
Farmer: "You know, that sounds like a load of manure!"
Republican cult: "Well, that's what we all choose to believe!"
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GOP is NOT the party of law and order, NOT the party of the Constitution and patriots, NOT the party of "values." It's the party of terrorism, lawlessness, corruption, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry, misogyny, sedition, and traitors.
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As of 03/02/20 in the U.S.A., we still don't have the testing kits we need yet; just announced yesterday that test kits for 75,000 will be released over the next two weeks, with 50,000 more following. Reported 15,000 sent out over weekend. Reliable testing protocol absolutely vital to assessing and containment of COVID-19! Health experts and American public both in the dark without massive testing about which Americans, how many Americans have COVID-19--and where--so they can be isolated and treated before infecting others. Health experts have criticized Trump administration for inexplicably not adopting W.H.O. test much earlier. In the U.S. the CDC has conducted just 500 tests for COVID-19 to date, with 102 cases now known in the U.S. For perspective, compare to the U.K., with a much smaller population, who already tested 10,400 people, finding 23 COVID-19 cases.
~03/02/20 Four new COVID-19 related deaths, bringing total to six.
~03/02/20 There are now new or confirmed cases of novel coronavirus COVID-19 in California (33), Massachusetts (1), Washington state (17), Arizona (1), Illinois (3), Wisconsin (1), Oregon (2), Rhode Island (2), Utah (1), Nebraska (13), Texas (11), New York (1) and Florida (2).
~Number of confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases in U.S. has jumped from 64 on 02/29/20, to 71 reported morning of 03/01/20, to reported total of 102 evening of 03/02/20. Business and individuals starting to cancel travel plans due to COVID-19, both global and domestic, impacting airlines, hotels and many other businesses in a cascading effect.
~03/02/20 Stock future drops 110 points on volatile overnight trading, indicating another rough week for Wall St.
~03/01/20 The White House has scrambled to gain control of a rudderless response defined by bureaucratic infighting, confusion and misinformation. “It’s complete chaos,” one senior administration official said.
~Face masks--which unless surgical-grade N95--have limited effectiveness and are impractical for extended wear. Recommended for those exhibiting any flu or cold-like symptoms; not yet recommended for those healthy at this point.
~CDC: "People should understand that their lives may be significantly disrupted."
~Trump administration ignored and went against the advice of CDC top medical experts, brought infected patients back to the U.S. from Wuhan, China on the same plane as uninfected evacuees.
~U.S. workers WITHOUT protective gear assisted coronavirus evacuees, HHS whistleblower report states. Workers received Wuhan evacuees at two military bases in California without proper training or appropriate protective gear, alongside CDC in full hazmat attire. Whistleblower claims they were potentially exposed to COVID-19.
~Trump places science-denier V.P. Pence--who also has no medical expertise--in charge of Federal response to COVID-19.
~The American workplace isn't ready for an epidemic. Many Americans have no insurance, many others can ill-afford deductibles, still more can't afford to take off work when not feeling well; more than a third of jobs don't offer sick days, and even where available, they may have been already used, or employees try saving them for more serious illness--all making us extremely vulnerable to epidemics such as COVID-19. Many jobs in America involve low-paying work in the service industry, where employees are in constant contact with, and exposed to, a huge swath of the public on a daily basis. These folks typically don't get sick days or insurance benefits, and can ill-afford to miss any work because of loss of money and the threat of losing their job. Many are ill-educated, and may not pay sufficient heed to health warnings, further exacerbating the spread of the epidemic facing us all.
~In plausible worst-case-scenarios given the pattern of the outbreak thus far, the country could experience acute shortages not just in ventilators but also health workers to operate them and care for patients; hospital beds; and masks and other protective equipment. Trump administration facing increasing criticism for not using these many weeks after learning of COVID-19 to prepare increased hospital capacity, stockpile medications, obtain adequate amounts of respirators and other equipment that will be vitally needed in the U.S..
“Even during mild flu pandemics, most of our I.C.U.s are filled to the brim with severely ill patients on mechanical ventilation,” said Dr. Eric Toner, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and an expert on health care preparedness. “I hope and pray Covid-19 turns out to be a moderate pandemic, but if not, we’re in serious trouble,” he said, referring to the name given the disease caused by the virus.
~“The Chinese bought us a month of time to prepare ourselves by imposing these astonishing and draconian measures,” said J. Stephen Morrison, senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, which last year issued a report that identified flaws in the nation’s health security. “Unfortunately, we didn’t make good use of that time and now we’re heading into a very dangerous situation.”
~03/01/20 The FDA expanded coronavirus testing by speeding up hospitals’ abilities to test, though some worried that the changes fell short. The number of confirmed cases is likely to increase given the expansion in testing. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said Sunday that the administration is watching for possible drug shortages from disruptions to the pharmaceutical supply chain in China.
~03/01/20 Coronavirus has also caused significant supply-chain disruptions affecting toys, medical equipment, auto parts and smartphones from China, none of which will be easy to smooth out, even if the virus ebbs within a month or two. The twin blows to consumer confidence and supply chains have significantly raised the chance of a recession, according to economists.
~03/01/20 State of Washington announces second death from COVID-19 in U.S. First presumptive death in U.S. also from King County on 02/29/20; a 50-year-old man with health conditions. Deceased had unknown origin of contact with virus. Long-term health care facility there with many sick elderly residents suspected to have outbreak of COVID-19. In response, Trump finally vows to screen travelers entering the U.S., but only from certain areas in a few select nations. No details as to when screening will begin, what the screening process is or how effective, or how many travelers will be affected.
~First case in NY state confirmed. Three new cases in Oregon reported 02/28/20, one believed to be from community spread. Now three from community spread in California; one in Washington, and one in Oregon state. Third case in Illinois announced in Chicago 02/29/20, first two have recovered.
~03/01/20 Two new COVID-19 cases were confirmed in Washington state in King County on Sunday, bringing that state’s total to ten. Governor declares state emergency. Rhode Island also announced its first probable case. Florida announces two cases, health emergency.
~02/29/20 First suspected community-spread case in N. California was untested for DAYS after disease contracted. CDC acknowledged Thursday that a California woman with coronavirus was made to wait days before she was tested for the disease because of the agency’s restrictive criteria about who may get tested. As a result of this case, CDC announces a whole new testing criteria is needed.
~On 02/29/20, two new cases of COVID-19 in California and Oregon announced. Total cases in U.S. now stands at 64. Trump continues to lie about the epidemic, insisting only 15 Americans are infected.
~On 02/28/20, we learned that there is a second SEPARATE COVID-19 case identified in California. Indications are that we have community spread from the unprotected government workers Trump administration sent to receive the Wuhan evacuees--once again, against the advice of medical experts.
~Trump continues spreading misinformation on COVID-19, overly downplaying risk and danger, contradicting his own administration's health experts.
~02/28/20 DOW loses almost 1,200 in biggest single day loss EVER. Follows two previous day market losses around 1,000--$3.6 TRILLION from the American stock market ERASED for the week.. After the week, total market loss now stands at over 12%, ERASING all gains made in the market under Trump over three years in just one WEEK..
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation—only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regurgitation
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump’s COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration…
Now reaching vacation destination!
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regurgitation
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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Toxic Trump: "I'm the BEST, just absolutely CRUSHING the competition, with over TWO MILLION coronavirus cases and over 115--one-hundred and fifteen!!!--THOUSAND deaths! They ALL got eighty-sixed, 'cause nobody else even comes close! With a third of the world's cases and a quarter of deaths--can you even imagine how truly great, how awesome, that achievement is, with only just FOUR PERCENT of the world's population to work with? Believe it or not, I accomplished in only FIVE WEEKS what it took the Vietnam War a whole TWELVE YEARS to do! PLUS, we're not even counting ALL the COVID-19 cases and deaths here in the U.S.! Those other weaklings and losers don't stand a chance, because we're going to keep right on winning--as long as I'm in charge! Now, vacation's over; time to get back to work on increasing those numbers, people! Let's keep America great, get rid of all the excess baggage! As wartime President, I am commanding all CIVILIANS to senselessly sacrifice their lives for my arrogance, stupidity, vanity, malevolence, and greed!"
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Who'd have ever equated voting in America with survival? But that's pretty much what it has boiled down to, hasn't it? Survival of ourselves, survival of our democracy, survival of our nation, and survival of our planet. The irony is that Republicans have always tried to paint Democrats as an existential threat...but in doing so it is actually they who have become exactly that.
Democrat voters need an even greater turnout in '22 and '24, put the final fork in Trumpism! Republicans want to engage in Jim Crow voter suppression laws, voter intimidation, and egregious gerrymandering? Republicans want to engage in corruption, gaslight their corruption, coverup their corruption? Let's just prove that's fuel for the fire, and make their fascist antidemocratic corruption backfire on them!
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People like to think they're done with Covid-19, but Covid-19 isn't done with us. We're at war with an invisible enemy, and we should be treating it as a war, willing to make sacrifices, to do whatever it takes to save lives. Too many don't seem to comprehend that, and hundreds of thousands of Americans have senselessly died already. That's appalling and deeply disturbing, as is the level of ignorance being displayed by those refusing to listen to common sense, doctors, experts and science. Instead of all being on the same side against a common enemy, Republicans have chosen to betray their country and their fellow citizens, taking the side of Covid-19, costing 860,000 Americans their lives already while sickening and injuring many more.
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Trump needs governors to reopen the economy. Even Republican ones aren’t on board.
Aaron Blake -- Washington Post -- 03/25/20
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) caused a stir Monday night by going on Fox News and suggesting older people like him needed to “take a chance” with their lives in the name of reopening the economy during the coronavirus outbreak.
The man in charge of making that decision in Texas, though, has a very different take. As he confronts imposing even stricter measures for the Lone Star State, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) responded Tuesday to a question about Patrick’s comments.
“I will base my decision as governor of the state of Texas on what physicians say,” Abbott said. “If the goal is to get the economy going, the best thing we can do to get the economy going is to get covid-19 behind us.”
President Trump has leaned hard into the idea of reopening the economy in recent days, but as has been noted, he only has so much power to do so. It’s the governors who issue stay-at-home orders and decide what opens and what doesn’t in their states.
Few of them are echoing Trump right now, which suggests that even if Trump decides he wants to reopen things — on Tuesday, he set a target date of Easter, April 12 — he won’t be able to do it in any large measure.
Another Republican governor, Maryland’s Larry Hogan, had some choice words for Trump’s idea on Tuesday, referring to an “imaginary clock.”
“We don’t think that we’re going to be in any way ready to be out of this in five or six days, or whenever this 15 days is up from the time that they started this imaginary clock,” Hogan said on CNN. “Most people think that we’re weeks away from the peak, if not months.”
South Dakota Gov. Kristi L. Noem (R), whose state matches the description of less-affected areas that Trump has suggested could see reopenings in relatively short order, also indicated that she’s looking at a longer time frame.
“This situation is not going to be over in a week,” said Noem, whose state has just over two dozen cases. “… We have another eight weeks until we see our peak infection rate.”
She added, “Any changes we make for how we conduct our daily lives have to be sustained.”
Democrats had even more choice words for Trump’s proposal, with Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker saying Trump was “not taking into account the true damage that this will do to our country if we see truly millions of people die.” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Trump’s “off-the-cuff statements are really going to undermine our ability to protect people.” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he and Trump are “clearly operating under a different set of assumptions.”
New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) said: “If you ask the American people to choose between public health and the economy, then it’s no contest. No American is going to say accelerate the economy at the cost of human life. Job one has to be save lives. That has to be the priority.”
But plenty of Republicans also made their differences rather clear.
“The truth is that protecting people and protecting the economy is not mutually exclusive,” said Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R). “In fact, one depends upon the other. The fact is we save our economy by first saving lives, and we have to do it in that order.”
DeWine added, “When people are dying, when people don’t feel safe, this economy is not coming back.”
DeWine, though, maintained that he was generally “aligned” with Trump on coronavirus, and he wasn’t the only one declining to completely distance himself from the president. Democratic Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said she felt she understood Trump’s inclination.
“I am not interested in unnecessarily closing down businesses and taking jobs if we don’t need to do that,” said Brown, who issued tough restrictions on Monday. “The goal of my executive order was to balance those competing demands. … While I don’t agree with what the president said and how he said it, I think that’s what he was trying to say.”
Brown added: “When I was on the phone with him earlier this week, he clearly said that these difficult decisions are in the hands of governors. So I would expect that it to stay that way.”
That’s the key takeaway. However much Trump wants to reopen the country, he’ll need governors to cooperate with that. The governors listed above represent five of the seven biggest states and more than 40 percent of the U.S. population, and they’re just the ones who have weighed in so far. Most of the other biggest states are also run by Democrats, who wouldn’t be as inclined to align themselves with Trump on a controversial proposal.
As president, Trump can change the federal guidance, but it’s just that: guidance. Experts say he doesn’t have many legal tools to override the precautions taken by state and local officials.
These governors also have to deal with problems on a more micro level and are more directly held responsible for what happens in their states. Any of them who would begin opening things up would put themselves in line for whatever criticism might follow from the fallout, and it would be much easier to readily quantify the effects of those decisions in their states — particularly if they can be compared with other states that took tougher stances.
If Trump truly wants to set the ball in motion on this, he’s got about 50 people he should be talking to about it. Right now, they seem pretty skeptical.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-needs-governors-to-reopen-the-economy-even-republican-ones-aren-t-on-board/ar-BB11GF6z
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We have a segment of Republican cult willfully ignorant, who malevolently seek to sabotage containment efforts. But many do not grasp how important it is that we treat ourselves and everyone else as being infected.
This is because people know that is very unlikely, especially outside dense urban areas, where incidence rates are low. Because of the delay in onset of the disease and asymptomatic carriers, COVID-19 is a stealth killer that uses Americans against each other as its foot soldiers, transporting it, keeping the disease and its train of transmission alive. This is further complicated because people cannot see a virus, see it attacking, see it spreading, until it is too late. For many of us, seeing is believing, and people are incapable or reluctant to make that leap of logic required to keep them and everyone safe--even with the massive public education efforts.
Of course, the problem becomes greatly exacerbated when the President refuses to wear a mask, and his administration works against itself in fighting this deadly global pandemic, sending conflicting messages to the public. Toxic Trump, his administration, and all the Republicans who have aided and abetted him, are directly responsible in our view for the senseless deaths of tens and thousands of Americans. The dead are the worst of it, but there is also the tremendous needless suffering and economic loss accompanying their wanton criminal negligence.
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It's that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don't care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another five months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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With so few coronavirus tests, America has been flying blind into a storm
Editorial Board 03/13/20 -- Washington Post
BARELY MENTIONED in President Trump’s Oval Office address on Wednesday night was the diagnostic testing fiasco. He said only that testing capability is “expanding rapidly day by day.” He should have addressed what has become a major failure in how the United States has responded to the coronavirus pandemic, leaving the country far behind other nations in testing for and controlling infection. With so few tests, the United States has been flying blind into a storm.
Why is this such a problem? We cannot expect a vaccine or cure for covid-19 in the immediate future. But widespread diagnostic testing could help dramatically.
As Jeremy Samuel Faust, an emergency physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, wrote in a Post op-ed, this is for two reasons. First, identifying even mild cases of the infection that are now going uncounted would yield a more accurate picture of the lethality of the disease. This in turn would likely reassure the public and financial markets.
Second, Dr. Faust explained, “the discovery of mild and symptom-free cases may lower the number of serious cases over the course of the outbreak, and might even save lives.” This is partly because treatment (short of cure) can be effective, and partly because isolation of asymptomatic patients would slow the spread of infection. But those patients aren’t going to self-quarantine if they don’t know they’re sick.
South Korea’s experience supports this argument. Regulators there approved a new diagnostic test by a private company in a week’s time. South Korea is testing 20,000 people a day, and it now has drive-through testing — and the infection rates are not climbing sharply.
The United States’ record is sadly different. The initial setback was a technical fault in the diagnostic kits created and sent to state public health labs by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in February. While the CDC rushed to troubleshoot, only about a dozen state labs could test, and all other samples had to be sent to the CDC in Atlanta. Test results took days. On top of this, the agency set very restrictive criteria for who would be tested: only individuals who showed respiratory symptoms and had either recently traveled to China or come in close contact with an infected person. On Feb. 29, facing a rising case count in the United States and a lack of testing, the Food and Drug Administration abruptly changed its rules to allow “high-complexity” laboratories to use diagnostic tests they designed in-house. This began to expand testing and allow hospitals and private firms to produce them — they are now the main hope of ramping up testing — although another looming glitch is a shortage of chemicals.
Not all the testing problems in the United States are political, but it certainly did not help that Vice President Pence repeatedly over-promised the availability of tests, touting millions when only thousands have been conducted. “Anybody that needs a test gets a test,” Mr. Trump declared on March 6 at the CDC headquarters. “They’re there. They have the tests. And the tests are beautiful.” For the sake of the ill and the healthy, we hope the reality will soon catch up to that idle boast.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/opinions-with-so-few-coronavirus-tests-america-has-been-flying-blind-into-a-storm/ar-BB1172Dg
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Glad that NY AG James is taking a tough stance with the Trump family crime syndicate in this civil lawsuit. Expect not only heavy fines and penalties, but criminal charges from the parallel DOJ investigation to result, as well. While Trump goes around the country holding rallies for an ostensible reelection bid, perpetuating the Big Lie, undermining our democracy, dividing the nation, grifting supporters, and weakening America, Trump is also in legal jeopardy on a number of other criminal matters. Sooner or later, the orange clown is going down, and it can't happen quick enough.
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Because humans have neglected to take aggressive action to curb our hydrocarbon usage and emissions, have refused to take climate change seriously, now what we are witnessing is a snowball effect, where the problem is exacerbated by fires burning in the Amazon, in Greece, in the western U.S. and Canada, raising temperatures and adding more CO2 and other greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. As the frozen tundra thaws, methane gases are being released, and as water bodies warm, methane hydrates formerly trapped at the bottom rise into the air, releasing even more methane gas. As more and more surface ice is lost on land and in the ocean, less sunlight is reflected back into space, causing more heat gain. Humans have set into motion a self-perpetuating loop; a cycle which we may well be powerless to stop, and which will destroy life on Earth as it has existed for millions of years.
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"We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Bush v. Gore, Citizens United, Chief Jester Roberts smiling and nodding along while presiding over sham Senate impeachment trial, Assassination Goon B.S. Barr butchering the law, slaughtering justice, politicizing and weaponizing the DOJ. It's why we lost all respect for the Supreme Court, the law, and the justice system in this country. Congratulations, Republicans, on turning our nation into a banana Republic, making America an object lesson to the world on how to destroy democracy!
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@woodiethompson526 ~ The Big Lie: "Stop the steal." No election in U.S. history has EVER had more recounts, more audits, more court challenges than the 2020 election. All reaffirming that it was free and fair, that Biden won, that is wasn't even that close. That Trump lost despite numerous Republican efforts at voter suppression--and egregious gerrymandering in many Red states. What is readily apparent is that you drank the Kool-Aid, that you prefer delusion and willful ignorance, that you are a sore loser, and that you care more about your party than your country. Get a clue, not a cult, for Christ's sake, Doc!
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Donald Trump, at White House press conference on 04/07/20:
And we’re going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO. We’re going to put a very powerful hold on it, and we’re going to see.
Trump later at that same press conference:
Q: Thanks. A quick follow-up on that. So is the time to freeze funding to the WHO during a pandemic of this magnitude?
THE PRESIDENT: No, maybe not. I mean, I’m not saying I’m going to do it, but we’re going to look at it.
Q: You did say that you’re going to —
THE PRESIDENT: We give a tremendous —
Q: You said you’d put a hold on it.
THE PRESIDENT: No, I didn’t.
Toxic Trump, one week later, on 04/14/20: "I'm withholding WHO funding!"
WHO held a important meeting on COVID-19 vaccines at the beginning of May, with all nations attending...except no U.S. medical and scientific representatives sent by the Trump Administration, without any explanation. The absence particularly stunning in light that U.S. has half of world's cases and a quarter of the deaths, although possessing just 5% of the global population.
ME, US, the world: WTF?? Why in HELL is that raving lunatic STILL in charge during this major pandemic health crisis?!? Hasn't he KILLED enough Americans, ALREADY?!?
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance.
In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump leaves office, the one out of every 800 Americans will have died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 400,000 fatalities, about as many American casualties as WWII. It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
Democrats, Independents, others: WTF?!?
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Beginning to think that President Biden needs to declare martial law to get Covid-19 under control. It's appalling and sad that it's gotten to this point because of corrupt Republican leaders who care only about their political ambitions and nothing about their constituent's health or lives, and a bunch of anti-science morons lacking basic decency and even a modicum of common sense.
In a sane America----one where a third of the population wasn't programmed into a mindless, fascist Republican cult----we would have universal Covid-19 vaccine passports, masks and social distancing required wherever and whenever deemed necessary by public health officials, and mandatory vaccinations for all those able to receive it. Actually, in a sane America, none of that would be necessary, because everyone able would be voluntarily getting vaccinated, and everybody would be faithfully following CDC guidelines like wearing masks and socially distancing. They would be doing so because it is in there own best interest; because it is the moral and ethical thing to do to protect our fellow citizens; because we need to prevent the creation of new, more deadly variants; because it is the best way to recover the economy; because it is the best way to get things back to normal; because it is the civic, patriotic thing to do; and because it is just plain old-fashioned common sense.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation—only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regurgitation
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump’s COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration…
Now reaching vacation destination!
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Fact checking Trump's claim of 'suicide by the thousands' if shutdown continues
ABC News -- 03/25/20
As some in President Donald Trump's inner circle push for loosening social distancing guidelines amid economic fallout from the novel coronavirus outbreak, he has predicted "tremendous death" and "suicide by the thousands" if the country isn't "opened for business" in a matter of weeks.
While public health officials warn that dropping social guidelines to boost the economy could quickly overload hospital systems, costing more money and more lives, the president has claimed several times this week that the number of suicides specifically would "definitely" be greater than the death toll from the virus itself as he pointed to people returning to work as a remedy.
"You're going to lose more people by putting a country into a massive recession or depression." Trump said Tuesday in a Fox News town hall. "You're going to lose people. You're going to have suicides by the thousands."
One night before, at a coronavirus task force briefing, the president said, "I'm talking about where people suffer massive depression, where people commit suicide, where tremendous death happens… I mean, definitely would be in far greater numbers than the numbers that we're talking about with regard to the virus."
A scientific report released March 16 by an epidemic modeling group at Imperial College London, found that without action by the government and individuals to slow the spread of COVID-19, 2.2 million people in the U.S. could die -- not accounting for the negative effects of health care systems being overwhelmed.
There's no way to predict the exact impact of an unprecedented pandemic, but experts also say that there's no evidence to suggest that the suicide rate will rise dramatically due to social distancing measures or that the death toll would surpass potential coronavirus deaths.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide mortalities have gone up every year since 1999, but it's still "selective" for the president to latch onto that, says Richard Dunn, associate professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics at University of Connecticut who has studied the connection between markets and depression.
"The general fact that President Trump cited is, in fact, true that when economies contract suicides do go up," Dunn said, acknowledging how the financial crisis of the early 2000s triggered more suicides, "but that is not the only cause of death that responds to economic downturn."
"If you were to look across all the current causes of death in a recession, you would see that the number of deaths actually declines. Heart deaths from heart disease fall. Deaths from motor vehicle accidents crashes fall," Dunn added. "One of the few activities that we have left to us in many parts of the country is to go out for a walk, so physical activity tends to go up."
"So we actually see overall that there are fewer deaths in economic downturn -- but suicide is the one major cause of death that does not follow that pattern," Dunn said.
While the global reported death toll for COVID-19 is nearly 20,000 people at this time, the CDC reports that 47,173 Americans died by suicide in 2017 alone and the number is on track to grow in coming years -- but experts still caution pairing the mortality rate to that of the current pandemic.
Timothy Classen, an associate professor of economics and dean at the Quinlan School of Business at Loyola University, notes that in the years since the Great Recession, unemployment numbers have recovered from roughly 10% to 4% -- yet suicides mortalities have continued to increase.
"That contradicts the notion that as unemployment increases, that's going to increase suicide rates," Classen said.
[See also: Record number of US police officers died by suicide in 2019]
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/record-number-us-police-officers-died-suicide-2019/story?id=68031484
Classen also notes that while "of course" one individual's suicide has consequences to others, it does not transmit itself like a virus, adding to the difficulty in predicting either death toll, albeit comparing them through sound science.
When it comes to next steps, former Trump administration homeland security adviser -- and now ABC News Contributor -- Tom Bossert cautions that allowing the disease to spread without making an effort to mitigate would still take a "devastating" toll on the country.
"I think everybody shares his [President Trump's] frustration and his hope -- but what he needs to do is avoid second waves and reinfections," Bossert said. "At this stage we've paid a very heavy cost in our economy and in our lives. To lose the benefit of it at this point by not sticking to our guns would be a really devastating decision."
https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/fact-checking-trump-s-claim-of-suicide-by-the-thousands-if-shutdown-continues/ar-BB11HLFi
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth and justice--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, John Eastman and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed? If Garland doesn't stand up for justice and democracy, this nation is soon doomed.
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
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You don't get denialism without nihilism. As life-long conservative Bill Kristol astutely pointed our just recently in a tweet, the Republican party has embraced nihilism. Republicans still labeling COVID-19 a "hoax;" Republicans still refusing to wear masks or social distance after over half-a-million American fatalities from COVID-19; Congressional Republicans obstructing a COVID-19 stimulus bill certain to pass just to delay vital and urgently needed relief to Americans desperate for help; not one Congressional Republican in either chamber voting for the badly needed stimulus bill; Republican governors dropping mask mandates and all restrictions on businesses, heedless of rising case counts in their states and deadly new variants of the virus; and Republican leaders continuing to push the Big Lie that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen without evidence and in disregard of plentiful evidence and facts to the contrary, even AFTER their Big Lie incited a terrorist attack by a mindless Republican mob against the nation's Capitol in insurrection against the government, attempting to overturn a legitimate election, sieging, storming, sizing, sacking, defiling, defacing and disgracing America's citadel of, and temple to, democracy--these are all prime examples of nihilism.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-‘n-‘Thief, Toxic Trump, so much—although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages—as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, homophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, divisive, anti-science, anti-democratic raving lunatic and his corruption, a man compromised by foreign nations, including our principle adversary, through his tremendous debt. Between that, his catastrophic, irresponsible handling of COVID-19, and his incitement of anti-democratic violent Reich-wing groups, Trump has made himself America's #1 most serious national security threat. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself, mental illness, and his upbringing, who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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America's enemies don't need to spread disinformation, doubt, discord, and division to weaken America, kill Americans----because Republican politicians, Reich-wing demagogues, Faux News, OAN, Newsmax, Breitbart and the rest of the Reich-wing media do that so effectively for them, already. More Americans need to realize that the GOP has abdicated it's duty as loyal opposition, and that its prioritization of party over country and welcoming embrace of violent radical Reich-wing extremists diminishes both our government and our national security, endangering ALL Americans, as well as weakening and endangering America itself.
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--Instead of striving to bring out the best in people, Toxic Trump reveled in bringing out the very worst.
--Instead of uniting the country, Toxic Trump sought to divide us.
--Instead of abiding by and honoring our Constitution and the rule of law, Toxic Trump held them in disdain, disregarded them, and degraded them, running the most corrupt administration in U.S. history.
--Instead of strengthening democracy and our cherished institutions, Toxic Trump worked to diminish and destroy them, inciting a terrorist insurrection against his own government, attempting a coup to steal an election.
--Instead of insuring a peaceful transfer power after losing the election, Toxic Trump kept insisting against all evidence that he won, continuously repeating the Big Lie that resulted in the terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol.
--Instead of confronting a serious threat to Americans with a deadly global pandemic, Toxic Trump lied to the American people about it, ignored it, and refused to take any responsibility for his gross homicidal criminal negligence that resulted in one out of every 800 Americans dying from COVID-19--over 400,000 American lives in just ten months, as many casualties as all of WWII.
--Instead of confronting the ever-increasing existential crisis from climate change and its harmful effects, Toxic Trump gutted regulations and withdrew from the voluntary Paris climate accords, exacerbating the problem and poisoning citizens.
--Instead of creating jobs, Toxic Trump was the first President since the Great Depression to preside over a net loss of jobs over his tenure.
--Instead of lowering the national deficit, Toxic Trump increased it from 19.2 trillion to 27 trillion----the highest rate of increase of ANY President, ever.
--Instead of helping out the least among us, Toxic Trump widened the wealth and income disparity gap. 50% of his $1.9 trillion tax cut went to the top 5%; 65% went to the top 20%, with the top 40% benefiting next most, and the bottom 20% only receiving 1%. Moreover, his huge tax cut for big corporations and the wealthy left a legacy adding $1,000,000,000,000 a year to the federal deficit while lowering federal revenue.
--Instead of building bridges, humane immigration reform, and infrastructure, Toxic Trump built walls, cages, and concentration camps, separated children from mothers, allowed American infrastructure to decline and deteriorate, rejected economic opportunity.
--Instead of raising our standing and security in the world, Toxic Trump lowered and weakened it.
--Instead of draining the swamp, Toxic Trump turned it into a noxious overflowing sewer of Republican corruption.
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America's enemies don't need to spread disinformation, doubt, discord, and division to weaken America, kill Americans--Republican politicians, Reich-wing demagogues, Faux News, OAN, Newsmax, Breitbart and the rest of the Reich-wing media do that so effectively for them, already. More Americans need to realize that the GOP has abdicated it's duty as loyal opposition, and that its prioritization of party over country and welcoming embrace of violent radical Reich-wing extremists diminishes both our government and our national security, endangering ALL Americans, as well as weakening and endangering America itself.
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I ran the White House pandemic office. Trump closed it.
Beth Cameron -- 03/13/20 -- Washington Post
Beth Cameron is vice president for global biological policy and programs at the Nuclear Threat Initiative. She previously served as the senior director for global health security and biodefense on the White House National Security Council.
When President Trump took office in 2017, the White House’s National Security Council Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense survived the transition intact. Its mission was the same as when I was asked to lead the office, established after the Ebola epidemic of 2014: to do everything possible within the vast powers and resources of the U.S. government to prepare for the next disease outbreak and prevent it from becoming an epidemic or pandemic.
One year later, I was mystified when the White House dissolved the office, leaving the country less prepared for pandemics like covid-19.
The U.S. government’s slow and inadequate response to the new coronavirus underscores the need for organized, accountable leadership to prepare for and respond to pandemic threats.
In a health security crisis, speed is essential. When this new coronavirus emerged, there was no clear White House-led structure to oversee our response, and we lost valuable time. Yes, we have capable and committed global and national disease-prevention and management organizations, as well as state and local health departments, all working overtime now. But even in prepared cities like Seattle, health systems are struggling to test patients and keep pace with growing caseloads. The specter of rapid community transmission and exponential growth is real and daunting. The job of a White House pandemics office would have been to get ahead: to accelerate the response, empower experts, anticipate failures, and act quickly and transparently to solve problems.
It’s impossible to assess the full impact of the 2018 decision to disband the White House office responsible for this work. Biological experts do remain in the White House and in our government. But it is clear that eliminating the office has contributed to the federal government’s sluggish domestic response. What’s especially concerning about the absence of this office today is that it was originally set up because a previous epidemic made the need for it quite clear.
The U.S. government worked hard to fight the 2014 Ebola epidemic. Unlike Central Africa, Ebola was not a usual occurrence in West Africa; the necessary elements of community trust and public health decision-making weren’t in place to detect and stop it. Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone were blind spots for disease surveillance. The cost was thousands of lives, billions of dollars and years of economic recovery for countries already torn by decades of war.
So in 2016, after the formidable U.S.-led Ebola response, the Obama White House established the global health security office at the National Security Council and asked me to lead the team. We were to prepare for and, if possible, prevent the next outbreak from becoming an epidemic or pandemic.
Our team reported to a senior-level response coordinator on the National Security staff who could rally the government at the highest levels, as well as to the national security adviser and the homeland security adviser. This high-level domestic and global reporting structure wasn’t an accident. It was a recognition that epidemics know no borders and that a serious, fast response is crucial. Our job was to be the smoke alarm — keeping watch to get ahead of emergencies, sounding a warning at the earliest sign of fire — all with the goal of avoiding a six-alarm blaze.
We partnered with federal departments and agencies as they monitored evolving outbreaks, triggering alarms for decision-makers when those outbreaks began to take on unusual or worrisome characteristics. Shortly before Trump took office, we were watching many health security threats, including a rising number of cases in China of H7N9 influenza, a deadly strain with high mortality but low transmissibility between people. Earlier, we had been tracking a large outbreak of yellow fever in Angola that threatened to sap the limited global supply of that vaccine, affecting the local population, international travelers, deployed citizens and troops. We were focused on naturally occurring diseases and potential bioterrorism — any and every biological threat that could cause a major global health and security emergency.
My office was also tasked with preparing — at home and around the world — for the next health emergency, no matter its origin. In 2014, even before the first cases of Ebola came to light in Guinea, the Obama administration launched the Global Health Security Agenda, which now includes more than 60 countries, to accelerate epidemic preparedness. That effort, bolstered by $1 billion from the U.S. government in an emergency spending bill to fight Ebola, led to major gains in global capability to combat the Ebola outbreak and prepare for the next pandemic, which turned out to be covid-19. We began building, measuring and tracking capacities each country had, such as the strength of their national laboratory systems and their abilities to detect and report disease, stand up emergency operation centers, build an epidemiology workforce and maintain safe and secure practices. We spurred the use of transparent, measurable assessments of progress, and we leveraged our diplomacy with other countries to finance and fill gaps. At the same time, we strengthened international biosurveillance networks to help alert us to future potential pandemics.
Another critical task came in early 2017, when we began transitioning pandemic preparedness to the incoming Trump administration. As a civil servant and the head of the directorate, I remained at the White House for several months after the transition. I attended senior-level meetings and directly briefed the homeland security adviser and the national security adviser. After I left the White House that March, pandemic preparedness remained on the agenda; my office remained intact under the leadership of my well-respected successor, Rear Adm. Tim Ziemer; and the national security adviser was tracking H7N9 and other emerging threats.
It’s unclear whether the decision to disband the directorate, which was made in May 2018, after John Bolton became national security adviser, was a tactical move to downgrade the issue or whether it was part of the White House’s interest in simplifying and shrinking the National Security Council staff. Either way, it left an unclear structure and strategy for coordinating pandemic preparedness and response. Experts outside government and on Capitol Hill called for the office’s reinstatement at the time.
Its absence now is all too evident. In his remarks Wednesday night, the president talked about travel bans and the resilience of the U.S. economy but made little specific mention of the public health crisis unfolding across America — exactly the kind of detail a dedicated NSC pandemics infrastructure would have pushed to address. A directorate within the White House would have been responsible for coordinating the efforts of multiple federal agencies to make sure the government was backstopping testing capacity, devising approaches to manufacture and avoid shortages of personal protective equipment, strengthening U.S. lab capacity to process covid-19 tests, and expanding the health-care workforce.
The office would galvanize resources to coordinate a robust and seamless domestic and global response. It would identify needs among state and local officials, and advise and facilitate regular, focused communication from federal health and scientific experts to provide states and the public with fact-based tools to minimize the virus’s spread. The White House is uniquely positioned to take into account broader U.S. and global security considerations associated with health emergencies, including their impact on deployed citizens, troops and regional economies, as well as peace and stability. A White House office would have been able to elevate urgent issues fast, so they didn’t linger or devolve to inaction, as with covid-19 testing in the United States. It would be in charge of sharing information and coordinating our public health and humanitarian response with partners and allies. And it would work now to prepare the United States and the world for the next pandemic, including by developing incentives for global leaders and governments to rapidly finance and fill identified gaps.
Pandemics, like weapons of mass destruction and climate change, are transnational threats with potentially existential consequences. No single department or agency can be responsible for handling them. Pandemic threats may not arise every year, but the White House should constantly prepare for them. We can’t afford for federal decision-makers to waste time relearning old lessons when they should be innovating and acting.
Covid-19 wasn’t preventable, but it was predictable. Hopefully, its impact can still be limited. But it is well past time for the U.S. government to show the leadership required for an effective domestic and global response. We need to start sprinting. Come April and May, no one will wish the United States had done less.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/i-ran-the-white-house-pandemic-office-trump-closed-it/ar-BB1192Xy
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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Republicans: "Got this fantastic idea: let's cook the planet to make the wealthy even richer! What could possibly go wrong?"
Republicans: "Regulations, a healthy environment, healthy people, and visionary sustainable policies for our children and future generations bad! Greed, selfish short-sightedness, pollution, climate change, cancer, sick people, dead people good!"
Because capitalism and consumerism brought about Anthropological Global Warming, Republicans either deny and downplay the problem or prescribe more of the same poison. If a Republican is young and smart enough to realize AGW is killing their future, why are they not smart enough to realize they shouldn't vote Republican?
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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Question: Which are worse, Russian bots/apparatchiks attacking America to divide and weaken us, or their tools, the Republican cult dupes helping them?
Answer: The American fools, of course. While hostile foreign powers are an ever-present reality, the treasonous behaviors of the GOP against its own nation's democracy, well-being, and national security, and even its members own welfare, is the far greater evil. If it persists, this mighty nation will certainly perish in ignominy.
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The Molotov cocktail recipe:
Mix in equal parts of mental illness, lies, willful ignorance, fear, hate, greed, decades of 24/7 Reich-wing disinformation, misinformation, and crackpot conspiracy programming by Republican politicians, plutocrats, media and demagogues, add supplemental divisive Russian propaganda attacking and weakening America, stir well, garnish with COVID-19, and you have the mindless Republican cult descending into fascism, committing terrorism and sedition. Then, grab a stiff drink--you'll need it.
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Rep. Cheney gave a powerful and defiant speech speaking truth to the dysfunctional Republican party to which she belongs, which has abdicated its duty to be LOYAL opposition----except for one thing. Republicans did not end communism in the former USSR or cause its dissolution. A consistent foreign policy by both Democratic and Republican leaders in the Executive Branch and Congress (and our NATO allies, as well) over decades played a role, but it was the work and decisions of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev that were the decisive factor and which deserve most credit. He instituted policies of glasnost and perestroika, changed Soviet law to allow other parties to compete against the Communist Party, motivated because he saw clearly that Russia was dysfunctional, its costly imperialism, political and economic structure moribund and detrimental to Russia's progress. For his courage and actions, for speaking the truth to the Russian people, Gorbachev paid a much higher price politically than is Liz Cheney currently, who is displaying the same kind of courage as he did.
Gorbachev received the Nobel Peace prize in 1990 for all that he did for Russia and ending the Cold War, and it is wrong for Cheney to falsely attribute all credit to her Republican party for the results largely due to his independent decisions, engaging in history revisionism for the benefit of her political party. Isn't that exactly why the GOP----and Liz Cheney----find themselves in their present predicament in the first place? So, it is heavily ironic that Cheney does not extend the same due for his bravery and patriotism in telling the truth to the Russian people that she is exhibiting telling the truth about the 2020 election to the American people. It is also heavily ironic that the credit she is falsely attributing to the Republican party for the USSR becoming more democratic comes at a time when the Republican party is corroding democracy and seeking to make America less democratic.
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Personally not listening to that quack Thomas Friedman, (or Sen. Rancid Paul) suggesting the Swedish pandemic response model. Nope! Taking the advice of the great Heywood Banks: "Underdo it! Underdo it! Underdo it!" Isolation, protecting ourselves and each other with masks, social distancing, and proper hygiene, are the keys to breaking the chain of transmission in a deadly pandemic, that we may limit death and long-term debilitating conditions suffered among the population. Once testing capabilities reached for randomized and contact tracing, and infection rates drop enough, the U.S. can gradually begin CAREFULLY reopening its economy in an ENDURING and SUSTAINABLE way. A way that puts PEOPLE'S lives and health first.
Sen. Rancid Paul is trying to kill Americans. He knows that we didn't go into isolation for two months for this year's flu. He knows that many people--especially those vulnerable--received a vaccine against this years flu, which isn't available yet for COVID-19. He knows that without the whole nation taking DRASTIC mitigation measures, COVID-19 cases would have continued rising, as would COVID-19 deaths. He knows that trying to make comparisons between the common flu and this deadly global pandemic are misleading, dangerous, inappropriate, illogical, and unscientific. Vote KILLER Rancid Paul out of office.
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Republican Sen. Tim Scott is like having a 1943 German Jew train conductor extolling to passengers the comforts of Auschwitz. Kentucky AG Daniel Cameron who, like Tim Scott, found time to be a supporting guest speaker at this year's RNC to renominate racist, fascist Toxic Trump--rather than obtaining justice for Breonna Taylor--is no different. Rep. Will Hurd--a former U.S. CIA intelligence officer, no less--didn't impeach racist, fascist Toxic Trump despite overwhelming evidence of his crimes in the Mueller Report and Ukraine shakedown detailing the Traitor-'n-Thief's attempts to use foreign interference to win elections, compromising himself with our principle foreign adversary, grievously endangering our democracy and national security.
What the HELL is wrong with these people, these so-called leaders who are supposed to be public servants; have they no shame, no character, no integrity, no decency, nor even any sense of self-preservation whatsoever? Do they really think their supporting, aiding and abetting a racist and fascist President makes them somehow immune from the inevitable consequences of the hate being promoted against them? Are they really that lost in tribalistic partisanship, the Republican cult, blind ideology, and greed for corrupt power and fame that they would behave thus?!? Maybe someone can explain how this isn't selling their own brothers and sisters down the river, because it is simply unconscionable and incomprehensible.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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To protect our health care and front-line workers, it is critical to protect ourselves and others! Protecting those most vulnerable groups among us--like the elderly, homeless, prisoners, minorities, and migrants--is one of the best ways of protecting ourselves! It's a win-win situation, folks--even without a global pandemic, but now especially! Conversely, it is actually Trump and the GOP's fear-mongering, stigmatization, bigotry, xenophobia, racism, cruelty and lack of compassion which endangers Americans. Ignorance kills.
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Merrick Garland: "Trump and Congressional Republicans screwed me out of a seat on the Supreme Court...that's why now as AG I can't prosecute them for the many crimes they've committed!"
Merrick Garland’s House Testimony Demonstrated the Failure of His Hyper-Cautious Approach to His Job
Despite Garland’s many efforts to not appear political by declining to investigate Trump and his cronies for possible crimes and by using DOJ resources to actively protect Trump from civil liability, Republicans are still portraying him as the most political attorney general in history.
The other weakness of Garland’s timid approach was on full view during his opening statement and responses to Democratic members of Congress. “The essence of the rule of law is that like cases are treated alike. That there not be one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans; one rule for friends, another for foes,” Garland stated grandly. But by declining to investigate Trump and his associates, Garland is enabling further attacks on our democracy. (While proving inequity by putting Republicans above the law.)
Crucially, the two parties are not the same. Garland’s standard sets up a false equivalency between the Democratic Party and a political party whose national leader, Donald Trump, incited and celebrated a violent assault on our nation’s Capitol to overthrow the results of a free and fair election and who continues to portray the insurrection as a glorious “protest.” To that end, in the middle of the attorney general’s testimony, Trump issued a statement highlighting Garland’s feebleness at failing to even investigate the organizers and leaders of the Jan. 6 events, declaring “the insurrection took place on November 3, Election Day. January 6 was the Protest!”
Garland’s efforts to depoliticize the DOJ have proved to be an abdication of his responsibility to protect the rule of law. Take just a few examples: Garland’s failure to reconsider the obstruction of justice case against the former president, his deferral of an investigation of possible financial crimes by Trump and his organization to local prosecutors in New York City and Westchester, his use of the DOJ to protect Trump from defamation allegations, and his deferral of a soliciting of voter fraud felony probe in Georgia to local prosecutors there. By abdicating his responsibility, Garland is also opening the door for Trump to commit these possibly criminal abuses all over again, this time with the full support of the Republican Party, and maybe ultimately return to power.
--Mark Stern
"Try as he may, Merrick Garland cannot perform boring independence fast enough to outrun GOP claims that he’s a wild-eyed, violent socialist. And while the GOP currently exists only to cast everything you thought you believed into doubt, the real endgame is vigilantism. The endgame is to ensure that people mistrust government, election systems, school boards, (teachers, health care officials) the media, and the justice system enough to lend a hand in their destruction."
--Dahlia Lithwick
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or "the Wall") is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle's name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called "leaders" in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 -- than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to--and a barrier against--our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It's design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge--and help teach--people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see...if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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Alright, watched the video, prefer progressive over Biden, disagree slightly with some of the analysis, but this was not an endorsement of Biden or a disparagement of any other Dem candidate; it was simply an analysis of the Dem front runner status and strategy, and also an attempt to make a frank assessment of the nation's political outlook. Why all the negative comments, thumbs down, and attacks against CNN? As a frequent media critic, definitely not warranted for this video. This was a fairly objective piece, and it pains me to see Dems acting like Republicans to news they don't like. In this case, apparently just because the front-runner is getting publicity--and it isn't even flattering! We better than this, Dems! Better to save that criticism for when it is justified than using it unjustly trying to influence the refs! (Voted Bernie last time, like Warren better this time around, but would be quite pleased with either.)
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Trump and Republicans are like Jack and his band of boys in 'Lord of the Flies.' Ralph, Simon, Piggy and the other group of boys represent the rest of us. Just as Jack and his band turned savage, killing and cannibalizing their fellow students on the deserted island they landed upon, Trump and Republicans have also turned savage, rejecting responsibility, reason, civility, morality, and science, killing their fellow Americans and cannibalizing our government. Except there will be no adults arriving to save those of us trying to do the right thing, like in the classic tale. It is strictly up to us to save ourselves and this country from the fascistic, nihilistic impulses of Trump and Republicans.
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth and justice--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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@texgal516 ~ "Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again." ― Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney
More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
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Let's just call January 6 what it actually was -- a Republican smash and grab, an act of violent larceny against democracy and sedition employing domestic terrorism right out in open sight.
"Without accountability, an attempted autogolpe and insurrection is just practice."
"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ― Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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--Instead of striving to bring out the best in people, Toxic Trump reveled in bringing out the very worst.
--Instead of uniting the country, Toxic Trump sought to divide us.
--Instead of abiding by and honoring our Constitution and the rule of law, Toxic Trump held them in disdain, disregarded them, and degraded them.
--Instead of strengthening democracy and our cherished institutions, Toxic Trump worked to diminish and destroy them, inciting a terrorist insurrection against his own government, attempting a coup to steal an election.
--Instead of insuring a peaceful transfer power after losing the election, Toxic Trump kept insisting against all evidence that he won, continuously repeating the Big Lie that resulted in the terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol.
--Instead of confronting a serious threat to Americans with a deadly global pandemic, Toxic Trump lied to the American people about it, ignored it, and refused to take any responsibility for his gross homicidal criminal negligence that resulted in one out of every 800 Americans dying from COVID-19--over 400,000 lives in just ten months, as many casualties as all of WWII.
--Instead of confronting the ever-increasing existential crisis from climate change and its harmful effects, Toxic Trump gutted regulations, exacerbating the problem and poisoning citizens.
--Instead of creating jobs, Toxic Trump was the first President since the Great Depression to preside over a net loss of jobs over his tenure.
--Instead of lowering the national deficit, Toxic Trump increased it from 19.2 trillion to 27 trillion.
--Instead of building bridges, humane immigration reform, and infrastructure, Toxic Trump built walls and cages, separated children from mothers, allowed American infrastructure to decline and deteriorate, rejected economic opportunity.
--Instead of raising our standing and security in the world, Toxic Trump lowered and weakened it.
--Instead of draining the swamp, Toxic Trump turned it into a noxious overflowing Republican sewer.
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--Instead of striving to bring out the best in people, Toxic Trump reveled in bringing out the very worst.
--Instead of uniting the country, Toxic Trump sought to divide us.
--Instead of abiding by and honoring our Constitution and the rule of law, Toxic Trump held them in disdain, disregarded them, and degraded them, running the most corrupt administration in U.S. history.
--Instead of strengthening democracy and our cherished institutions, Toxic Trump worked to diminish and destroy them, inciting a terrorist insurrection against his own government, attempting a coup to steal an election.
--Instead of insuring a peaceful transfer power after losing the election, Toxic Trump kept insisting against all evidence that he won, continuously repeating the Big Lie that resulted in the terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol.
--Instead of confronting a serious threat to Americans with a deadly global pandemic, Toxic Trump lied to the American people about it, ignored it, and refused to take any responsibility for his gross homicidal criminal negligence that resulted in one out of every 800 Americans dying from COVID-19--over 400,000 American lives in just ten months, as many casualties as all of WWII.
--Instead of confronting the ever-increasing existential crisis from climate change and its harmful effects, Toxic Trump gutted regulations and withdrew from the voluntary Paris climate accords, exacerbating the problem and poisoning citizens.
--Instead of creating jobs, Toxic Trump was the first President since the Great Depression to preside over a net loss of jobs over his tenure.
--Instead of lowering the national deficit, Toxic Trump increased it from 19.2 trillion to 27 trillion----the highest rate of increase of ANY President, ever.
--Instead of helping out the least among us, Toxic Trump widened the wealth and income disparity gap. 50% of his $1.9 trillion tax cut went to the top 5%; 65% went to the top 20%, with the top 40% benefiting next most, and the bottom 20% only receiving 1%. Moreover, his huge tax cut for big corporations and the wealthy left a legacy adding $1,000,000,000,000 a year to the federal deficit while lowering federal revenue.
--Instead of building bridges, humane immigration reform, and infrastructure, Toxic Trump built walls, cages, and concentration camps, separated children from mothers, allowed American infrastructure to decline and deteriorate, rejected economic opportunity.
--Instead of raising our standing and security in the world, Toxic Trump lowered and weakened it.
--Instead of draining the swamp, Toxic Trump turned it into a noxious overflowing sewer of Republican corruption.
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Fauci is better than Birx, but neither telling the whole truth, and both are shading the truth. Not reassuring, nor does it inspire confidence. Haven't heard anything from either on dealing with this pandemic that wasn't already first spoken by other experts--information that was already in the public domain. Have respect for both Birx and Fauci past work, respect that they have at least been willing to stand up for the data and science when push come to shove, but they are part of this administration that horribly botched the U.S. response, costing tens of thousands of additional American deaths through it's criminal negligence and, as such, share accountability for this colossally lethal failure. And, they are directly responsible for their lack of candor, their hubris, and their cowardice.
Physicians and medical professionals have a DUTY to warn. No one person is irreplaceable, nor is any one person going to "save" us from Toxic Trump's worst inclinations. Fauci should have resigned immediately when it became clear that the Trump administration was not preparing adequately or taking the threat to our national health and security seriously enough. As should have other public officials with any integrity. Fauci and others could have done just as much--if not more--by resigning and going public to warn the American people in no uncertain terms of the danger and what needed to be done. The U.S. needs Dr. Osterholm running the task force, but also a President who will heed his sage advice. Should have been a national lockdown March 1, but the U.S. has yet, even now, to achieve that first elementary, critical step.
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Welcome to war. This is what war is. It's terrible, it's tragic, it's ugly, it stinks, it's unfair, it's sad, it's wasteful, it's hell, innocents die, and things always go wrong. You think we'd have learned that by now, but no, it's a lesson that has to be repeatedly learned, evidently. The consensus is that nobody foresaw the Afghan government and its armed forces completely capitulating so quickly as they did. Some say there should have been a contingency plan for this, but even though hindsight is 20/20, have yet to hear any rational plan that could have dealt with this situation. Shit happens, and Biden got handed a turd with Afghanistan. Instead of allowing the crap to continue, Biden made the hard, responsible decision to pull the U.S. out of another country's civil war. Fallout was inevitable, and Republicans trying to capitalize on that politically or media trying to profit from it is truly degenerate.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast would soon come to consume them.
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Toxic Trump: "I'm the BEST, just absolutely CRUSHING the competition, with over FIVE MILLION coronavirus cases and over 164 -- one-hundred and sixty-four!!! -- THOUSAND deaths! Easy as 1-2-3! They ALL got eighty-sixed, 'cause nobody else even comes close! With a QUARTER of the world's cases AND deaths--can you even imagine how truly great, how awesome, that achievement is, with only just FOUR PERCENT of the world's population to work with? Believe it or not, I accomplished in only FIVE WEEKS what it took the Vietnam War a whole TWELVE YEARS to do! Not done with the fun--and not to be outdone--I then doubled down on the death toll from Vietnam in just FOUR MONTHS! PLUS, we're not even counting ALL the COVID-19 cases and deaths here in the U.S.! And, with only TEN PERCENT of the U.S. population already infected, we're just getting started with all the sickness and death; there's PLENTY more to come! Those other weaklings and losers don't stand a chance, because we're going to keep right on winning--as long as I'm in charge! Now, vacation's over; time to get back to work on increasing those numbers, people! Let's keep America great, get rid of all the excess baggage! As wartime President, I am commanding all CIVILIANS to senselessly sacrifice their lives for my arrogance, stupidity, vanity, malevolence, and greed!"
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WTF?!? 03/19/20, and many people exposed to or possibly sick with COVID-19 still can't get tested! Only 59,000 tested to date! Monday, 03/09/20, we had state governors speaking into the camera, desperately BEGGING the CDC on live TV to approve private labs and automated testing for COVID-19! While three months later the U.S. is still struggling to get enough test kits distributed! Problem is, the test kits samples need to be processed in the lab for results, and processing capacity at the CDC is extremely limited and far too slow. Even in conjunction with all U.S. state and private labs, processing capacity of test kit samples would be grossly insufficient for the vigorous survey of the American public vitally needed. Which is why it is CRITICALLY imperative these other private facilities IMMEDIATELY be brought online by the CDC. WTF is WRONG with this TRUMP ADMINISTRATION?!? Their incompetence is KILLING us!
WHO test kits are the model developed by Germany, a NATO ally, which were also available. The key point that needs hammering home: Trump administration could have--should have--obtained test kits and conducted diagnostic and protective testing on the U.S. population a couple of months ago! Especially once problems developed with the CDC test kits sent out. It was a no-brainer! Trump's gross incompetence is costing American lives. That simple.
Sick people across US being denied coronavirus test
NY Times - 03/12/20
Many who fear they have the virus have faced one roadblock after another as they try to get tested, according to interviews with dozens of people across the country.
Some have been rejected because they had no symptoms, even though they had been in proximity to someone who tested positive. Others were told no because they had not traveled to a hot spot abroad, even though they had fevers and hacking coughs and lived in cities with growing outbreaks. Still others were told a bitter truth: There simply were not enough tests to go around.
“The system is not really geared to what we need right now, what you are asking for. That is a failing,” said Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, who leads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, in testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform on Thursday. “It is a failing. I mean, let’s admit it.”
Dr. Fauci added: “The idea of anybody getting it easily the way people in other countries are doing it, we are not set up for that. Do I think we should be? Yes. But we are not.”
In some parts of the country, demand for the tests is low. Elsewhere efforts are underway to make testing easier. States like Colorado have even instituted drive-through testing to streamline the process.
But even there, demand has far outstripped supply. By 11 a.m. at one drive-through lab in the Denver neighborhood of Lowry on Thursday, a three-hour line of cars had formed. The clinic had to stop allowing more vehicles.
The inability to test widely in the United States — which is far behind other countries in this regard — has severely hampered efforts to contain the outbreak. An early test rolled out to states by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was flawed, and delays have continued ever since. Public health experts have warned that each day people do not know whether they have the virus, they risk spreading it more widely.
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Toxic Trump, at coronavirus press briefing 04/20/20, "We're looking at maybe "only" 50-60,000 deaths in the U.S.!" Just three days later, the toll surpassed 50,000; six days after that, it went over 61,000. On 05/04/20--a mere two weeks after Trump's delusional pronouncement--the U.S. reached 70,000 deaths. Less than a week later, on 05/10/20, the toll went over 80,000 American deaths. Because of many state and local governments opening up their economies too soon is blatant disregard of Trump administration's own guidelines, the CDC Mayday report projects new highs of 3,000 deaths and 200,000 new cases per DAY by June. That would put us at 100-150,000 deaths--just by the end of June, alone. That's acceptable, here in America? Since when?
New CDC projection on 05/15/20 of over 100,000 COVID-19 deaths by end of May. However, CDC projections have consistently undercounted cases and deaths, and this latest projection likewise appears to once again underestimate the deadly results of the U.S. sore lacking of national leadership in combating a deadly global pandemic. Fear COVID-19 deaths by the end of June will in actuality reach 150,000 - 200,000, nearly doubling in one month.
04/22/20 saw a new worst of nearly 2,700 COVID-19 deaths in a single day, topping the nearly 2,400 Americans lost on 04/14/20. Trump's claim was simply more of his wishful thinking, lies, and bogus claims. Clueless, disinterested, deranged, disengaged, and detached from reality are not the qualities you want in a leader during a major global pandemic crisis. That's a lethal combination that has already cost more American lives in just eight weeks than the Vietnam War in its entire twelve-year span.
It's like rowing or paddling upstream, or into a stiff wind--if you ease-up too much or stop, you will only have to paddle twice as hard to make up all the previous hard-earned progress that was quickly lost. Failing to maintain isolation and other measures for sufficient time to stop the spread of COVID-19 transmission will cost U.S. more in time, effort, money, and LIVES. Reopening and relaxing measures too early in defiance of the science and data is the ultimate in colossal ignorance, greed, ruthlessness, and arrogance.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
― Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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Who'd have ever equated voting in America with survival? But that's pretty much what it has boiled down to, hasn't it? Survival of ourselves, survival of our democracy, survival of our nation, and survival of our planet. The irony is that Republicans have always tried to paint Democrats as an existential threat...but in doing so it is actually they who have become exactly that.
Democrat voters need an even greater turnout in '22 and '24, put the final fork in Trumpism! Republicans want to engage in Jim Crow voter suppression laws, voter intimidation, and egregious gerrymandering? Republicans want to engage in corruption, gaslight their corruption, coverup their corruption? Republicans want to turn a blind eye to Russian election interference and knowingly disseminate Russian propaganda for Putin? Republicans want to instigate and sanction Reich-wing domestic terrorist insurrection? Republicans want to live in delusion and denial about the major problems confronting the nation and planet? Let's just prove that's fuel for the fire, and make their fascist antidemocratic corruption backfire on them!
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or "the Wall") is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle's name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called "leaders" in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 -- than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to--and a barrier against--our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It's design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge--and help teach--people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see...if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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GOP is NOT the party of law and order, NOT the party of the Constitution and patriots, NOT the party of "values." It's the party of terrorism, lawlessness, corruption, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry, misogyny, big lies, sedition, and traitors.
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Funny how quickly and dramatically Dr. Birx changes her tune on public gatherings, now telling everyone to avoid them and get tested, when just a month ago that suck-up bird Birx was singing a different song: Dr. "Babbling" Birx was laying bricks, lying and dissembling! Says she trusts churches and churchgoers to make it safe, not go to church if sick--knowing asymptomatic people don't know they're sick, and can't be detected! Then, there's the fact that many religious people gather at religious shrines and places of worship hoping to be "healed" when sick. Moreover, she knows "Pastor" Tony Spelling in Louisiana was packing his megachurch during the middle of a severe outbreak, busing them in from a 50-mile radius; she knows all about the devastating spread in South Korea from religious services, she knows about the super-spreader event at the church in Oregon defying state lockdown orders. Dr. Birx KNOWS the U.S. lacks the requisite testing capabilities to reopen safely. Dr. Birx KNOWS all the states are reopening in defiance of CDC guidelines. Dr. Birx KNOWS how Toxic Trump has ignorantly politicized a global pandemic, sent conflicting messages to the public. Dr. Birx KNOWS a good proportion of Americans are NOT following basic CDC guidelines; NOT wearing masks, NOT social distancing. And she knows without detailed specific CDC federal guidelines for businesses reopening, we got chaos, sickness, and MORE senseless deaths. Birx needs to have her medical license revoked. She can be the next SmellyAnne Con-Her-Way, that's what she wants.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump accountable for his many FEDERAL crimes, or are they going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a President is a King and above the law?
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It's been pretty obvious all along that Democrat leadership would rather win elections than have to employ a divisive impeachment, and now Traitor Trump himself forced the issue down the throats of the American people, leaving no other option. Geez...it's not like anyone MADE him play the stupid game, but Rope-a-Dope contestant #1 kept tightening noose around neck with firm resolve, inching down the plank, until taking that stupendous dive off the end, into the deep end of the empty swimming pool! All Pelosi did was anchor the rope to the mast of the cruise ship...something Republicans have continued so sorely neglecting when they gave him that extra heavy-duty rope with bonus snazzy tie-apparel attachment which, found so irresistible, instantly became Chief Clown's permanent fashion attire. We're hoping no need to shorten rope to allow contestant #1 another attempt, which getting it ju-u-u-st the right length took a little time. However, no rules against how many impeachment tries, so it appears Total Loser can go ahead and just knock himself right on out, if required! Might be entertaining, watching him bounce off that thick noggin of his, but we don't really need this illegitimate, incompetent, completely corrupt Apprentice boasting about his ratings!
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Open hearings are the absolute worst way for Congress to get at the truth because of Republican showboating, grandstanding, obstructionism, and obfuscating the facts in any way they can, but the public needs to see and understand for itself. The majority of Americans already know the self-evident truth, and it's plenty to convict for impeachment. However, Democrats still need to move the needle, bringing another 10-20% of those clueless Americans on board to pressure Semate Republicans into observing their sworn duty. A few Republican cult dupe morons slowly coming around, but they're not crucial or expected--it's those apolitical and apathetic voters that will make the difference, and who need to be awoken to the very real, and very clear, danger present to Constitution and country.
In point of fact, much of the truth Congress has obtained has been behind closed doors, and that practice will continue throughout because of the sensitive nature of some of the evidence and testimony involved. Understand that the truth already discovered behind closed doors can then be streamlined and presented in open hearing testimonials to the American people in a way enabled much more efficient and capable by that initial gathering of information behind closed doors. Not only is it better for the prosecution to have grand juries and the like behind closed doors, but it also to protect the accused, as a matter of fairness. It protects innocent reputations and helps guard against false charges. Republican lawmakers know full well these things, yet dishonestly cast aspersions upon the process, programming their cult--to the ultimate detriment of themselves and the nation, precisely as seen playing out right now before our very eyes! GOP never learns!
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Klueless Korrupter Kasich: "As a lawmaker and politician who must campaign to get elected, know absolutely nothing of laws, campaign finance regulations, Emoluments Clause, and spotting corruption....that is, when it comes to other Republican politician's criminality! But if Democrat perp, I'm 'On the Kase Kasich!' readily quoting on demand violation Statute, subsection, and paragraph accurately from memory! Make no mistake; let's be clear, here! Just being against Trump doesn't make me any less worthless, hypocritical Republican rat!"
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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RFK Jr. has advocated many good causes, done much good work for them, but he's discredited and disgraced himself as a leading anti-vax proponent and founder and chairman of a leading anti-vax organization. How many people has RFK Jr. caused to suffer and die with his pseudo-science, misinformation, disinformation, and crackpot conspiracy theories about vaccines? That number may be impossible to quantify, but it is far, far, too many, and it is likely to be more than the number of those he ever helped. In case anyone is wondering, he has a rare speech disorder.
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Unlike many others here, I don't blame Sen. Peters for the omission of the word "insurrection." I'm quite sure that it wasn't the preference of Peters and Democrats on the committee to not use the word, but rather was done at the insistence of Republicans. They----and they alone----are to blame. Peters and the rest of the Democrats rightly decided that getting out a timely report with bipartisan support on the security and intelligence failures, as well as recommendations to secure the Capitol, were more important than inclusion of the word. I am just as disappointed and disgusted about not describing the events of January 6 as an insurrection as everyone else, would agree that there is some danger in not doing so, but it was imperative to get to the bottom of this aspect of January 6, and we needed those recommendations to secure the Capitol. It was a choice of two evils, and I think Peters and the Democrats made the correct decision to get this vitally needed report produced and released. I salute Keilar for her tough questioning, and while I understand Peters is running a critically important committee that requires bipartisanship to function well and is being diplomatic to foster as much cooperation with Republicans as possible, I still wish he had been more forthright about exactly why the word insurrection wasn't used to describe the insurrection, placing blame where deservedly due.
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@daniellow426 - Google provides everyone the option of not remembering their search history. If there is confirmation bias, it is only because the user chose it--which can't be blamed on Google. Besides, if one chooses reputable, objective sources, one obtains reputable, objective information, which does not mean promoting confirmation bias. How many times do we find that the truth is not exactly what we may wish to believe, but know that it is the truth, accept it to be the truth, alter our thinking to reflect the truth? An objective person of integrity constantly does this; Reich-wing Republican cult never does. Russian bots and their treasonous Trumpette helpers just trying to confuse the issues, same old, same old.
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Ynwa6 - Love the sinner, hate the sin. Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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"The price of democracy is eternal vigilance and due diligence." — wily wascal
“It is not famine, not earthquakes, not microbes, not cancer, but man himself who is man’s greatest danger to man, for the simple reason that there is no adequate protection against psychic epidemics, which are infinitely more devastating than the worst of natural catastrophes.” ― Carl Jung
“People reject what they do not understand because it makes them feel small. They would rather believe in some other reality, even if it is only an illusion, so long as it makes them feel bigger.”
― Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem
“The masses have never thirsted after truth. They turn aside from evidence that is not to their taste, preferring to deify error, if error seduce them. Whoever can supply them with illusions is easily their master; whoever attempts to destroy their illusions is always their victim.” ― Gustave Le Bon, French social psychologist, The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind
“If one can isolate the mass, allow no free thinking, no free exchange, no outside corrective, and can hypnotize the group daily with noises, with press and radio and television, with fear and pseudo-enthusiasms, any delusion can be instilled. People will begin to accept the most primitive and inappropriate acts.”
“Delusions, carefully implanted, are difficult to correct. Reasoning no longer has value; for the lower, more animal type of thinking becomes deaf to any thought on a higher level. If one reasons with a totalitarian who has been impregnated with official clichés, he will sooner or later withdraw into his fortress of collective totalitarian thinking. The mass delusion that gives him his feelings of belonging, of greatness, of omnipotence, is dearer to him than his personal awareness and understanding.” ― Joost Meerloo, The Rape of a Mind
“You can't fight hatred with hatred and expect anyone to listen to you. You can only try to lessen it with humor, wit, truth and commonsense. If that doesn't work run like hell, while they throw rocks at you.”. ― Shannon L. Alder.
“For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.” ― Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
“I'm not scared of the Maos and the Stalins and the Hitlers.
I'm scared of the thousands of millions of people that hallucinate them to be "authority", and so do their bidding, and pay for their empires, and carry out their orders.
I don't care if there's one looney with a stupid moustache. He's not a threat if the people do not believe in "authority".” ― Larken Rose
“Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a President and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt
“Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and disturbing. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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--Instead of striving to bring out the best in people, Toxic Trump reveled in bringing out the very worst.
--Instead of uniting the country, Toxic Trump sought to divide us.
--Instead of abiding by and honoring our Constitution and the rule of law, Toxic Trump held them in disdain, disregarded them, and degraded them, running the most corrupt administration in U.S. history..
--Instead of strengthening democracy and our cherished institutions, Toxic Trump worked to diminish and destroy them, inciting a terrorist insurrection against his own government, attempting a coup to steal an election.
--Instead of insuring a peaceful transfer power after losing the election, Toxic Trump kept insisting against all evidence that he won, continuously repeating the Big Lie that resulted in the terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol.
--Instead of confronting a serious threat to Americans with a deadly global pandemic, Toxic Trump lied to the American people about it, ignored it, and refused to take any responsibility for his gross homicidal criminal negligence that resulted in one out of every 800 Americans dying from COVID-19--over 400,000 lives in just ten months, as many casualties as all of WWII.
--Instead of confronting the ever-increasing existential crisis from climate change and its harmful effects, Toxic Trump gutted regulations, exacerbating the problem and poisoning citizens.
--Instead of creating jobs, Toxic Trump was the first President since the Great Depression to preside over a net loss of jobs over his tenure.
--Instead of lowering the national deficit, Toxic Trump increased it from 19.2 trillion to 27 trillion.
--Instead of helping out the least among us, Toxic Trump widened the wealth and income disparity gap. 50% of his $1.9 trillion tax cut went to the top 5%; 65% went to the top 20%, with the top 40% benefiting next most, and the bottom 20% only receiving 1%.
--Instead of building bridges, humane immigration reform, and infrastructure, Toxic Trump built walls, cages, and concentration camps, separated children from mothers, allowed American infrastructure to decline and deteriorate, rejected economic opportunity.
--Instead of raising our standing and security in the world, Toxic Trump lowered and weakened it.
--Instead of draining the swamp, Toxic Trump turned it into a noxious overflowing sewer of Republican corruption.
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@Matt Shaw ~ Why is this President of the United States trying to cast doubt on the AMERICAN electoral process, which has a miniscule 0.00006% rate of fraud? One couldn't even win class president at a tiny school with that rate. It's not a thing, it's a non-issue.
~ Why did McHeinous refuse to answer a simple, straightforward question firmly in the negative, that voting twice is illegal?
~ No, most states don't count mail-in ballots until after polls close, so for a majority of people, it is impossible to go to the polls to find out if your ballot was counted on election day. All that does is sabotage polling places by clogging them up with people not there to vote, but to harass poll workers and delay legitimate voters.
~ And, yes, a number of Republicans actually do believe the lies of this President, so they will go to the polls and vote twice after mailing in their ballot, which is a serious felony with major penalties. And they will be easily caught, their illegal votes discounted.
~So, not really worried much about people voting twice influencing the election, but many Republicans actually believe this President's absurd lies, and will try to vote twice. Now, they may be stupid and gullible, they may be Republicans, but we really don't want to see any of my fellow Americans going to prison because of Traitor-'n-Thief Toxic Trump's highly destructive and anti-American disinformation campaign.
~ So, no, we aren't taking anything out of context at all. We heard exactly what he said, and it is actually you who don't understand--or pretend not to understand--the import of his words, want to make excuses for the inexcusable.
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Freedoms can exist only up to the point they infringe upon the freedom of others. Religious tolerance can be practiced only up to the point it becomes intolerant of others. Our Constitution is a secular document, not a religious one, and it was certainly never intended to be a suicidal death pact. Getting vaccinated and following CDC guidelines brings freedom from preventable illness or injury, and a senseless premature death, but the mindless fascist Republican cult only believes in freeDUMB. Just as they don't understand or would deny the Constitution is as much about the common good as personal liberties, and that those two things are intrinsically and inextricably intertwined.
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge." ~ Ben Franklin, from Poor Richard's Almanack
Those who scorn public health guidelines during a deadly global pandemic and confuse a grievous public health issue with "essential" liberty to kill and harm themselves and their fellow citizens--as well as their nation--sorely lack both care and knowledge. They are also sorely lacking in common sense, something else about which Mr. Franklin was quite keen. Mr. Franklin was also one our nation's first scientists--yet these modern-day knuckleheads who ought know better refute science! Were he alive today, he would be rather dismayed, disgruntled, and disgusted with the fascist anti-science Republican cult, that much is crystal clear.
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America's enemies don't need to spread disinformation, doubt, discord, and division to weaken America, kill Americans--Republican politicians, Reich-wing demagogues, Faux News, OAN, Newsmax, Breitbart and the rest of the Reich-wing media do that so effectively for them, already. More Americans need to realize that the GOP has abdicated it's duty as loyal opposition, and that its prioritization of party over country and welcoming embrace of violent radical Reich-wing extremists diminishes both our government and our national security, endangering ALL Americans, as well as weakening and endangering America itself.
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05/23/20 -- (Incomplete) 1,667,000+ confirmed cases; 98,700+ deaths.
05/22/20 -- 1,645,000 confirmed cases; 97,600 deaths.
05/21/20 -- 1,621,000 confirmed cases; 96,400 deaths.
05/20/20 -- 1,593,000 confirmed cases; 94,900 deaths.
05/19/20 -- 1,571,000 confirmed cases; 93,500 deaths.
05/18/20 -- 1,550,000 confirmed cases; 92,000 deaths.
05/17/20 -- 1,528,000 confirmed cases; 91,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/16/20 -- 1,497,000 confirmed cases; 89,400 deaths.
05/15/20 -- 1,473,000 confirmed cases; 88,200 deaths.
05/14/20 -- 1,448,000 confirmed cases; 86,500 deaths.
05/13/20 -- 1,421,000 confirmed cases; 84,800 deaths.
05/12/20 -- 1,400,000 confirmed cases; 83,000 deaths.
05/11/20 -- 1,379,000 confirmed cases; 81,500 deaths.
05/10/20 -- 1,364,000 confirmed cases; 80,600 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/09/20 -- 1,344,000 confirmed cases; 79,700 deaths.
05/08/20 -- 1,318,000 confirmed cases; 78,200 deaths.
05/07/20 -- 1,289,000 confirmed cases; 76,500 deaths.
05/06/20 -- 1,260,000 confirmed cases; 74,500 deaths.
05/05/20 -- 1,233,000 confirmed cases; 72,000 deaths.
05/04/20 -- 1,208,000 confirmed cases; 69,600 deaths. CDC projects cases increasing to 200,000 per day with deaths rising to 3,000 per day by June because of states, localities and people not following guidelines and reopening their economies too soon.
05/03/20 -- 1,184,000 confirmed cases; 68,300 deaths. Every 44 seconds, another American dies from COVID-19. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/02/20 -- 1,158,000 confirmed cases; 67,000 deaths.
05/01/20 -- 1,129,000 confirmed cases; 65,500 deaths.
04/30/20 -- 1,094,000 confirmed cases; 63,600 deaths. The U.S. accounts for over a third of the world's cases, and over a quarter of COVID-19 deaths--despite possessing only 5% of the world's population. Yet--even now--we still lack the adequate testing capabilities that are critically needed to safely reopen the economy, and remain sorely lacking the necessary rational national leadership so vital to saving American lives and livelihoods.
04/29/20 -- 1,064,000 confirmed cases; 61,500 deaths. The U.S. now has as many COVID-19 deaths in just NINE WEEKS as there was for all TWELVE YEARS of the Vietnam War.
04/28/20 -- 1,034,000 confirmed cases; 59,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/27/20 -- 1,009,000 confirmed cases; 56,500 deaths.
04/26/20 -- 985,000 confirmed cases; 55,400 deaths.
04/25/20 -- 958,000 confirmed cases; 54,000 deaths.
04/24/20 -- 927,000 confirmed cases; 52,400 deaths.
04/23/20 -- 890,000 confirmed cases; 50,400 deaths.
04/22/20 -- 853,000 confirmed cases; 47,800 deaths (+2,674*)
04/21/20 -- 825,000 confirmed cases; 45,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/20/20 -- 788,000 confirmed cases; 43,200 deaths.
04/19/20 -- 760,000 confirmed cases; 41,700 deaths.
04/18/20 -- 735,000 confirmed cases; 39,900 deaths.
04/17/20 -- 702,000 confirmed cases; 37,000 deaths.
04/16/20 -- 671,000 confirmed cases; 33,100 deaths. Less COVID-19 testing performed this week than last, despite desperate need to ramp up volume to reopen economy.
04/15/20 -- 640,000 confirmed cases; 30,800 deaths. The United States recorded its first coronavirus fatality on Feb. 29. It took 38 days to reach 10,000 deaths and just nine more days to go from 10,000 fatalities to 30,000. An increase in fatalities over the last 48 hours was expected, but was also due to new CDC policy, starting on 04/14, to include probable COVID-19 deaths...finally.
04/14/20 -- 609,000 confirmed cases; 26,600 deaths (+2,364 - *New worst daily death toll)
04/13/20 -- 583,000 confirmed cases; 24,200 deaths
04/12/20 -- 558,000 confirmed cases; 22,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S. With just 4.25% of the world's population, the U.S. has 30% of the COVID-19 infections and 20% of the COVID-19 deaths. So far, the U.S. has the very WORST response of ANY nation, something formerly inconceivable, and inexcusable that it could now be allowed to happen here. In the U.S., we have 1.5 million seniors in 15,000 nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Despite forming only 0.45% of the U.S. population, they make up almost 10% of deaths, primarily because our federal government is not doing enough to protect them. Reported that many hospitals are no longer accepting COVID-19 patients from nursing homes, preferring they die there, instead. Our seniors, who helped build, grow and make America great, are being sacrificed, solely to ignorance.
04/11/20 -- 530,000 confirmed cases; 20,500 deaths.
04/10/20 -- 502,000 confirmed cases; 18,800 deaths.
04/09/20 -- 466,000 confirmed cases; 16,700 deaths.
04/08/20 -- 432,000 confirmed cases; 15,900 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S.
04/07/20 -- 400,000 confirmed cases; 13,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. Figures indicate a Covid-19 fatality rate for TESTED Americans at 3.25%.
04/06/20 -- 369,000 confirmed cases; 11,000 deaths.
04/05/20 -- 338,000 confirmed cases; 9,700 deaths.
04/04/20 -- 312,000 confirmed cases; 9,400 deaths.
04/03/20 -- 278,000 confirmed cases; 7,150 deaths.
04/02/20 -- 246,000 confirmed cases; 6,050 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/01/20 -- 217,000 confirmed cases; 5,150 deaths.
03/31/20 -- 190,000 confirmed cases; 4,200 deaths.
03/30/20 -- 165,000 confirmed cases; 3,250 deaths.
03/29/20 -- 143,000 confirmed cases; 2,450 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
(Update 5: Friday, 03/27/20, confirmed U.S. cases 105,000--which is 50% over NIH high-end estimate; deaths 1,700 by end of day. The perspective for cases is significantly skewed low and thus highly misleading, however, as just 0.17% of U.S. population has been tested to date.)
"As many as 70,000 Americans could be confirmed as infected with coronavirus by the end of next week, marking a “pretty dramatic” increase in the number of confirmed cases," the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, told his employees in an agency-wide conference call on 03/20/20.
Except 03/21/20 saw a 33% jump in U.S. cases, from 18,000 to over 24,000. If continuing at 33% every 24 hours, the number of confirmed cases is trending much higher than just 70,000 by 03/27/20. Suspect confirmed cases will be double that. Bear in mind, states hardest hit are not testing many people, saving the tests for those most in need. So the actual number of infected Americans is going to be far higher than just what limited testing of the population has so far confirmed. Don't think this fact is being given enough attention. More important than the number of cases confirmed is the number contracting the disease and not getting tested, spreading the disease, in many cases unknowingly. Hospital projections are for about 100 MILLION Americans to become infected, with about 500,000 dead from covid-19.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or "the Wall") is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle's name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called "leaders" in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 -- than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to--and a barrier against--our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It's design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge--and help teach--people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see...if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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"Everybody that needs a test can get one!" Except, EVERYONE needs testing! It's not just about testing people who get sick, or even just those health care and other essential front-line workers, or those with a doctor referral. It's really all about RANDOMIZED testing, and testing for TRACKING and containment. THOSE are the testing capabilities desperately needed to safely reopen the economy--which the U.S. sorely lacks. Besides lying about virtually non-existent testing capabilities at the time, while also continually misleading Americans by touting testing kits instead of actual testing ABILITIES, the dirty, dastardly, dynamic duo of Toxic TRUMP and Plague PENCE were moving the goal posts, hoping to "score" in a game with no winners. They scored big, alright...in dead American bodies.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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War against a foreign country only happens when the moneyed classes think they are going to profit from it. ~ George Orwell
"Peace is not a very big thing to ask for, is it?" ~ Fatima Gailani, Afghan activist and negotiator, pleading for continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan
It is when asking the Taliban, who do not seek peace or to bargain in good faith, but total domination once again. U.S. has spent 20 years and over $2 trillion trying to achieve peace in Afghanistan, losing over 4000 American lives (military and civilian contractors), with tens of thousands of Americans wounded there.
"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials … have given Afghans little reason to support their government," Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the commander of U.S. forces in the country, wrote in a 2009 memorandum. "This crisis of confidence, coupled with a distinct lack of economic and educational opportunity, has created fertile ground for the insurgency."
That was 11 years ago, and little has changed since. Thought the invasion of Afghanistan by Bush was a mistake that would lead to a quagmire, and have been proven correct. Still, initially supported efforts to bring peace and stability there, along with basic human and civil-rights, because after invading felt we had an obligation to rebuild. However, while U.S. blunders there have contributed to a failure, Afghans are their own worst enemy, and no one can help them until enough of them are willing to help themselves.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
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@na-zu2ey ~ First, that's completely beside the point. Trump was Commander-in-Chief. He could have and should have immediately ordered in the National Guard and whatever other federal forces could be mustered to protect the Capitol as soon as it was being attacked. He failed to do that, and it was at the very least a dereliction of duty and a betrayal of his oath of office. Come on, be serious; the Capitol was attacked by the mob he incited and sent there, and the President just sits there for hours watching with glee while it is happening, not lifting a finger to stop it? You don't think Trump is to blame? What Orwellian dystopian alternative universe are you living in?
Secondly, your claim is false on its face. If Trump had ordered National Guard troops to be present for January 6 to protect the Capitol, then there would have been National Guard troops on January 6 to protect the Capitol. Just as there was when Trump requested National Guard troops there for the BLM protests. In fact, there is zero evidence that Trump ever officially requested troops for January 6. It's just another Trump lie you choose to believe. Trump's false claim has been roundly refuted by a number of sources, including from within his own administration:
Asked in an interview about the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, former President Donald Trump claimed that he had made a request for 10,000 National Guard troops to be deployed for the rally he led that preceded the attack, and that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected it.
There is no clear evidence that Trump made such a request, and no evidence that Pelosi denied one.
"The Speaker’s Office has made it clear publicly and repeatedly that our office was not consulted or contacted concerning any request for the National Guard ahead of Jan. 6," said Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill.
And that has been confirmed, Hammill pointed out, by the former House’s former head of security, under oath.
A Defense Department spokesman said the department "has no record of such an order being given" by Trump.
In June 2020, Trump did mobilize the National Guard, as well as other federal agencies, in Washington in response to protests over police brutality.
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@na-zu2ey ~ Joe Rogan? You mean, the comedian that eats "magic" dirt and bathes in boric acid to ward off Covid-19? That Joe Rogan? And Dr. Malone, the antivaxxer whose early work contributed to mRNA vaccines and has admitted taking the vaccine, but has now been kicked off Twitter for repeatedly spreading Covid-19 misinformation? You mean, the guy who is not a sociologist, psychologist, or anthropologist and thus has no expertise in those fields that made the ridiculous quack diagnosis of mass formation psychosis about those who aren't antivaxxers? That Dr. Malone?
No wonder you're so damn confused and hopelessly lost! Cuckoo, cuckoo, Doc! You're in the nuthouse, and you committed yourself voluntarily. Except the nuthouse you're in doesn't cure people, it only makes then nuttier, and even promotes suicide! You need to check yourself out of there, NOW!
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Traitor Trump was less than five minutes away, all he had to do to stop them was go down there and say, "Alright, children, that's our hallowed halls of Congress, not some playhouse for you to piss and shit all over, terrorizing Congressional members, their staffs, and the Vice President and his family! And stop beating up policemen! That's not nice, at all! You come out of there right NOW! You're all getting a time out!"
And you know what? They would have listened to him, because the Republican cult are brainwashed sheep who made Trump their fool's gold God.
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Farmer wakes up one morning, goes outside to milk his cows, and discovers his whole herd is gone! So, he then walks over nest door to where the Republican cult lives, notices them grinding a whole bunch of beef into hamburger, and asks them, "Did you see what happened to all my cows?
Republican cult: "Yeah, they jumped over the moon."
Farmer: "Do you have any actual evidence of that?"
Republican cult: "No, because they landed on the dark side, and you can't see them over there. But we're conducting a bunch of investigations, and we're confident evidence will soon emerge to prove it!"
Farmer: "You know, that sounds like a load of manure!"
Republican cult: "Well, that's what we all choose to believe!"
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again." ― Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney
More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Trump and Republicans are like Jack and his band of boys in 'Lord of the Flies.' Ralph, Simon, Piggy and the other group of boys represent the rest of us. Just as Jack and his band turned savage, killing and cannibalizing their fellow students on the deserted island they landed upon, Trump and Republicans have also turned savage, rejecting responsibility, reason, civility, morality, and science, killing their fellow Americans and cannibalizing our government. Except there will be no adults arriving to save those of us trying to do the right thing, like in the classic tale. We are the adults, and it is strictly up to us to save ourselves and this country from the fascistic, nihilistic impulses of Trump and Republicans.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
― Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Donald Trump, at White House press conference on 04/07/20:
And we’re going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO. We’re going to put a very powerful hold on it, and we’re going to see.
Trump later at that same press conference:
Q: Thanks. A quick follow-up on that. So is the time to freeze funding to the WHO during a pandemic of this magnitude?
THE PRESIDENT: No, maybe not. I mean, I’m not saying I’m going to do it, but we’re going to look at it.
Q: You did say that you’re going to —
THE PRESIDENT: We give a tremendous —
Q: You said you’d put a hold on it.
THE PRESIDENT: No, I didn’t.
Toxic Trump, one week later, on 04/14/20: "I'm withholding WHO funding!"
ME, US, the world: WTF?? Why in HELL is that raving lunatic STILL in charge during this major pandemic health crisis?!? Hasn't he KILLED enough Americans, ALREADY?!?
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion. obstruction of justice, and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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~ Bad Vibration, Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization duration
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
What location revitalization?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and disturbing. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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America's enemies don't need to spread disinformation, doubt, discord, and division to weaken America, kill Americans--Republican politicians, Reich-wing demagogues, Faux News, OAN, Newsmax, Breitbart and the rest of the Reich-wing media do that so effectively for them, already. More Americans need to realize that the GOP has abdicated it's duty as loyal opposition, and that its prioritization of party over country and welcoming embrace of violent radical Reich-wing extremists diminishes both our government and our national security, endangering ALL Americans, as well as weakening and endangering America itself.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-‘n-‘Thief, Toxic Trump, so much—although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages—as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption, a man compromised by foreign nations, including our principle adversary, through his tremendous debt, presenting our most serious national security threat. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself, mental illness, and his upbringing, who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of crackpot conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of plutocrats, the party of corruption, the party of anti-democracy, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their pact with the Devil.
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Toxic Trump, at coronavirus press briefing 04/20/20, "We're looking at maybe "only" 50-60,000 deaths in the U.S.!" Just three days later, the toll surpassed 50,000; six days after that, it went over 61,000. On 05/04/20--a mere two weeks after Trump's delusional pronouncement--the U.S. reached 70,000 deaths. Now, because of some state and local governments opening up their economies too soon is blatant disregard of Trump administration's own guidelines, the CDC Mayday report projects new highs of 3,000 deaths and 200,000 new cases per DAY by June. That would put us at 100-150,000 deaths--just by the end of June, alone. That's acceptable, here in America? Since when?
04/22/20 saw a new worst of nearly 2,700 COVID-19 deaths in a single day, topping the nearly 2,400 Americans lost on 04/14/20. Trump's claim was simply more of his wishful thinking, lies, and bogus claims. Clueless, disinterested, deranged, disengaged, and detached from reality are not the qualities you want in a leader during a major global pandemic crisis. That's a lethal combination that has already cost more American lives in just eight weeks than the Vietnam War in its entire twelve-year span.
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To those not wearing masks, social distancing, or following guidelines: Your willful ignorance does not mask your wanton disregard for human life, your appalling lack of humanity and humility, your supremely selfish inconsideration of others. Despite absolutely loathing wearing a mask, it's also the reason it's worn. The sooner we all start wearing masks, social distancing, and taking this deadly pandemic seriously, the sooner we get to take them off, the less time they'll need to be worn. Not to mention, the sooner we can go back to a normal that is more like normal, the sooner we can get our jobs back and our economy rolling, again. And, of course, most importantly, the more lives we can save--which might even be your own life, or the life of a friend or loved one.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over four decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, nihilistic, hyper-partisan fascist cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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If you're not very sophisticated, know little about the Constitution and impeachment, and didn't listen objectively to the other three expert witnesses on Constitutional law, then you might come away with the wrong idea that Professor Turley was credible. You do realize that Turley's whole testimony ADVOCATES impeachment, simply asking for more witnesses, which Democrats very much want to have testify, but refuse to let Trump run out the clock in the courts with baseless legal appeals blocking evidentiary materials and their testimony?
Professor Turley disgraced himself and his employer, Georgetown University, getting taken to the mat repeatedly and completely outclassed by three experts from other universities. While clearly knowledgeable about Constitutional law and history, Professor Turley failed to present any rational academic argument against impeachment, choosing instead to turn a blind eye to high crimes, unprecedented total obstruction of Congress oversight and impeachment powers, this President's penchant for perversions and abuses of power, and dire national security concerns...while making false allegations, engaging in false equivalencies, projecting undue bias and playing coy. Although much value and greatly appreciate opposing perspectives, Professor Turley's performance was an act of bad faith and intellectual dishonesty, demonstrating a critical lack of integrity, of which Georgetown University, its students, and its alumni should all be ashamed, as it reflects very poorly on them and their fine institution. This was a fool willingly made a Republican cult tool, and the motivation appears more self-interest than altruistic--at a time when all sane, loyal hands are crucially required on deck.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast would soon come to consume them.
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Vote BLUE for science, humanity, sanity, truth, reason, decency, democracy, and reality! And, don't forget to also GET OUT THE VOTE! With anti-democratic, fascist Trump and GOP, must vote to win too big to rig, too real to steal, create too much heat to cheat; if complete, Dems can't be beat.
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Merrick Garland’s House Testimony Demonstrated the Failure of His Hyper-Cautious Approach to His Job
Despite Garland’s many efforts to not appear political by declining to investigate Trump and his cronies for possible crimes and by using DOJ resources to actively protect Trump from civil liability, Republicans are still portraying him as the most political attorney general in history.
The other weakness of Garland’s timid approach was on full view during his opening statement and responses to Democratic members of Congress. “The essence of the rule of law is that like cases are treated alike. That there not be one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans; one rule for friends, another for foes,” Garland stated grandly. But by declining to investigate Trump and his associates, Garland is enabling further attacks on our democracy. (While proving inequity by putting Republicans above the law.)
Crucially, the two parties are not the same. Garland’s standard sets up a false equivalency between the Democratic Party and a political party whose national leader, Donald Trump, incited and celebrated a violent assault on our nation’s Capitol to overthrow the results of a free and fair election and who continues to portray the insurrection as a glorious “protest.” To that end, in the middle of the attorney general’s testimony, Trump issued a statement highlighting Garland’s feebleness at failing to even investigate the organizers and leaders of the Jan. 6 events, declaring “the insurrection took place on November 3, Election Day. January 6 was the Protest!”
Garland’s efforts to depoliticize the DOJ have proved to be an abdication of his responsibility to protect the rule of law. Take just a few examples: Garland’s failure to reconsider the obstruction of justice case against the former president, his deferral of an investigation of possible financial crimes by Trump and his organization to local prosecutors in New York City and Westchester, his use of the DOJ to protect Trump from defamation allegations, and his deferral of a soliciting of voter fraud felony probe in Georgia to local prosecutors there. By abdicating his responsibility, Garland is also opening the door for Trump to commit these possibly criminal abuses all over again, this time with the full support of the Republican Party, and maybe ultimately return to power.
--Mark Stern
"Try as he may, Merrick Garland cannot perform boring independence fast enough to outrun GOP claims that he’s a wild-eyed, violent socialist. And while the GOP currently exists only to cast everything you thought you believed into doubt, the real endgame is vigilantism. The endgame is to ensure that people mistrust government, election systems, school boards, (teachers, health care officials) the media, and the justice system enough to lend a hand in their destruction."
--Dahlia Lithwick
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Yes, Gov. Cuomo should resign! Because of the similar nature, number, and credibility of the allegations, it appears likely that Cuomo was guilty of at least serious ethical lapses, if not criminal acts. For those pointing out the double-standard of hypocritical Republicans, consider that a stain upon them, and a good reflection upon Democrats. It appears the vast majority of Democrats also feel Cuomo should resign--for the good of the people of New York, for the good of the office, and for the good of his party. That is something which should make people proud to be counted as a Democrat, regardless of Gov. Cuomo's foibles and shortcomings.
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As of 02/29/20 in the U.S.A., we still don't have the testing kits we need yet; don't know exactly when they will be available from CDC or elsewhere!!! Reliable testing protocol absolutely vital to assessing and containment of COVID-19!
~State of Washington announes first presumptive death in U.S. from COVID-19 in King County.
~Three new cases in Oregon, one believed to be from community spread. Now two community spread in California; one in Washington, and one in Oregon state.
~Trump administration ignored and went against the advice of CDC top medical experts, brought infected patients back to the U.S. from Wuhan, China on the same plane as uninfected evacuees.
~U.S. workers WITHOUT protective gear assisted coronavirus evacuees, HHS whistleblower report states. Workers received Wuhan evacuees at two military bases in California without proper training or appropriate protective gear, alongside CDC in full hazmat attire. Whistleblower claims they were potentially exposed to COVID-19.
~First suspected community-spread case in N. California was untested for DAYS after disease contracted. CDC acknowledged Thursday that a California woman with coronavirus was made to wait days before she was tested for the disease because of the agency’s restrictive criteria about who may get tested. As a result of this case, CDC announces a whole new testing criteria is needed.
~On 02/28/20, we learned that there is a second SEPARATE COVID-19 case identified in California. Indications are that we have community spread from the unprotected government workers Trump administration sent to receive the Wuhan evacuees--once again, against the advice of medical experts.
~On 02/29/20, two new cases of COVID-19 in California and Oregon announced. Total cases in U.S. now stands at 64. Trump continues to lie about the epidemic, insisting only 15 Americans are infected.
~Trump places science-denier V.P. Pence--who also has no medical expertise--in charge of Federal response to COVID-19.
~Trump continues spreading misinformation on COVID-19, overly downplaying risk and danger, contradicting his own administration's health experts.
~DOW loses almost 1,200 in biggest single day loss EVER. Follows two previous day market losses of over 1,000--$3 TRILLION erased from American stocks in just THREE days. After seven straight days of losses, total market loss now stands at 12%, ERASING all gains made in the market under Trump over three years in just one WEEK..
~Face masks--which unless surgical-grade N95--have limited effectiveness and are impractical for extended wear. Recommended for those exhibiting any flu or cold-like symptoms; not yet recommended for those healthy at this point.
~CDC: "People should understand that their lives may be disrupted."
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-‘n-‘Thief, Toxic Trump, so much—although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages—as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, homophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, divisive, anti-democratic raving lunatic and his corruption, a man compromised by foreign nations, including our principle adversary, through his tremendous debt. Between that, his catastrophic, irresponsible handling of COVID-19, and his incitement of anti-democratic violent Reich-wing groups, Trump has made himself America's #1 most serious national security threat. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself, mental illness, and his upbringing, who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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Logical fallacy. Sure, if you want to stick your head in the sand and pretend that there is no such thing as bad jokes, distasteful jokes, inappropriate jokes, hurtful jokes, not funny jokes. Or, we can admit that comedians are human, they make mistakes, they can say things sometimes that cross the line into being overly offensive. See, they have free speech and every right to do that, but other people have free speech, too, which allows them to criticize it and perhaps choose to boycott the comedian. It's a two-way street. The debate here is whether a particular joke or jokes were overly offensive and inappropriate. However, that doesn't mean that ALL jokes are overly offensive or inappropriate, nor does it necessarily follow that we have to stop laughing at and making fun of ourselves.
As a side note, some people just naturally lack a sense of humor, yet they seem to still derive satisfaction from living. Now that's not me, and I may pity them because I think that is a joy they are missing, but such people do exist.
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@RonWylie-gk5lc ~ Nationalism (aka fascism) has resurrected itself in a number of nations, not all of them Western. The right has been fermenting, fomenting, and exploiting a noxious brew of religion, racism, bigotry and jingoism for four decades--be they the GOP, Republican politicians, Reich-wing demagogues, conservative Christian evangelical religious sects, conservative business groups like the Chamber of Commerce, the NRA, Big Oil, Big Coal, Big Energy, various plutocrats, or conservative media like Rupert Murdoch's Faux News--all were complicit, and all were willing co-conspirators.
The conditioning of the flock of Republican cult sheep to accepting and embracing Big Lies, hate, anti-science and anti-governmental stances, and the age of unreason didn't happen overnight, but was a gradual process. That the rotten fruit from the poisoned tree, a sociopathic narcist grifter like Toxic Trump, would come to bloom and dominate the fertile field of cultdom sown was an inevitable certainty.
To be sure, there have been other contributing influences that brought the noxious brew to a head; an increasingly multiracial, multicultural modern society displacing the more traditional white majority; a massive Russian attack campaign against us on social media, designed to spread disinformation, discord, and divisiveness amongst its citizens in order to weaken America; growing income and wealth disparity; more social isolation in a digital age; a global pandemic; and doubtless some other factors we've omitted, as well.
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@RonWylie-gk5lc ~ The Molotov cocktail recipe:
Mix in equal parts of mental illness, willful ignorance, fear, hate, decades of 24/7 Reich-wing disinformation, misinformation, and crackpot conspiracy programming by Republican politicians, plutocrats, media and demagogues, add supplemental divisive Russian propaganda attacking and weakening America, stir well, garnish with COVID-19, and you have the mindless Republican cult descending into fascism, committing terrorism and sedition. Then, grab a stiff drink--you'll need it.
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Welcome to war. This is what war is. It's terrible, it's tragic, it's ugly, it stinks, it's unfair, it's sad, it's wasteful, it's hell, innocents die, and things always go wrong. You think we'd have learned that by now, but no, it's a lesson that has to be repeatedly learned, evidently. The consensus is that nobody foresaw the Afghan government and its armed forces completely capitulating so quickly as they did. Some say there should have been a contingency plan for this, but even though hindsight is 20/20, have yet to hear any rational plan that could have dealt with this situation. Shit happens, and Biden got handed a turd with Afghanistan. Instead of allowing the crap to continue, Biden made the hard, responsible decision to pull the U.S. out of another country's civil war. Fallout was inevitable, and Republicans trying to capitalize on that politically is truly degenerate.
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The American workplace isn't ready for an epidemic. Many Americans have no insurance, many others can ill-afford deductibles, still more can't afford to take off work when not feeling well; more than a third of jobs don't offer sick days, and even where available, they may have been already used, or employees try saving them for more serious illness--all making us extremely vulnerable to epidemics such as COVID-19. Many jobs in America involve low-paying work in the service industry, where employees are in constant contact with, and exposed to, a huge swath of the public on a daily basis. These folks typically don't get sick days or insurance benefits, and can ill-afford to miss any work because of loss of money and the threat of losing their job. Many are ill-educated, and may not pay sufficient heed to health warnings, further exacerbating the spread of the epidemic facing us all.
In plausible worst-case-scenarios given the pattern of the outbreak thus far, the country could experience acute shortages not just in ventilators but also health workers to operate them and care for patients; hospital beds; and masks and other protective equipment. Trump administration facing increasing criticism for not using these many weeks after learning of COVID-19 to prepare increased hospital capacity, stockpile medications, obtain adequate amounts of respirators and other equipment that will be vitally needed in the U.S.
“Even during mild flu pandemics, most of our I.C.U.s are filled to the brim with severely ill patients on mechanical ventilation,” said Dr. Eric Toner, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and an expert on health care preparedness. “I hope and pray Covid-19 turns out to be a moderate pandemic, but if not, we’re in serious trouble,” he said.
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What we are witnessing and feeling is an ongoing train wreck, from the vantage point of the passengers. The lunatic conductor of the LOCO-motive, Toxic Trump, knew the end-of-the-line was coming, yet kept increasing acceleration, anyway. He's still trying to pump the gas, even with the train off the track! We on the HELL bound train, now, Lucifer's demented and depraved minion absolutely determined, dedicated, DEVOTED to getting us all there on time!
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Ignorant Republicans, Governors and Mayors:
DO YOU UNDERSTAND???
A virus can't think. But you can.
The real war isn't against this virus--it's against our own IGNORANCE and HUBRIS!
Restarting an economy REQUIRES first protecting public health in the midst of a deadly global pandemic. That's just plain, old-fashioned, common sense, fools! States, localities, and CITIZENS not fully on board with recommended protocols, guidelines--acting hastily and rashly in willful disregard of medical experts, the science, and the data--are PROLONGING isolation measures for EVERYONE, only DELAYING economic recovery in the U.S., while you are disabling and KILLING even more Americans.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It’s that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes have to KNOW at some level he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don’t care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn’t want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it’s more than hope—those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another two months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn’t really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
“The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.”
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump’s hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic hyper-partisan Republican cult placing political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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Let's face it; this American fall towards fascism didn't just happen overnight. Since before the '70s Republicans have engaged in dog whistles and pursued a racist agenda, hidden behind various facades. Reagan helped Goldwater using dog-whistles; Nixon was infamous for his use of them. Roger Ailes micromanaged Nixon's appearances, and stoked racial fears and resentments. Reagan employed them getting elected governor of California. Lee Atwater, who greatly admired Nixon's 'Southern strategy,' worked on Reagan's Presidential campaign, teaming up with Ailes. A year after Reagan's victory, Atwater gave what was then an anonymous interview, and perhaps lulled by the anonymity, he offered an unusually candid response to a question about Reagan, the Southern strategy, and the drive to attract the Wallace voters:
"You start out in 1954 by saying, "N------, N------, N-------." By 1968 you can't say "N-------," that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states' rights and all that stuff. You're getting so abstract now, you're talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you're talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is, blacks get hurt worse than whites. And subconsciously maybe that is part of it. I'm not saying that. But I'm saying that if it is getting that abstract, and that coded, that we are doing away with the racial problem one way or the other. You follow me; because obviously sitting around saying, "We want to cut taxes and we want to cut this," is much more abstract than even the busing thing, and a hell of a lot more abstract than "N------, N------." So anyway you look at it, race is coming on the back burner."
Humiliated and stunned by Nixon's forced resignation, Republicans anointed Reagan their hero, and have long insisted on regarding him as such, despite his repeated use of racial dog-whistles and his mediocre record. In 1980, Reagan characterized food stamp recipients as, "That strapping young buck in front of you at the checkout buying T-bone steak, while you wait in line to buy hamburger," and kicked off his campaign outside Philadelphia, Mississippi--notorious for the KKK lynching of four volunteer civil rights workers just 16 years earlier--by delivering the promise that, "I believe in state's rights!" Reagan returned in 1984 to another cheering crowd, this time endorsing the neo-Confederate slogan, "The South shall rise again!"
Lee Atwater went on to work with Roger Ailes on George H.W. Bush's Presidential campaign, which shamelessly stoked racial fear through the infamous Willie Horton political ad and other means. Roger Ailes would go on to head Fox News for Rupert Murdoch, until numerous allegations of sexual harassment and improprieties, along with related lawsuits against Fox, forced his removal. Ailes was a polarizing influence, who has been called the most destructive force in American politics in 50 years.
Conservative plutocrats and the GOP created the beast over decades with round-the-clock propaganda, but were swallowed whole by their own mutated creations of daily outrage, white grievance politics, and phony populism; first by the Tea Party, then by Trump. Unable to go back, and clearly having no way forward, they remain planted in their own muck and mire, trapped by the cult of their own making. The pundits and conservatives rejecting Trump are trying to salvage their party, but any person of principle and sense ought to know enough to defect the rotten machine.
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Our "President" is compromised by Russia, as clearly demonstrated in the Mueller Report! People don't seem to understand that for the vast majority of Democrats, it really isn't about politics. It's about the rule of law, democracy, our very SECURITY! We'd impeach a Democrat without second thought, based upon just what is contained in the Mueller Report alone. Congressional Democrats are no different, they feel the same way! The whole stupid, misguided idea ignores that Pence, another Republican, fills the Presidency if Trump impeached, finishing out his term, running for the 2020 election, the presumed GOP candidate. So, it obviously can't be some coup or seizure of power by Democrats, anyway. Disruptive, harmful to GOP election chances? Maybe, but it also has the potential to be a blessing in disguise for Republicans. Besides, there should be some price to be paid by any party electing to public office a treasonous crook with the morals of a slug.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of hate, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of corruption, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republicans don't care about America and ALL Americans, don't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their deal with the Devil.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-‘n-‘Thief, Toxic Trump, so much—although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages—as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, homophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, divisive, anti-democratic raving lunatic and his corruption, a man compromised by foreign nations, including our principle adversary, through his tremendous debt. Between that, his catastrophic, irresponsible handling of COVID-19, and his incitement of anti-democratic violent Reich-wing groups, Trump has made himself America's #1 most serious national security threat. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself, mental illness, and his upbringing, who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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@ChrisTopherBunnell ~ The Molotov cocktail recipe:
Mix in equal parts of mental illness, willful ignorance, fear, hate, decades of 24/7 Reich-wing disinformation, misinformation, and crackpot conspiracy programming by Republican politicians, plutocrats, media and demagogues, add supplemental divisive Russian propaganda attacking and weakening America, stir well, garnish with COVID-19, and you have the mindless Republican cult descending into fascism, committing terrorism and sedition. Then, grab a stiff drink--you'll need it.
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It's good that Julius Jones, an innocent man, won't be executed, but the Republican Oklahoma governor refused to grant clemency, so he could still face decades behind bars, which is a travesty. It's also good that the prosecution is presenting a solid case against the three white men who lynched Ahmaud Arbery, but the fact that it even happened, that the defense lawyer is making racist arguments and using dog whistles, and that it took a video tape, public outcry, and months before deciding to prosecute is terrible. What is obvious from both cases is the systemic racism which still pervades America, which Republican leaders and Republican SCOTUS justice try to deny. What we have is a two-tier justice system----one for minorities and the poor, and one for Whites and the wealthy----that breeds injustice.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
Merrick Garland’s House Testimony Demonstrated the Failure of His Hyper-Cautious Approach to His Job
Despite Garland’s many efforts to not appear political by declining to investigate Trump and his cronies for possible crimes and by using DOJ resources to actively protect Trump from civil liability, Republicans are still portraying him as the most political attorney general in history.
The other weakness of Garland’s timid approach was on full view during his opening statement and responses to Democratic members of Congress. “The essence of the rule of law is that like cases are treated alike. That there not be one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans; one rule for friends, another for foes,” Garland stated grandly. But by declining to investigate Trump and his associates, Garland is enabling further attacks on our democracy. (While proving inequity by putting Republicans above the law.)
Crucially, the two parties are not the same. Garland’s standard sets up a false equivalency between the Democratic Party and a political party whose national leader, Donald Trump, incited and celebrated a violent assault on our nation’s Capitol to overthrow the results of a free and fair election and who continues to portray the insurrection as a glorious “protest.” To that end, in the middle of the attorney general’s testimony, Trump issued a statement highlighting Garland’s feebleness at failing to even investigate the organizers and leaders of the Jan. 6 events, declaring “the insurrection took place on November 3, Election Day. January 6 was the Protest!”
Garland’s efforts to depoliticize the DOJ have proved to be an abdication of his responsibility to protect the rule of law. Take just a few examples: Garland’s failure to reconsider the obstruction of justice case against the former president, his deferral of an investigation of possible financial crimes by Trump and his organization to local prosecutors in New York City and Westchester, his use of the DOJ to protect Trump from defamation allegations, and his deferral of a soliciting of voter fraud felony probe in Georgia to local prosecutors there. By abdicating his responsibility, Garland is also opening the door for Trump to commit these possibly criminal abuses all over again, this time with the full support of the Republican Party, and maybe ultimately return to power.
--Mark Stern
"Try as he may, Merrick Garland cannot perform boring independence fast enough to outrun GOP claims that he’s a wild-eyed, violent socialist. And while the GOP currently exists only to cast everything you thought you believed into doubt, the real endgame is vigilantism. The endgame is to ensure that people mistrust government, election systems, school boards, (teachers, health care officials) the media, and the justice system enough to lend a hand in their destruction."
--Dahlia Lithwick
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Bush v. Gore, Citizens United, Chief Jester Roberts smiling and nodding along while presiding over sham Senate impeachment trial, Assassination Goon B.S. Barr butchering the law, slaughtering justice, politicizing and weaponizing the DOJ. It's why we lost all respect for the Supreme Court, the law, and the justice system in this country. Congratulations, Republicans, on turning our nation into a banana Republic, making America an object lesson to the world on how to destroy democracy!
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Republicans are willing to gain and hold power at any cost...even if the price is our democracy!
Farmer wakes up one morning, goes outside to milk his cows, and discovers his entire herd is missing! So, he then walks over nest door to where the Republican cult lives, notices them grinding a whole bunch of beef into hamburger, and asks them, "Did you see what happened to all my cows?"
Republican cult: "Yeah, they jumped over the moon."
Farmer: "Do you have any actual evidence of that?"
Republican cult: "No, because they landed on the dark side, and you can't see them over there. But we're conducting a bunch of investigations and fraudits, and we're confident evidence will soon emerge to prove it!"
Farmer: "You know, that sounds like a load of manure!"
Republican cult: "Well, that's what we all choose to believe!"
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@goingbonzo5923 ~ Yeah, you sure are confused. What your quote is describing is exactly what I told you about cyclical changes in climate gradually taking place over thousands and thousands of years, which is different than AGW drastically changing our climate in less than a century. So, your source is actually confirming AGW, not disproving it.
Ironically, you're the one brainwashed by fallacious Republican talking points trying to demonize Democrats, scientists, and experts. AGW, systemic racism, and Covid-19 aren't partisan issues, because they affect us all regardless of anyone's political ideology. Get a clue----not some mindless anti-science fascist Republican cult of sheep, Doc!
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of crackpot conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of greed, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of plutocrats, the party of corruption, the party of anti-democracy, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their pact with the Devil.
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GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again." ― Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney
More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Demented Trumpettes feeling dejected at Toxic Trump not getting reelected, so objected. Rather get detected, infected, inspected, injected, and disinfected--instead of getting rejected from their genuflected Republican cult! This time, it isn't the Kool-Aid; it's the Clorox, Lysol, Oxycodone, Oleander, and Hydroxychloroquine cocktails...
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It’s that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don’t care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn’t want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it’s more than hope—those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another five months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn’t really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
“The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.”
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump’s hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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07/08/20 -- 3,159,000 confirmed cases; 134,900 deaths.
07/07/20 -- 3,097,000 confirmed cases; 133,900 deaths.
07/06/20 -- 3,041,000 confirmed cases; 133,000 deaths.
07/05/20 -- 2,984,000 confirmed cases; 132,500 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
07/04/20 -- 2,936,000 confirmed cases; 132,300 deaths.
07/03/20 -- 2,890,000 confirmed cases; 132,100 deaths.
07/02/20 -- 2,837,000 confirmed cases; 131,500 deaths.
07/01/20 -- 2,780,000 confirmed cases; 130,800 deaths.
06/30/20 -- 2,722,000 confirmed cases; 129,400 deaths. NIH predicts 100,000 cases per day soon from premature reopening and people not following CDC guidelines.
06/29/20 -- 2,682,000 confirmed cases; 128,800 deaths.
06/28/20 -- 2,638,000 confirmed cases; 128,400 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
06/27/20 -- 2,597,000 confirmed cases; 128,200 deaths.
06/26/20 -- 2,553,000 confirmed cases; 127,600 deaths. CDC projects TEN times as many COVID-19 cases as confirmed; approximately 25 million, or 7% of U.S. pop.
06/25/20 -- 2,505,000 confirmed cases; 126,800 deaths.
06/24/20 -- 2,463,000 confirmed cases; 124,300 deaths.
06/23/20 -- 2,424,000 confirmed cases; 123,500 deaths.
06/22/20 -- 2,388,000 confirmed cases; 122,600 deaths.
06/21/20 -- 2,357,000 confirmed cases; 122,200 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
06/20/20 -- 2,331,000 confirmed cases; 122,000 deaths.
06/19/20 -- 2,297,000 confirmed cases; 121,400 deaths.
06/18/20 -- 2,264,000 confirmed cases; 120,700 deaths.
06/17/20 -- 2,235,000 confirmed cases; 119,900 deaths.
06/16/20 -- 2,199,000 confirmed cases; 118,800 deaths.
06/15/20 -- 2,182,000 confirmed cases; 118,200 deaths.
06/14/20 -- 2,162,000 confirmed cases; 117,800 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
06/13/20 -- 2,139,000 confirmed cases; 117,500 deaths. Latest projection has 200,000 Americans dead from COVID-19 before October.
06/12/20 -- 2,117,000 confirmed cases; 116,800 deaths.
06/11/20 -- 2,090,000 confirmed cases; 116,000 deaths.
06/10/20 -- 2,066,000 confirmed cases; 115,100 deaths.
06/09/20 -- 2,046,000 confirmed cases; 114,100 deaths.
06/08/20 -- 2,026,000 confirmed cases; 113,000 deaths.
06/07/20 -- 2,007,000 confirmed cases; 112,500 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
06/06/20 -- 1,976,000 confirmed cases; 111,900 deaths.
06/05/20 -- 1,949,000 confirmed cases; 111,000 deaths.
06/04/20 -- 1,924,000 confirmed cases; 110,100 deaths.
06/03/20 -- 1,902,000 confirmed cases; 109,100 deaths.
06/02/20 -- 1,881,000 confirmed cases; 108,000 deaths.
06/01/20 -- 1,860,000 confirmed cases; 107,000 deaths.
05/31/20 -- 1,837,000 confirmed cases; 106,200 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/30/20 -- 1,817,000 confirmed cases; 105,600 deaths.
05/29/20 -- 1,793,000 confirmed cases; 104,500 deaths.
05/25/20 -- 1,706,000 confirmed cases; 99,800 deaths.
05/24/20 -- 1,686,000 confirmed cases; 99,300 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/23/20 -- 1,667,000 confirmed cases; 98,700 deaths.
05/22/20 -- 1,645,000 confirmed cases; 97,600 deaths.
05/17/20 -- 1,528,000 confirmed cases; 91,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/16/20 -- 1,497,000 confirmed cases; 89,400 deaths.
05/11/20 -- 1,379,000 confirmed cases; 81,500 deaths.
05/10/20 -- 1,364,000 confirmed cases; 80,600 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/07/20 -- 1,289,000 confirmed cases; 76,500 deaths.
05/06/20 -- 1,260,000 confirmed cases; 74,500 deaths.
05/05/20 -- 1,233,000 confirmed cases; 72,000 deaths.
05/04/20 -- 1,208,000 confirmed cases; 69,600 deaths. CDC projects cases increasing to 200,000 per day with deaths rising to 3,000 per day by June because of states, localities and people not following guidelines and reopening their economies too soon.
05/03/20 -- 1,184,000 confirmed cases; 68,300 deaths. Every 44 seconds, another American dies from COVID-19. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/02/20 -- 1,158,000 confirmed cases; 67,000 deaths.
05/01/20 -- 1,129,000 confirmed cases; 65,500 deaths.
04/30/20 -- 1,094,000 confirmed cases; 63,600 deaths. The U.S. accounts for over a third of the world's cases, and over a quarter of COVID-19 deaths--despite possessing only 5% of the world's population. Yet--even now--we still lack the adequate testing capabilities that are critically needed to safely reopen the economy, and remain sorely lacking the necessary rational national leadership so vital to saving American lives and livelihoods.
04/29/20 -- 1,064,000 confirmed cases; 61,500 deaths. The U.S. now has as many COVID-19 deaths in just NINE WEEKS as there was for all TWELVE YEARS of the Vietnam War.
04/28/20 -- 1,034,000 confirmed cases; 59,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/27/20 -- 1,009,000 confirmed cases; 56,500 deaths.
04/22/20 -- 853,000 confirmed cases; 47,800 deaths (+2,674*)
04/21/20 -- 825,000 confirmed cases; 45,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/20/20 -- 788,000 confirmed cases; 43,200 deaths.
04/16/20 -- 671,000 confirmed cases; 33,100 deaths. Less COVID-19 testing performed this week than last, despite desperate need to ramp up volume to reopen economy.
04/15/20 -- 640,000 confirmed cases; 30,800 deaths. The United States recorded its first coronavirus fatality on Feb. 29. It took 38 days to reach 10,000 deaths and just nine more days to go from 10,000 fatalities to 30,000. An increase in fatalities over the last 48 hours was expected, but was also due to new CDC policy, starting on 04/14, to include probable COVID-19 deaths...finally.
04/14/20 -- 609,000 confirmed cases; 26,600 deaths (+2,364 - *New worst daily death toll)
04/13/20 -- 583,000 confirmed cases; 24,200 deaths
04/12/20 -- 558,000 confirmed cases; 22,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S. With just 4.25% of the world's population, the U.S. has 30% of the COVID-19 infections and 20% of the COVID-19 deaths. So far, the U.S. has the very WORST response of ANY nation, something formerly inconceivable, and inexcusable that it could now be allowed to happen here. In the U.S., we have 1.5 million seniors in 15,000 nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Despite forming only 0.45% of the U.S. population, they make up almost 10% of deaths, primarily because our federal government is not doing enough to protect them. Reported that many hospitals are no longer accepting COVID-19 patients from nursing homes, preferring they die there, instead. Our seniors, who helped build, grow and make America great, are being sacrificed, solely to ignorance.
04/11/20 -- 530,000 confirmed cases; 20,500 deaths.
04/08/20 -- 432,000 confirmed cases; 15,900 deaths.
04/07/20 -- 400,000 confirmed cases; 13,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. Figures indicate a Covid-19 fatality rate for TESTED Americans at 3.25%.
04/06/20 -- 369,000 confirmed cases; 11,000 deaths.
04/02/20 -- 246,000 confirmed cases; 6,050 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/01/20 -- 217,000 confirmed cases; 5,150 deaths.
03/31/20 -- 190,000 confirmed cases; 4,200 deaths.
03/29/20 -- 143,000 confirmed cases; 2,450 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
(Update 5: Friday, 03/27/20, confirmed U.S. cases 105,000--which is 50% over NIH high-end estimate; deaths 1,700 by end of day. The perspective for cases is significantly skewed low and thus highly misleading, however, as just 0.17% of U.S. population has been tested to date.)
"As many as 70,000 Americans could be confirmed as infected with coronavirus by the end of next week, marking a “pretty dramatic” increase in the number of confirmed cases," the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, told his employees in an agency-wide conference call on 03/20/20.
Except 03/21/20 saw a 33% jump in U.S. cases, from 18,000 to over 24,000. If continuing at 33% every 24 hours, the number of confirmed cases is trending much higher than just 70,000 by 03/27/20. Suspect confirmed cases will be double that. Bear in mind, states hardest hit are not testing many people, saving the tests for those most in need. So the actual number of infected Americans is going to be far higher than just what limited testing of the population has so far confirmed. Don't think this fact is being given enough attention. More important than the number of cases confirmed is the number contracting the disease and not getting tested, spreading the disease, in many cases unknowingly. Hospital projections are for about 100 MILLION Americans to become infected, with about 500,000 dead from covid-19.
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Toxic Trump: "I'm the BEST, just absolutely CRUSHING the competition, with over TWO POINT FIVE MILLION coronavirus cases and over 123--one-hundred and twenty-three!!!--THOUSAND deaths! Easy as 1-2-3! They ALL got eighty-sixed, 'cause nobody else even comes close! With a QUARTER of the world's cases AND deaths--can you even imagine how truly great, how awesome, that achievement is, with only just FOUR PERCENT of the world's population to work with? Believe it or not, I accomplished in only FIVE WEEKS what it took the Vietnam War a whole TWELVE YEARS to do! Not done with the fun--and not to be outdone--I then doubled down on the death toll from Vietnam in just FOUR MONTHS! PLUS, we're not even counting ALL the COVID-19 cases and deaths here in the U.S.! And, with only SEVEN PERCENT of the U.S. population already infected, we're just getting started with all the sickness and death; there's PLENTY more to come! Those other weaklings and losers don't stand a chance, because we're going to keep right on winning--as long as I'm in charge! Now, vacation's over; time to get back to work on increasing those numbers, people! Let's keep America great, get rid of all the excess baggage! As wartime President, I am commanding all CIVILIANS to senselessly sacrifice their lives for my arrogance, stupidity, vanity, malevolence, and greed!"
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The NFL needs to come clean, the Green Bay Packers organization needs to come clean, and Rodgers should be suspended for the rest of the season. (Lifelong Packers fan.)
The protocols are a poor substitute for getting vaccinated, but the protocols weren't even being followed. Moreover, he is being stupid about this, and he is supposed to be a leader. Instead of setting a good example, he is setting a bad example, thinking only of himself.
Rodgers put his own team mates, coaches, trainers and other staff at risk, as well as opposing players and their teams at risk by lying about his status. He deserves to be suspended for the season. As already mentioned, I'm a lifelong Packers supporter; but I've also been a Rodgers supporter since he made the team. Knowing how much he means to the team, advocating suspension for the season is not something proposed hastily or lightly. It's a sacrifice for a fan like me, to be sure, but I believe it to be the appropriate measure, one commensurate with the wrong done. Especially in light of the fact that Rodgers is playing victim, does not acknowledge the wrong he did, and expresses no remorse of any kind.
The Packers organization must have known, and kept it secret, complicit in his lie to the public. The NFL, too, apparently had to have had known, because it rejected Rodgers request for homeopathic treatment as an alternative to vaccination, making them complicit in the lie, as well.
Kirk Cousins and Kyle Irving at least had the decency to be up front about their unwillingness to get vaccinated, have followed their respective league protocols, and have paid a price in public ridicule, condemnation, and popularity. Aaron Rodgers, the NFL's reigning MVP, lacked that fundamental decency, courage and integrity, lying to the public. And the deceptive ways in which he lied to the public just make it that much worse. "In retrospect, his disingenuous comments hint at a specific kind of self-centeredness; he seemed to believe he was smarter than everyone else in the room." Both the team and the league were also engaged in a special kind of deceptiveness. If not quite the same, it was still worse than an outright lie.
While other unvaccinated players had to give press interviews via Zoom, Rodgers gave open briefings with the press unmasked, in violation of league protocol. Both the Packers and the NFL allowed this to go on knowingly, complicit in endangering other people. Shame on Rodgers, and shame on them, too.
Rodgers not only destroyed his own credibility, but the Packers and the NFL destroyed their credibility through their complicity, too. Packers coach, Matt LaFleur, said he was “100 percent confident” that the Packers had followed COVID-19 protocols in “football spaces.” Why is that hard to believe? Aren't press conferences after games held in "football spaces?" How many other players are teams and the NFL covering for? Are we to believe that Rodgers is the only one? What reason now do we have to take the word of any team or the NFL? Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.
"The NFL is now investigating whether Rodgers violated COVID-19 protocols, but the quarterback and his team should clearly face serious consequences—such as a suspension for Rodgers and a significant fine for the Packers. Besides deterring players from potentially endangering others, the league has to single out those who deliberately make a mockery of such a serious issue. If the league lets Rodgers and the Packers slide, it will prove the quarterback right. He was smart enough to know that the rules didn’t apply to a star as big as him."
HIPPA only applies to health care providers and insurers, as Zak Prescott found out when he was ridiculed for trying to use that as an excuse. It's not a shield against reporters asking legitimate questions about an athlete's health status. Nor are people allowed to keep it private to send their kids to school, to work in a health care facility, or to be in the military, for example. Even before President Biden's directive, companies were requiring their employees to either be vaccinated or undergo weekly testing. Which means employees are required to reveal their vaccination status.
The NFL is not keeping players vaccination status secret, either, as all the players unvaccinated are required to wear masks during press conferences, which quite obviously reveals their vaccination status. Per the NFL’s coronavirus protocols, unvaccinated players are also required to wear masks at all times inside club facilities, submit to daily PCR testing, and avoid being within six feet of other unvaccinated players while traveling or eating meals. Which makes their vaccination status readily apparent, at least to others on the team and in the team's organization. Therefore, the "right" of any player to decline to answer or lie about their vaccination is essentially a moot point.
And why should vaccination status be a matter for privacy, anyway? Having a health condition, sure, there are plenty of valid reasons, but being inoculated or not against a disease? What is the harm in requiring that information be shared? Doesn't the public need to know outweigh the privacy concerns? If you contract a STD, there are strict laws requiring people to share information with health officials about who they had sex with. Yet, most STD's don't kill people, and the ones that do typically take years before they prove fatal, unlike Covid-19.
I lost a good measure of respect for Rodgers when it was discovered he lied. I lost all respect for Rodgers after the McAfee interview. He played the victim, did not admit to any wrong, and expressed no remorse. Instead, he doubled down on stupidity and setting a bad example. That's not leadership.
I disagree that anyone wanting more than a slap on the wrist is being "overly vengeful." To me, suspending Rodgers for the rest of the season is commensurate with the offense. A heavy fine against the Packers is commensurate with their offense. A frank admission of guilt for their complicity, with a sincere apology, steps taken to insure pandemic protocols are strictly followed, along with those punitive measures enacted would be commensurate action taken by teams and the NFL, and would go far to help restore trust and respect for the league. It has nothing to do with vengeance. It is about the NFL taking this pandemic seriously, taking the damage done to its reputation seriously, and honoring its commitments. It's about putting morals before profits. It's about showing that no one is above the rules. Either the rules are enforced for everyone, or people decide why should they have to bother playing by the rules, leading to a deterioration of society. The protocols enacted by the NFL were formed in conjunction with and agreed to by the players union.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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"Peace is not a very big thing to ask for, is it?" ~ Fatima Gailani, Afghan activist and negotiator, pleading for continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan
It is when asking the Taliban, who do not seek peace or to bargain in good faith, but total domination once again. U.S. has spent 20 years and over $2 trillion trying to achieve peace in Afghanistan, losing over 4000 American lives (military and civilian contractors), with tens of thousands of Americans wounded there.
"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials … have given Afghans little reason to support their government," Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the commander of U.S. forces in the country, wrote in a 2009 memorandum. "This crisis of confidence, coupled with a distinct lack of economic and educational opportunity, has created fertile ground for the insurgency."
That was 11 years ago, and little has changed since. Thought the invasion of Afghanistan by Bush was a mistake that would lead to a quagmire, and have been proven correct. Still, initially supported efforts to bring peace and stability there, along with basic human and civil-rights, because after invading felt we had an obligation to rebuild. However, while U.S. blunders there have contributed to a failure, Afghans are their own worst enemy, and no one can help them until enough of them are willing to help themselves.
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Freedoms can exist only up to the point they infringe upon the freedom of others. Religious tolerance can be practiced only up to the point it becomes intolerant of others. Our Constitution is a secular document, not a religious one, and it was certainly never intended to be a suicidal death pact. Getting vaccinated and following CDC guidelines brings freedom from preventable illness or injury, and a senseless premature death, but the mindless fascist Republican cult only believes in freeDUMB. Just as they don't understand or would deny the Constitution is as much about the common good as personal liberties, and that those two things are intrinsically and inextricably intertwined.
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge." ~ Ben Franklin, from Poor Richard's Almanack
Those who scorn public health guidelines during a deadly global pandemic and confuse a grievous public health issue with "essential" liberty to kill and harm themselves and their fellow citizens--as well as their nation--sorely lack both care and knowledge. They are also sorely lacking in common sense, something else about which Mr. Franklin was quite keen. Mr. Franklin was also one our nation's first scientists--yet these modern-day knuckleheads who ought know better refute science! Were he alive today, he would be rather dismayed, disgruntled, and disgusted with the fascist anti-science Republican cult, that much is crystal clear.
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"We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Unknown source, a derivative of similar quotes by William Butler Yeats, Bertrand Russell, and Charles Bukowski
Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
~ How Fascism Works, The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(Reference also Father Charles E. Coughlin and Henry Ford in regards to the original America First movement.)
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
Malcolm Nance: We Are In A Neo-Fascist Era In American Politics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_RxUAe2zeM
Political Analyst Tells Joy Reid: Forget Trumpism, IT’s Neo-Fascism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IgNp84JA4A
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@marydurham5976 Thanks! As you see, borrowed Jeffries words to create my own unique version, otherwise everything posted is credited to the author, unless well known quote or unknown source, if not mine. So, yes, it is all original and mine. As always, feel free to use and share any of my YouTube comments--no need to even credit! They are created to entertain and educate my fellow masses!
Will provide what is hopefully final version of the poem posted above, somewhat improved, think you'll agree! Enjoy! Use! Share!
Hypocrisy knows no bounds
For rotten GOP clowns
With them phony outrage hounds
Their flimflam no more astounds
Betraying US for king's crowns
If bribed in dollars not pounds
Claim for impeachment no grounds
Care not for the laws he downs
Block out all objection sounds
Do not see disgusted frowns
Just pack courts with goons in gowns
Caring their cozen confounds
As public outrage resounds
When their vile dream scheme rebounds
Souls forfeit as deceit mounds
Fear the contempt which surrounds
And the loathing that abounds
In each city and all towns
But taking too many rounds
From nasty GOP clowns
Must end now--ran out of nouns!
~*~*~*~*~
Sorry, the head and feet remained intact, but the body took some additonal hits, snorting more lines from me.
Well, wouldn't you know it...
Not much of a poet!
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As many as 70,000 Americans could be confirmed as infected with coronavirus by the end of next week, marking a “pretty dramatic” increase in the number of confirmed cases, the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, told his employees in an agency-wide conference call on 03/20/20. Except 03/21/20 saw a 33% jump in U.S. cases, from 18,000 to over 24,000. If continuing at 33% every 24 hours, the number of confirmed cases is trending much higher than just 70,000 by 03/27/20. Suspect confirmed cases will be double that. Bear in mind, states hardest hit are not testing many people, saving the tests for those most in need. So the actual number of infected Americans is going to be far higher than just what limited testing of the population has so far confirmed. Don't think this fact is being given enough attention. More important than the number of cases confirmed is the number contracting the disease and not getting tested, spreading the disease, in many cases unknowingly. Hospital projections are for about 100 MILLION Americans to become infected, with about 500,000 dead from covid-19.
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Instead of embracing the reverence for nature and sustainability practiced by the America's indigenous peoples, we have entered into a death pact with capitalism, consumerism, greed, and selfishness, largely forced upon the common person by large businesses and the wealthy, who continue exploiting us for the own short-sighted, immediate benefit. We bear some responsibility for that, too. For taking part, for allowing it to happen, and for allowing it to continue as long as it has. Until enough of us average citizens wake up and become active in changing how our cultures and societies operate, the downward spiral of our environment will continue leading us into a dead-end death trap. Capitalism and consumerism can serve a purpose. However, they should be viewed and utilized as just one tool at our disposal in our toolbox, and not overly relied upon, like a hammer used for every job, which does more destruction than good.
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This June, Rep. Anthony Gonzalez vote AGAINST establishing the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.
In August he voted AGAINST the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. In March he voted AGAINST the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act and AGAINST the For the People Voting Rights Act.
He also opposes environmental protection, financial sector regulation, humane immigration policy, labor rights and wages, LBGTIQ rights, avoiding default, countering Russian interference, and women's rights.
Gonzalez now avows he is not going to let our democracy fall, so he's going to retire, instead of staying in a position of power where he could do the most good? That makes absolutely no sense. His actions are incongruent with his words. His voting record, even recent, shows his disdain for democracy. He has been an enabler of Republican fascism throughout his career, and now he is bailing because he doesn't like the poisoned fruit from the tree he helped sow and cultivated? No admission of responsibility for his role in helping create the divisive, toxic environment and being silently complicit for so long? Sure, he is finally speaking the truth about the Big Lie and the evil being perpetrated against our Constitution by the GOP that most of us have been condemning for months, but his words ring hollow.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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The nation suffered eight years of unprecedented Republican obstructionism during Obama's Presidency. When Democrats had control of the Senate, Republicans with McConnell as minority leader began grossly abusing the filibuster.
"Consistent and unprecedented obstruction by the Republican caucus has turned advise and consent into deny and obstruct. In addition to filibustering a nominee for Secretary of Defense for the first time in history, Senate Republicans also blocked a sitting member of Congress from an administration position for the first time since 1843," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had said.
This forced Democrats into using the so-called "nuclear option," where the filibuster was lifted for all Presidential nominees except for SCOTUS nominations. But by 2019, Reid himself had concluded that he had not gone far enough in changing the filibuster’s rules, calling for it to be abolished entirely while ruefully listing the number of policies he’d allowed to stall instead:
"I previously assumed, perhaps wrongly, that the fever would eventually break — that Republicans would be forced by the American people to put their country above their party. I assumed the calls for action on critical issues would be heard — that collegiality in the Senate would prevail. That never happened. If anything, the Senate is more gridlocked and polarized than ever. As I said in 2013, the Senate is a living thing, and to survive, it must change — just as it has throughout the history of our country. The American people elect leaders to address the issues facing our country, not to cower behind arcane parliamentary procedure."
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
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It's like rowing or paddling upstream, or into a stiff wind--if you ease-up too much or stop, you will only have to paddle twice as hard to make up all the previous hard-earned progress that was quickly lost. Failing to maintain isolation and other measures for sufficient time to stop the spread of COVID-19 transmission will cost U.S. more in time, effort, money, and LIVES. Reopening and relaxing measures too early in defiance of the science and data is the ultimate in colossal ignorance, greed, ruthlessness, and arrogance.
We have a segment of Republican cult willfully ignorant, who malevolently seek to sabotage containment efforts. But many do not grasp how important it is that we treat ourselves and everyone else as being infected.
This is because people know that is very unlikely, especially outside dense urban areas, where incidence rates are low. Because of the delay in onset of the disease and asymptomatic carriers, COVID-19 is a stealth killer that uses Americans against each other as its foot soldiers, transporting it, keeping the disease and its train of transmission alive. This is further complicated because people cannot see a virus, see it attacking, see it spreading, until it is too late. For many of us, seeing is believing, and people are incapable or reluctant to make that leap of logic required to keep them and everyone safe--even with the massive public education efforts.
Of course, the problem becomes greatly exacerbated when the President refuses to wear a mask, and his administration works against itself in fighting this deadly global pandemic, sending conflicting messages to the public. Toxic Trump, his administration, and all the Republicans who have aided and abetted him, are directly responsible in our view for the senseless deaths of tens and thousands of Americans. The dead are the worst of it, but there is also the tremendous needless suffering and economic loss accompanying their wanton criminal negligence.
No national testing, no rational national coordinated pandemic response. Republican governors reopening too quickly in defiance of CDC guidelines are only following the President's lead. Democratic governors in many states likewise being adversely pressured by Toxic Trump's pandemic disinformation and Republican opposition to requisite lockdowns. Problem starts at the top. Don't fault even the worst Republican governors as much as this President. The President needed to take the lead, take the hit for the hard decisions--not put all the weight on governors as he as.
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Merrick Garland: "Trump and Congressional Republicans screwed me out of a seat on the Supreme Court...that's why now as AG I can't prosecute them for the many crimes they've committed!"
Merrick Garland’s House Testimony Demonstrated the Failure of His Hyper-Cautious Approach to His Job
Despite Garland’s many efforts to not appear political by declining to investigate Trump and his cronies for possible crimes and by using DOJ resources to actively protect Trump from civil liability, Republicans are still portraying him as the most political attorney general in history.
The other weakness of Garland’s timid approach was on full view during his opening statement and responses to Democratic members of Congress. “The essence of the rule of law is that like cases are treated alike. That there not be one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans; one rule for friends, another for foes,” Garland stated grandly. But by declining to investigate Trump and his associates, Garland is enabling further attacks on our democracy. (While proving inequity by putting Republicans above the law.)
Crucially, the two parties are not the same. Garland’s standard sets up a false equivalency between the Democratic Party and a political party whose national leader, Donald Trump, incited and celebrated a violent assault on our nation’s Capitol to overthrow the results of a free and fair election and who continues to portray the insurrection as a glorious “protest.” To that end, in the middle of the attorney general’s testimony, Trump issued a statement highlighting Garland’s feebleness at failing to even investigate the organizers and leaders of the Jan. 6 events, declaring “the insurrection took place on November 3, Election Day. January 6 was the Protest!”
Garland’s efforts to depoliticize the DOJ have proved to be an abdication of his responsibility to protect the rule of law. Take just a few examples: Garland’s failure to reconsider the obstruction of justice case against the former president, his deferral of an investigation of possible financial crimes by Trump and his organization to local prosecutors in New York City and Westchester, his use of the DOJ to protect Trump from defamation allegations, and his deferral of a soliciting of voter fraud felony probe in Georgia to local prosecutors there. By abdicating his responsibility, Garland is also opening the door for Trump to commit these possibly criminal abuses all over again, this time with the full support of the Republican Party, and maybe ultimately return to power.
--Mark Stern
"Try as he may, Merrick Garland cannot perform boring independence fast enough to outrun GOP claims that he’s a wild-eyed, violent socialist. And while the GOP currently exists only to cast everything you thought you believed into doubt, the real endgame is vigilantism. The endgame is to ensure that people mistrust government, election systems, school boards, (teachers, health care officials) the media, and the justice system enough to lend a hand in their destruction."
--Dahlia Lithwick
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You don't get denialism without nihilism. As life-long conservative Bill Kristol astutely pointed our just recently in a tweet, the Republican party has embraced nihilism. Republicans still labeling COVID-19 a "hoax;" Republicans still refusing to wear masks or social distance after over half-a-million American fatalities from COVID-19; Congressional Republicans obstructing a COVID-19 stimulus bill certain to pass just to delay vital and urgently needed relief to Americans desperate for help; not one Congressional Republican in either chamber voting for the badly needed stimulus bill; Republican governors dropping mask mandates and all restrictions on businesses, heedless of rising case counts in their states and deadly new variants of the virus; and Republican leaders continuing to push the Big Lie that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen without evidence and in disregard of plentiful evidence and facts to the contrary, even AFTER their Big Lie incited a terrorist attack by a mindless Republican mob against the nation's Capitol in insurrection against the government, attempting to overturn a legitimate election, sieging, storming, sizing, sacking, defiling, defacing and disgracing America's citadel of, and temple to, democracy--these are all prime examples of nihilism.
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GOP cult: “Democracy is great…only so long as we can subvert it with lies, cheating, a multitude of Jim Crow voter suppression laws, egregious gerrymandering, obstruction, coups, election interference, election fraud, sedition, insurrection and terrorism to gain power and maintain our corrupt, plutocratic, minority fascist rule!”
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The Molotov cocktail recipe:
Mix in equal parts of mental illness, lies, willful ignorance, fear, hate, greed, decades of 24/7 Reich-wing disinformation, misinformation, and crackpot conspiracy programming by Republican politicians, plutocrats, media and demagogues, add supplemental divisive Russian propaganda attacking and weakening America, stir well, garnish with COVID-19, and you have the mindless Republican cult descending into fascism, committing terrorism and sedition. Then, grab a stiff drink--you'll need it.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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Freedoms can exist only up to the point they infringe upon the freedom of others. Religious tolerance can be practiced only up to the point it becomes intolerant of others. Our Constitution is a secular document, not a religious one, and it was certainly never intended to be a suicidal death pact. Getting vaccinated and following CDC guidelines brings freedom from preventable illness or injury, and a senseless premature death, but the mindless fascist Republican cult only believes in freeDUMB. Just as they don't understand or would deny the Constitution is as much about the common good as personal liberties, and that those two things are intrinsically and inextricably intertwined.
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge." ~ Ben Franklin, from Poor Richard's Almanack
Those who scorn public health guidelines during a deadly global pandemic and confuse a grievous public health issue with "essential" liberty to kill and harm themselves and their fellow citizens--as well as their nation--sorely lack both care and knowledge. They are also sorely lacking in common sense, something else about which Mr. Franklin was quite keen. Mr. Franklin was also one our nation's first scientists--yet these modern-day knuckleheads who ought know better refute science! Were he alive today, he would be rather dismayed, disgruntled, and disgusted with the fascist anti-science Republican cult, that much is crystal clear.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, John Eastman and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed? If Garland doesn't stand up for justice and democracy, this nation is soon doomed.
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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You don't get denialism without nihilism. As life-long conservative Bill Kristol astutely pointed our just recently in a tweet, the Republican party has embraced nihilism. Republicans still labeling COVID-19 a "hoax;" Republicans still refusing to wear masks or social distance after over half-a-million American fatalities from COVID-19; Congressional Republicans obstructing a COVID-19 stimulus bill certain to pass just to delay vital and urgently needed relief to Americans desperate for help; not one Congressional Republican in either chamber voting for the badly needed stimulus bill; Republican governors dropping mask mandates and all restrictions on businesses, heedless of rising case counts in their states and deadly new variants of the virus; and Republican leaders continuing to push the Big Lie that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen without evidence and in disregard of plentiful evidence and facts to the contrary, even AFTER their Big Lie incited a terrorist attack by a mindless Republican mob against the nation's Capitol in insurrection against the government, attempting to overturn a legitimate election, sieging, storming, sizing, sacking, defiling, defacing and disgracing America's citadel of, and temple to, democracy--these are all prime examples of nihilism.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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'Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America' by Kathleen Belew (Harvard University Press, 2018)
The movement “brought together members of the Klan, militias, radical tax resisters, white separatists, neo-Nazis, and proponents of white theologies such as Christian Identity, Odinism, and Dualism” (ix). What was it about the movement that brought these ideologies together?
The promise of violence — rather, the promise that members would get to inflict violence on other people. Belew writes that as the white power movement matured, it became more violent, and “[as] violence came to the fore of the movement, distinctions among white power factions melted away” (60). Belew calls this process “violent community formation” (34). Yet as a social movement, Belew makes a distinction between the white power movement’s “revolutionary violence” and the Ku Klux Klan’s “vigilante violence.”
Vigilante violence “served to constitute, shore up, and enforce systemic power” (106). Given that the U.S. government has a long history of “defending vigilante violence by refusing to enforce the law” (99), law enforcement inaction and vigilante violence may be understood together as a case of one hand washing the other. Revolutionary violence, however, sought to overthrow the state. It is the white power movement’s goal of overthrowing the federal government that sets it apart in the history of white supremacy in the U.S.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, along with Reich-wing demagogues and media, who were complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance, and in spreading disinformation and misinformation. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump left office, one out of every 800 Americans had died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 410,000 fatalities, as many American casualties as all of WWII. To put it into further perspective, throughout Trump's catastrophic mishandling of a deadly global pandemic, the U.S. led the world in cases and deaths, suffering nearly 25% of each, despite having only 4.25% of global population, despite having the advantage of being the richest and most advanced nation in the world.
The memorial would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure. Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle to grift their voters and us taxpayers.
You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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'IMMIGRATION FOR DUMMIES' -- by Activated Head of Fatherland Security, Kevin K. McAleenan
"So...What I did was I worked really hard with Trump administration to make draconian changes to immigration policies that creates bottlenecks, backlogs, and a HUGE increase in detention rates. So...We did this despite knowing that our lack of capabilities could only lead to greatly overcrowded facilities (concentration camps, if you prefer); poor conditions; human rights abuses against children, refugees, and migrants of color; lasting traumatic damage done to the children; vastly increased costs to the American taxpayer; the demoralization, desensitization, destabilization, depletion and destruction of our vital government workforce securing our borders and dealing with immigration. So...Just to be clear here, at the end of the day, the only goal was to extort money from Congress by torturing children and innocent people we hold hostage. Call it kidnapping if you want. So...Then we take the money and hand it over to our crony friends running the "detention centers" that they may profit from all this misery! So...You can see how our diabolical plan worked to perfection, we got our ransom money for CBP. So...That's why I'm working with my Republican cohorts in Congress to run the same scam again for ICE! So...Yes, we were experiencing difficulties achieving the profit margins anticipated with our wall street, but that open-ended venture continues to pay dividends for our money men and sycophants, as well!"
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@yt87pam ~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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You don't get denialism without nihilism. As life-long conservative Bill Kristol astutely pointed our just recently in a tweet, the Republican party has embraced nihilism. Republicans still labeling COVID-19 a "hoax;" Republicans still refusing to wear masks or social distance after over half-a-million American fatalities from COVID-19; Congressional Republicans obstructing a COVID-19 stimulus bill certain to pass just to delay vital and urgently needed relief to the American people; Republican governors dropping mask mandates and all restrictions on businesses, heedless of rising case counts in their states and deadly new variants of the virus; and Republican leaders continuing to push the Big Lie that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen without evidence and in disregard of plentiful evidence and facts to the contrary, even AFTER their Big Lie incited a terrorist attack by a mindless Republican mob against the nation's Capitol in insurrection against the government, attempting to overturn a legitimate election, sieging, storming, sizing, sacking, defiling, defacing and disgracing America's citadel and temple to democracy--these are all prime examples of nihilism.
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News anchor: "In just ONE month, we got over 800,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in America with OVER 40,000 deaths because of Trump shirking responsibility, refusing to take a global pandemic seriously, prepare, and defend our nation! Now, that lunatic has turned pandemic press briefings into macabre Dear Leader campaign rallies where he belittles and berates any and all who question him! Can you tell us just WTF the situation is at the moment in the White House?"
White House correspondent: "Situation unchanged--still hopeless. Completely, totally FUBAR, as usual. Don't expect any help or change from this dystopian, dysfunctional Branch..."
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It’s that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes have to KNOW at some level he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don’t care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn’t want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it’s more than hope—those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another two months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn’t really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump’s hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Welcome to war. This is what war is. It's terrible, it's tragic, it's ugly, it stinks, it's unfair, it's sad, it's wasteful, it's hell, innocents die, and things always go wrong. You think we'd have learned that by now, but no, it's a lesson that has to be repeatedly learned, evidently. The consensus is that nobody foresaw the Afghan government and its armed forces completely capitulating so quickly as they did. Some say there should have been a contingency plan for this, but even though hindsight is 20/20, have yet to hear any rational plan that could have dealt with this situation. Shit happens, and Biden got handed a turd with Afghanistan. Instead of allowing the crap to continue, Biden made the hard, responsible decision to pull the U.S. out of another country's civil war. Fallout was inevitable, and Republicans trying to capitalize on that politically or media trying to profit from it is truly degenerate.
It's back to the Dark Ages for Afghanistan, and back to the Taliban reign of terror for the Afghani people. But Biden bears little responsibility for what is happening now in Afghanistan; he was stuck in a Catch-22 situation with no good choices left to be made. Moreover, Biden brought the U.S. more time in extending the deadline when U.S. forces would withdraw, but the details of how everyone would be extricated are planned and executed by the military and State Dept. Because those plans that were precipitated upon the situation on the ground and supporting the Afghan government and military got upended by the sudden capitulation of the Afghan government, it caused a crisis that would likely have been otherwise largely averted. Such are the fortunes of war. So, it seems silly to blame the military or State, either. What needs to be studied and rectified is how it came to that point, rather than just trying to scapegoat onto the current U.S. President and his administration the inevitable results of two decades of bad policies, which is counterproductive and unlikely to accomplish anything.
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GOP and Trump administration: Where the hard reality of COVID-19 pierces the Republican cult bubble world of delusional fantasies, denialism, deceit, supreme ignorance, utter incompetence, and Orwellian governance, exposing them all as charlatans and frauds. Much as needed, we're hoping that doesn't happen; that America escapes the ravages of this disease, and we don't suffer thousands of American citizens dying, with many more becoming critically ill. Tragically, that doesn't seem very likely, and the Trump administration hardly inspires confidence, with all indications to date CONTRARY that they can capably handle such a catastrophe occurring here.
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To those not wearing masks, social distancing, or following guidelines: Your willful ignorance does not mask your wanton disregard for human life, your appalling lack of humanity and humility, your supremely selfish inconsideration of others. Despite absolutely loathing wearing a mask, it's also the reason it's worn. The sooner we all start wearing masks, social distancing, and taking this deadly pandemic seriously, the sooner we get to take them off, the less time they'll need to be worn. Not to mention, the sooner we can go back to a normal that is more like normal, the sooner we can get our jobs back and our economy rolling, again. And, of course, most importantly, the more lives we can save--which might even be your own life, or the life of a friend or loved one.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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No, it was not all for nothing. For 20 years it largely decimated al Qaeda and enhanced security for the U.S. and others. For 20 years, it allowed many Afghanis to experience a better life. However, I have supported getting out of Afghanistan, and have not been naïve of the probable consequences in doing so. The reality is that there are no easy solutions to complex problems like Afghanistan. But it all too easy to second guess decisions with 20/20 hindsight. While mistakes have been made in Afghanistan, the intentions there of the U.S. and our allies has overall been honorable, and that is something of which we should be proud, regardless of any outcome.
I do agree in one respect, although not confined to just those countries that fought over the past 20 years in Afghanistan. Other than the Taliban and other extremist Islamic groups, I don't think anyone----including most Afghanis----are going to be happy with how things have turned out in the long term, and that includes countries like Pakistan, China, and Iran. And that may prove to be an additional benefit of the U.S. and its allies involvement in Afghanistan: it will have provided lessons to the Afghan people, coalition forces, and other nations. Hard and costly lessons to be sure, but the major concern is if those lessons will be heeded in the future.
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@michaeld9682 ~ So, you're saying that Congress should deny aid to Kentucky, then, since you believe in small government and not adding to the national debt?
~ "It may be true that the government that governs best governs least. Unfortunately, the same is also true of the government that governs worst." — Jane Auer
The Tenth Amendment does not impose any specific limitations on the authority of the federal government; though there had been an attempt to do so, Congress defeated a motion to modify the word delegated with expressly in the amendment. It thus does not grant states additional powers, nor does it alter the relationship that exists between the federal government and the states. It merely indicates that the states may establish and maintain their own laws and policies so long as they do not conflict with the authority of the federal government.
In a test of the Constitution’s “necessary and proper” clause (Article I, Section 8, paragraph 18) against the Tenth Amendment, in McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), Chief Justice John Marshall wrote in the U.S. Supreme Court’s opinion that the federal government was not prohibited from exercising only those powers specifically granted to it by the Constitution.
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@Ms.Byrd68 ~ SCOTUS crossed the line with their partisan and unjust decision in Bush v Gore, and it's been downhill for the Court ever since. Previously, the Court had upheld the Voting Rights Act, but then Roberts & Co. officially declared racism had somehow magically disappeared, gutting the Voting Rights Act, whereupon Republicans promptly went about nullifying the votes of people of color through gerrymandering and voter suppression laws. What Republicans and the conservative justices they have appointed have effectively done is destroy the integrity and legitimacy of SCOTUS.
Meet the new ugly face of white supremacy in America! Funny--it looks just like the old ugly face. Except this time they got their Imperial Wizard installed as Chief Jester of the Supreme Court, where he magically declared racism somehow no longer a problem in America, paving the way for thousands of new Jim Crow laws and egregious gerrymandering suppressing and disenfranchising millions of American voters. Of course, harsh realities will continue to exist irrespective of any blind eye or pretentious, capricious edicts by some Supreme Court. And Roberts' conservative SCOTUS decisions only confirm how the white supremacist problem and its perpetual "fix" on the American judicial branch and justice system has never gone away, as America continues to struggle with overcoming a racist history of colonialism, slavery, and discrimination.
"...we must recognize that one of the two political parties is routinely engaged in sabotaging free elections with voter-suppression efforts aimed at the minority voters it cannot win over at the ballot box. These anti-democratic power grabs became a GOP staple decades before Donald Trump, culminating in the actions of a George W. Bush–anointed chief justice, John Roberts, whose Supreme Court shredded the Voting Rights Act of 1965. As Roberts famously put it in his 2007 opinion for the plurality, “The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.” Since then, discrimination on the basis of race has only expanded in states like Georgia and Florida, where Black voting rights have been cavalierly undermined and trashed." ~ Frank Rich, November 9, 2020 (Written well before the rash of new Jim Crow laws now being proposed and passed by Republicans in many states.)
Chief Justice Roberts and his fellow conservative SCOTUS justices: the architects of a new era of Jim Crow in America. Need to expand SCOTUS to 15 justices, do away with the filibuster, pass a new Voting Rights Act, and let Biden appoint six new justices to bring sanity and justice back to the Supreme Court.
Three current Republican SCOTUS justices worked on Bush's legal team in Bush v. Gore, where a Republican SCOTUS made a partisan decision along partisan lines in what is widely regarded as one of the worst SCOTUS decisions ever, handing Bush the election.
Chief Justice John Roberts: Roberts flew to Florida in November 2000 to assist Bush's legal team. He helped prepare the lawyer who presented Bush's case to the Florida state Supreme Court and offered advice throughout. After Bush became president, he nominated Roberts to the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit (the Senate confirmed him in 2003); Bush then elevated Roberts to the chief justice position in 2005, to succeed William Rehnquist. During his Senate confirmation hearing, Roberts declined to reveal his view of the justices' 2000 decision.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh: He was also in private practice in 2000 and helped the Bush legal team. After the election, Bush hired Kavanaugh to be a counsel and then staff secretary. In the West Wing, Kavanaugh met his future wife, Ashley, who was Bush's personal secretary. Bush appointed Kavanaugh to the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, where Roberts had first served. In 2018, Trump elevated Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Judge
Amy Coney Barrett: Barrett wrote on the questionnaire she submitted to the Senate for her Supreme Court confirmation review, "One significant case on which I provided research and briefing assistance was Bush v. Gore. I did work on Bush v. Gore. I did work on behalf of the Republican side."
Roberts wrote the briefings Sandra Day O'Conner used in Bush v Gore to deny FL their vote. He was then nominated when she retired. She denied FL the vote so she could retire with a pro-lifer in the WH. She gasped in front of witnesses "That can't be" when FL was called for Gore.
On the very last day of its term before Independence Day, 2021, Republican SCROTUM (Supreme Court of Odious Treasonous Unhinged Maggots) dropped a turd on America, legalizing discrimination against people of color, modernizing Jim Crow, and turning the former SCOTUS into the new KKK headquarters, with Chief Jester Roberts appointing himself the Grand Imperial Wizard.
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Toxic Trump: "It's a HOAX!"
Much later: …."I got this pandemic completely under control, we're safe!"
Shortly after: …."It's not my fault! States need to take charge! I don't take ANY responsibility! It's unsafe! You need to stay home!"
Next day: ...."The cure is worse than the disease, you need to go back to work!
Next week: ...."Don't listen to me! Listen to the CDC!"
Following days: ...."USA #1 in coronavirus cases--and now we're #1 in coronavirus DEATHS! We're the BEST! Thanks to my extremely stable genius wartime leadership, only 100,000-240,000 Americans will die! We're doing a TREMENDOUS job! I still don't take ANY responsibility!"
Last week: ... "I've anointed myself All Powerful Dear Leader and will soon order all my subjects back to work despite lack of vaccine, cure, testing, PPE, medical staffing, and the sure-fire massive resurgence resulting thereof, killing tens of thousands more Americans--because this pandemic is killing my lucrative Emoluments business, and even my Soviet-style election chances!"
Now: … "Scratch that; might have to actually do stuff. My greatest-ever new half-baked plan shifts all responsibility and blame back to governors! For now. Somewhat. Maybe. We'll be letting you know, hopefully! Did I mention I've been popping hydroxychloroquine like candy, contrary to medical recommendations?"
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The American workplace isn't ready for an epidemic. Many Americans have no insurance, many others can ill-afford deductibles, still more can't afford to take off work when not feeling well; more than a third of jobs don't offer sick days, and even where available, they may have been already used, or employees try saving them for more serious illness--all making us extremely vulnerable to epidemics such as COVID-19. Many jobs in America involve low-paying work in the service industry, where employees are in constant contact with, and exposed to, a huge swath of the public on a daily basis. These folks typically don't get sick days or insurance benefits, and can ill-afford to miss any work because of loss of money and the threat of losing their job. Many are ill-educated, and may not pay sufficient heed to health warnings, further exacerbating the spread of the epidemic facing us all.
In plausible worst-case-scenarios given the pattern of the outbreak thus far, the country could experience acute shortages not just in ventilators but also health workers to operate them and care for patients; hospital beds; and masks and other protective equipment. Trump administration facing increasing criticism for not using these many weeks after learning of COVID-19 to prepare increased hospital capacity, stockpile medications, obtain adequate amounts of respirators and other equipment that will be vitally needed in the U.S.
“Even during mild flu pandemics, most of our I.C.U.s are filled to the brim with severely ill patients on mechanical ventilation,” said Dr. Eric Toner, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and an expert on health care preparedness. “I hope and pray Covid-19 turns out to be a moderate pandemic, but if not, we’re in serious trouble,” he said.
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Let's just call January 6 what it actually was -- a Republican smash and grab, an act of violent larceny against democracy and sedition employing domestic terrorism right out in open sight.
"Without accountability, an attempted autogolpe and insurrection is just practice."
"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ― Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
So, why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. Because our democracy, our institutions, and our very security is seriously endangered. And because rule of law and justice for all really does matter.
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Who Cares For three years, Republicans have propped up and protected a corrupt, sociopathic narcissistic menace to society, gaslighting and covering up Traitor Trump crimes, ineptness, and incompetence. Republicans don't really care about our country; time and again, for decades now, they have put their politics and greed for power above the welfare of this nation. The destructiveness of GOP politics on American government began under Nixon, but starting with Reagan it became a Republican selling point. Conservatism won't die, but Republicanism has become a zero-sum game for losers. This incarnation of the GOP needs to die, or it will be the end of American greatness.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It’s that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don’t care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn’t want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it’s more than hope—those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another three months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn’t really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
“The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.”
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump’s hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, John Eastman and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed? If Garland doesn't stand up for justice and democracy, this nation is soon doomed.
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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Who'd have ever equated voting in America with survival? But that's pretty much what it has boiled down to, hasn't it? Survival of ourselves, survival of our democracy, survival of our nation, and survival of our planet. The irony is that Republicans have always tried to falsely paint Democrats as an existential threat...but in doing so it is actually they who have become exactly that.
Democrat voters need an even greater turnout in '22 and '24, put the final fork in Trumpism! Republicans want to engage in Jim Crow voter suppression laws, voter intimidation, and egregious gerrymandering? Republicans want to engage in corruption, gaslight their corruption, coverup their corruption? Republicans want to turn a blind eye to Russian election interference and knowingly disseminate Russian propaganda for Putin? Republicans want to instigate and sanction Reich-wing domestic terrorist insurrection? Republicans want to live in delusion and denial about the major problems confronting the nation and planet? Let's just prove that's fuel for the fire, and make their fascist antidemocratic corruption backfire on them!
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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835,000 American fatalities from Covid-19 is not enough for Smercartoonish. Smercartoonish wants to wait until schools close down anyway because cases explode in schools because of the highly contagious Omicron variant, taking out children, teachers and school staff, while likely spreading Covid-19 further and faster, so that it can sicken, injure and kill more people, especially vulnerable people in the homes children come from? We have an imperfect situation that requires imperfect solutions. Most of us understand that. We're all very concerned about children, want them to attend in-person schooling. Am especially concerned about minority children, who suffer the most. In Milwaukee 1,040 children and staff were out with Covid in just the last week. And only 8% of eligible school children 5-11 in the district are vaccinated. People want kids in school, then mandate that all children attending school be vaccinated fully for Covid-19, just as is already done for other contagious diseases. We got schools in Republican controlled states that don't require masking in schools, which is insane.
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Republicans can't handle reality, would rather traffic and believe in lies. The GOP has become a fascist, nihilistic cult that would destroy democracy and America if given sufficient opportunity. And THAT, folks, is your reality check.
What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil. They are either actively or silently complicit in fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorist violence, Reich-wing insurrection, and Reich-wing undermining of our democracy and Constitution.
It's crystal clear that Trump, Boebert, Greene, Gosar and other Republicans like them are fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorism. The GOP has become radicalized to such an extent that it has essentially become a fascist terrorist organization, with members that fantasize and promote violence against their fellow Americans. While those Republican elected officials must be condemned and sanctioned, they are only a symptom of the disease poisoning a third of America, the most visible part of the cancer infecting our nation.
The GOP has been mainstreaming radicalization of their voter base for decades, ALLOWING Reich-wing media and Reich-wing demagogues to take over the party, to the point it has become a fascist, nihilistic cult. Because just as now, Republican politicians and their plutocratic masters have always seen it as the ends justifying whatever means to win power. Remember the Republican Tea Party? This catastrophe with the GOP didn't start with Trump, who just exploited what Republicans had already built.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle for graft and to grift their voters and us taxpayers. You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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Bush v. Gore, Citizens United, Chief Jester Roberts smiling and nodding along while presiding over sham Senate impeachment trial, Assassination Goon B.S. Barr butchering the law, slaughtering justice, politicizing and weaponizing the DOJ. It's why we lost all respect for the Supreme Court, the law, and the justice system in this country. Congratulations, Republicans, on turning our nation into a banana Republic, making America an object lesson to the world on how to destroy democracy!
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U.S. hospitals brace for ‘tremendous strain’ from new virus
Mar 13, 2020
U.S. hospitals are setting up circus-like triage tents, calling doctors out of retirement, guarding their supplies of face masks and making plans to cancel elective surgery as they brace for an expected onslaught of coronavirus patients.
Depending on how bad the crisis gets, the sick could find themselves waiting on stretchers in emergency room hallways for hospital beds to open up, or could be required to share rooms with others infected. Some doctors fear hospitals could become so overwhelmed that they could be forced to ration medical care.
“This is going to be a fairly tremendous strain on our health system,” warned Dr. William Jaquis, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians.
The United States is still facing an active flu season, and many hospitals are already running at capacity caring for those patients. The new virus will only add to that burden, said Dr. Bruce Ribner an infectious-disease specialist at Emory University’s medical school.
Government health authorities are taking emergency steps to waive certain laws and regulations to help hospitals deal with the crisis. Hospitals, too, are getting ready.
To keep suspected coronavirus patients from mingling with others in the ER, the Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, Maine, set up a tent in the parking lot where people with respiratory symptoms are diverted for testing. Lexington Medical Center in West Columbia, South Carolina, did the same outside its emergency room.
In Seattle, hit by the nation’s biggest cluster of coronavirus deaths, most of them at a suburban nursing home, UW Medicine set up drive-thru testing in a hospital parking garage and has screened hundreds of staff members, faculty and trainees, with nurses reaching through car windows and using swabs to collect specimens from people’s nostrils . Drive-thru testing is expected to be offered to patients as soon as Monday.
This week, the American Hospital Association, American Medical Association and American Nurses Association asked for a presidential emergency declaration that would allow doctors and nurses to work across state lines and would waive certain rules to free up hospital beds. Similar declarations were issued during Hurricane Katrina and the swine flu outbreak.
On Friday, President Donald Trump responded by issuing an emergency declaration and said he was giving the U.S. health secretary authority to waive federal regulations and laws to give doctors and hospitals “flexibility” in treating patients.
Trump also announced a government partnership with major businesses to set up drive-thru testing centers and a website to help people who think they might have the virus. Those testing locations could include parking lots at Walmart, Target, Walgreens and other major chains.
The American Medical Association praised the action. In a statement, Dr. Patrice Harris, AMA’s president, said the emergency declaration is needed to help ensure that the U.S. health care system “has sufficient resources to properly respond to the ongoing outbreak, prevent further spread of illness and keep our communities safe.”
How bad U.S. hospitals will be hit is unclear, in part because mistakes on the part of the government in ramping up widespread testing for the virus have left public health officials uncertain as to how many people are infected.
Officially, the number of cases in the U.S. was put at around 1,300 Friday, with at least 41 deaths. But by some estimates, at least 14,000 people might be infected.
Experts fear that when the problems with testing are resolved, a flood of patients will hit the nation’s emergency rooms. But large-scale testing will also give health authorities a clearer picture of the outbreak, enabling them to allocate resources where they are needed.
“What’s most important now is that we get the testing done,” said Richard Pollack, president of the American Hospital Association.
In hard-hit Italy, doctors have been forced to make agonizing decisions about which critically ill patients receive care. Doctors fear that could happen in the United States, too.
“Studies predict that a moderate outbreak could result in 200,000 patients needing intensive care,” said Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency medicine specialist at George Washington University. “The U.S. only has 100,000 intensive care beds, and most are already occupied. If tens of thousands become sick at once, people will simply not receive the care that they need.”
That would affect not only coronavirus patients but also trauma victims and people suffering heart attacks or strokes, Wen said.
In Wuhan, China, where the outbreak originated in late December, patients died because they couldn’t access care. “We are at risk of that happening in the U.S., too,” Wen said.
Seattle-area scientists are working to estimate how soon infections will overwhelm hospital beds there. Under the worst-case scenario, the number of active infections will exceed the number of beds by a large margin in the next two weeks, the Institute for Disease Modeling in Bellevue, Washington, said in a report this week.
For most people, the virus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. Most people recover from the virus in a matter of weeks, as has happened in mainland China.
Reacting to reports of dwindling supplies of respirator masks, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted relaxed recommendations this week for protective gear and said looser-fitting surgical masks are OK for doctors and nurses to wear when treating patients who may be sick from the coronavirus.
In another change, the CDC said coronavirus patients can be cared for in single-patient rooms with the door closed and do not need to be placed in specialized airborne-infection isolation rooms.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/u-s-hospitals-brace-for-tremendous-strain-from-new-virus
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, along with Reich-wing demagogues and media, who were complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance, and in spreading disinformation and misinformation. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump left office, one out of every 800 Americans had died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 410,000 fatalities, as many American casualties as all of WWII. To put it into further perspective, throughout Trump's catastrophic mishandling of a deadly global pandemic, the U.S. led the world in cases and deaths, suffering nearly 25% of each, despite having only 4.25% of global population, despite having the advantage of being the richest and most advanced nation in the world.
The memorial would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure. Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It’s that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes have to KNOW at some level he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don’t care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn’t want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it’s more than hope—those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another two months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn’t really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
“The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.”
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump’s hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic hyper-partisan Republican cult placing political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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@BelovedVision ~ Republican cult are cowards hiding behind the flag and the cross to commit the unspeakable. Bob Woodward talks about the "average American," but ignores how decades of round-the-clock programming through Reich-wing media like Faux News and social media platforms like Facebook have transformed a third of Americans into an ignorant tribalistic partisan mob that eschews facts, reason, science, and even democracy--unless only when or where they can momentarily benefit their purpose in gaining and holding minority power. As a result, there is no more "average American." Now, we have sane Americans...and a mindless proto-fascist Republican cult living in an alternate reality bubble world. Which is why this coming election is a battle for the soul of America--a battle likely to continue afterwards, regardless of the outcomes.
Toxic Trump and his mindless cult minions are like the hateful little child who got caught with both hands in the cookie jar; wanting to change the story, deflect, distract, engage in Whataboutism and projectionism...instead of just taking responsibility for his misdeeds.
You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It’s that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don’t care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn’t want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it’s more than hope—those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another four months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn’t really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
“The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.”
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump’s hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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Sure, Toxic Trump ordered the hit on peaceful demonstrators, but we all knew he is a thoroughly despicable person, and we know he is just trying to distract and incite. While alarming and worrisome, what bothers most is the behavior of the police, national guard, and active military who brutalized innocent, peaceful protestors, journalists, and even clergy providing humanitarian aid--on their own church property!--during their disgusting surprise blitzkrieg shock-and-awe ambush attack. Those law enforcement and military are responsible for their own behavior, and must be held to account. We don't need brown-shirt Gestapo here in America, blindly following orders they know to be immoral and unethical. The lack of leadership displayed at all levels below is particularly horrifying.
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"As many as 70,000 Americans could be confirmed as infected with coronavirus by the end of next week, marking a “pretty dramatic” increase in the number of confirmed cases, the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, told his employees in an agency-wide conference call on 03/20/20."
Except 03/21/20 saw a 33% jump in U.S. cases, from 18,000 to over 24,000. If continuing at 33% every 24 hours, the number of confirmed cases is trending much higher than just 70,000 by 03/27/20. Suspect confirmed cases will be double that. Bear in mind, states hardest hit are not testing many people, saving the tests for those most in need. So the actual number of infected Americans is going to be far higher than just what limited testing of the population has so far confirmed. Don't think this fact is being given enough attention. More important than the number of cases confirmed is the number contracting the disease and not getting tested, spreading the disease, in many cases unknowingly. Hospital projections are for about 100 MILLION Americans to become infected, with about 500,000 dead from covid-19.
(Update 5: Friday, 03/27/20, confirmed U.S. cases 105,000--which is 50% over NIH high-end estimate; deaths 1,700 by end of day. The perspective for cases is significantly skewed low and thus highly misleading, however, as just 0.17% of U.S. population has been tested to date.)
03/29/20 -- 143,000 confirmed cases; 2,450 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
03/30/20 -- 165,000 confirmed cases; 3,250 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
03/31/20 -- 190,000 confirmed cases; 4,200 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
04/01/20 -- 217,000 confirmed cases; 5,150 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
04/02/20 -- 246,000 confirmed cases; 6,050 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/03/20 -- 278,000 confirmed cases; 7,150 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/04/20 -- 312,000 confirmed cases; 9,400 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/05/20 -- 338,000 confirmed cases; 9,700 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/06/20 -- 369,000 confirmed cases; 11,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/07/20 -- 400,000 confirmed cases; 13,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. Figures indicate a Covid-19 fatality rate for TESTED Americans at 3.25%.
04/08/20 -- 432,000 confirmed cases; 15,900 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S.
04/09/20 -- 466,000 confirmed cases; 16,700 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S.
04/10/20 -- 502,000 confirmed cases; 18,800 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S.
04/11/20 -- 530,000 confirmed cases; 20,500 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S.
04/12/20 -- (Incomplete) 550,000 confirmed cases; 21,700 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S.
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Who'd have ever equated voting in America with survival? But that's pretty much what it has boiled down to, hasn't it? Survival of ourselves, survival of our democracy, survival of our nation, and survival of our planet. The irony is that Republicans have always tried to paint Democrats as an existential threat...but in doing so it is actually they who have become exactly that.
Democrat voters need an even greater turnout in '22 and '24, put the final fork in Trumpism! Republicans want to engage in Jim Crow voter suppression laws, voter intimidation, and egregious gerrymandering? Republicans want to engage in corruption, gaslight their corruption, coverup their corruption? Republicans want to turn a blind eye to Russian election interference and knowingly disseminate Russian propaganda for Putin? Republicans want to instigate and sanction Reich-wing domestic terrorist insurrection? Republicans want to live in delusion and denial about the major problems confronting the nation and planet? Let's just prove that's fuel for the fire, and make their fascist antidemocratic corruption backfire on them!
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or "the Wall") is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle's name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called "leaders" in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 -- than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to--and a barrier against--our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It's design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge--and help teach--people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see...if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and disturbing. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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***MEDIA FAIL*** -- Smercartoonish: "One side is following the science, experts, doctors, facts, data, and plain old-fashioned common sense. The other side is killing more Americans by making a deadly global pandemic political. I'm asking you to take part in an unreliable, unscientific poll sampling of this CNN audience that tells us absolutely nothing, because it's the really important thing for you to do right now! The question is, 'Do you think Toxic Trump and his band of bioterrorists will prevail in killing more Americans in reelecting him, so he can continue his killing spree for four more years?'" MEDIA BE BETTER, WE BE BETTER!
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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Instead of embracing the reverence for nature and sustainability practiced by the America's indigenous peoples, we have entered into a death pact with capitalism, consumerism, greed, and selfishness, largely forced upon the common person by large businesses and the wealthy, who continue exploiting us for the own short-sighted, immediate benefit. We bear some responsibility for that, too. For taking part, for allowing it to happen, and for allowing it to continue as long as it has. Until enough of us average citizens wake up and become active in changing how our cultures and societies operate, the downward spiral of our environment will continue leading us into a dead-end death trap. Capitalism and consumerism can serve a purpose. However, they should be viewed and utilized as just one tool at our disposal in our toolbox, and not overly relied upon, like a hammer used for every job, which does more destruction than good.
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So many people not taking this pandemic seriously enough, reminding one of little kids who think they're invincible and need to be constantly reminded and monitored not to run out into the street. Try explaining to them that this coronavirus isn't just an opportunistic killer, affecting only the very old or very vulnerable, but also a random killer, striking people of all ages in the peak of health. Try explaining to them how even if they don't suffer, their failure to follow common-sense health guidelines causes many others to suffer and die needlessly. They don't want to hear any of it, because it might interfere with them going to a bar or restaurant, going to the gym, getting together with friends, etc. While the bulk of responsibility for the excess suffering and deaths America has experienced goes to an abject failure in leadership by Trump and many other Republicans, individuals behaving with wanton recklessness bear some responsibility, too.
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"Peace is not a very big thing to ask for, is it?" ~ Fatima Gailani, Afghan activist and negotiator, pleading for continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan
It is when asking the Taliban, who do not seek peace or to bargain in good faith, but total domination once again. U.S. has spent 20 years and $2 trillion trying to achieve peace in Afghanistan, losing over 4000 American lives (military and civilian contractors), with tens of thousands of Americans wounded there.
"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials … have given Afghans little reason to support their government," Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the commander of U.S. forces in the country, wrote in a 2009 memorandum. "This crisis of confidence, coupled with a distinct lack of economic and educational opportunity, has created fertile ground for the insurgency."
That was 11 years ago, and little has changed since. Thought the invasion of Afghanistan by Bush was a mistake that would lead to a quagmire, and have been proven correct. Still, initially supported efforts to bring peace and stability there, along with basic human and civil-rights, because after invading felt we had an obligation to rebuild. However, while U.S. blunders there have contributed to a failure, Afghans are their own worst enemy, and no one can help them until enough of them are willing to help themselves.
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President Nero stoked racial animosities, igniting the embers, keeps feeding the flames. Lynching, murder of innocent civilians by law enforcement, followed by protests, riots, civil unrest, people hurt, property damaged--those were all inevitable with an arsonist in the Oval, even if COVID-19 wasn't presently so starkly highlighting the social and economic divides in this nation. You didn't see this coming, it's only because you refused to look.
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Market drops over 3,000 in just three days, wiping out $3.6 TRILLION from our accounts and economy in one WEEK--setting records for biggest losses EVER in the stock market for a day and for a week. Bankruptcy king Trump, dismissing COVID-19 as a "hoax": "Our Big Pharma, Big Med, and disinfectant companies are prospering!" That was the previous week. Monday, 03/08/20, market recorded it's new single biggest point loss day EVER--over 2,000 drop in the Dow, with nearly 8% loss in S&P and other benchmarks. Wednesday, 3/11/20, the market lost another 1,600 points, double the brief correction bounce it wiped out from the previous day.
On 03/12/20, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 2,352 points, or 10%. The index had its worst drop since the 1987 Black Monday market crash, when it collapsed by more than 22%.The S&P 500 plummeted 9.5%, joining the Dow in a bear market. The S&P 500 also hat its worst day since 1987. The Nasdaq closed 9.4% lower. Both the Dow and the S&P are now officially in a bear market (-20%), down more than 26% from its record high set just last month.
Thursday’s plunge came after yet another wild session on Wall Street and the demise of the Dow’s record-setting bull market run that began in March 2009. The blue-chip index tumbled 1,464.94 points, or 5.9%, to close at 23,553.22. The 30-stock average closed in a bear market, putting to end an expansion that started in 2009 amid the financial crisis. The Dow also plummeted more than 2,000 points on Monday.
“These markets have been impossible to predict,” said David Lafferty, chief market strategist at Natixis Investment Managers. “I think of them as kind of wind-sock markets. They’re just changing with whatever way sentiment is. There’s no fundamentals under these markets right now.”
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@menace2smoke ~You are at least being objective about one thing, Doc, and we give you kudos for that noble start! My earlier extended reply here laid out a number of reasons why Professor Turley is not very credible. Also, his recent testimony directly contradicts Turley's testimony in the Clinton impeachment, for which he offers no explanation.
But...if you think what he was saying was legit, you need to understand that he was NOT opposing impeachment, making it clear only that more witnesses should be called before a final vote in the House for referral to the Senate. Understand that Professor Turley's complete testimony was more an indictment of Trump, not offering any defense of the allegations against Trump whatsoever.
Turley is demonstrably wrong. Yes, partisan rancor is high. No higher, though, than many other times in our nation's history. Do Democrats "hate" Trump? No. Hate some of his policies? You bet. Hate his corruption? You bet. Are Democrats impeaching Trump reluctantly, as a distasteful duty that must be performed, like cleaning up after your dog outside? Yes. Is it necessary? Most definitely; it is essential to the future of this nation. Here's the thing, though: Trump isn't Democrat's dog, and it sure would be nice if Republicans started taking responsibility for their wayward pet, helping out, instead of just pretending they don't see it crapping in EVERYONE'S yard!!
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It’s that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don’t care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn’t want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it’s more than hope—those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another three months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn’t really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
“The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.”
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump’s hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It’s that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don’t care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn’t want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it’s more than hope—those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another four months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn’t really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
“The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.”
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump’s hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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@bratis99 - Like Trump, Biden won't change who he is. Unlike Trump, that's a good thing. TBH, we're common-sense progressive, and a bit disappointed with Obama, and now the choice of Biden. However, still respect that Obama tried mightily to bridge America, to work with Congressional Republicans. He wasn't more successful because of his skin color, and because of a Republican cult formed over decades by plutocrats, right-wing media, religious and other assorted grifters who programmed it to fear and hate Democrats through constant demonization and disinformation.
Biden has always been a uniter, and enjoys the advantage of being White. Also working in his favor are COVID-19, BLM, another economic meltdown, and the painful four-year lesson of Trump. Yet, it remains to be seen if he will have any more success than Obama in stitching America back together.
Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic hyper-partisan Republican cult placing political party over patriotism and country.
Wasn't expecting it, but Biden actually gave the best speech of the whole affair--against some really stiff competition! Next best, IMHO, Michelle, Barack, Jill, and Kamala (pre-convention). Also, surprisingly, felt this was the best Democratic Convention to date, despite (or, maybe even partly because of) being virtual. If one didn't feel the buzz and energy--check their pulse!
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Republicans constitute the minority, can't win on their merits, have sunk so low that they cheat to win elections. Under the Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, they've even taken to pushing Russian propaganda crackpot conspiracies to smear Democrats, using the DOJ and Congress to conduct phony investigations in an effort to unethically, if not illegally, influence elections. Most disturbing and troubling is the Republican cult that not only tolerates such nefarious aberrations, but encourages it, in short-sighted mindless tribalism willing to flush America down the toilet if perceived to benefit their power-obsessed partisan purpose of the moment. This reflects an abject failure not only in GOP so-called "leadership," but among that minority Republican electorate that enables such highly destructive damage to our democratic Republic.
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Trump and Republicans are like Jack and his band of boys in 'Lord of the Flies' who went native and turned barbaric. Ralph, Simon, Piggy and the other group of boys represent the rest of us who value civilization and order. Just as Jack and his band turned savage, killing and cannibalizing their fellow students on the deserted island they landed upon, Trump and Republicans, manically obsessed with power, money and vanity, have also turned savage, rejecting responsibility, reason, civility, morality, and science, killing their fellow Americans and cannibalizing our government. Except there will be no adults arriving to save those of us trying to do the right thing, like in the classic tale. We are the adults, and it is strictly up to us to save ourselves and this country from the fascistic, nihilistic impulses of Trump and Republicans.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
― Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a serious threat to our very security.
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again." ― Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney
More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They have essentially become a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Gee, didn't you know? Republicans don't care anything about protecting workers, public health, law, justice, or the environment...only about maximizing profits! That's how we got into this pickle in the first place, with 100,000 Americans dead in just three months; that's why other nations have stopped the spread, but we're STILL in the first wave, losing a 1,000 Americans daily, remember?
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Silly "Surrender" Sinema: "I strongly support these critical voting rights reform bills!"
Silly "Surrender" Sinema: "I will block passing these critical voting rights reform bills!"
Yeah, let's not abolish the filibuster because of its racist history, which is further perpetuating racism by not abolishing it! That's the warped logic of people like Charlie Brown Manchin and Silly "Surrender" Sinema.
Silly "Surrender" Sinema is once again being disingenuous, knowing and ignoring how the Republican obstructionism that began under Mitch McConnell in 2008 and has only gotten worse is not going to magically cease. She knows and ignores how Republicans have no interest in unity, that they instead seek to profit from divisiveness. She knows and ignores how passage of these voting rights bills is essential to preserving our democracy and republic. She knows and ignores that the filibuster is not a tradition, but a Civil War and Jim Crow relic, the legacy of slavery, White supremacists and White separatists. She dishonestly omits mention of the filibuster carve out for the debt ceiling made just a couple of weeks previous she voted for. And she deliberately neglects to inform us of all the corrupt money she is receiving from Republican donors and corporate lobbyists.
If Manchin and Sinema don't get on board with Biden, Schumer, Pelosi and all the rest of the Democrats, they will not only sink the Democratic Party and themselves, but they will be responsible for sinking democracy and America, too.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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Agree that Mueller conducted himself appropriately with honor, while Barr disgraced himself and the DOJ. However, Mueller had an obligation to more fully support his work in the aftermath of his investigation and report, and he failed the American people in that regard. Also agree with Holder on the need for Democrat's current strategy, using courts to set precedent and help check Executive overreaches while overcoming this administration's obstruction, so that evidence, witnesses, and testimony can be obtained to further accountability and critically enhance the prospect for impeachment success. Fast and Furious was a Republican witch hunt, and Holder should never have been held in contempt of Congress for protecting a necessary Constitutional principle (not Obama). Holder is right about Comey being wrong, as well, but more forgiving than warranted. However, sharply disagree that Nixon should have been pardoned, or that Trump should be pardoned or not prosecuted. If Holder had his way, the Civil War wouldn't have been fought, because it "was too damaging to the nation!"
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation—only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regurgitation
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump’s COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration…
Now reaching vacation destination!
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You don't get denialism without nihilism. As life-long conservative Bill Kristol astutely pointed our just recently in a tweet, the Republican party has embraced nihilism. Republicans still labeling COVID-19 a "hoax;" Republicans still refusing to wear masks or social distance after over half-a-million American fatalities from COVID-19; Congressional Republicans obstructing a COVID-19 stimulus bill certain to pass just to delay vital and urgently needed relief to Americans desperate for help; not one Congressional Republican in either chamber voting for the badly needed stimulus bill; Republican governors dropping mask mandates and all restrictions on businesses, heedless of rising case counts in their states and deadly new variants of the virus; and Republican leaders continuing to push the Big Lie that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen without evidence and in disregard of plentiful evidence and facts to the contrary, even AFTER their Big Lie incited a terrorist attack by a mindless Republican mob against the nation's Capitol in insurrection against the government, attempting to overturn a legitimate election, sieging, storming, sizing, sacking, defiling, defacing and disgracing America's citadel of, and temple to, democracy--these are all prime examples of nihilism.
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Another poster mentioned "Rosie the riveter" from WWII. But it shouldn't have to be mostly women shouldering the burden of suffering for this pandemic. Really, "Rosie" should be all Americans chipping in, doing their part. Problem is Republicans don't think we all need to work together in this war--and it is a war, even if the enemy is invisible--against COVID-19. For the Republican cult, it's all about me, me, me, the "right" to be stupid and inconsiderate, and greed for money, greed for power. The bulk of the blame goes to Toxic Trump's lies, gross incompetence, and homicidal criminal negligence, and all of those Republican so-called "leaders" who were complicit in those lies, in aiding and abetting him, and who likewise failed to be leaders. Because of Republicans, women and minorities were disproportionately punished, one out of every 800 Americans senselessly died, with the U.S. taking more casualties in ten months than lost in all of WWII, plus many injured, afflicted by either short-term or long-term debilitating conditions. Not to mention the tremendous hit to our economy, which could have been largely avoided. According to Oxfam, the wealthy in America will recover from this pandemic in nine months, while it will take the poor a decade.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian nationalism religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast would soon come to consume them.
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TRUM_PLANNED_EMIC!
Given plenty of advance warnings about COVID-19, Toxic Trump chose not to heed the sound advice provided. We could have been Taiwan, with a comparative 100 deaths in the U.S.; or South Korea, with a comparative 1500 deaths here, after adjusted for population size. Taiwan had just seven deaths; South Korea less than 300. We got over 124,000 deaths already, with the count still rapidly rising, while we remain, still, firmly mired in the first wave of the disease. Even worse, after six months, we STILL lack the adequate testing and rational national response to contain the disease.
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Before U.S. gun manufacturers bought off the NRA and the GOP to create a bogus political issue and instill fear, mass shootings weren't a thing in America and schools were much safer. Today, over 393 MILLION guns are owned by citizens, which translates to about 120 guns for every 100 citizens. A record number, 40 MILLION, were sold in 2020 alone. However, over 2/3 of Americans do NOT own ANY firearm; less than a third of U.S. citizens own all the firearms, which amounts to a whopping third of all civilian firearms owned in the world are in the U.S. The sheer number of firearms present in the U.S. makes accidental gun injury and death, rampant gun violence, and mass shootings a certainty. Owning a gun actually makes it more likely for a person to be shot. Children ages 5-14 are ELEVEN TIMES more likely to be killed with a gun in the U.S. compared to other developed countries. Ironically, the inescapable truth is that those purchasing and owning guns, often ostensibly for self defense, are making America less safe for everyone, including themselves.
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Dr. Fauci is being disingenuous and misleading, at times dissembling. Hasn't been totally forthright and forthcoming with the American people. That's very, very worrisome. 'Unfortunate' is not a word that helps anyone. It doesn't produce testing capabilities, ventilators, facilities, medical equipment and personnel that will be in very short supply. Crowded airports spreading disease, exacerbating pandemics are completely preventable by the government. You don't blame the passengers, shirking his own administration's responsibility for that fatal fiasco or this continuing deadly Trump and Republican debacle. Dr. Fauci is not telling us anything other experts outside the federal government haven't telling us already--he is following, not leading. Dr. Fauci keep preaching social distancing and being smart, but fails to set the appropriate examples for the American people--that's not a leader, nor does it inspire respect for him, or confidence his message will be taken seriously. If you're an epidemiologist, you're not allowing yourself to be regularly broadcast appearing in a crowded cluster in the middle of a sweeping pandemic ignoring your own sound advice--going against your Hippocratic Oath.
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PROTESTORS: Black lives matter! That's why it's VITALLY important that EVERYONE wear masks and social distance ten feet apart! That saves not only Black-minority-vulnerable people from death and suffering, but you're saving yourself and everyone else, too! Moreover, wearing masks responsibly shows that protestors demonstrating really DO care about human life, lending credibility and enduring impact towards this movement for justice and equality...AND, social distancing properly would greatly enhance the appearance of the protests, magnifying the presence of demonstrators, making them more effective! While the cause is worth fighting and even dying, senseless death from friendly fire, killing ourselves--due solely to a lack of common sense--is both just plain stupid and counterproductive to achieving our common goals. FEEL the emotion, USE your brain!
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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GOP cult is NOT the party of law and order, NOT the party of the Constitution and patriots, NOT the party of "values," NOT the party of "Christianity,"_* NOT the party of fiscal responsibility, NOT the party of clean government, NOT the party of freedom. It's the party of terrorism, lawlessness, corruption, fascism, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry, misogyny, Big Lies, crackpot conspiracy theories, unmitigated greed, gross hypocrisy, socialism for plutocrats, sedition, traitors, and tyranny.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or "the Wall") is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle's name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called "leaders" in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 -- than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to--and a barrier against--our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It's design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge--and help teach--people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see...if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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You not a Russian bot, Doc; you Kim Dong Ill, Trump's brutally sadistic lover! How'd you enjoy torturing the American, Otto Wambier? Had you jumping up and down with glee, laughing and clapping your filthy, chubby little hands? Did that make you happy seeing him die after you turned this innocent, bright, young American into a vegetable? It's OK, you're safe for now, your lover Trump is protecting you. Not for long, though, because real Americans, real patriots, gonna be firing his traitorous, apprentice butt, one way o' the other! Then he's going to jail for awhile. Couldn't have happened to a nicer President, but I'm sure you two will write lots of nice love letters back and forth telling him how great he is and the Biggest Loser ever.
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Getting vaccinated and following CDC guidelines brings freedom from preventable illness or injury, and a senseless premature death, but the mindless fascist Republican cult only believes in freeDUMB. Just as they don't understand or would deny the Constitution is as much about the common good as personal liberties, and that those two things are intrinsically and inextricably intertwined.
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge." ~ Ben Franklin, from Poor Richard's Almanack
Those who scorn public health guidelines during a deadly global pandemic and confuse a grievous public health issue with "essential" liberty to kill and harm themselves and their fellow citizens--as well as their nation--sorely lack both care and knowledge. They are also sorely lacking in common sense, something else about which Mr. Franklin was quite keen. Mr. Franklin was also one our nation's first scientists--yet these modern-day knuckleheads who ought know better refute science! Were he alive today, he would be rather dismayed, disgruntled, and disgusted with the fascist anti-science Republican cult, that much is crystal clear.
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@bsadewitz ~ Republicans only lie, deny,
And point fingers at the other guy.
We've posted that little ditty more than a few times, and it invariably draws approval, because it speaks a basic truth widely appreciated by anyone trying to have an honest political discussion with the Republican cult.
Whataboutism, projectionism, denialism, baseless ad hominem, blatant outright lies, misinformation, and other assorted logical fallacies are staples of the Republican cult. Intellectual dishonesty is their name, and it's their only game, because Republican cult can't argue honestly about the issues and their ideologies. They use it to distract, deflect, digress from the discussion at hand. It's been that way for four decades, steadily only getting worse, more pernicious and more pronounced. As someone old enough and intelligent enough to know, can bear solemn witness and testimony to that sad fact.
They've been programmed to fear, which is in turn then transformed to hate. They justify and rationalize their deceit, their lack of character and integrity by convincing themselves their political opponents are all socialists and baby-killers, welfare queens and lazy layabouts, leeching their hard-earned tax-payer dollars, unworthy Americans who are ashamed of their country and would destroy it.
It's all nonsense, of course, with little basis in fact, but that doesn't matter to the Republican cult, which has been cultivated, nourished, groomed, manipulated, and exploited by plutocrats and their media and corrupt politicians. The Republican cult knows at some level that Democrats are their neighbors, friends, family members, and fellow Americans, but through willful ignorance choose to label and perceive them as evil incarnate.
The solution? The Republican cult needs to be deprogrammed. How? Don't know. Don't think there are any easy answers to that.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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Worst economic downturn in American history, catastrophically botched COVID-19 pandemic response with over 160,000 senseless American deaths. TWENTY straight weeks of over ONE MILLION new unemployment claims. Deaths projected to double by the end of year due to most corrupt, incompetent, racist, and ignorant President in U.S. history. A treasonous President that compromised himself with Russia, who refuses to hold the U.S. principle foreign adversary accountable for its attacks on America, who won't even speak out against Russian bounties on U.S. soldiers. Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy: "Toxic Trump is doing a helluva job!" Rabid right-wing cult media is DESTROYING America!
What's really confusing America is Newsmax, Faux News, and all the other rabid right-wing media outlets propagating and spreading disinformation. Without the supporting cast of willing supplicant proto-fascist right-wing media exploiting and profiting from them, the lies and distortions of Toxic Trump and Republicans would hold very little power, and could not persist.
Anyone really all that surprised that the CEO of Newsmax, Chris Ruddy, is a dishonest partisan hack with no character or integrity whatsoever? If so, that's only because you've never seen Newsmax.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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@wrinkleypinkley ~ Just to be clear, said nothing about Uptown Sinclair, the reply to you was only noting that Sinclair Lewis was the wrong attribution. What can be seen in a number of quotes are a more succinct or modernized form of conveying the same idea contained in an older quote, or applying it in a new way, such as with the Eugene Dobbs quote being later applied to fascism by another unknown person.
I have read books on fascism, and much of what has marked fascism in the past is observed in today's GOP and other nationalist movements around the world. Even staunch Republicans, such as Michael Gerson, have characterized the current GOP as neo-fascist, proto-fascist, or just plain fascist. In my view, those three things all amount to fascism, and we should all be very concerned with the dark, dangerous, sharp Riech-wing turn the GOP has taken.
Social democracy does not automatically equate to socialism, but Republicans have long disingenuously sought to paint Democrats and the Democratic Party as socialist or communist, simply for partisan gain. Social programs like Social Security or universal health care are a far cry from socialism. Moreover, as you point out, socialism is not necessarily the evil Republicans try to make it out to be. Moreover, there are many widely different forms of socialism, but they are all compatible with democracy, unlike communism, fascism, plutocracies, oligarchies, and other types of authoritarian government.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of corruption, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their deal with the Devil.
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@paradisepipeco ~ Well, got the notification about it being "a well-crafted bit of highly relevant satire" and you being disheartened because some people didn't get the point, but your comment had disappeared, so don't what the rest of it said! The YouTube / Google comment section is notoriously buggy. Have had the same happen to me plenty of times, and its extremely frustrating. Also frustrating is that I get less than half of my notifications. Sometimes, as now with you, I'll be getting your notifications, but only to find out I have 20 replies on another comment, with no notifications to alert me until the twenty-first reply suddenly generates a notification.
Appreciate the kind words, and will keep your offer in mind. Feel free to post those simian quotes on my channel in the comments; they will be appreciated. "Tommy Two Tacos" was the YouTube moniker for the guy who wrote that funny bit. The Homer Simpson quote was new to me, and had to laugh out loud. The Evangelical Trumpezoids would approve, not getting that the joke was on them, which is what makes it so funny. As for preaching to the choir and your verbosity, it's all well and good. It's always a pleasure having an intelligent discussion, and you express yourself very well and with humor. Even discourse with those in agreement is beneficial, as it can provide new perspectives, hone one's own perspectives and abilities to communicate them, while allowing others to also benefit and join in.
“Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.” ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt
“A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned how to walk forward.” ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt
"Progress and justice possess similarities: both can be swift, but too often they are a long time coming."
~ wily wascal
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Merrick Garland: "Trump and Congressional Republicans screwed me out of a seat on the Supreme Court...that's why now as AG I can't prosecute them for the many crimes they've committed!"
Merrick Garland’s House Testimony Demonstrated the Failure of His Hyper-Cautious Approach to His Job
Despite Garland’s many efforts to not appear political by declining to investigate Trump and his cronies for possible crimes and by using DOJ resources to actively protect Trump from civil liability, Republicans are still portraying him as the most political attorney general in history.
The other weakness of Garland’s timid approach was on full view during his opening statement and responses to Democratic members of Congress. “The essence of the rule of law is that like cases are treated alike. That there not be one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans; one rule for friends, another for foes,” Garland stated grandly. But by declining to investigate Trump and his associates, Garland is enabling further attacks on our democracy. (While proving inequity by putting Republicans above the law.)
Crucially, the two parties are not the same. Garland’s standard sets up a false equivalency between the Democratic Party and a political party whose national leader, Donald Trump, incited and celebrated a violent assault on our nation’s Capitol to overthrow the results of a free and fair election and who continues to portray the insurrection as a glorious “protest.” To that end, in the middle of the attorney general’s testimony, Trump issued a statement highlighting Garland’s feebleness at failing to even investigate the organizers and leaders of the Jan. 6 events, declaring “the insurrection took place on November 3, Election Day. January 6 was the Protest!”
Garland’s efforts to depoliticize the DOJ have proved to be an abdication of his responsibility to protect the rule of law. Take just a few examples: Garland’s failure to reconsider the obstruction of justice case against the former president, his deferral of an investigation of possible financial crimes by Trump and his organization to local prosecutors in New York City and Westchester, his use of the DOJ to protect Trump from defamation allegations, and his deferral of a soliciting of voter fraud felony probe in Georgia to local prosecutors there. By abdicating his responsibility, Garland is also opening the door for Trump to commit these possibly criminal abuses all over again, this time with the full support of the Republican Party, and maybe ultimately return to power.
--Mark Stern
"Try as he may, Merrick Garland cannot perform boring independence fast enough to outrun GOP claims that he’s a wild-eyed, violent socialist. And while the GOP currently exists only to cast everything you thought you believed into doubt, the real endgame is vigilantism. The endgame is to ensure that people mistrust government, election systems, school boards, (teachers, health care officials) the media, and the justice system enough to lend a hand in their destruction."
--Dahlia Lithwick
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While mostly agree with Rep. Duetch, he has no words of defense for his fellow Democratic colleagues subjected to racist attacks here, instead throwing them under the bus, equating those he KNOWS are not anti-Semitic, and whose words have been taken out of context, with those who are known racists with a divisive agenda. He shows no indication of understanding or empathy how Palestinians and Muslims can feel the same fear of Israel and Jews he does for anti-Semitism, when people in the Israeli government, Jews, and other Islamophobic racists speak of them as animals and terrorists. Does he feel any empathy for the over 1,000,000 Palestinians Israeli Jews ethnically cleansed from Israel to create a "Jewish" nation, and how many and their descendents are still forced to live in refugee camps 70 years later because Israel denies them their natural and legal right of return to their homes and properties, which were illegally appropriated? Don't believe Jews control the world or its monetary systems, but neither is it any secret that Israeli front organizations like AIPAC unduly influence U.S. foreign policy through campaign donations and other political means. We need to talk about that, Rep. Deutch, and we need to be clear about where American interests end and Israeli interests begin. That can't--and shouldn't--be brushed under the rug as anti-Semitic.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over four decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over four decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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"As many as 70,000 Americans could be confirmed as infected with coronavirus by the end of next week, marking a “pretty dramatic” increase in the number of confirmed cases, the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, told his employees in an agency-wide conference call on 03/20/20."
Except 03/21/20 saw a 33% jump in U.S. cases, from 18,000 to over 24,000. If continuing at 33% every 24 hours, the number of confirmed cases is trending much higher than just 70,000 by 03/27/20. Suspect confirmed cases will be double that. Bear in mind, states hardest hit are not testing many people, saving the tests for those most in need. So the actual number of infected Americans is going to be far higher than just what limited testing of the population has so far confirmed. Don't think this fact is being given enough attention. More important than the number of cases confirmed is the number contracting the disease and not getting tested, spreading the disease, in many cases unknowingly. Hospital projections are for about 100 MILLION Americans to become infected, with about 500,000 dead from covid-19.
(Update 5: Friday, 03/27/20, confirmed U.S. cases 105,000--which is 50% over NIH high-end estimate; deaths 1,700 by end of day. The perspective for cases is significantly skewed low and thus highly misleading, however, as just 0.17% of U.S. population has been tested to date.)
03/29/20 -- 143,000 confirmed cases; 2,450 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
03/30/20 -- 165,000 confirmed cases; 3,250 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
03/31/20 -- 190,000 confirmed cases; 4,200 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
04/01/20 -- 217,000 confirmed cases; 5,150 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
04/02/20 -- 246,000 confirmed cases; 6,050 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/03/20 -- 278,000 confirmed cases; 7,150 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/04/20 -- 312,000 confirmed cases; 9,400 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/05/20 -- 338,000 confirmed cases; 9,700 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/06/20 -- 369,000 confirmed cases; 11,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/07/20 -- 400,000 confirmed cases; 13,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. Figures indicate a Covid-19 fatality rate for TESTED Americans at 3.25%.
04/08/20 -- 432,000 confirmed cases; 15,900 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S.
04/09/20 -- 466,000 confirmed cases; 16,700 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S.
04/10/20 -- 502,000 confirmed cases; 18,800 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S.
04/11/20 -- (Incomplete) 523,000 confirmed cases; 20,200 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S.
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@Pufferthetrollman - You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It's that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don't care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another five months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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@donreygaert501 Who'd have ever equated voting in America with survival? But that's pretty much what it has boiled down to, hasn't it? Survival of ourselves, survival of our democracy, survival of our nation, and survival of our planet. The irony is that Republicans have always tried to paint Democrats as an existential threat...but in doing so it is actually they who have become exactly that.
Democrat voters need an even greater turnout in '22 and '24, put the final fork in Trumpism! Republicans want to engage in Jim Crow voter suppression laws, voter intimidation, and egregious gerrymandering? Republicans want to engage in corruption, gaslight their corruption, coverup their corruption? Republicans want to turn a blind eye to Russian election interference and knowingly disseminate Russian propaganda for Putin? Republicans want to instigate and sanction Reich-wing domestic terrorist insurrection? Republicans want to live in delusion and denial about the major problems confronting the nation and planet? Let's just prove that's fuel for the fire, and make their fascist antidemocratic corruption backfire on them!
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GOP cult is NOT the party of law and order, NOT the party of the Constitution and patriots, NOT the party of "values," NOT the party of fiscal responsibility, NOT the party of clean government, NOT the party of freedom. It's the party of terrorism, lawlessness, corruption, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry, misogyny, Big Lies, socialized taxpayer payouts for plutocrats, sedition, traitors, and tyranny.
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"Hey, wily wacal here--on a scale of one to 10, what is your approval rating for Chris Cillizza and his four-year old out-of-control screaming destructive brat who doesn't listen to anyone?"
"Well, since we're lumping everyone together, they get a big fat ZERO!"
Sorry, Chris--looks like you lose! Or, is it really all of us who lose when presenting meaningless generalities to be meaninglessly judged? Whatever happened to nuance? Got lost somewhere on you, Chris?
Democrats: Put the least among us first to make us all strong.
Republicans: Put themselves first, prey upon the weak, hypocritical posers cowardly hiding behind their plastic Jeebus and the polyester flag, while they diminish, degrade, and destroy us with their ignorance, malevolence, arrogance, and avarice.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of corruption, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their deal with the Devil.
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Who'd have ever equated voting in America with survival? But that's pretty much what it has boiled down to, hasn't it? Survival of ourselves, survival of our democracy, survival of our nation, and survival of our planet. The irony is that Republicans have always tried to paint Democrats as an existential threat...but in doing so it is actually they who have become exactly that.
Democrat voters need an even greater turnout in '22 and '24, put the final fork in Trumpism! Republicans want to engage in Jim Crow voter suppression laws, voter intimidation, and egregious gerrymandering? Republicans want to engage in corruption, gaslight their corruption, coverup their corruption? Republicans want to turn a blind eye to Russian election interference and knowingly disseminate Russian propaganda for Putin? Republicans want to instigate and sanction Reich-wing domestic terrorist insurrection? Republicans want to live in delusion and denial about the major problems confronting the nation and planet? Let's just prove that's fuel for the fire, and make their fascist antidemocratic corruption backfire on them!
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, John Eastman and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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@rickeyclaiborne5521 ~ Portugal actually has 87% of its population vaccinated, which it credits for its very low hospitalization rate, despite experiencing a huge spike in cases.
No, we don't yet know if Covid-19 is here to stay. It's merely a possibility, not a probability or a certainty. Given the history of past pandemics, that seems unlikely, especially with the availability of modern vaccines. It seems more likely that in a year or two at most we may see only isolated cases because of herd immunity. A vaccine had already been developed for the Delta variant, and a new one for Omicron is due to be ready in just a couple of months. It's possible a new vaccine will be developed that works on multiple variants and is more resistant to new variants, which would soon virtually wipe out Covid-19.
Getting vaccinated, wearing masks and following public health guidelines is no guarantee of not getting Covid-19, but it does reduce the risk of contracting it for you and others. The unvaccinated are more likely to contract Covid-19 and pass it to others, and breakthrough infections of the vaccinated tend to be asymptomatic or mild, with less likelihood of passing it to others. And we know that masks do work to help stop the spread. Your ignorant nonsensical argument is like saying the guy that's legally blind without glasses shouldn't wear his glasses when he drives, because he could get into an accident, anyway, and hurt someone else. You're also deliberately ignoring the critical point that the vaccine greatly reduces the risk of serious illness and death, and how it prevents hospitals, medical personnel, and morgues from being overwhelmed.
You're also making a stupid, nonsensical argument about comorbidities. Doesn't matter if a person has diabetes and gets hit by a drunk driver while walking down the sidewalk; the cause of death was not diabetes, and it is not listed as such. A person with diabetes who contracts Covid-19 and dies might have been expected to live another 50 years otherwise -- it wasn't the diabetes that killed them, it was Covid-19.
You're trying to downplay over 821,000 American fatalities from Covid-19, and you demonstrate your critical lack of humanity and compassion when you try to discount those with vulnerabilities, as if they somehow aren't Americans worthy to live, as if many of them didn't contribute to society. Your attitude is, "that's sad, but too bad. Oh, well, it's not me, it's somebody else." Until it's not someone else, it's you or one of your loved ones, if you have any.
You're ignoring the facts presented on Omicron, which is that while less deadly, the sheer number of extra cases from increased transmissibility translates to more flooded ICU's and deaths. You're ignoring the fact presented that the Delta variant is still present in the U.S. and causing hospitalizations and deaths. And you're conveniently ignoring the high rates of daily death happening right now from Covid-19.
What we're seeing with these new variants is more children getting severely ill from Covid-19, some of them dying. Many of them have no underlying health condition. And younger, healthy people have increasingly also been getting severely ill and dying, usually unvaccinated. Being younger and healthy may reduce risk, but there is still less chance of getting hit by lightning. Yet, no sane person goes to the top of the hill to sit under a tree during a lightning storm. It's no different with taking precautions against Covid-19.
In conclusion, I don't need your permission to do the right thing, my civic and patriotic duty, for me, my loved ones, my coworkers, my community, and my country. And let's not be dishonest here; I am not "forcing" you or anyone else to do anything. You are not the victim -- yet. The victims are the 821,000 Americans who died from Covid-19, many of those deaths preventable.
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@melsop54 ~ You could easily talk to your doctor, your health care provider, your local health department to get expert answers to your questions, but you don't. Instead, it's quite obvious you come here just to spread doubt and Covid-19 misinformation and disinformation. Or are you really stupid enough to use social media comments for important life and death decisions about your health?
No recommendation has been given for getting four Covid-19 shots in a year, so you're lying about that. Only the first booster has been recommended after six months (not four months) so you're being dishonest about that, as well. You're engaging in hyperbole, as it is uncertain how long Covid-19 could persist. Pandemics don't generally last that long, especially now that we have vaccines. And vaccines have greatly reduced the harm from many more virulent pathogens, virtually eradicating a number of them.
It's possible that for a time an annual Covid-19 booster shot may be recommended in the future, but the frequency or need will be determined accordingly by the medical data and science. It involves a benefit-to-risk assessment, and the benefit of Covid-19 vaccinations and booster far outweighs any negligible risk.
You appear to be anti-science, and your own risk assessment capability fatally flawed. On the one hand, I sincerely hope it doesn't prove fatal to you, and on the other hand, if you were to die from Covid-19, at least you would no longer be able to sicken, injure or kill others anymore with your refusal to take proper precautions to protect yourself and others. So, there is some mixed feelings for people like you; I certainly don't wish them ill, but neither do I have much sympathy for those who hurt themselves and others through their own ignorance.
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@melsop54 ~ No, the Covid-19 vaccination is not useless, and the rate of spread higher among the unvaccinated, because the vaccinated are less likely to contract Covid-19 and more likely to be asymptomatic or only experience mild symptoms for a short time, translating to less or no transmissibility. So, you are once again dishonestly operating from a false premise.
Nobody is taking 12 Covid-19 shots, so you're once again dishonestly engaging in pure hyperbole with your comparison. Millions of people take annual flu shots every year, which helps reduce the incidence of flu, serious illness and death. Sometimes the flu vaccine can be the same as the previous year, but often it is calibrated for different strains and what is presumed will be the dominant variety. No different than calibrating vaccinations for Covid-19. Other vaccines require periodic boosters, too. But no sane, rational person is thinking, "Oh, I've had 12 flu shots over the past dozen years, that must mean the flu shot isn't working!" Or, "I got a different strain of the flu this year from the probable variants the flu vaccine was designed for, so I should stop taking the flu vaccine!" Your argument is just plain ridiculous.
The point of getting vaccinated is to protect people and help stop the spread. You're being deliberately obtuse in ignoring how Omicron is a new variant that is highly contagious. You're being deliberately obtuse to the fact that it is mostly unvaccinated people getting severely ill and dying from Covid-19, overflowing hospitals and morgues and overwhelming health care workers, which we have seen repeatedly now inevitably leads to a decrease in the quality and availability of health care. There are only two possibilities, Doc. Either you're playing stupid, or you really are that stupid. Suspect it is the latter, but that still constitutes ignorance.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-‘n-‘Thief, Toxic Trump, so much—although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages—as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, homophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, divisive, anti-science, anti-democratic raving lunatic and his corruption, a man compromised by foreign nations, including our principle adversary, through his tremendous debt. Between that, his catastrophic, irresponsible handling of COVID-19, and his incitement of anti-democratic violent Reich-wing groups, Trump has made himself America's #1 most serious national security threat. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself, mental illness, and his upbringing, who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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After reading the Mueller report, it was already obvious Barr not only destroyed his own credibility, but he delegitimized and diminished his office and the department he ran. What really blows the mind is the scale of duplicity of not only Barr, but also Republicans in Congress, who are mostly either in silent acquiescence or actively obfuscating and obstructing holding this President to account for his traitorous and corrupt acts, which are in plain sight. I never, never, in my life would have imagined the malfeasance and cowardice of the current Republicans sabotaging the rule of law and neglecting their Constitutionally mandated duties. This is history happening, yet Republicans want to pretend like nothing is wrong with this administration--nothing to see here, folks, move along, move along! This enabling of a corrupt President by Congressional Republicans solely for partisan reasons is both preposterous and very dangerous to our nation. It's actually pretty scary that our nation has sunk this low. Where and when there is darkness, we must shine light.
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***MEDIA FAIL*** -- Questions were answered, just not with a 'yes' or 'no.' CNN making mountains out of molehills, trying to stir controversy, jack ratings, mesmerize the masses for more mega-moola. It's all about the "SOUND BITE," right, CNN, not the substance of the issue here? Fact is, DCCC and AOC may have their differences, but the common ground between them is vast, far more than any petty disagreements. We all know that, but CNN not going to let the truth get in the way of fabricating a fiction for followers of such foolery.
DCCC's Bustos didn't do herself any favors, either. We expect politicians to speak diplomatically and to parse their words to please the largest proportion of people. However, here the affirmative admission was made in both instances, anyway, so a simple straightforward 'yes' answer to both questions would be appropriate, reflecting both on her and Democrats favorably. Instead, Bustos comes off as being less than honest, reflecting poorly on both herself and Democrats--pointlessly, for no good reason, whatsoever! In fact, she was being honest, if also reserved and reticent, in her answers.
The bottom line here is the reporter kept redundantly asking the same questions, despite being supplied the same AFFIRMATIVE answers each time. That's on the reporter, not the DCCC chair. Doggedly determined to dig dirt and dominate, but denied going down in the ditch, diatribe dip at the CNN desk deserved to be dangled and dissed.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
Democrats, Independents, others: WTF?!?
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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~ Bad Vibration, Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
What location revitalization?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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Your moral of the story seems to be that the firefighters should let the arsonists have their way, otherwise, both sides are at fault! You're glib remark doesn't make sense in current context, and helps nothing. We all recognize the polarization, lament it, but what is your solution? You provide none, and you don't even accurately identify the root of the problem, so that it can be addressed properly.
The problem with this comment isn't the quote, but failing to put it into proper context, to apply it in a way more meaningful and relevant to the situation. Sometimes, it is necessary to oppose fascism wherever it rears its ugly head, regardless of how many, or how few, political parties exist in that nation, or which are in support or opposition of those fascist authoritarian tendencies. But they should NOT all be lumped together to be judged the same, blamed equally. They are not equal, nor are they all equally at fault. This comment fails to make that critical distinction.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much to future generations--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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In plausible worst-case-scenarios given the pattern of the outbreak thus far, the country could experience acute shortages not just in ventilators but also health workers to operate them and care for patients; hospital beds; and masks and other protective equipment. Trump administration facing increasing criticism for not using these many weeks after learning of COVID-19 to prepare increased hospital capacity, stockpile medications, obtain adequate amounts of respirators and other equipment that will be vitally needed in the U.S..
“Even during mild flu pandemics, most of our I.C.U.s are filled to the brim with severely ill patients on mechanical ventilation,” said Dr. Eric Toner, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and an expert on health care preparedness. “I hope and pray Covid-19 turns out to be a moderate pandemic, but if not, we’re in serious trouble,” he said, referring to the name given the disease caused by the virus.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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'IMMIGRATION FOR DUMMIES' -- by Activated Head of Fatherland Security, Kevin K. McAleenan
"So...What I did was I worked really hard with Trump administration to make draconian changes to immigration policies that creates bottlenecks, backlogs, and a HUGE increase in detention rates. So...We did this despite knowing that our lack of capabilities could only lead to greatly overcrowded facilities (concentration camps, if you prefer); poor conditions; human rights abuses against children, refugees, and migrants of color; lasting traumatic damage done to the children; vastly increased costs to the American taxpayer; the demoralization, desensitization, destabilization, depletion and destruction of our vital government workforce securing our borders and dealing with immigration. So...Just to be clear here, at the end of the day, the only goal was to extort money from Congress by torturing children and innocent people we hold hostage. Call it kidnapping if you want. So...Then we take the money and hand it over to our crony friends running the "detention centers" that they may profit from all this misery! So...You can see how our diabolical plan worked to perfection, we got our ransom money for CBP. So...That's why I'm working with my Republican cohorts in Congress to run the same scam again for ICE! So...Yes, we were experiencing difficulties achieving the profit margins anticipated with our wall street, but that open-ended venture continues to pay dividends for our money men and sycophants, as well!"
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-‘n-‘Thief, Toxic Trump, so much—although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages—as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, homophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, divisive, anti-science, anti-democratic raving lunatic and his corruption, a man compromised by foreign nations, including our principle adversary, through his tremendous debt. Between that, his catastrophic, irresponsible handling of COVID-19, and his incitement of anti-democratic violent Reich-wing groups, Trump has made himself America's #1 most serious national security threat. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself, mental illness, and his upbringing, who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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@jairoherrera4040 ~ If Trump had been a Democrat, he would have been impeached after the Mueller Report, and Democrats would not be supporting him or any followers of his. We might not like it, but we would either vote for the Republican candidate to prevent someone like Trump from getting reelected, or not vote at all. Republican tribal partisan has turned their political party into a cult, to where even Republicans like this Republican candidate in the video are incapable of being objective or fully truthful, of doing what's best for the country, instead of placing their party before the country.
While the Republican candidate here is definitely an improvement over those like Jim Jordan, Matt Gaetz, Lyndsey Graham, Ted Cruz, Marjorie Taylor Greene, etc., and am glad to see him provide an alternative to Republicans that don't like Trump, he is still not someone I would vote for, regardless of his political ideology, for the above reasons stated. Don't think he stands a chance of getting elected, anyway, because the GOP has become a cult; it has gone round the bend and off the deep end. Until that changes, Republicans just can't be trusted in power. Which is a shame, because I believe having a LOYAL opposition party is a good and necessary thing. But the GOP has abdicated that duty and responsibility, sadly and disturbingly.
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@carlosrojas01 ~ I've thought about it, and you're presenting disinformation and a very distorted, idealized view of Afghanistan. The vast majority of Afghans certainly welcomed U.S. help in fighting off the Russians. And a good majority of Afghans had become opposed to harsh Taliban rule, and had certainly welcomed U.S. help in overthrowing their former regime.
The fact that you begin your address with "gentlemen," ignoring the other half of the population, is also reflective in your claims about Afghanistan, which also ignores how the women in Afghanistan were severely oppressed under the Taliban, and were not free at all, much less "freer than all of us."
Afghanistan has long been excessively tribalistic and divided, and that had begun to change somewhat for the better over the past 20 years. Such tribalism has been the cause of ethnic strife and less freedoms than found in most other nations. You say that "they did not have racism, apartheid, and segregation like you." You seem to be omitting yourself from that statement, which is curious. Also curious is how you came by the erroneous idea that there exists "racism, apartheid, and segregation" in every other nation besides Afghanistan. That's simply not true. It's not true, not for America, and not for most other nations, either.
You sound like one of Putin's sock-puppet propaganda pawns, and given your relatively new YouTube account, it seems likely you are. #moreRussiasanctions
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~ Bad Vibration, Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization duration
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
What location revitalization?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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--Instead of striving to bring out the best in people, Toxic Trump reveled in bringing out the very worst.
--Instead of uniting the country, Toxic Trump sought to divide us.
--Instead of abiding by and honoring our Constitution and the rule of law, Toxic Trump held them in disdain, disregarded them, and degraded them, running the most corrupt administration in U.S. history..
--Instead of strengthening democracy and our cherished institutions, Toxic Trump worked to diminish and destroy them, inciting a terrorist insurrection against his own government, attempting a coup to steal an election.
--Instead of insuring a peaceful transfer power after losing the election, Toxic Trump kept insisting against all evidence that he won, continuously repeating the Big Lie that resulted in the terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol.
--Instead of confronting a serious threat to Americans with a deadly global pandemic, Toxic Trump lied to the American people about it, ignored it, and refused to take any responsibility for his gross homicidal criminal negligence that resulted in one out of every 800 Americans dying from COVID-19--over 400,000 lives in just ten months, as many casualties as all of WWII.
--Instead of confronting the ever-increasing existential crisis from climate change and its harmful effects, Toxic Trump gutted regulations, exacerbating the problem and poisoning citizens.
--Instead of creating jobs, Toxic Trump was the first President since the Great Depression to preside over a net loss of jobs over his tenure.
--Instead of lowering the national deficit, Toxic Trump increased it from 19.2 trillion to 27 trillion.
--Instead of building bridges, humane immigration reform, and infrastructure, Toxic Trump built walls, cages, and concentration camps, separated children from mothers, allowed American infrastructure to decline and deteriorate, rejected economic opportunity.
--Instead of raising our standing and security in the world, Toxic Trump lowered and weakened it.
--Instead of draining the swamp, Toxic Trump turned it into a noxious overflowing Republican sewer.
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War against a foreign country only happens when the moneyed classes think they are going to profit from it. ~ George Orwell
"Peace is not a very big thing to ask for, is it?" ~ Fatima Gailani, Afghan activist and negotiator, pleading for continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan
It is when asking the Taliban, who do not seek peace or to bargain in good faith, but total domination once again. U.S. has spent 20 years and over $2 trillion trying to achieve peace in Afghanistan, losing over 4000 American lives (military and civilian contractors), with tens of thousands of Americans wounded there.
"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials … have given Afghans little reason to support their government," Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the commander of U.S. forces in the country, wrote in a 2009 memorandum. "This crisis of confidence, coupled with a distinct lack of economic and educational opportunity, has created fertile ground for the insurgency."
That was 11 years ago, and little has changed since. Thought the invasion of Afghanistan by Bush was a mistake that would lead to a quagmire, and have been proven correct. Still, initially supported efforts to bring peace and stability there, along with basic human and civil-rights, because after invading felt we had an obligation to rebuild. However, while U.S. blunders there have contributed to a failure, Afghans are their own worst enemy, and no one can help them until enough of them are willing to help themselves.
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Republicans use obstructionism as a means to gain power, and power as a means to further their corruption. The Republican party is composed of grifters, grafters, white supremacists, Christian nationalists, lunatics, assorted bigots, and the gullible sheep they prey upon. Their ideology is no longer conservatism, but fascism and nihilism. It traffics in lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, ignorant culture wars, and hypocrisy.
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The highly-coveted Top Prize for our contestants today is an all-funeral-expenses-paid romantic getaway for two aboard the magnificent Corona Queen, taking you for an exclusive extended cruise, to a secluded stay on the exotic, remote, tropical Isle of Covid-19, where the fevered fun is SUPER-contagious, and you will luxuriously bask in fabulous face masks and rejuvenating oxygen respirators, with the wonderful scent of disinfectant surrounding you! Sure to be a lifetime experience for some lucky few! Just remember--the couple that dies together, stays together!
BONUS SPECIAL CASES: Providing accompanying entertainment is Chief Jester Roberts and the entire Trump comedy team, featuring the Clown Commander, for laughs and coughs! There just ain't no cure, for them ocean cruise blues! Bon voyage!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwE7EFyQDm0 (audio version)
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
For five years, the American people, justice, and Constitution have all been crying out, pleading, "Until this moment, Republicans, I think I have never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness. ...You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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We got Big Brag Daddy Baghdad Bob broadcasting direct from Washington, D.C. daily, with Toxic Trump and a revolving cast of his sycophantic minions! Happy talk, disinformation, empty promises, idle threats, vicious smears, bogus pandemic models, dog whistles, continuous crackpot conspiracies--they got it all, and more!
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GOP cult is NOT the party of law and order, NOT the party of the Constitution and patriots, NOT the party of "values," NOT the party of "Christianity,"_* NOT the party of fiscal responsibility, NOT the party of clean government, NOT the party of freedom. It's the party of terrorism, lawlessness, corruption, fascism, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry, misogyny, Big Lies, crackpot conspiracy theories, unmitigated greed, gross hypocrisy, socialized taxpayer payouts for plutocrats, sedition, traitors, and tyranny.
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What we are witnessing and feeling is an ongoing train wreck, from the vantage point of the passengers. The lunatic conductor of the LOCO-motive, Toxic Trump, knew the end-of-the-line was coming, yet kept increasing acceleration, anyway. He's still trying to pump the gas, even with the train off the track! Wants to go faster, faster, faster with the fascism! We on the HELL bound train, now, Lucifer's demented and depraved minion absolutely determined, dedicated, DEVOTED to getting us all there on time!
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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The Molotov cocktail recipe:
Mix in equal parts of mental illness, willful ignorance, fear, hate, decades of 24/7 Reich-wing disinformation, misinformation, and crackpot conspiracy programming by Republican politicians, media and demagogues, add supplemental divisive Russian propaganda attacking and weakening America, stir well, garnish with COVID-19, and you have the mindless Republican cult descending into fascism, committing terrorism and sedition. Then, grab a stiff drink--you'll need it.
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The problem isn't people taking other cults seriously. It's that they're not treating the Republican cult seriously enough. If it talks like a cult, looks like a cult, behaves like a cult, swallows and regurgitates Reich-wing propaganda like a cult...then it's the GOP. What's the dissimilarity between "cult" and "cult-like?" It's a distinction without any real difference.
GOP = Fascism The few patriots in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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Donald Trump, at White House press conference on 04/07/20:
And we’re going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO. We’re going to put a very powerful hold on it, and we’re going to see.
Trump later at that same press conference:
Q: Thanks. A quick follow-up on that. So is the time to freeze funding to the WHO during a pandemic of this magnitude?
THE PRESIDENT: No, maybe not. I mean, I’m not saying I’m going to do it, but we’re going to look at it.
Q: You did say that you’re going to —
THE PRESIDENT: We give a tremendous —
Q: You said you’d put a hold on it.
THE PRESIDENT: No, I didn’t.
Toxic Trump, one week later, on 04/14/20: "I'm withholding WHO funding!"
WHO held a important meeting on COVID-19 vaccines at the beginning of May, with all nations attending...except, unbelievably, no U.S. medical and scientific representatives sent by the Trump Administration, without any explanation. The absence particularly stunning in light that U.S. had half of world's cases and a quarter of the deaths, although possessing just 4% of the global population. Then, on May 29, Toxic Trump announced the U.S. was completely withdrawing from the World Health Organization!
ME, US, the world: WTF?? Why in HELL is that raving lunatic STILL in charge during this major pandemic health crisis?!? Hasn't he KILLED enough Americans, ALREADY?!?
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of crackpot conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of plutocrats, the party of corruption, the party of anti-democracy, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their pact with the Devil.
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@ask_why000 ~ Why do you appear to be a Russian bot sowing divisiveness, discord, and disinformation to weaken America, kill Americans, Doc? Your false claim has long ago been debunked. #moreRussiasanctions
Coronavirus: Scientists isolate virus responsible for deadly Covid-19 outbreak
Canadian research team says work will help inform global response to worsening pandemic
Harry Cockburn -- Friday 13 March 2020
A Canadian team of scientists has successfully isolated a strain of the coronavirus and grown samples in a lab to help study the pathogen responsible for the deadly global pandemic.
Researchers from Sunnybrook Research Institute, McMaster University and the University of Toronto, all in Canada, isolated the virus from two specimens and then cultivated it in a secure containment facility.
This does not mean isolating people infected with the virus, but means scientists have successfully obtained a pure sample of the virus, which they have contained outside the human body and can then study.
The team said the lab-grown samples would help scientists in Canada and across the world develop better diagnostic testing, treatments and vaccines to fight the coronavirus.
It is not the first time the virus has been isolated. Chinese scientists first did so, and research teams in Australia and Italy are also among those who have isolated and grown samples of the virus in laboratories.
However, as viruses continuously mutate and evolve, there are now several strains of the coronavirus, which are collectively known as Sars-CoV-2.
Covid-19 is the name given to the clinical illness these viruses cause.
But each isolation of the virus allows scientists to see how quickly the Sars-CoV-2 virus is mutating, and what the implications of the mutations may be for humans.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/coronavirus-covid-19-virus-isolate-canada-scientists-mutations-strains-a9399226.html
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TRUM_PLANNED_EMIC!
Given plenty of advance warnings about COVID-19, Toxic Trump chose not to heed the sound advice provided. We could have been Taiwan, with a comparative 100 deaths in the U.S.; or South Korea, with a comparative 1500 deaths here, after adjusted for population size. Taiwan had just seven deaths; South Korea less than 300. We got over 135,000 deaths already, with the count still rapidly rising, while we remain, still, firmly mired in the first wave of the disease. Even worse, after six months, we STILL lack the adequate testing and rational national response to contain the disease.
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"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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Toxic Trump: "I'm the BEST, just absolutely CRUSHING the competition, with over THREE POINT TWO MILLION coronavirus cases and over 135 -- one-hundred and thirty-five!!! -- THOUSAND deaths! Easy as 1-2-3! They ALL got eighty-sixed, 'cause nobody else even comes close! With a QUARTER of the world's cases AND deaths--can you even imagine how truly great, how awesome, that achievement is, with only just FOUR PERCENT of the world's population to work with? Believe it or not, I accomplished in only FIVE WEEKS what it took the Vietnam War a whole TWELVE YEARS to do! Not done with the fun--and not to be outdone--I then doubled down on the death toll from Vietnam in just FOUR MONTHS! PLUS, we're not even counting ALL the COVID-19 cases and deaths here in the U.S.! And, with only SEVEN PERCENT of the U.S. population already infected, we're just getting started with all the sickness and death; there's PLENTY more to come! Those other weaklings and losers don't stand a chance, because we're going to keep right on winning--as long as I'm in charge! Now, vacation's over; time to get back to work on increasing those numbers, people! Let's keep America great, get rid of all the excess baggage! As wartime President, I am commanding all CIVILIANS to senselessly sacrifice their lives for my arrogance, stupidity, vanity, malevolence, and greed!"
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Corrupt antidemocratic Congressional Republicans and fascist GOP cult are not upset about the horrific carnage resulting from Traitor-'n-Thief Trump's autogolpe and terrorist insurrection on January 6th...only that it failed.
Let's just call January 6 what it actually was -- a Republican smash and grab, an act of violent larceny against democracy and sedition employing domestic terrorism right out in open sight.
"Without accountability, an attempted autogolpe and insurrection is just practice."
"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ― Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
It's a game of asymmetrical warfare the Republicans are playing, as they don't care if they burn the government down if they can't have minority rule, while Democrats value democracy----win or lose----and want to make government work for the American people. It's clear that this situation with Republicans isn't something Democrats want or with which they are comfortable but find themselves forced to deal with as best they can. I do fault Democrats like Charlie Brown Manchin and Silly Sinema, who want to play pretend that the situation is normal, when it's more than obvious that Republicans are unwilling to operate in good faith or practice bipartisanship in any serious way, and the GOP is embracing nihilism and fascism. Both Congressional Democrats and Garland's DOJ need to start playing hardball, or we may not have a democracy for much longer. They urgently need to hold those most responsible for January 6 to account, protect the voting franchise, and deliver for the American people. There is no time to waste.
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What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil. They are either actively or silently complicit in fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorist violence, Reich-wing insurrection, and Reich-wing undermining of our democracy and Constitution.
It's crystal clear that Trump, Boebert, Greene, Gosar and other Republicans like them are fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorism. The GOP has become radicalized to such an extent that it has essentially become a fascist terrorist organization, with members that fantasize and promote violence against their fellow Americans. While those Republican elected officials must be condemned and sanctioned, they are only a symptom of the disease poisoning a third of America, the most visible part of the cancer infecting our nation.
The GOP has been mainstreaming radicalization of their voter base for decades, ALLOWING Reich-wing media and Reich-wing demagogues to take over the party, to the point it has become a fascist, nihilistic cult. Because just as now, Republican politicians and their plutocratic masters have always seen it as the ends justifying whatever means to win power. Remember the Republican Tea Party? This catastrophe with the GOP didn't start with Trump, who just exploited what the Republicans had already built.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle for graft and to grift their voters and us taxpayers. You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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Hypocritical Republican cult whines about cancel culture...
--while making death threats against those disagreeing with them
--while censuring any Republican leaders speaking the truth about January 6.
--while conducting a terrorist attack against the nation's Capitol in insurrection, beating and killing police, intent on killing lawmakers and the Republican VP, attempting a coup to overthrow the results of a free and fair election...just because their candidate lost.
--while trying to cancel out the votes of millions of Democrats and minorities by objecting solely to their votes, enacting numerous voter suppression measures, and engaging in egregious gerrymandering.
--while labeling MSM "the enemy of the people."
--while censoring and moving to remove fellow Republicans of integrity who speak up for truth and decency, and against GOP lies, terrorism, and crackpot conspiracy theories.
--while Reich-wing media turns off comments yet rants against "censorship."
--while Faux News fires its news editor for truthfully reporting that Arizona had been called for Biden.
--while trying to run a Biden campaign bus off the road.
--while Rep. Marjorie Greene prevents press from covering town hall meetings where nobody wore a mask.
--after seriously injuring over 140 police officers and killing one in the Republican cult's seditious terrorist attack of insurrection against the nation's Capitol, Republican cult terrorists threaten to call the cops on reporters trying to get their side of the story.
--after canceling out millions of American's jobs under George W. Bush's recession and the largest loss of jobs since the great Depression under Toxic Trump due to his gross incompetence, lies, and willful criminal negligence in responding to a global pandemic.
--while canceling out the lives of hundreds of thousands of their fellow Americans by spreading lies about COVID-19, politicizing a deadly pandemic, and refusing to follow common sense health guidelines.
--while threatening to cancel baseball's anti-trust exemption for exercising their right to free speech
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of conspiracy theories, the party of hate, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of corruption, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, don't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their deal with the Devil.
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~ Bad Vibration, Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization duration
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
What location revitalization?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Saw this watching the beautiful memorial service, which was extraordinarily moving. Would highly recommend watching it and ALL the very powerful testimonials to everyone. Dr. Maya's words were unexpected, surprising me, but was so happy to hear those words! As great as Maya was, many of these other testimonials to Elijah were just as emotional, and equally moving, and some even more profound! We feel your pain, Maya, we feel your hope and light, and we carry Elijah now with us, as he has carried us for so long!
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance.
In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump leaves office, the one out of every 800 Americans will have died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 400,000 fatalities, about as many American casualties as WWII. It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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Russia, Saudia Arabia, Israel, UAE, Traitor Trump and his asinine administration, the GOP, right-wing media and plutocrats, Republican cult dupes -- they've all got themselves in a real pickle, strapped together over a barrel, all strung up, and tied to fits! In the final analysis, fools seeking to fool others are only fooling themselves!
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Republicans can't handle reality, would rather traffic and believe in lies. The GOP is a fascist, nihilistic cult that would destroy democracy and America if given sufficient opportunity. And THAT, folks, is your reality check.
What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil. They are either actively or silently complicit in fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorist violence, Reich-wing insurrection, and Reich-wing undermining of our democracy and Constitution.
It's crystal clear that Trump, Boebert, Greene, Gosar and other Republicans like them are fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorism. The GOP has become radicalized to such an extent that it has essentially become a fascist terrorist organization, with members that fantasize and promote violence against their fellow Americans. While those Republican elected officials must be condemned and sanctioned, they are only a symptom of the disease poisoning a third of America, the most visible part of the cancer infecting our nation.
The GOP has been mainstreaming radicalization of their voter base for decades, ALLOWING Reich-wing media and Reich-wing demagogues to take over the party, to the point it has become a fascist, nihilistic cult. Because just as now, Republican politicians and their plutocratic masters have always seen it as the ends justifying whatever means to win power. Remember the Republican Tea Party? This catastrophe with the GOP didn't start with Trump, who just exploited what Republicans had already built.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle for graft and to grift their voters and us taxpayers. You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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You don't get denialism without nihilism. As life-long conservative Bill Kristol astutely pointed out, the Republican party has embraced nihilism. Republicans denying systemic racism; Republicans denying climate change; Republicans still labeling COVID-19 a "hoax;" Republicans refusing to wear masks or social distance after over half-a-million American fatalities from COVID-19; Congressional Republicans obstructing a COVID-19 stimulus bill certain to pass just to delay vital and urgently needed relief to Americans desperate for help; not one Congressional Republican in either chamber voting for the badly needed stimulus bill; Republican governors dropping mask mandates and all restrictions on businesses, heedless of rising case counts in their states and deadly new variants of the virus; and Republican leaders continuing to push the Big Lie that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen without evidence and in disregard of plentiful evidence and facts to the contrary, even AFTER their Big Lie incited a terrorist attack by a mindless Republican mob against the nation's Capitol in insurrection against the government, attempting to overturn a legitimate election, sieging, storming, sizing, sacking, defiling, defacing and disgracing America's citadel of, and temple to, democracy; and now Republicans attempting history revisionism, trying to sweep the January 6 insurrection under the rug, refusing to support a January 6 bipartisan commission----these are all prime examples of nihilism.
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@louismart ~ No fan of the Chinese government, but China has got little to do with it. Russian bots still running amok all over social media, though. However, the decline began with, and is mainly due to, the Republican cult and conservative plutocrats. It began before Russian meddling in U.S. elections. The Russians only amplified the disinformation and division being put out by the GOP.
Rupert Murdoch and his son, who own and run Faux News, are Australian. Should we blame Australia? No, because the Australian government is hurt by what the Murdoch's are doing to spread disinformation in the U.S.; its government and most of its people do not approve of the Murdoch's. The Murdoch's are no different than the American conservative Koch brothers, Adelson, and a slew of other plutocrats, who contribute to the erosion of truth and the division in America. Most at fault are the Republican cult who willingly allow themselves to be exploited and manipulated.
Would agree that Toxic Trump's loss will not end the problem, but it is a step in the right direction. The Republican cult is a minority, one with a shrinking base. Like the Tea Party, Trumpism will fade soon enough, if we can keep our citizens engaged and informed. Those not of the GOP need to remain and be even more vocal and active, continuing to fight for truth and justice. We must not allow ourselves to become complacent, anymore. If we do these things, America will not continue to decline, but rather experience a resurgence and renewal. It's up to all of us, just as it has always been. Hopefully, enough Americans now realize how fragile our democracy, how critical the need for constant vigilance and due diligence. We are learning an expensive lesson, one which we have the opportunity to emerge from stronger.
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@louismart ~ Russia has over 5,000 nukes pointed at the U.S. Russia is much more antagonistic than China against the U.S. in a number of areas and on a number of issues around the globe. Our U.S. intelligence community regards Russia as our principle foreign adversary.
Yes, China is an emerging threat. But China also has many of its own problems, which should not be discounted. As for debt, most of the 26 trillion in U.S. debt is owed internally, not to foreign entities. Out of that 26 trillion, China holds just 1.07 trillion (all figures as of July 2020). Japan holds more U.S. debt than China, with a number of other nations holding various amounts, as well. As a percentage of GDP, U.S. debt has risen slightly under Trump, but has not changed significantly for decades.
The emerging threat from China should be taken seriously, but it is not the #1 threat facing the U.S., and too often some are wont to blow its threat posed out of proportion to the reality. In fact, just to keep things in proper perspective, the #1 threat facing the U.S. is not a foreign nation, but climate change. Also, Toxic Trump has posed--and will continue to pose until leaving office--a very significant threat to America, which should not be discounted or taken lightly, either.
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"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
~ How Fascism Works, The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating and lost his reelection bid by a significant margin. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(Reference also Father Charles E. Coughlin and Henry Ford in regard to the original America First movement.)
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So many things wrong with the whole handling of the Breonna Taylor case by law enforcement and prosecutors it's just mind-boggling, disgusting. It's no wonder few people have faith in our justice system. There needs to be a special prosecutor and special investigative team for cases like this, people who are not beholden to law enforcement to perform their jobs.
Unless or until all citizens are free from hate, secure in their civil- and human-rights, then none of us are. This maxim extends beyond national borders, as well; it is true at all levels of human society, from local to global. So, not only is it the ethical, moral, and humanitarian standard to be achieved--and the only logical approach to human progress and development--it is also in EVERY person's own direct self-interest!
We're all about peaceful change, but prolonged systemic injustice invariably leads to civil unrest. Some like to forget that it was injustice that led to insurrection against the British government, that Americans fought on both sides of th Revolutionary War, that not only did revolutionaries burn and loot, they committed brutal atrocities, and that the British considered them akin to terrorists and traitors. Too many forget the hard lessons of the Revolutionary War and Civil War: 'Tis far better to fight together against injustice, than 'tis to divide ourselves over injustice, and fight each other!
To dismiss police abuses as merely "a few bad apples" fatally ignores the ongoing toxic law enforcement culture that spoils them rotten and allows them to flourish--creating, perpetuating and exacerbating corruption and abuses.
Only when law enforcement demonstrates nationally that it is capable of adequately policing and holding itself accountable can the public have the security and confidence they are there to PROTECT and serve ALL citizens. We're sick of the carnage and misery--we're not waiting, anymore, police, prosecutors, judges, mayors, councils, legislators, governors, Congress, Mr. President, SCOTUS. This is really a question of whether or not America wants to be a democracy, or something less.
The Blue Wall must end, or there can not be justice for all, nor can there exist public trust in law enforcement. That simple...yet the disease persists, as DOD Secretary Esper so thoroughly and disappointingly demonstrated in trying to escape accountability for active troops being part of a force brutally attacking without any warning unarmed American civilians peacefully protesting, exercising their First Amendment rights.
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Toxic Trump, at coronavirus press briefing 04/20/20, "We're looking at maybe "only" 50-60,000 deaths in the U.S.!" Just three days later, the toll surpassed 50,000; six days after that, it went over 61,000. On 05/04/20--a mere two weeks after Trump's delusional pronouncement--the U.S. reached 70,000 deaths. Now, because of some state and local governments opening up their economies too soon is blatant disregard of Trump administration's own guidelines, the CDC Mayday report projects new highs of 3,000 deaths and 200,000 new cases per DAY by June. That would put us at 100-150,000 deaths--just by the end of June, alone. That's acceptable, here in America? Since when?
04/22/20 saw a new worst of nearly 2,700 COVID-19 deaths in a single day, topping the nearly 2,400 Americans lost on 04/14/20. Trump's claim was simply more of his wishful thinking, lies, and bogus claims. Clueless, disinterested, deranged, disengaged, and detached from reality are not the qualities you want in a leader during a major global pandemic crisis. That's a lethal combination that has already cost more American lives in just eight weeks than the Vietnam War in its entire twelve-year span.
It's like rowing or paddling upstream, or into a stiff wind--if you ease-up too much or stop, you will only have to paddle twice as hard to make up all the previous hard-earned progress that was quickly lost. Failing to maintain isolation and other measures for sufficient time to stop the spread of COVID-19 transmission will cost U.S. more in time, effort, money, and LIVES. Reopening and relaxing measures too early in defiance of the science and data is the ultimate in colossal ignorance, greed, ruthlessness, and arrogance.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian nationalism religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, along with Reich-wing demagogues and media, who were complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance, and in spreading disinformation and misinformation. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump left office, one out of every 800 Americans had died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 410,000 fatalities, as many American casualties as all of WWII. To put it into further perspective, throughout Trump's catastrophic mishandling of a deadly global pandemic, the U.S. led the world in cases and deaths, suffering nearly 25% of each, despite having only 4.25% of global population, despite having the advantage of being the richest and most advanced nation in the world.
The memorial would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure. Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and disturbing. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Believe that what has precipitated or been the genesis of the deterioration of the GOP was Nixon's forced resignation and Ford's subsequent blanket pardon just a month later. Republican use of the "Southern strategy" during Nixon's time, which continues to this day, is also a significant factor in pushing the GOP to the far right. Of course, those events also did a severe disservice to our nation, but they invoked a sense of shame, disgrace and insecurity among Republicans. After Watergate, many Republicans were unwilling or reluctant to admit they voted for Nixon. The Republican ship was unmoored, set drifting a flounder. Republicans, unable to defend the indefensible of Watergate, Nixon's pardon and racist appeals, encumbered by shame, disgrace, and insecurity, yet unwilling to abandon their political party, reacted in unhealthy ways.
Rather than defending their own party, they increasingly took to making scurrilous attacks to tear down their political opponents, with President Carter being the first to suffer. By the time Clinton got into office, the smears and attacks had gotten far worse. With President Obama, there was the Tea Party movement and Birtherism, the first flexing of the White power movement's political influence upon the GOP. Under Trump, the dark underbelly of American fascism was brought out into the open and sanctioned as "America First," a movement which bears uncanny resemblance to the original America First fascist movement of the 1920's and '30's.
Another readily apparent unhealthy result of Nixon and Ford's pardon has been Republican idolization and attempts to make heroes of Presidents Reagan, George W. Bush, and Trump, despite none rising above mediocrity and each successively being worse Presidents. While support for a President and the leader of one's political party is normal and expected, Republican's extreme embrace and deification of them entailed blind support and an unwillingness to question or criticize them, ostensibly to present a united front.
Yet another destructive reaction by Republicans was the use of lies, denials, obfuscations, propaganda techniques and propaganda for political gain, and the abandonment of truth, reason, integrity, scruples, honor and principle. While those undesirable traits have become ubiquitously present within and synonymous with the Republican party for a number of years now, it was a gradual process that worsened over time, and continues to worsen. The Republican party has chosen to separate itself from a common shared reality based upon truth and reason in blind pursuit of political power, placing party before common good and country, creating for itself a dystopian, nihilistic, Orwellian fantasy world. It is these things which are the most highly corrosive to the moral fabric of our society and most damaging to the nation.
To be sure, there have been other significant factors involved in the radicalization of the GOP which should not be discounted, such as the rise of right-wing demagogues like Rush Limbaugh, right-wing media like Fox, and right-wing White Christian nationalism. Would also acknowledge that the GOP is not a monolithic entity; people have different reasons for voting Republican, varying degrees of commitment to and involvement in the party. Not all Republicans are racist, bigoted, xenophobic, misogynistic, or unhinged extremists, although, unfortunately, such ignorance and hate has come to predominance in the GOP. There are many Republicans who are otherwise decent folk, if politically misguided and/or radicalized. However, with the exception of those Republicans leaving the party or vociferously and actively fighting against the rot and dysfunction occurring, even those who through their silent acquiescence and votes are complicit in enabling, aiding and abetting the evil being perpetuated by the GOP, and comprise part of what has for all intents and purposes become a fascist, nihilistic cult.
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Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country, albeit using the law, not targeted assassinations, which I generally oppose in any case. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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Worst-Case Estimates for U.S. Coronavirus Deaths
Sheri Fink - The New York Times - Saturday, March 14, 2020
Officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and epidemic experts from universities around the world conferred last month about what might happen if the new coronavirus gained a foothold in the United States. How many people might die? How many would be infected and need hospitalization?
One of the agency’s top disease modelers, Matthew Biggerstaff, presented the group on the phone call with four possible scenarios — A, B, C and D — based on characteristics of the virus, including estimates of how transmissible it is and the severity of the illness it can cause. The assumptions, reviewed by The New York Times, were shared with about 50 expert teams to model how the virus could tear through the population — and what might stop it.
The C.D.C.’s scenarios were depicted in terms of percentages of the population. Translated into absolute numbers by independent experts using simple models of how viruses spread, the worst-case figures would be staggering if no actions were taken to slow transmission.
Between 160 million and 214 million people in the United States could be infected over the course of the epidemic, according to one projection. That could last months or even over a year, with infections concentrated in shorter periods, staggered across time in different communities, experts said. As many as 200,000 to 1.7 million people could die.
And, the calculations based on the C.D.C.’s scenarios suggested, 2.4 million to 21 million people in the United States could require hospitalization, potentially crushing the nation’s medical system, which has only about 925,000 staffed hospital beds. Fewer than a tenth of those are for people who are critically ill.
The assumptions fueling those scenarios are mitigated by the fact that cities, states, businesses and individuals are beginning to take steps to slow transmission, even if some are acting less aggressively than others. The C.D.C.-led effort is developing more sophisticated models showing how interventions might decrease the worst-case numbers, though their projections have not been made public.
“When people change their behavior," said Lauren Gardner, an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering who models epidemics, “those model parameters are no longer applicable,” so short-term forecasts are likely to be more accurate. “There is a lot of room for improvement if we act appropriately.”
Those actions include testing for the virus, tracing contacts, and reducing human interactions by stopping mass gatherings, working from home and curbing travel. In just the last two days, multiple schools and colleges closed, sports events were halted or delayed, Broadway theaters went dark, companies barred employees from going to the office and more people said they were following hygiene recommendations.
(more...)
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump accountable for his many FEDERAL crimes, or are they going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a President is a King and above the law?
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@alexandergrigorian997 ~Why, it's so the majority of Americans can claim their President is illegitimate when the electoral college disqualifies all their votes, Doc! Trump is the perfect example; most of us don't consider him legitimate, even if he hadn't cheated to win in 2016. While all of that is true, if sarcastic, the actual reason is largely because many of our founding fathers wrongly wanted only landowners to have the right to vote. They wanted democracy, but they were also afraid of it. As has long been accepted by historians and Americans, and proved by history, their fears were misplaced.
Ironically, your words reveal your own ignorance about the electoral college! Abolishing it wouldn't advantage either party, as numerous scholars have pointed out. It serves no purpose; it has never stopped a bad President from being inaugurated. All it does is make us less democratic and periodically throws the country into turmoil, alienating the majority of the electorate who are ignored when the electoral college negates their votes. The electoral college has historically only bred distrust and disdain for our Presidential electoral process and government, whenever it overturns the popular vote. It harms, and confers no benefit. Russian bots and Republican cult dupes don't think, only want to bring America down, though, so not really expecting any appreciation of the facts.
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@stephendavidbailey2743 ~ That's a memory that would stick with a person. Lived in Texas for a number of years, not too far from Waco in the Dallas area, but that was long after that tornado, and personally experienced no tornadoes while there, fortunately. Have a daughter, son-in-law, and three grandchildren who have lived near Waco for some time now, perhaps a little closer to Fort Worth than Waco.
However, have a vivid memory of my own as a young child, staring out our big picture window in the living room during a bad storm in Illinois, watching dust devils kicking up, then seeing the station wagon parked in our front drive completely lifted off the ground several inches. Looking back now, considering the suspension, it was probably lifted nearly a foot to get the tires off the ground that much. Of course, my mother immediately shouted for me and my siblings to get away from the window and go into the basement. Luckily, no tornado touched down that day, and we moved to another state a few years later, but about 20 years later, a tornado devastated much of that same town we used to live in.
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@stephendavidbailey2743 ~ Yeah, down south they don't have many basements, but some homes have what are also called 'storm cellars' separate from the house, often used for storing home canning----a practice that dates back to early times, before electricity and refrigeration. Some storm cellars were filled with ice harvested during the winter, to keep perishables from spoiling during the warmer months. Now, I see they've been building into or adding on to homes special reinforced shelters for tornadoes down south, which is great, and long overdue----especially in Tornado Alley states.
Never understood why they didn't build more basements down south, as they help keep the house cool during the hot summer months and can be remodeled into extra living space to escape the heat. It also creates more living space above ground, as furnaces, water heaters, water softeners, laundry appliances, plumbing, etc. can be placed there. I know it's a costly added expense, and not possible in all soils, but I missed not having them when down there.
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Let's be clear; Congressional Republicans have been pointing a gun at the heart of legitimate self-government for four years, now--including Sen. Ben Sasse. The only exception is FORMER Republican Rep. Justin Amash, who was essentially ejected from the GOP--solely for his honesty and integrity. Even Republican Sen. Mitt Romney over his two years in Congress has only made half-steps in rejecting Trump's authoritarianism, corruption, and lawlessness, demonstrating how he, too, cares more about his ambition and raw partisan power than he does his country. And it hasn't been just Congressional Republicans; nearly the entire GOP has been complicit in aiding and abetting what is clearly the most corrupt, criminal, despotic, rotten, and incompetent President and administration in U.S. history.
Which is why it is felt the only good Republican is a former Republican. The GOP no longer stands for any rational ideology. Instead, it has become a mindless political cult, based upon hate, lies, delusions, denials, and the blind lust for power at any cost.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian nationalism religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and disturbing. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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@toniaguilar163 - While you're entirely correct, Russian bots and their little Trumpette Republican cult helpers don't CARE about facts, context, nuance, or reasoning--unless furthering their propaganda! You hoping to convince anyone or have any kind of rational constructive dialogue, you'd be better off trying the moon! Read our earlier admonition in this thread, understand their motives are to waste your time, sow division and discord, and distract from what the #1 Russian asset in the Oval is doing to bring America down. Best remedy is to just ignore, don't even engage. If you feel triggered enough to respond, leave thoughtful analysis debunking the presented issue as a general reply to our initial comment. Often the best remedy for impudent, disruptive children clamoring for attention when the adults are speaking is to simply ignore.
Judging from the content over recent years, 99% of the nonsense posted to reputable news sources coming from paid propaganda trolls for Russia and GOP, along with a few deranged folks from the Reich-wing lunatic fringe--white supremacists, Q-anon, Christian bigots, and the like--all pushing their ignorant agendas. The other 1% mostly just the same flaming troll perverts looking to get their sick jollies who have always been present. Suspect that responding to the paid trolls gives them more money, as it certainly does encourage them.
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Trump excluded the Afghan government from his surrender negotiations with the Taliban, legitimizing the Taliban by making a separate peace deal with them and delegitimizing the government we worked so long and hard at so much cost to build and support, while releasing 5,000 Taliban prisoners which included the worst of the worst and allowed them to return to fight against Afghan and U.S. forces, while agreeing to withdraw all U.S. forces by May 1, 2021, guaranteeing failure. Previously, in 2018, Trump had Pakistan release the current leader of the Taliban, who had been their top military leader. Moreover, Trump eviscerated the refugee program for Afghan and Iraqi allies visa programs, creating a huge backlog over four years. A federal judge even ruled Trump's delaying of those visas illegal. Furthermore, Trump abandoned are Kurdish allies in Syria and Iraq. Trump and Pompeo could hardly have screwed up our foreign policy any worse, and the damage they did will take decades to repair. But the Republican cult morons are too stupid to know and too stupid to care; they'll just deny and try to shift blame, as usual.
Liz Cheney's right----it didn't have to happen this way: her father, Dick Cheney, and George Bush were responsible for the deterioration of affairs in Afghanistan by diverting troops and resources to conduct an illegal invasion of Iraq on the false premise of WMD and Iraq harboring terrorists. The situation in Afghanistan never recovered from that fatal mistake by Cheney and Bush; it allowed the Taliban to regroup and come back bigger and stronger than ever. Cheney and Bush's illegal war in Iraq also resulted in the emergence of ISIS.
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Bush v. Gore, Citizens United, Shelby County v. Holder, Rucho v. Common Cause, Chief Jester Roberts smiling and nodding along while presiding over sham Senate impeachment trial, Assassination Goon B.S. Barr butchering the law, slaughtering justice, politicizing and weaponizing the DOJ. So, now, thanks to conservative Justices on SCOTUS, we have partisan Republican judges deciding elections instead of voters; a return to Jim Crow laws promoting voter suppression; unlimited dark money in elections buying off politicians; a lack of accountability enabling the Executive Branch to blackmail and coerce foreign governments into interfering in our elections, severely degrading our national security; and legalization of even the most egregious Republican gerrymandering. In essence, a deck stacked heavily in favor of corrupt, racist, anti-democratic Republican minority rule over the majority. It's why we lost all respect for these conservative Supreme Courts, the law, and the justice system in this country. Congratulations, Republicans, on turning our nation into a banana Republic, making America an object lesson to the world on how to destroy democracy!
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Merrick Garland: "Trump and Congressional Republicans screwed me out of a seat on the Supreme Court...that's why now as AG I can't prosecute them for the many crimes they've committed!"
Merrick Garland’s House Testimony Demonstrated the Failure of His Hyper-Cautious Approach to His Job
Despite Garland’s many efforts to not appear political by declining to investigate Trump and his cronies for possible crimes and by using DOJ resources to actively protect Trump from civil liability, Republicans are still portraying him as the most political attorney general in history.
The other weakness of Garland’s timid approach was on full view during his opening statement and responses to Democratic members of Congress. “The essence of the rule of law is that like cases are treated alike. That there not be one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans; one rule for friends, another for foes,” Garland stated grandly. But by declining to investigate Trump and his associates, Garland is enabling further attacks on our democracy. (While proving inequity by putting Republicans above the law.)
Crucially, the two parties are not the same. Garland’s standard sets up a false equivalency between the Democratic Party and a political party whose national leader, Donald Trump, incited and celebrated a violent assault on our nation’s Capitol to overthrow the results of a free and fair election and who continues to portray the insurrection as a glorious “protest.” To that end, in the middle of the attorney general’s testimony, Trump issued a statement highlighting Garland’s feebleness at failing to even investigate the organizers and leaders of the Jan. 6 events, declaring “the insurrection took place on November 3, Election Day. January 6 was the Protest!”
Garland’s efforts to depoliticize the DOJ have proved to be an abdication of his responsibility to protect the rule of law. Take just a few examples: Garland’s failure to reconsider the obstruction of justice case against the former president, his deferral of an investigation of possible financial crimes by Trump and his organization to local prosecutors in New York City and Westchester, his use of the DOJ to protect Trump from defamation allegations, and his deferral of a soliciting of voter fraud felony probe in Georgia to local prosecutors there. By abdicating his responsibility, Garland is also opening the door for Trump to commit these possibly criminal abuses all over again, this time with the full support of the Republican Party, and maybe ultimately return to power.
--Mark Stern
"Try as he may, Merrick Garland cannot perform boring independence fast enough to outrun GOP claims that he’s a wild-eyed, violent socialist. And while the GOP currently exists only to cast everything you thought you believed into doubt, the real endgame is vigilantism. The endgame is to ensure that people mistrust government, election systems, school boards, (teachers, health care officials) the media, and the justice system enough to lend a hand in their destruction."
--Dahlia Lithwick
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of crackpot conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of greed, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of plutocrats, the party of corruption, the party of anti-democracy, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their pact with the Devil.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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Even worse than the deplorable, despicable rudeness, arrogance, adolescence, and disrespect displayed by some Senate Republicans during Trump's second impeachment trial is their gaslighting, conferencing with and advising Trump's defense team, and hiding behind the fallacious process argument of "no jurisdiction" for Senate impeachment trial, when the Traitor-'n-Thief Trump was impeached BEFORE leaving office. For comparison, as long as a person is indicted for a crime before the statute of limitations had expired for their alleged crime, it matters not that the trial takes place after that expiration date--the criminal does not get a "free pass." Moreover, this isn't a criminal trial, it's merely a disciplinary employment measure. Think of someone resigning, then the company determining that employee had committed crimes or other egregious behavior, thereby deciding at some point afterward that that person could not be rehired, and is also deprived of any post-employment rewards. Besides, there is ample precedent for impeaching after someone has left office, anyway.
Moreover, the fact is, the House and Senate determine their own rules for impeachment and trial--something confirmed already previously by SCOTUS decisions. Given that the Senate voted that this Senate trial of Toxic Trump is Constitutional, that is the ruling ALL Senators are bound by. What these Republican Senators hiding behind the fallacious "jurisdiction" argument are essentially doing is refusing to abide by their own Senate rules and laws, placing themselves above the law. So much for Republicans being the party of "law and order," taking personal responsibility, supporting law enforcement, and setting a good example for Americans.
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GOP cult is NOT the party of law and order, NOT the party of the Constitution and patriots, NOT the party of "values," NOT the party of fiscal responsibility, NOT the party of clean government, NOT the party of freedom. It's the party of terrorism, lawlessness, corruption, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry, misogyny, Big Lies, socialized taxpayer payouts for plutocrats, sedition, traitors, and tyranny.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance.
In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump left office, one out of every 800 Americans had died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 410,000 fatalities, as many American casualties as all of WWII. It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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"Peace is not a very big thing to ask for, is it?" ~ Fatima Gailani, Afghan activist and negotiator, pleading for continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan
It is when asking the Taliban, who do not seek peace or to bargain in good faith, but total domination once again. U.S. has spent 20 years and $2 trillion trying to achieve peace in Afghanistan, losing over 4000 American lives (military and civilian contractors), with tens of thousands of Americans wounded there.
"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials … have given Afghans little reason to support their government," Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the commander of U.S. forces in the country, wrote in a 2009 memorandum. "This crisis of confidence, coupled with a distinct lack of economic and educational opportunity, has created fertile ground for the insurgency."
That was 11 years ago, and little has changed since. Thought the invasion of Afghanistan by Bush was a mistake that would lead to a quagmire, and have been proven correct. Still, initially supported efforts to bring peace and stability there, along with basic human and civil-rights, because after invading felt we had an obligation to rebuild. However, while U.S. blunders there have contributed to a failure, Afghans are their own worst enemy, and no one can help them until enough of them are willing to help themselves.
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, John Eastman and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
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Freedoms can exist only up to the point they infringe upon the freedom of others. Religious tolerance can be practiced only up to the point it becomes intolerant of others. Our Constitution is a secular document, not a religious one, and it was certainly never intended to be a suicidal death pact. Getting vaccinated and following CDC guidelines brings freedom from preventable illness or injury, and a senseless premature death, but the mindless fascist Republican cult only believes in freeDUMB. Just as they don't understand or would deny the Constitution is as much about the common good as personal liberties, and that those two things are intrinsically and inextricably intertwined.
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge." ~ Ben Franklin, from Poor Richard's Almanack
Those who scorn public health guidelines during a deadly global pandemic and confuse a grievous public health issue with "essential" liberty to kill and harm themselves and their fellow citizens--as well as their nation--sorely lack both care and knowledge. They are also sorely lacking in common sense, something else about which Mr. Franklin was quite keen. Mr. Franklin was also one our nation's first scientists--yet these modern-day knuckleheads who ought know better refute science! Were he alive today, he would be rather dismayed, disgruntled, and disgusted with the fascist anti-science Republican cult, that much is crystal clear.
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again." ― Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney
More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They have essentially become a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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The Molotov cocktail recipe:
Mix in equal parts of mental illness, willful ignorance, fear, hate, decades of 24/7 Reich-wing disinformation, misinformation, and crackpot conspiracy programming by Republican politicians, plutocrats, media and demagogues, add supplemental divisive Russian propaganda attacking and weakening America, stir well, garnish with COVID-19, and you have the mindless Republican cult descending into fascism, committing terrorism and sedition. Then, grab a stiff drink--you'll need it.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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Putin is posturing. He's not stupid, isn't about to kill the goose that lays the golden egg, which is the corrupt regime he runs that enriches him and his appointed oligarchy cronies. If he thought he could get away with taking Ukraine, he would do it, but he knows it would be too costly, and could well prove his downfall.
NATO nations border Russia now, just as they have since the days of the USSR. NATO is a defensive organization, as Putin well knows. The U.S. and other NATO allies have no intention or interest whatsoever of employing offensive military forces against Russia in aggression, as Putin also well knows. NATO was formed at the request of European nations in conjunction with the U.S. as a hedge against Russian aggression, another thing of which Putin is well aware.
And there's no mistaking that Russia is the aggressor, with its annexation of the Ukranian territory of Crimea, its military operation in eastern Ukraine, and its ongoing efforts to destabilize Ukraine.
Which is not because Ukraine poses any threat to Russia. It's because Putin promotes Russian nationalism and a return to the supposed "glory" of the former communist Soviet Union as a way to gain support to prop up his corrupt regime, much as Hitler did. This also constitutes military extortion against Ukraine because of Russian economic dependency upon Ukraine.
Putin runs a brutal, repressive regime, and while there is resistance and protests, they are met with harsh crackdowns by security forces and often heavy punishment handed down to those involved. What Putin fears is not the U.S. or NATO, but his fellow citizens.
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“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Hypocritical Republican cult whines about cancel culture...
--while making death threats against those disagreeing with them
--while censuring any Republican leaders speaking the truth about January 6.
--while conducting a terrorist attack against the nation's Capitol in insurrection, beating and killing police, intent on killing lawmakers and the Republican VP, attempting a coup to overthrow the results of a free and fair election...just because their candidate lost.
--while trying to cancel out the votes of millions of Democrats and minorities by objecting solely to their votes, enacting numerous voter suppression measures, and engaging in egregious gerrymandering.
--while labeling MSM "the enemy of the people."
--while censoring and moving to remove fellow Republicans of integrity who speak up for truth and decency, and against GOP lies, terrorism, and crackpot conspiracy theories.
--while Reich-wing media turns off comments yet rants against "censorship."
--while Faux News fires its news editor for truthfully reporting that Arizona had been called for Biden.
--while trying to run a Biden campaign bus off the road.
--while Rep. Marjorie Greene prevents press from covering town hall meetings where nobody wore a mask.
--after seriously injuring over 140 police officers and killing one in the Republican cult's seditious terrorist attack of insurrection against the nation's Capitol, Republican cult terrorists threaten to call the cops on reporters trying to get their side of the story.
--after canceling out millions of American's jobs under George W. Bush's recession and the largest loss of jobs since the great Depression under Toxic Trump due to his gross incompetence, lies, and willful criminal negligence in responding to a global pandemic.
--while canceling out the lives of hundreds of thousands of their fellow Americans by spreading lies about COVID-19, politicizing a deadly pandemic, and refusing to follow common sense health guidelines.
--while threatening to cancel baseball's anti-trust exemption for exercising their right to free speech
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Gee, didn't you know? Republicans don't care anything about protecting workers, public health, law, justice, or the environment...only about maximizing profits! That's how we got into this pickle in the first place, with a 100,000 Americans dead in just three months; that's why other nations have stopped the spread, but we're STILL in the first wave, losing more than a 1,000 Americans daily, remember?
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil. They are either actively or silently complicit in fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorist violence, Reich-wing insurrection, and Reich-wing undermining of our democracy and Constitution.
It's crystal clear that Trump, Boebert, Greene, Gosar and other Republicans like them are fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorism. The GOP has become radicalized to such an extent that it has essentially become a fascist terrorist organization, with members that fantasize and promote violence against their fellow Americans. While those Republican elected officials must be condemned and sanctioned, they are only a symptom of the disease poisoning a third of America, the most visible part of the cancer infecting our nation.
The GOP has been mainstreaming radicalization of their voter base for decades, ALLOWING Reich-wing media and Reich-wing demagogues to take over the party, to the point it has become a fascist, nihilistic cult. Because just as now, Republican politicians and their plutocratic masters have always seen it as the ends justifying whatever means to win power. Remember the Republican Tea Party? This catastrophe with the GOP didn't start with Trump, who just exploited what the Republicans had already built.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle for graft and to grift their voters and us taxpayers. You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
Trump and Republicans are like Jack and his band of boys in 'Lord of the Flies.' Ralph, Simon, Piggy and the other group of boys represent the rest of us. Just as Jack and his band turned savage, killing and cannibalizing their fellow students on the deserted island they landed upon, Trump and Republicans have also turned savage, rejecting responsibility, reason, civility, morality, and science, killing their fellow Americans and cannibalizing our government. Except there will be no adults arriving to save those of us trying to do the right thing, like in the classic tale. It is strictly up to us to save ourselves and this country from the fascistic, nihilistic impulses of Trump and Republicans.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance.
In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump leaves office, the one out of every 800 Americans will have died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 400,000 fatalities, about as many American casualties as WWII. It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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Whole trouble is that the U.S. still doesn't have any rational national pandemic response, nor the prerequisite adequate testing capabilities. That's why the U.S. STILL remains the epicenter of this pandemic after four months. It's why we now need the whole nation to lock down with only truly essential workers, until we bring the raging inferno down to a few small brush fires. Thing is, if EVERYONE followed the simple guidelines during lockdown, we could probably have COVID-19 under firm control with proper testing and tracing within just six weeks. Even if not everyone cooperates, we'd still have saved countless Americans, and put ourselves in a much better position to begin slowly reopening the economy. Unfortunately, because of Toxic Trump, irresponsible, corrupt Congressional Republicans, and a mindless Republican cult, we're ALL stuck in a disaster zone for the near foreseeable future.
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I ran the White House pandemic office. Trump closed it.
Beth Cameron -- 03/13/20 -- Washington Post
Beth Cameron is vice president for global biological policy and programs at the Nuclear Threat Initiative. She previously served as the senior director for global health security and biodefense on the White House National Security Council.
When President Trump took office in 2017, the White House’s National Security Council Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense survived the transition intact. Its mission was the same as when I was asked to lead the office, established after the Ebola epidemic of 2014: to do everything possible within the vast powers and resources of the U.S. government to prepare for the next disease outbreak and prevent it from becoming an epidemic or pandemic.
One year later, I was mystified when the White House dissolved the office, leaving the country less prepared for pandemics like covid-19.
The U.S. government’s slow and inadequate response to the new coronavirus underscores the need for organized, accountable leadership to prepare for and respond to pandemic threats.
In a health security crisis, speed is essential. When this new coronavirus emerged, there was no clear White House-led structure to oversee our response, and we lost valuable time. Yes, we have capable and committed global and national disease-prevention and management organizations, as well as state and local health departments, all working overtime now. But even in prepared cities like Seattle, health systems are struggling to test patients and keep pace with growing caseloads. The specter of rapid community transmission and exponential growth is real and daunting. The job of a White House pandemics office would have been to get ahead: to accelerate the response, empower experts, anticipate failures, and act quickly and transparently to solve problems.
It’s impossible to assess the full impact of the 2018 decision to disband the White House office responsible for this work. Biological experts do remain in the White House and in our government. But it is clear that eliminating the office has contributed to the federal government’s sluggish domestic response. What’s especially concerning about the absence of this office today is that it was originally set up because a previous epidemic made the need for it quite clear.
The U.S. government worked hard to fight the 2014 Ebola epidemic. Unlike Central Africa, Ebola was not a usual occurrence in West Africa; the necessary elements of community trust and public health decision-making weren’t in place to detect and stop it. Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone were blind spots for disease surveillance. The cost was thousands of lives, billions of dollars and years of economic recovery for countries already torn by decades of war.
So in 2016, after the formidable U.S.-led Ebola response, the Obama White House established the global health security office at the National Security Council and asked me to lead the team. We were to prepare for and, if possible, prevent the next outbreak from becoming an epidemic or pandemic.
Our team reported to a senior-level response coordinator on the National Security staff who could rally the government at the highest levels, as well as to the national security adviser and the homeland security adviser. This high-level domestic and global reporting structure wasn’t an accident. It was a recognition that epidemics know no borders and that a serious, fast response is crucial. Our job was to be the smoke alarm — keeping watch to get ahead of emergencies, sounding a warning at the earliest sign of fire — all with the goal of avoiding a six-alarm blaze.
We partnered with federal departments and agencies as they monitored evolving outbreaks, triggering alarms for decision-makers when those outbreaks began to take on unusual or worrisome characteristics. Shortly before Trump took office, we were watching many health security threats, including a rising number of cases in China of H7N9 influenza, a deadly strain with high mortality but low transmissibility between people. Earlier, we had been tracking a large outbreak of yellow fever in Angola that threatened to sap the limited global supply of that vaccine, affecting the local population, international travelers, deployed citizens and troops. We were focused on naturally occurring diseases and potential bioterrorism — any and every biological threat that could cause a major global health and security emergency.
My office was also tasked with preparing — at home and around the world — for the next health emergency, no matter its origin. In 2014, even before the first cases of Ebola came to light in Guinea, the Obama administration launched the Global Health Security Agenda, which now includes more than 60 countries, to accelerate epidemic preparedness. That effort, bolstered by $1 billion from the U.S. government in an emergency spending bill to fight Ebola, led to major gains in global capability to combat the Ebola outbreak and prepare for the next pandemic, which turned out to be covid-19. We began building, measuring and tracking capacities each country had, such as the strength of their national laboratory systems and their abilities to detect and report disease, stand up emergency operation centers, build an epidemiology workforce and maintain safe and secure practices. We spurred the use of transparent, measurable assessments of progress, and we leveraged our diplomacy with other countries to finance and fill gaps. At the same time, we strengthened international biosurveillance networks to help alert us to future potential pandemics.
Another critical task came in early 2017, when we began transitioning pandemic preparedness to the incoming Trump administration. As a civil servant and the head of the directorate, I remained at the White House for several months after the transition. I attended senior-level meetings and directly briefed the homeland security adviser and the national security adviser. After I left the White House that March, pandemic preparedness remained on the agenda; my office remained intact under the leadership of my well-respected successor, Rear Adm. Tim Ziemer; and the national security adviser was tracking H7N9 and other emerging threats.
It’s unclear whether the decision to disband the directorate, which was made in May 2018, after John Bolton became national security adviser, was a tactical move to downgrade the issue or whether it was part of the White House’s interest in simplifying and shrinking the National Security Council staff. Either way, it left an unclear structure and strategy for coordinating pandemic preparedness and response. Experts outside government and on Capitol Hill called for the office’s reinstatement at the time.
Its absence now is all too evident. In his remarks Wednesday night, the president talked about travel bans and the resilience of the U.S. economy but made little specific mention of the public health crisis unfolding across America — exactly the kind of detail a dedicated NSC pandemics infrastructure would have pushed to address. A directorate within the White House would have been responsible for coordinating the efforts of multiple federal agencies to make sure the government was backstopping testing capacity, devising approaches to manufacture and avoid shortages of personal protective equipment, strengthening U.S. lab capacity to process covid-19 tests, and expanding the health-care workforce.
The office would galvanize resources to coordinate a robust and seamless domestic and global response. It would identify needs among state and local officials, and advise and facilitate regular, focused communication from federal health and scientific experts to provide states and the public with fact-based tools to minimize the virus’s spread. The White House is uniquely positioned to take into account broader U.S. and global security considerations associated with health emergencies, including their impact on deployed citizens, troops and regional economies, as well as peace and stability. A White House office would have been able to elevate urgent issues fast, so they didn’t linger or devolve to inaction, as with covid-19 testing in the United States. It would be in charge of sharing information and coordinating our public health and humanitarian response with partners and allies. And it would work now to prepare the United States and the world for the next pandemic, including by developing incentives for global leaders and governments to rapidly finance and fill identified gaps.
Pandemics, like weapons of mass destruction and climate change, are transnational threats with potentially existential consequences. No single department or agency can be responsible for handling them. Pandemic threats may not arise every year, but the White House should constantly prepare for them. We can’t afford for federal decision-makers to waste time relearning old lessons when they should be innovating and acting.
Covid-19 wasn’t preventable, but it was predictable. Hopefully, its impact can still be limited. But it is well past time for the U.S. government to show the leadership required for an effective domestic and global response. We need to start sprinting. Come April and May, no one will wish the United States had done less.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/i-ran-the-white-house-pandemic-office-trump-closed-it/ar-BB1192Xy
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***MEDIA FAIL*** -- So, Krystal Ball is now universally declaring that Republicans are the elite! Remember, most big corporations run by Republicans, Republicans control Executive, Senate, and Judiciary in federal government, hold majority of states governorships and legislatures! Wow! Interesting! That is quite the assertion for Ms. Ball to make! Kind of agree, though why is she hiding behind a bunch of sophistry; why didn't she just come out and say so in plain English to make that point "Krystal clear" (TM)?
Taking a look below at the definition of elite(s) and the context, we find that Ms. Ball's usage shows she is using the fourth description in the first definition of the word (1. d). Obviously, it is really Republicans holding power in this country, they are the TRUE elite! Which is precisely why Ms. Ball would be wise to refrain from carelessly throwing out words meaninglessly, mindlessly parroting right-wing propaganda, adding to the confusion and problem! In truth, the reality is that all of America is the elite--from richest to poorest--and we all need to change! Blaming the politicians when it is we who elected them (setting aside for a moment the antiquated, undemocratic electoral college which should have been abolished long ago!) is not correctly identifying the problem, meaning the solution proposed is therefore likely to be unproductive, too.
Some words--such as elite--are easy to misuse and abuse, and it seems proper care should be taken when using them. Not all elites are necessarily part of the problem, either--no matter how elite is defined below, many can actually be a valued part of the solution! Moreover, there will always be a 'ruling' elite in any organized society, so just throwing the word out there means little or nothing on its own. Are they good rulers; good elected officials; altruistic public servants; dedicated to honoring human rights, the rule of law, and our Constitution? Or, are they bad?
Definition of elite (noun)
1. a) singular or plural in construction : the choice part : cream
Example: the elite of the entertainment world
b) singular or plural in construction : the best of a class
Example: superachievers who dominate the computer elite
c) singular or plural in construction : the socially superior part of society
Example: how the French-speaking elite … was changing
d) a group of persons who by virtue of position or education exercise much power or influence:
Example: members of the ruling elite
e) a member of such an elite —usually used in plural:
Example: the elites …, pursuing their studies in Europe
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast would soon come to consume them.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-‘n-‘Thief, Toxic Trump, so much—although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages—as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, homophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, divisive, anti-science, anti-democratic raving lunatic and his corruption, a man compromised by foreign nations, including our principle adversary, through his tremendous debt. Between that, his catastrophic, irresponsible handling of COVID-19, and his incitement of anti-democratic violent Reich-wing groups, Trump has made himself America's #1 most serious national security threat. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself, mental illness, and his upbringing, who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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Ozark Yeoman ~ You know not of which you speak, proclaiming yourself a fool. Some of my early European ancestors fought in support of Native Americans, Doc.
One branch of my family that shares the family name is mostly Native American, while the other branches--mine included--have no known Native American ancestry. That Native American branch started with one of my great uncles marrying the daughter of a tribal Chief. The son born to them became a Chief, but lived among whites. He was somewhat famous, well known, liked, and widely respected in my state. He negotiated a number of treaties between the U.S. and tribes in my state and surrounding states. He had a profitable business running several trading posts around the state. He has a large lake named in his honor, and a landmark sits at the site of his main trading post. He had children by his first wife, who was white, but his second marriage was to a Native American women, which produced more offspring.
There was a bit of notoriety attached to the Chief, as he had shot a white man to death for trying to steal some of his land on which one of his trading posts resided. Primarily due to his fame and popularity, he was acquitted. After the trial, which expenses bankrupted his business, him and his second wife, along with their children, went to live on tribal lands with her tribe.
Did not know any of that until my middle-age years, when my father one Christmas presented my brothers, sisters and I each with a historical biographical book about him written about 80-90 years ago. Do vaguely remember a couple of rumors growing up that our family might have Native American relatives, but never gave it much credence or paid it much heed.
Nonetheless, even from a young age--despite schooled with the typical American education glorifying the European colonists and papering over the atrocities and wrongs they committed against the indigenous peoples of the Americas--had soon recognized the gross injustice that has been done to Native Americans. Most Americans do.
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Division, distraction, distortion, denial, projectionism, Whataboutism are what the Republican cult is all about, what they hide behind--along with the Bible and the flag--to mask their selfishness, their greed, their hate, their sedition, and their blind lust for corrupt power.
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“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Welcome to war. This is what war is. It's terrible, it's tragic, it's ugly, it stinks, it's unfair, it's sad, it's wasteful, it's hell, innocents die, and things always go wrong. You think we'd have learned that by now, but no, it's a lesson that has to be repeatedly learned, evidently. The consensus is that nobody foresaw the Afghan government and its armed forces completely capitulating so quickly as they did. Some say there should have been a contingency plan for this, but even though hindsight is 20/20, have yet to hear any rational plan that could have dealt with this situation. Shit happens, and Biden got handed a turd with Afghanistan. Instead of allowing the crap to continue, Biden made the hard, responsible decision to pull the U.S. out of another country's civil war. Fallout was inevitable, and Republicans trying to capitalize on that politically or media trying to profit from it is truly degenerate.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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@ilanamillion8942 ~ “If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
~ How Fascism Works, The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(Reference also Father Charles E. Coughlin and Henry Ford in regards to the original America First movement.)
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
Malcolm Nance: We Are In A Neo-Fascist Era In American Politics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_RxUAe2zeM
Political Analyst Tells Joy Reid: Forget Trumpism, IT’s Neo-Fascism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IgNp84JA4A
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Elmer Fudd's always trying to convince me he just wants unity.
What he really means is that he wants to eat me.
Unity and compromise is a two-way street that only works if both parties operate in good faith. Republicans have a long history of failing to do that--or even trying. Recent history since Biden won the election shows no indication of them changing their divisive, destructive words, attitudes, obstruction and other acts. Tyrant Trump incited a terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol to overthrow an election, endangering his VP and members of Congress, sat by and gleefully reveled in watching it happen for hours, ignoring desperate pleas for help, and only a very few Republican were willing to speak out, impeach him, convict him, and prevent him from holding public office again? That's not loyal opposition--that's a dangerous terrorist political cult of fascists.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast would soon come to consume them.
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Gee, didn't you know? Republicans don't care anything about protecting workers, public health, law, justice, or the environment...only about maximizing profits! That's how we got into this pickle in the first place, with 100,000 Americans dead in just three months; that's why other nations have stopped the spread, but we're STILL in the first wave, losing more than a 1,000 Americans daily, remember?
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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Dr. "Babbling" Birx is laying bricks, lying and dissembling! Says she trusts churches and churchgoers to make it safe, not go to church if sick--knowing asymptomatic people don't know they're sick, and can't be detected! Then, there's the fact that many religious people gather at religious shrines and places of worship hoping to be "healed" when sick. Moreover, she knows "Pastor" Tony Spelling in Louisiana was packing his megachurch during the middle of a severe outbreak, busing them in from a 50-mile radius; she knows all about the devastating spread in South Korea from religious services. And she knows without detailed specific CDC federal guidelines, we got chaos, sickness, and MORE senseless deaths. Birx needs to have her medical license revoked. She can be the next SmellyAnne Con-Her-Way, that's what she wants.
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Disgusting, and beyond outrageous that Republicans accuse Democrats of politicizing this pandemic, when, in fact, Republicans are simply projecting, and obfuscating, and deceiving, in typical fashion; it is Trump and the GOP whom are politicizing a national emergency health crisis. They care more about their political prospects than they do the lives of their fellow Americans--Republican, Democrat, or other. Will that change as Republicans--pols AND voters--watch their loved ones die from this pandemic, when they are finally forced to confront their monumental ignorance and evil head-on? When they can't escape facing the destruction caused by such a pandemic? You really have to wonder.
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America's enemies don't need to spread disinformation, doubt, discord, and division to weaken America, kill Americans--Republican politicians, Reich-wing demagogues, Faux News, OAN, Newsmax, Breitbart and the rest of the Reich-wing media do that so effectively for them, already. More Americans need to realize that the GOP has abdicated it's duty as loyal opposition, and that its prioritization of party over country and welcoming embrace of violent radical Reich-wing extremists diminishes both our government and our national security, endangering ALL Americans, as well as weakening and endangering America itself.
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Bush v. Gore, Citizens United, Chief Jester Roberts smiling and nodding along while presiding over sham Senate impeachment trial, Assassination Goon B.S. Barr butchering the law, slaughtering justice, politicizing and weaponizing the DOJ. It's why we lost all respect for the Supreme Court, the law, and the justice system in this country. Congratulations, Republicans, on turning our nation into a banana Republic, making America an object lesson to the world on how to destroy democracy!
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Merrick Garland: "Trump and Congressional Republicans screwed me out of a seat on the Supreme Court...that's why now as AG I can't prosecute them for the many crimes they've committed!"
Merrick Garland’s House Testimony Demonstrated the Failure of His Hyper-Cautious Approach to His Job
Despite Garland’s many efforts to not appear political by declining to investigate Trump and his cronies for possible crimes and by using DOJ resources to actively protect Trump from civil liability, Republicans are still portraying him as the most political attorney general in history.
The other weakness of Garland’s timid approach was on full view during his opening statement and responses to Democratic members of Congress. “The essence of the rule of law is that like cases are treated alike. That there not be one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans; one rule for friends, another for foes,” Garland stated grandly. But by declining to investigate Trump and his associates, Garland is enabling further attacks on our democracy. (While proving inequity by putting Republicans above the law.)
Crucially, the two parties are not the same. Garland’s standard sets up a false equivalency between the Democratic Party and a political party whose national leader, Donald Trump, incited and celebrated a violent assault on our nation’s Capitol to overthrow the results of a free and fair election and who continues to portray the insurrection as a glorious “protest.” To that end, in the middle of the attorney general’s testimony, Trump issued a statement highlighting Garland’s feebleness at failing to even investigate the organizers and leaders of the Jan. 6 events, declaring “the insurrection took place on November 3, Election Day. January 6 was the Protest!”
Garland’s efforts to depoliticize the DOJ have proved to be an abdication of his responsibility to protect the rule of law. Take just a few examples: Garland’s failure to reconsider the obstruction of justice case against the former president, his deferral of an investigation of possible financial crimes by Trump and his organization to local prosecutors in New York City and Westchester, his use of the DOJ to protect Trump from defamation allegations, and his deferral of a soliciting of voter fraud felony probe in Georgia to local prosecutors there. By abdicating his responsibility, Garland is also opening the door for Trump to commit these possibly criminal abuses all over again, this time with the full support of the Republican Party, and maybe ultimately return to power.
--Mark Stern
"Try as he may, Merrick Garland cannot perform boring independence fast enough to outrun GOP claims that he’s a wild-eyed, violent socialist. And while the GOP currently exists only to cast everything you thought you believed into doubt, the real endgame is vigilantism. The endgame is to ensure that people mistrust government, election systems, school boards, (teachers, health care officials) the media, and the justice system enough to lend a hand in their destruction."
--Dahlia Lithwick
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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06/01/20 -- 1,860,000 confirmed cases; 107,000 deaths.
05/31/20 -- 1,837,000 confirmed cases; 106,200 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/30/20 -- 1,817,000 confirmed cases; 105,600 deaths.
05/29/20 -- 1,793,000 confirmed cases; 104,500 deaths.
05/28/20 -- 1,768,000 confirmed cases; 103,300 deaths.
05/27/20 -- 1,746,000 confirmed cases; 102,100 deaths.
05/26/20 -- 1,725,000 confirmed cases; 100,600 deaths.
05/25/20 -- 1,706,000 confirmed cases; 99,800 deaths.
05/24/20 -- 1,686,000 confirmed cases; 99,300 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/23/20 -- 1,667,000 confirmed cases; 98,700 deaths.
05/22/20 -- 1,645,000 confirmed cases; 97,600 deaths.
05/21/20 -- 1,621,000 confirmed cases; 96,400 deaths.
05/20/20 -- 1,593,000 confirmed cases; 94,900 deaths.
05/19/20 -- 1,571,000 confirmed cases; 93,500 deaths.
05/18/20 -- 1,550,000 confirmed cases; 92,000 deaths.
05/17/20 -- 1,528,000 confirmed cases; 91,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/16/20 -- 1,497,000 confirmed cases; 89,400 deaths.
05/15/20 -- 1,473,000 confirmed cases; 88,200 deaths.
05/14/20 -- 1,448,000 confirmed cases; 86,500 deaths.
05/13/20 -- 1,421,000 confirmed cases; 84,800 deaths.
05/12/20 -- 1,400,000 confirmed cases; 83,000 deaths.
05/11/20 -- 1,379,000 confirmed cases; 81,500 deaths.
05/10/20 -- 1,364,000 confirmed cases; 80,600 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/09/20 -- 1,344,000 confirmed cases; 79,700 deaths.
05/08/20 -- 1,318,000 confirmed cases; 78,200 deaths.
05/07/20 -- 1,289,000 confirmed cases; 76,500 deaths.
05/06/20 -- 1,260,000 confirmed cases; 74,500 deaths.
05/05/20 -- 1,233,000 confirmed cases; 72,000 deaths.
05/04/20 -- 1,208,000 confirmed cases; 69,600 deaths. CDC projects cases increasing to 200,000 per day with deaths rising to 3,000 per day by June because of states, localities and people not following guidelines and reopening their economies too soon.
05/03/20 -- 1,184,000 confirmed cases; 68,300 deaths. Every 44 seconds, another American dies from COVID-19. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/02/20 -- 1,158,000 confirmed cases; 67,000 deaths.
05/01/20 -- 1,129,000 confirmed cases; 65,500 deaths.
04/30/20 -- 1,094,000 confirmed cases; 63,600 deaths. The U.S. accounts for over a third of the world's cases, and over a quarter of COVID-19 deaths--despite possessing only 5% of the world's population. Yet--even now--we still lack the adequate testing capabilities that are critically needed to safely reopen the economy, and remain sorely lacking the necessary rational national leadership so vital to saving American lives and livelihoods.
04/29/20 -- 1,064,000 confirmed cases; 61,500 deaths. The U.S. now has as many COVID-19 deaths in just NINE WEEKS as there was for all TWELVE YEARS of the Vietnam War.
04/28/20 -- 1,034,000 confirmed cases; 59,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/27/20 -- 1,009,000 confirmed cases; 56,500 deaths.
04/26/20 -- 985,000 confirmed cases; 55,400 deaths.
04/25/20 -- 958,000 confirmed cases; 54,000 deaths.
04/24/20 -- 927,000 confirmed cases; 52,400 deaths.
04/23/20 -- 890,000 confirmed cases; 50,400 deaths.
04/22/20 -- 853,000 confirmed cases; 47,800 deaths (+2,674*)
04/21/20 -- 825,000 confirmed cases; 45,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/20/20 -- 788,000 confirmed cases; 43,200 deaths.
04/19/20 -- 760,000 confirmed cases; 41,700 deaths.
04/18/20 -- 735,000 confirmed cases; 39,900 deaths.
04/17/20 -- 702,000 confirmed cases; 37,000 deaths.
04/16/20 -- 671,000 confirmed cases; 33,100 deaths. Less COVID-19 testing performed this week than last, despite desperate need to ramp up volume to reopen economy.
04/15/20 -- 640,000 confirmed cases; 30,800 deaths. The United States recorded its first coronavirus fatality on Feb. 29. It took 38 days to reach 10,000 deaths and just nine more days to go from 10,000 fatalities to 30,000. An increase in fatalities over the last 48 hours was expected, but was also due to new CDC policy, starting on 04/14, to include probable COVID-19 deaths...finally.
04/14/20 -- 609,000 confirmed cases; 26,600 deaths (+2,364 - *New worst daily death toll)
04/13/20 -- 583,000 confirmed cases; 24,200 deaths
04/12/20 -- 558,000 confirmed cases; 22,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S. With just 4.25% of the world's population, the U.S. has 30% of the COVID-19 infections and 20% of the COVID-19 deaths. So far, the U.S. has the very WORST response of ANY nation, something formerly inconceivable, and inexcusable that it could now be allowed to happen here. In the U.S., we have 1.5 million seniors in 15,000 nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Despite forming only 0.45% of the U.S. population, they make up almost 10% of deaths, primarily because our federal government is not doing enough to protect them. Reported that many hospitals are no longer accepting COVID-19 patients from nursing homes, preferring they die there, instead. Our seniors, who helped build, grow and make America great, are being sacrificed, solely to ignorance.
04/11/20 -- 530,000 confirmed cases; 20,500 deaths.
04/10/20 -- 502,000 confirmed cases; 18,800 deaths.
04/09/20 -- 466,000 confirmed cases; 16,700 deaths.
04/08/20 -- 432,000 confirmed cases; 15,900 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S.
04/07/20 -- 400,000 confirmed cases; 13,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. Figures indicate a Covid-19 fatality rate for TESTED Americans at 3.25%.
04/06/20 -- 369,000 confirmed cases; 11,000 deaths.
04/05/20 -- 338,000 confirmed cases; 9,700 deaths.
04/04/20 -- 312,000 confirmed cases; 9,400 deaths.
04/03/20 -- 278,000 confirmed cases; 7,150 deaths.
04/02/20 -- 246,000 confirmed cases; 6,050 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/01/20 -- 217,000 confirmed cases; 5,150 deaths.
03/31/20 -- 190,000 confirmed cases; 4,200 deaths.
03/30/20 -- 165,000 confirmed cases; 3,250 deaths.
03/29/20 -- 143,000 confirmed cases; 2,450 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
(Update 5: Friday, 03/27/20, confirmed U.S. cases 105,000--which is 50% over NIH high-end estimate; deaths 1,700 by end of day. The perspective for cases is significantly skewed low and thus highly misleading, however, as just 0.17% of U.S. population has been tested to date.)
"As many as 70,000 Americans could be confirmed as infected with coronavirus by the end of next week, marking a “pretty dramatic” increase in the number of confirmed cases," the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, told his employees in an agency-wide conference call on 03/20/20.
Except 03/21/20 saw a 33% jump in U.S. cases, from 18,000 to over 24,000. If continuing at 33% every 24 hours, the number of confirmed cases is trending much higher than just 70,000 by 03/27/20. Suspect confirmed cases will be double that. Bear in mind, states hardest hit are not testing many people, saving the tests for those most in need. So the actual number of infected Americans is going to be far higher than just what limited testing of the population has so far confirmed. Don't think this fact is being given enough attention. More important than the number of cases confirmed is the number contracting the disease and not getting tested, spreading the disease, in many cases unknowingly. Hospital projections are for about 100 MILLION Americans to become infected, with about 500,000 dead from covid-19.
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Unlike many others here, I don't blame Sen. Peters for the omission of the word "insurrection." I'm quite sure that it wasn't the preference of Peters and Democrats on the committee to not use the word, but rather was done at the insistence of Republicans. They----and they alone----are to blame. Peters and the rest of the Democrats rightly decided that getting out a timely report with bipartisan support on the security and intelligence failures, as well as recommendations to secure the Capitol, were more important than inclusion of the word. I am just as disappointed and disgusted about not describing the events of January 6 as an insurrection as everyone else, would agree that there is some danger in not doing so, but it was imperative to get to the bottom of this aspect of January 6, and we needed those recommendations to secure the Capitol. It was a choice of two evils, and I think Peters and the Democrats made the correct decision to get this vitally needed report produced and released. I salute Keilar for her tough questioning, and while I understand Peters is running a critically important committee that requires bipartisanship to function well and is being diplomatic to foster as much cooperation with Republicans as possible, I still wish he had been more forthright about exactly why the word insurrection wasn't used to describe the insurrection, placing blame where deservedly due.
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@selmaharwel368 ~ I share your frustration, as the conclusion of my reply makes clear: "...while I understand Peters is running a critically important committee that requires bipartisanship to function well and is being diplomatic to foster as much cooperation with Republicans as possible, I still wish he had been more forthright about exactly why the word insurrection wasn't used to describe the insurrection, placing blame where deservedly due."
The blame where deservedly due lays squarely upon Republicans, not Peters or Democrats, who are doing the best they can to work with Republicans. Clearly, Peters and Democrats have no problem whatsoever in properly calling January 6 an insurrection. I think to view this in proper context, it needs to be seen from that perspective. Moreover, this wasn't the final report or investigation, only a preliminary one that was limited in scope to the security issues. So this report is hardly the last word on the matter----not by a long shot. Republicans are also just sinking their own boat with their shameful tactics, because it should be obvious they would have been the ones who insisted the word "insurrection" not be used.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation—only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regurgitation
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump’s COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration…
Now reaching vacation destination!
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GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country
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Vote BLUE for science, humanity, sanity, justice, truth, inclusiveness, reason, decency, democracy, and reality! And, don't forget to also GET OUT THE VOTE! With anti-democratic, fascist Trump and GOP, must vote to win too big to rig, too real to steal, create too much heat to cheat; if complete, Dems can't be beat.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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With so few coronavirus tests, America has been flying blind into a storm
Editorial Board 03/13/20 -- Washington Post
BARELY MENTIONED in President Trump’s Oval Office address on Wednesday night was the diagnostic testing fiasco. He said only that testing capability is “expanding rapidly day by day.” He should have addressed what has become a major failure in how the United States has responded to the coronavirus pandemic, leaving the country far behind other nations in testing for and controlling infection. With so few tests, the United States has been flying blind into a storm.
Why is this such a problem? We cannot expect a vaccine or cure for covid-19 in the immediate future. But widespread diagnostic testing could help dramatically.
As Jeremy Samuel Faust, an emergency physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, wrote in a Post op-ed, this is for two reasons. First, identifying even mild cases of the infection that are now going uncounted would yield a more accurate picture of the lethality of the disease. This in turn would likely reassure the public and financial markets.
Second, Dr. Faust explained, “the discovery of mild and symptom-free cases may lower the number of serious cases over the course of the outbreak, and might even save lives.” This is partly because treatment (short of cure) can be effective, and partly because isolation of asymptomatic patients would slow the spread of infection. But those patients aren’t going to self-quarantine if they don’t know they’re sick.
South Korea’s experience supports this argument. Regulators there approved a new diagnostic test by a private company in a week’s time. South Korea is testing 20,000 people a day, and it now has drive-through testing — and the infection rates are not climbing sharply.
The United States’ record is sadly different. The initial setback was a technical fault in the diagnostic kits created and sent to state public health labs by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in February. While the CDC rushed to troubleshoot, only about a dozen state labs could test, and all other samples had to be sent to the CDC in Atlanta. Test results took days. On top of this, the agency set very restrictive criteria for who would be tested: only individuals who showed respiratory symptoms and had either recently traveled to China or come in close contact with an infected person. On Feb. 29, facing a rising case count in the United States and a lack of testing, the Food and Drug Administration abruptly changed its rules to allow “high-complexity” laboratories to use diagnostic tests they designed in-house. This began to expand testing and allow hospitals and private firms to produce them — they are now the main hope of ramping up testing — although another looming glitch is a shortage of chemicals.
Not all the testing problems in the United States are political, but it certainly did not help that Vice President Pence repeatedly over-promised the availability of tests, touting millions when only thousands have been conducted. “Anybody that needs a test gets a test,” Mr. Trump declared on March 6 at the CDC headquarters. “They’re there. They have the tests. And the tests are beautiful.” For the sake of the ill and the healthy, we hope the reality will soon catch up to that idle boast.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/opinions-with-so-few-coronavirus-tests-america-has-been-flying-blind-into-a-storm/ar-BB1172Dg
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Republican cult are corrupt LYING hypocrites. Dirty, disgusting, deplorable, despicable, deranged, disgraceful, demented, dishonorable, depraved, disingenuous, devious, diabolical, duplicitous...and that's just a partial tabulation of the 'D' words describing the GOP; the complete listing of their nasty traits is far too many to enumerate.
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Fascist Congressional Republican immoral cowards: No caucus vote on punishment for Rep. Greene's racism, telling dangerous lies, making death threats against members of Congress. Instead, they voted to punish Rep. Cheney for telling the truth about Traitor-'n-Thief Trump's incitement to insurrection.
Marjorie Taylor Greene deserves all three options: banished from committee seats, censure, and expulsion from Congress. She is unfit to hold high office...or any public office.
Marginalized Greene contradicted herself, lied, never apologized to the people she hurt, still refuses to wholly own her racism and incitement to violence, and still shows no real remorse. Instead of contrition, we get only rationalization, lame excuses, doubling down, and baseless attacks against others from Greene.
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@mattf6397 ~ No, he had been laid off some time previously from his job at the Kenosha YMCA, which he held there for only a very short time. His home address was in Illinois, where he lived with his mom and sister. After shooting Rosenbaum, he didn't try to offer medical aid to his victim, despite posing as an EMT and purportedly carrying medical supplies. Nor did he call 911, as he was asked to do by the Daily Caller reporter there who did try to administer first aid. Instead, Rittenhouse called his friend to tell him that he just shot someone while fleeing the crime scene, and that was when people started trying to stop an active shooter.
Watched the whole trial, have seen all the video and evidence. From the video, it is obvious that Rittenhouse was not "cornered" and I don't buy his self defense claim. Rosenbaum was just 5 foot 3 inches tall and weighed only 150 pounds. Rosenbaum had gone up to other armed vigilantes there acting belligerently, and they didn't regard him as any serious threat, simply pushed him away. He was unarmed when Rittenhouse turned and shot him four times. The killing shot was the last one in his back, when he lay on the ground already wounded and incapacitated.
Yeah, people were trying to stop what could rightfully be perceived as an active shooter attempting to escape. The guy who jumped over Rittenhouse after he tripped and tried to kick him was shot at twice by Rittenhouse, both shots missing. That was when Huber struck an awkward, glancing blow off the back of his shoulder (not his head, watch the video) as he ran past, and was immediately moving away with the skateboard in hand when shot and killed by Rittenhouse.
At that point Grosskreutz had his hands up, and from the video and testimony, it's clear that it wasn't until Rittenhouse racked and pointed his AR-15 at Grosskreutz that Grosskreutz, fearing for his life, dropped his arms and pointed his Glock at Rittenhouse.
Ironically, had Grosskreutz fired first, killing or incapacitating Rittenhouse, Grosskreutz could well have legitimately claimed self defense. Would Grosskreutz have then been the "hero," and Rittenhouse the dead villain, unable to defend himself and his actions?
Fact checker agrees that it was not legal for Rittenhouse to be carrying an AR-15 semi-automatic assault rifle. They even revisited and reaffirmed their calling on the issue after the judge dismissed the gun charge.
The judge was corrupt and biased, but fortunately his horrendous decision to dismiss the gun charge does not set precedent, because he presided over a trial in circuit court. Only the state appellate and Supreme courts set precedent.
His interpretation is not the way the law has been traditionally interpreted and enforced here, and was contrary to the intent of the Wisconsin legislative members who wrote the law. Defense lawyers interviewed before the judge further rigged the case in dismissing the charge even said there was no good defense against it for Rittenhouse.
Lots of hunters in Wisconsin. As a resident of the state who has hunted here and had children who hunted here, I can tell you that there are exceptions for minors to carry a firearm, which are for hunting, target shooting at a range, and military service. But we don't have minors parading around on city streets carrying long guns. It's just not a thing here, because it is regarded as illegal, and they are likely to be arrested and charged. There are very good reasons for not allowing minors to open carry like adults, something which the Rittenhouse case underscores.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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While feeling the pain and outrage of the injustice of Floyd's brutal, senseless murder at the hands of law enforcement--done in plain sight with impunity--and can empathize, can not experience the same level of fear and sickness of minorities suffering from such racism, who must live and deal with this dangerous reality EVERY DAY of their lives HERE in America. It is hard to even imagine, but can certainly understand how protests turn to angry rioting, when nothing seems to change, even if at the same time cognizant and saddened that such rioting is counterproductive and adding more harm to those communities already hurting. If there was only one thing could tell my minority brothers and sisters, fellow American citizens, it is that you will never stand alone in standing up against injustice; there are many Americans like me continuing to stand alongside you, willing to speak out, to act. Those of us who don't see colors, or biological gender, or infirmities--but PEOPLE. Stay strong, stay proud, stay NOBLE--truth and decency WILL prevail if we fight for them.
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@LilBabyKK24 - You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It's that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don't care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another five months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic hyper-partisan Republican cult placing political party over patriotism and country.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much to future generations--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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“I'm not scared of the Maos and the Stalins and the Hitlers.
I'm scared of the thousands or millions of people that hallucinate them to be "authority", and so do their bidding, and pay for their empires, and carry out their orders.
I don't care if there's one looney with a stupid moustache. He's not a threat if the people do not believe in "authority".” ― Larken Rose
Setting aside the sleazy immoral Reich-wing grifters at the top -- people like Trump, Congressional Republicans, Reich-wing demagogues and media -- the rank-and-file of the GOP has become a fascist cult. To be clear, Trump did not create the cult, it existed before him. He merely served as a unifying figure they chose to rally around and worship as their fool's gold god. Trump appealed to their basest nature and told them what they wanted to hear. Now, those Reich-wing grifters may have cultivated their cult to exploit for their own greed, power and vanity, but at least to some extent the Republican cult in turn seeks to exploit the GOP for their own various misguided purposes. They CHOOSE to be willfully ignorant, to believe or espouse the lies, because as a political calculus they shortsightedly see it as expedient to their ends.
What must also be taken into consideration are the characteristics of a cult. Why do people join a cult? Why do they choose to remain in a cult? No need to go into detail; the answers are largely common knowledge or easily researched. But it should be pointed out that in a complex world, the simplistic and rigid beliefs embraced by cults can be very alluring, no matter how fantastical and removed from reality. It should also be acknowledged that the Republican cult is not a monolithic entity, but an amalgamation of sects, including White supremacists, Christian nationalists, libertarians, sovereign nationals, anarchists, tax resistors, Qanon and other extremist fringe groups. Of course, not every Republican is an extremist, a fascist, or untethered from reality. But this latter more benign group is nevertheless part of the fascist Republican cult, complicit in their support of the whole, whether through their silent acquiescence and votes or willing assistance.
It's a very dangerous feedback loop, a vicious circle, one that as it sinks further into depravity its threat correspondingly rises, for as the Republican cult has over time been becoming increasingly more radicalized, we witness the election of more radical politicians to represent them, more radicalized Reich-wing media and demagogues to feed them propaganda. While some Republicans are leaving the GOP and some others are speaking out and trying to save their party, they constitute a weak minority, unfortunately.
In a normal, sane world, the Republican cult would have ended or been marginalized after the Mueller Report, after Trump's Ukraine shakedown and impeachment, after Trump's horrendous handling of a deadly global pandemic, after his election defeat, or after January 6th and his second impeachment. But that hasn't happened. Instead, the Republican cult continues to become increasingly more radicalized and extreme. As President Biden says, "We are in a battle for the soul of this nation." And that battle is far from over.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth and justice--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
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@nickn437 ~ Wrong. Fact check already debunked your false claim long ago, which conflates what Biden said to mislead and misinform; ignores how the China ban came too late, still letting in 44,000+ from China after the ban; and ignores that the vast majority of cases in the U.S. were seeded from Europe, which Toxic Trump reacted too late in enacting a European ban that even initially omitted the UK, which was suffering the worst outbreak in the EU at the time. That is what the science says, Doc, making you the delusional group thinker, the gullible grouper swallowing whatever troll bait your puppet masters feed you.
Moreover, you're ignoring Toxic Trump's lack of any rational, coherent national strategy for COVID-19 (which he still lacks), his inexcusable lying to the American people about the threat posed by COVID-19, his abject failure to prepare the U.S. for COVID-19, his withdrawal of epidemiologists from China prior to the outbreak and disbanding of the interagency pandemic response team, his failure to maintain the national emergency medical stockpile, his failure to develop any effective testing strategy, etc., etc.
#moreRussiasanctions
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Worst economic downturn in American history, catastrophically botched COVID-19 pandemic response with over 160,000 senseless American deaths. TWENTY straight weeks of over ONE MILLION new unemployment claims. Deaths projected to double by the end of year due to most corrupt, incompetent, racist, and ignorant President in U.S. history. A treasonous President that compromised himself with Russia, who refuses to hold the U.S. principle foreign adversary accountable for its attacks on America, who won't even speak out against Russian bounties on U.S. soldiers. Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy: "Toxic Trump is doing a helluva job!" Rabid right-wing cult media is DESTROYING America!
What's really confusing America is Newsmax, Faux News, and all the other rabid right-wing media outlets propagating and spreading disinformation. Without the supporting cast of willing supplicant proto-fascist right-wing media exploiting and profiting from them, the lies and distortions of Toxic Trump and Republicans would hold very little power, and could not persist.
Anyone really all that surprised that the CEO of Newsmax, Chris Ruddy, is a dishonest partisan hack with no character or integrity whatsoever? If so, that's only because you've never seen Newsmax.
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War against a foreign country only happens when the moneyed classes think they are going to profit from it. ~ George Orwell
"Peace is not a very big thing to ask for, is it?" ~ Fatima Gailani, Afghan activist and negotiator, pleading for continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan
It is when asking the Taliban, who do not seek peace or to bargain in good faith, but total domination once again. U.S. has spent 20 years and over $2 trillion trying to achieve peace in Afghanistan, losing over 4000 American lives (military and civilian contractors), with tens of thousands of Americans wounded there.
"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials … have given Afghans little reason to support their government," Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the commander of U.S. forces in the country, wrote in a 2009 memorandum. "This crisis of confidence, coupled with a distinct lack of economic and educational opportunity, has created fertile ground for the insurgency."
That was 11 years ago, and little has changed since. Thought the invasion of Afghanistan by Bush was a mistake that would lead to a quagmire, and have been proven correct. Still, initially supported efforts to bring peace and stability there, along with basic human and civil-rights, because after invading felt we had an obligation to rebuild. However, while U.S. blunders there have contributed to a failure, Afghans are their own worst enemy, and no one can help them until enough of them are willing to help themselves.
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Welcome to war. This is what war is. It's terrible, it's tragic, it's ugly, it stinks, it's unfair, it's sad, it's wasteful, it's hell, innocents die, and things always go wrong. You think we'd have learned that by now, but no, it's a lesson that has to be repeatedly learned, evidently. The consensus is that nobody foresaw the Afghan government and its armed forces completely capitulating so quickly as they did. Some say there should have been a contingency plan for this, but even though hindsight is 20/20, have yet to hear any rational plan that could have dealt with this situation. Shit happens, and Biden got handed a turd with Afghanistan. Instead of allowing the crap to continue, Biden made the hard, responsible decision to pull the U.S. out of another country's civil war. Fallout was inevitable, and Republicans trying to capitalize on that politically or media trying to profit from it is truly degenerate.
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It's like rowing or paddling upstream, or into a stiff wind--if you ease-up too much or stop, you will only have to paddle twice as hard to make up all the previous hard-earned progress that was quickly lost. Failing to maintain isolation and other measures for sufficient time to stop the spread of COVID-19 transmission will cost U.S. more in time, effort, money, and LIVES. Reopening and relaxing measures too early in defiance of the science and data is the ultimate in colossal ignorance, greed, ruthlessness, and arrogance.
We have a segment of Republican cult willfully ignorant, who malevolently seek to sabotage containment efforts. But many do not grasp how important it is that we treat ourselves and everyone else as being infected.
This is because people know that is very unlikely, especially outside dense urban areas, where incidence rates are low. Because of the delay in onset of the disease and asymptomatic carriers, COVID-19 is a stealth killer that uses Americans against each other as its foot soldiers, transporting it, keeping the disease and its train of transmission alive. This is further complicated because people cannot see a virus, see it attacking, see it spreading, until it is too late. For many of us, seeing is believing, and people are incapable or reluctant to make that leap of logic required to keep them and everyone safe--even with the massive public education efforts.
Of course, the problem becomes greatly exacerbated when the President refuses to wear a mask, and his administration works against itself in fighting this deadly global pandemic, sending conflicting messages to the public. Toxic Trump, his administration, and all the Republicans who have aided and abetted him, are directly responsible in our view for the senseless deaths of tens and thousands of Americans. The dead are the worst of it, but there is also the tremendous needless suffering and economic loss accompanying their wanton criminal negligence.
No national testing, no rational national coordinated pandemic response. Republican governors reopening too quickly in defiance of CDC guidelines are only following the President's lead. Democratic governors in many states likewise being adversely pressured by Toxic Trump's pandemic disinformation and Republican opposition to requisite lockdowns. Problem starts at the top. Don't fault even the worst Republican governors as much as this President. The President needed to take the lead, take the hit for the hard decisions--not put all the weight on governors as he as.
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Asked by reporters about the protestors gathering against pandemic lockdowns, the vast majority not wearing face masks or observing social distancing, Toxic Trump--who tweeted his supporters to "Liberate" three states with Democratic governors critical to his reelection, against his own administrations pandemic edicts and guidance, and in foment of partisan rebellion against state's governors during a Federal National Emergency declared against this pandemic--said, "They seem to be very responsible people to me!"
Trumpette insanity that should have us ALL livid with outrage! Not only are these Republican cult fools putting themselves, their loved ones, and everyone else in danger, they are putting an increased burden upon our already over-stressed health care workers and system, FURTHER endangering them and those they would serve. They put all our other essential front-line workers at increased risk, as well--those we need for our groceries and supplies (including migrant workers), to keep the government, electric, gas and other critical infrastructure functioning. What's really, really stupid about their aberrant, irrational partisan cult behavior, is that they are only PROLONGING restrictive measures to contain COVID-19, EXTENDING the time until our economy can reopen fully, REDUCING the amount our economy can be opened--all of which DAMAGES Trump's reelection chances! But that isn't the worst of it. These Trumpettes ignorantly protesting are KILLING actual Americans, just as surely as they put a gun to their heads and pulled the trigger. Toxic Trump shares responsibility, but it is these GOP idiots who own primary responsibility for manslaughter. They should be charged, tried, and convicted, in our view. At the very, very least, they should have all been arrested for public endangerment. Ludicrous and lethal ignorance!
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@sasha219 ~ Conservatism--the endless, futile quest to justify greed. For many in the tribalistic partisan Republican cult, it's a blind faith on capitalism and liberty that deliberately ignores the limitations and responsibilities involved with each, often driven by ignorant anarchist impulses, which are in turn typically rooted in ignorance such as greed, bigotry, racism, xenophobia, and religion. They reject societal norms that places reasonable limitations on those things in benefit of the common good.
You see the well-dressed, well-fed pandemic lock-down protestors, most driving newer, expensive vehicles. You KNOW these people are nowhere near destitute, that they got money and time to waste. Then, you think about all the African-Americans being very disproportionately affected in inner cities, who ARE suffering greatly, yet continue to give selflessly on the front lines of this war against COVID-19, and abide by guidelines despite the hardships affecting low-income and poverty sectors far worse. Many of them feel FORCED to work to pay the bills, WISHING they had a non-essential job where they could receive unemployment, be on vacation at home with family, and not be put at risk in general society, where they have typically been ill-protected by their employers. They are put at greater increased risk by protestors.
You also think about ALL the other essential medical and front-line workers being put at greater increased risk by ignorant protestors--and about the suffering and deaths you KNOW will result from their ignorance. From their continued rejection of truth, reason, facts, science, and even common sense. We have to wonder at the willful ignorance, despite knowing the reasons, appalled at their irrationalism, and fearful for our nation, our families and friends, and ourselves.
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@Planetary Force ~ There was a time before Roger Aisles, Rush Limbaugh, and the rise of right-wing demagoguery giving birth to the mindless, tribalistic Republican cult that one could have rational, honest, mutually constructive discussions about differences in ideology and issues with conservatives, when one could respect them despite those differences.
Now, conditioned by decades of Reich-wing propaganda programming, one typically only encounters lies, crackpot conspiracy theories, logical fallacies like Whataboutism and projectionism, circular reasoning, and close-mindedness from Republicans. Which is destructive to our political discourse, destructive to mutual trust, destructive to harmony and unity, and destructive to our society and nation. Really miss that previous era.
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Luntz ignores that it is Republicans who have politicized this pandemic, and it is Republicans who continue to politicize it, spreading lies. It isn't just Republican politicians, demagogues, and media putting party before country by politicizing COVID-19---it's Republican voters, too, putting not only party before country, but party before their own lives and well-being, and the lives and well-being of their loved ones and fellow Americans. He also wants Biden to credit Trump for Operation Warp Speed, but Trump doesn't deserve credit for that; it was American and German pharmaceutical companies that developed the vaccine, not the U.S. government. Moreover, Russia, China, and the UK all developed vaccines just as quickly, demonstrating how it is the advancement of the science involved that deserves credit for the speed vaccines were developed----NOT the prowess of any U.S. politician, whatever their political affiliation. Regardless, Biden would give him credit he doesn't deserve if it really would help, but we all know that Trump is never going to reciprocate, because he doesn't care about his own supporters, only himself. That's why Trump took the vaccine in secret, remember, Frank? That's why Trump kept perpetuating the Big Lies about COVID-19, remember, Frank? That's why we have over a half-million Americans senselessly dead, remember, Frank? It is Frank Luntz who is more concerned about the politics than American lives and the good of the nation, more interested in protecting the Republican brand than anything else.
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We got Big Brag Daddy Baghdad Bob broadcasting direct from Washington, D.C. daily, with Toxic Trump and a revolving cast of his sycophantic minions! Happy talk, disinformation, empty promises, idle threats, vicious smears, bogus pandemic models, dog whistles, continuous crackpot conspiracies--they got it all, and more!
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You don't get denialism without nihilism. As life-long conservative Bill Kristol astutely pointed out, the Republican party has embraced nihilism. Republicans still labeling COVID-19 a "hoax;" Republicans still refusing to wear masks or social distance after over half-a-million American fatalities from COVID-19; Congressional Republicans obstructing a COVID-19 stimulus bill certain to pass just to delay vital and urgently needed relief to Americans desperate for help; not one Congressional Republican in either chamber voting for the badly needed stimulus bill; Republican governors dropping mask mandates and all restrictions on businesses, heedless of rising case counts in their states and deadly new variants of the virus; and Republican leaders continuing to push the Big Lie that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen without evidence and in disregard of plentiful evidence and facts to the contrary, even AFTER their Big Lie incited a terrorist attack by a mindless Republican mob against the nation's Capitol in insurrection against the government, attempting to overturn a legitimate election, sieging, storming, sizing, sacking, defiling, defacing and disgracing America's citadel of, and temple to, democracy--these are all prime examples of nihilism.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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GOP cult is NOT the party of law and order, NOT the party of the Constitution and patriots, NOT the party of "values," NOT the party of fiscal responsibility, NOT the party of clean government, NOT the party of freedom. It's the party of terrorism, lawlessness, corruption, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry, misogyny, Big Lies, socialized taxpayer payouts for plutocrats, sedition, traitors, and tyranny.
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Of course, the January 6th Select Committee is going to issue an invitation to members of Congress to come forward with information about January 6th before issuing a subpoena, expecting them to honor their Oath of Office. Of course, Republicans don't care about their Oath of Office. Of course, they're going to falsely claim victimhood and allege the Commitee is a political witch hunt. Of course, they're not going to cooperate. Of course, Republicans will continue to Gaslight, Obstruct, and Project, putting personal and party interests before country. Of course, outside of a small handful of Congressional Republicans, they are not leaders, but followers in a fascist, nihilistic GOP cult. Of course, they continue to push the Big Lie, whether actively or silently complicit, fomenting domestic terrorism while undermining and degrading our democracy and republic.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of crackpot conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of greed, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of plutocrats, the party of corruption, the party of anti-democracy, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their pact with the Devil.
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Republican cult are corrupt LYING hypocrites. Dirty, disgusting, deplorable, despicable, deranged, disgraceful, demented, dishonorable, depraved, disingenuous, devious, diabolical, duplicitous...and that's just a partial tabulation of the 'D' words describing the GOP; the complete listing of their nasty traits is far too many to enumerate.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of crackpot conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of greed, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of plutocrats, the party of corruption, the party of anti-democracy, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their pact with the Devil.
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Congressional Republicans--conceited, clueless clowns, corrupt to their crappy, childish core, careless of crime and criminal, Constitution and country; contemptible, compassionless cretins who cravenly capitulated to Caesar, their Commander of Cheat and Chief Confabulator, and who can't condone, correct, or cross the cult creation they crazily constructed to compete, commencing to now coopted and conjoined at the cranium.
Currently conveniently--if contrary to courage, or common sense and cause--coldly calculating and crudely conflating control and creepy cash with contentment and continuity, commensurate with, and correspondent to, conspicuously cuckolding their contemporaneous citizens they constantly contrive to confuse and confound, using cunning, charades, and chicanery to ceaselessly convolute, cover-up and conceal their complicity, culpability, cowardice, and complete lack of character and conscience.
Commie comrades call-in condolences and chuckle, contain callous celebration or congratulatory claims, content to be coy with their calamitous conception conveying calumnious election cycle cyber contamination, continually concerned about consequences with certifying, corroborating, or confessing and coming clean to the crud they crafted; cognizant counterstrikes could certainly prove conducive to the collapse of their own censurable compendium of cancerous, cruel crackpots and crummy, conniving crooks.
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GOP cult: “Democracy is great…only so long as we can subvert it with lies, a multitude of Jim Crow voter suppression laws, egregious gerrymandering, obstruction, sedition, and terrorism to gain power and maintain our corrupt, plutocratic, minority fascist rule!”
"...we must recognize that one of the two political parties is routinely engaged in sabotaging free elections with voter-suppression efforts aimed at the minority voters it cannot win over at the ballot box. These anti-democratic power grabs became a GOP staple decades before Donald Trump, culminating in the actions of a George W. Bush–anointed chief justice, John Roberts, whose Supreme Court shredded the Voting Rights Act of 1965. As Roberts famously put it in his 2007 opinion for the plurality, “The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.” Since then, discrimination on the basis of race has only expanded in states like Georgia and Florida, where Black voting rights have been cavalierly undermined and trashed."
~ Frank Rich, November 9, 2020 (Written well before the rash of new Jim Crow laws now being proposed and passed by Republicans in many states.)
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
― Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil. They are either actively or silently complicit in fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorist violence, Reich-wing insurrection, and Reich-wing undermining of our democracy and Constitution.
It's crystal clear that Trump, Boebert, Greene, Gosar and other Republicans like them are fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorism. The GOP has become radicalized to such an extent that it has essentially become a fascist terrorist organization, with members that fantasize and promote violence against their fellow Americans. While those Republican elected officials must be condemned and sanctioned, they are only a symptom of the disease poisoning a third of America, the most visible part of the cancer infecting our nation.
The GOP has been mainstreaming radicalization of their voter base for decades, ALLOWING Reich-wing media and Reich-wing demagogues to take over the party, to the point it has become a fascist, nihilistic cult. Because just as now, Republican politicians and their plutocratic masters have always seen it as the ends justifying whatever means to win power. Remember the Republican Tea Party? This catastrophe with the GOP didn't start with Trump, who just exploited what the Republicans had already built.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle for graft and to grift their voters and us taxpayers. You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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"'Tis not, 'my country, right or wrong;' 'tis, 'my country, what is right to be kept right, what is wrong to be set right!'" -- Carl Schurz
Long before there was Amash, there was principled progressive visionary Republican Carl Schurz. German revolutionary, journalist, American statesman, abolitionist and superb orator who campaigned tirelessly in support for Lincoln, U.S. diplomat, beloved Union Army General, U.S. Senator for Missouri, helped shape a Reconstruction policy that enfranchised the freed slaves, championed civil service reform, a founder of the Republican Party in Wisconsin, founded the Liberal Republican movement, was a leader of the "Mugwump" exodus from the Republican party, denounced American imperialism in the Spanish-American War, and passionate advocate for the conservationist movement in America which he helped to create. His wife started the first kindergarten in the U.S.
At the age of 19 he was a leader of the student movement that became the spearhead of democratic revolutionary ferment in many parts of Germany. In 1849 Schurz was commissioned a lieutenant in the revolutionary army, which was finally defeated by the Prussians. Knowing he would be shot if captured, he fled the country. He later returned under a false passport to rescue a professor from Spandau prison and spirit him out of Germany in the most daring exploit of the entire revolution. Schurz came to the U.S. in 1852.
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U.S. sent millions of face masks to China early this year, ignoring pandemic warning signs
Juliet Eilperin, Jeff Stein, Desmond Butler, and Tom Hamburger -- Washington Post -- 04/19/20
U.S. manufacturers shipped millions of dollars’ worth of face masks and other protective medical equipment to China in January and February with encouragement from the federal government, a Washington Post review of economic data and internal government documents has found. The move underscores the Trump administration’s failure to recognize and prepare for the growing pandemic threat.
In those two months, the value of protective masks and related items exported from the United States to China grew more than 1,000 percent compared with the same time last year — from $1.4 million to about $17.6 million, according to a Post analysis of customs categories which, according to research by Public Citizen, contain key PPE. Similarly, shipments of ventilators and protective garments jumped by triple digits.
“Instead of taking steps to prepare, they ignored the advice of one expert after another,” said Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Tex.). “People right now, as we speak, are dying because there have been inadequate supplies of PPE.”
On Feb. 26 — when total deaths had reached 2,770, nearly all in China — the Commerce Department published a flier titled “CS China COVID Procurement Service,” guiding American firms on how to sell “critical medical products” to China and Hong Kong through Beijing’s fast-tracked sales process. Doggett obtained the flier — from the division of the International Trade Association’s Commercial Services Office in China — and other Commerce communications.
America now faces acute and deadly shortages of proper medical equipment. A recent survey found nearly 90 percent of American mayors say they do not have enough test kits or face masks, while 85 percent say they do not have enough ventilators. The Office of the Inspector General at HHS found “severe shortages” of testing kits and personal protective equipment. Numerous hospitals and states have reported that nurses and doctors are forced to resort to makeshift gear that increases the odds of exposure.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/us-sent-millions-of-face-masks-to-china-early-this-year-ignoring-pandemic-warning-signs/ar-BB12QkxE
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Bob Donald --Instead of striving to bring out the best in people, Toxic Trump reveled in bringing out the very worst.
--Instead of uniting the country, Toxic Trump sought to divide us.
--Instead of abiding by and honoring our Constitution and the rule of law, Toxic Trump held them in disdain, disregarded them, and degraded them.
--Instead of strengthening democracy and our cherished institutions, Toxic Trump worked to diminish and destroy them, inciting a terrorist insurrection against his own government, attempting a coup to steal an election.
--Instead of insuring a peaceful transfer power after losing the election, Toxic Trump kept insisting against all evidence that he won, and incited a terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol.
--Instead of confronting a serious threat to Americans with a deadly global pandemic, Toxic Trump lied to the American people about it, ignored it, and refused to take any responsibility for his gross homicidal criminal negligence that resulted in one out of every 800 Americans dying from COVID-19--over 400,000 lives in just ten months, as many casualties as all of WWII.
--Instead of confronting the ever-increasing existential crisis from climate change and its harmful effects, Toxic Trump gutted regulations, exacerbating the problem and poisoning citizens.
--Instead of creating jobs, Toxic Trump was the first President since the Great Depression to preside over a net loss of jobs over his tenure.
--Instead of lowering the national deficit, Toxic Trump increased it from 19.2 trillion to 27 trillion.
--Instead of building bridges, humane immigration reform, and infrastructure, Toxic Trump built walls and cages, separated children from mothers, allowed American infrastructure to decline and deteriorate, rejected economic opportunity.
--Instead of raising our standing and security in the world, Toxic Trump lowered and weakened it.
--Instead of draining the swamp, Toxic Trump turned it into a noxious overflowing Republican sewer.
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Wow! That's quite the allegation you're making! Any Congressional member getting kickbacks from foreign nations for U.S. taxpayer aid provided would be criminal. Don't suppose you have any actual credible proof to back up your wild, fanciful, baseless allegation? Didn't think so. Otherwise, you would have provided it.
You're apparently one of those uninformed people ignorant about their own government who is just going to believe whatever they wish to believe, facts and evidence be damned. Besides, much more money goes to Americans than it does to foreign aid. As a proportion of federal dollars and GDP, the U.S.--the richest nation in the world--gives far less than many other advanced nations.
Moreover, that foreign aid benefits U.S. interests--and therefore American citizens. Most Americans have long understood this tradeoff, as well as an obligation for the richest nation to help those less fortunate around the world. Unfortunately, today's electorate has become dumbed down, selfish, and unwilling or incapable of grasping the big picture.
To be clear, Trump illegally withheld aid from Ukraine to extort campaign help from Ukraine, as well as other criminal acts, for which he should be prosecuted after leaving office. Congressional Republicans were also complicit in not holding Trump and his administration accountable for their malfeasance and, while they can not be held criminally liable for their dereliction of duty, they should definitely be held accountable by voters. However, this is a slightly different matter than what you are alleging and, at any rate, Trump's shakedown scheme against Ukraine ultimately failed because the Ukrainian government was unwilling to become corrupted. So, while Trump is still guilty of bribery, he didn't derive any benefit from his attempt. Instead, he got impeached (even if Senate Republicans subsequently violated their oath of office, the rule of law, the Constitution, and the American people in failing to remove Trump for his wanton lawlessness and obstruction.)
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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Welcome to war. This is what war is. It's terrible, it's tragic, it's ugly, it stinks, it's unfair, it's sad, it's wasteful, it's hell, innocents die, and things always go wrong. You think we'd have learned that by now, but no, it's a lesson that has to be repeatedly learned, evidently. The consensus is that nobody foresaw the Afghan government and its armed forces completely capitulating so quickly as they did. Some say there should have been a contingency plan for this, but even though hindsight is 20/20, have yet to hear any rational plan that could have dealt with this situation. Shit happens, and Biden got handed a turd with Afghanistan. Instead of allowing the crap to continue, Biden made the hard, responsible decision to pull the U.S. out of another country's civil war. Fallout was inevitable, and Republicans trying to capitalize on that politically or media trying to profit from it is truly degenerate.
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Well, Christie just disgraced and discredited himself once again, with a continuous litany of Whataboutism, false equivalence, both sidesism, and hyper-partisan rhetoric that torpedoes his own boat, demonstrating his dishonesty and utter lack of integrity. Christie is essentially defending Boebert here while trying vainly to deflect and change the subject to his political opposition, instead of responding honestly to the questions asked. But fascist Republican demagogues like Boebert have no use for Christie, would spit in his face, while Cowardly Christie poses as a Republican critical of where the Republican party is going. Christie is a slimy weasel who cares about no one but himself and his own ambitions, that much has always been obvious.
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Toxic Trump: "I'm the BEST, just absolutely CRUSHING the competition, with over THREE POINT FIVE MILLION coronavirus cases and over 139 -- one-hundred and thirty-nine!!! -- THOUSAND deaths! Easy as 1-2-3! They ALL got eighty-sixed, 'cause nobody else even comes close! With a QUARTER of the world's cases AND deaths--can you even imagine how truly great, how awesome, that achievement is, with only just FOUR PERCENT of the world's population to work with? Believe it or not, I accomplished in only FIVE WEEKS what it took the Vietnam War a whole TWELVE YEARS to do! Not done with the fun--and not to be outdone--I then doubled down on the death toll from Vietnam in just FOUR MONTHS! PLUS, we're not even counting ALL the COVID-19 cases and deaths here in the U.S.! And, with only SEVEN PERCENT of the U.S. population already infected, we're just getting started with all the sickness and death; there's PLENTY more to come! Those other weaklings and losers don't stand a chance, because we're going to keep right on winning--as long as I'm in charge! Now, vacation's over; time to get back to work on increasing those numbers, people! Let's keep America great, get rid of all the excess baggage! As wartime President, I am commanding all CIVILIANS to senselessly sacrifice their lives for my arrogance, stupidity, vanity, malevolence, and greed!"
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or "the Wall") is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle's name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called "leaders" in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 -- than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to--and a barrier against--our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It's design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge--and help teach--people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see...if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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I ran the White House pandemic office. Trump closed it.
Beth Cameron -- 03/13/20 -- Washington Post
Beth Cameron is vice president for global biological policy and programs at the Nuclear Threat Initiative. She previously served as the senior director for global health security and biodefense on the White House National Security Council.
When President Trump took office in 2017, the White House’s National Security Council Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense survived the transition intact. Its mission was the same as when I was asked to lead the office, established after the Ebola epidemic of 2014: to do everything possible within the vast powers and resources of the U.S. government to prepare for the next disease outbreak and prevent it from becoming an epidemic or pandemic.
One year later, I was mystified when the White House dissolved the office, leaving the country less prepared for pandemics like covid-19.
The U.S. government’s slow and inadequate response to the new coronavirus underscores the need for organized, accountable leadership to prepare for and respond to pandemic threats.
In a health security crisis, speed is essential. When this new coronavirus emerged, there was no clear White House-led structure to oversee our response, and we lost valuable time. Yes, we have capable and committed global and national disease-prevention and management organizations, as well as state and local health departments, all working overtime now. But even in prepared cities like Seattle, health systems are struggling to test patients and keep pace with growing caseloads. The specter of rapid community transmission and exponential growth is real and daunting. The job of a White House pandemics office would have been to get ahead: to accelerate the response, empower experts, anticipate failures, and act quickly and transparently to solve problems.
It’s impossible to assess the full impact of the 2018 decision to disband the White House office responsible for this work. Biological experts do remain in the White House and in our government. But it is clear that eliminating the office has contributed to the federal government’s sluggish domestic response. What’s especially concerning about the absence of this office today is that it was originally set up because a previous epidemic made the need for it quite clear.
The U.S. government worked hard to fight the 2014 Ebola epidemic. Unlike Central Africa, Ebola was not a usual occurrence in West Africa; the necessary elements of community trust and public health decision-making weren’t in place to detect and stop it. Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone were blind spots for disease surveillance. The cost was thousands of lives, billions of dollars and years of economic recovery for countries already torn by decades of war.
So in 2016, after the formidable U.S.-led Ebola response, the Obama White House established the global health security office at the National Security Council and asked me to lead the team. We were to prepare for and, if possible, prevent the next outbreak from becoming an epidemic or pandemic.
Our team reported to a senior-level response coordinator on the National Security staff who could rally the government at the highest levels, as well as to the national security adviser and the homeland security adviser. This high-level domestic and global reporting structure wasn’t an accident. It was a recognition that epidemics know no borders and that a serious, fast response is crucial. Our job was to be the smoke alarm — keeping watch to get ahead of emergencies, sounding a warning at the earliest sign of fire — all with the goal of avoiding a six-alarm blaze.
We partnered with federal departments and agencies as they monitored evolving outbreaks, triggering alarms for decision-makers when those outbreaks began to take on unusual or worrisome characteristics. Shortly before Trump took office, we were watching many health security threats, including a rising number of cases in China of H7N9 influenza, a deadly strain with high mortality but low transmissibility between people. Earlier, we had been tracking a large outbreak of yellow fever in Angola that threatened to sap the limited global supply of that vaccine, affecting the local population, international travelers, deployed citizens and troops. We were focused on naturally occurring diseases and potential bioterrorism — any and every biological threat that could cause a major global health and security emergency.
My office was also tasked with preparing — at home and around the world — for the next health emergency, no matter its origin. In 2014, even before the first cases of Ebola came to light in Guinea, the Obama administration launched the Global Health Security Agenda, which now includes more than 60 countries, to accelerate epidemic preparedness. That effort, bolstered by $1 billion from the U.S. government in an emergency spending bill to fight Ebola, led to major gains in global capability to combat the Ebola outbreak and prepare for the next pandemic, which turned out to be covid-19. We began building, measuring and tracking capacities each country had, such as the strength of their national laboratory systems and their abilities to detect and report disease, stand up emergency operation centers, build an epidemiology workforce and maintain safe and secure practices. We spurred the use of transparent, measurable assessments of progress, and we leveraged our diplomacy with other countries to finance and fill gaps. At the same time, we strengthened international biosurveillance networks to help alert us to future potential pandemics.
Another critical task came in early 2017, when we began transitioning pandemic preparedness to the incoming Trump administration. As a civil servant and the head of the directorate, I remained at the White House for several months after the transition. I attended senior-level meetings and directly briefed the homeland security adviser and the national security adviser. After I left the White House that March, pandemic preparedness remained on the agenda; my office remained intact under the leadership of my well-respected successor, Rear Adm. Tim Ziemer; and the national security adviser was tracking H7N9 and other emerging threats.
It’s unclear whether the decision to disband the directorate, which was made in May 2018, after John Bolton became national security adviser, was a tactical move to downgrade the issue or whether it was part of the White House’s interest in simplifying and shrinking the National Security Council staff. Either way, it left an unclear structure and strategy for coordinating pandemic preparedness and response. Experts outside government and on Capitol Hill called for the office’s reinstatement at the time.
Its absence now is all too evident. In his remarks Wednesday night, the president talked about travel bans and the resilience of the U.S. economy but made little specific mention of the public health crisis unfolding across America — exactly the kind of detail a dedicated NSC pandemics infrastructure would have pushed to address. A directorate within the White House would have been responsible for coordinating the efforts of multiple federal agencies to make sure the government was backstopping testing capacity, devising approaches to manufacture and avoid shortages of personal protective equipment, strengthening U.S. lab capacity to process covid-19 tests, and expanding the health-care workforce.
The office would galvanize resources to coordinate a robust and seamless domestic and global response. It would identify needs among state and local officials, and advise and facilitate regular, focused communication from federal health and scientific experts to provide states and the public with fact-based tools to minimize the virus’s spread. The White House is uniquely positioned to take into account broader U.S. and global security considerations associated with health emergencies, including their impact on deployed citizens, troops and regional economies, as well as peace and stability. A White House office would have been able to elevate urgent issues fast, so they didn’t linger or devolve to inaction, as with covid-19 testing in the United States. It would be in charge of sharing information and coordinating our public health and humanitarian response with partners and allies. And it would work now to prepare the United States and the world for the next pandemic, including by developing incentives for global leaders and governments to rapidly finance and fill identified gaps.
Pandemics, like weapons of mass destruction and climate change, are transnational threats with potentially existential consequences. No single department or agency can be responsible for handling them. Pandemic threats may not arise every year, but the White House should constantly prepare for them. We can’t afford for federal decision-makers to waste time relearning old lessons when they should be innovating and acting.
Covid-19 wasn’t preventable, but it was predictable. Hopefully, its impact can still be limited. But it is well past time for the U.S. government to show the leadership required for an effective domestic and global response. We need to start sprinting. Come April and May, no one will wish the United States had done less.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/i-ran-the-white-house-pandemic-office-trump-closed-it/ar-BB1192Xy
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***MEDIA FAIL*** -- CNN and top NY Times reporter analyze problems in U.S. political landscape, yet NEVER even one single mention of some of the most important salient facts!
1) Putin is playing U.S. population, gaming elections.
2) Republicans are playing U.S. population, gaming elections.
3) Republicans are willfully and knowingly spreading Putin's debunked propaganda in aid of both their own and Russia's aforementioned efforts.
4) Republicans are willfully and knowingly protecting a President that has compromised himself with our chief foreign adversary, Russia, despite clear and overwhelming evidence of criminality of the highest order threatening our elections, democracy, and national security.
No rational analysis of the situation can be obtained by omission of such relevant facts. Instead, what the public is provided in this mediocre media presentation is a mindless mish-mash of moral mush and doubt where the skies are ever so clear and bright, the danger ever so present.
Moreover, any reasonable analysis does not ignore that a Republican cult has been created over decades by right-wing media and demagogues that is without parallel on the left. Bruni was right that Trump is not the only problem, but fails to make the logical case that Trump is merely a symptom of the disease, a figurehead which can be replaced. Bruni fails to account how Republican politicians are now beholden to the cult they created.
Bruni, CNN and, indeed, most of MSM, consistently fail to make critical distinctions necessary to informing the public by falsely inferring or equating left and right when it involves matters of right or wrong, with truth on one side, nothing but deceptions on the other. This is a recurring theme in MSM which is highly destructive to our society--hope the media keeps that in mind next time they discuss how destructive the partisan divide is without assigning blame where blame rightly belongs.
Bruni basically states that both sides equally view the other as something of an existential threat, but fails to provide any crucial context, rational or comparison of the two to support his opinion. How is it equal, when one side is praying for the other side preying on others and getting preyed upon? How is equal when one side seeks to unite, the other to divide? If true both sides living in mortal fear of the other, what reason for each side for that fear? When was that fear instilled for each side? Was there justification, or was it the product of demagoguery? All very important question any good journalist should be addressing, but MSM fails spectacularly again to inform the public.
The problem is clear, the solution more complicated. The problem isn't actually Russia, but right-wing media, demagoguery, and propaganda dividing us into two realities in a world where--obviously--only one can exist. Only one of those realities is Orwellian. That world was being created with GOP Potemkin villages long before Russia even thought about meddling in U.S. elections. If not their initial intent, GOP propaganda opened the door, facilitating similar Russian attacks against us; nevertheless, Putin merely represents just one more poison added to their already toxic stew. Is media REALLY this stupid? Which side calls a free press the "enemy of the American people?"
So, we know the problem, and we don't start blaming the whole classroom when one student or group starts acting out. Now, what to do; how does the media help make the public aware of this Republican cult and the dangers their behavior poses to society, including their own selves? How do we stop or protect ourselves from such partisan disinformation programming of the population now and in the future? How can Americans that are typically apathetic or indifferent to politics be persuaded that they have a moral and patriotic obligation to become informed and to speak out, to protest, to vote, to make a difference for their country and society when vitally needed? THAT'S the discussion we ought to be having. Media BE better, WE be better!
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"Everybody that needs a test can get one!" Except, EVERYONE needs testing! It's not just about testing people who get sick, or even just those health care and other essential front-line workers, or those with a doctor referral. It's really all about RANDOMIZED testing, and testing for TRACKING and containment. THOSE are the testing capabilities desperately needed to safely reopen the economy--which the U.S. sorely lacks. Besides lying about virtually non-existent testing capabilities at the time, while also continually misleading Americans by touting testing kits instead of actual testing ABILITIES, the dirty, dastardly, dynamic duo of Toxic TRUMP and Plague PENCE were moving the goal posts, hoping to "score" in a game with no winners. They scored big, alright...in dead American bodies.
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"We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
~ How Fascism Works, The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(Reference also Father Charles E. Coughlin and Henry Ford in regards to the first America First movement.)
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
Malcolm Nance: We Are In A Neo-Fascist Era In American Politics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_RxUAe2zeM
Political Analyst Tells Joy Reid: Forget Trumpism, IT’s Neo-Fascism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IgNp84JA4A
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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~ Bad Vibration, Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization duration
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
What location revitalization?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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Tucker Carlson and Faux News: mainstreaming American fascism purely for profit.
America's enemies don't need to spread disinformation, doubt, discord, and division to weaken America, kill Americans--Republican politicians, Reich-wing demagogues, Faux News, OAN, Newsmax, Breitbart and the rest of the Reich-wing media do that so effectively for them, already. More Americans need to realize that the GOP has abdicated it's duty as loyal opposition, and that its prioritization of party over country and welcoming embrace of violent radical Reich-wing extremists diminishes both our government and our national security, endangering ALL Americans, as well as weakening and endangering America itself.
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Trump refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the election!
Traitor-'n-Thief Toxic Trump: "Get rid of the ballots and we'll have a very peaceful — there won't be a transfer, frankly, there'll be a continuation."
WTF?!? Get rid of the ballots means getting rid of ALL the votes--absentee, mail-in, and in-person ballots! It means a Toxic Trump coup, an illegal seizure of power, a dictator, ignoring citizen's votes, no more democracy!!!
"This is how democracy dies. A president so desperate to cling to power that he won't commit to a peaceful transition of power. That he seeks to throw out millions of votes. And a Republican Party too craven to say a word," Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff
"In case anyone is unclear on the concept, in the United States of America, we do not "get rid of" ballots. We count them. Counting the ballots — all the ballots — is the way we determine who leads our country after our elections. The only way," Ellen Weintraub, a commissioner of the Federal Elections Commission, tweeted. Weintraub has previously debunked Trump's claims about mail-in voting fraud.
Trump has a long history of making unsubstantiated claims about electoral fraud, dating back to his allegations that he lost the popular vote in 2016 only because "millions" of people voted illegally. He has also been waging legal battles in multiple states in an attempt to stop the expansion of vote-by-mail and has admitted to using the USPS to sabotage those efforts.
Over the years, multiple extensive studies have found that widespread voter fraud is virtually nonexistent, difficult to successfully pull off, and discouraged through steep criminal penalties.
The US has had successful peaceful transitions of power in every single election since its inception in 1776, including following a contested election between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, during the US Civil War, and on multiple occasions when the electoral college vote has diverged from the popular vote.
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Federal government not protecting its workers exposed to public from coronavirus
These federal workers were exposed to the coronavirus while serving the public. Now they’re quarantined.
By Kimberly Kindy
March 14, 2020 at 5:00 a.m. CDT
When Alexander Spain, a supervisor with the Transportation Security Administration, was told Tuesday to self-quarantine and not report to work at San Jose International Airport, he was not surprised.
A screener he supervises, who checks IDs and boarding passes, had been sick for weeks and then tested positive for the coronavirus. Spain, 58, was told to remain at home but said he was given no instructions for how to self-quarantine. So Spain said he “went out to grab food twice. I stopped at a Chinese food restaurant and got some quick bites from 7-Eleven.”
On Thursday, the day he was scheduled to return to work, Spain called his supervisors in the morning, asking how to get tested for the virus. “They acted like I was speaking French,” he said in an interview.
Spain’s experience mirrors what federal workers across the country who deal with the public are sayingabout the lack of direction, protocols and protective gear they need from their agencies. They fear these failures may cause them to become ill and spread the virus not only in the United States but across the globe.
The federal government has hundreds of thousands of workers who come in daily contact with the public — workplace inspectors, mail carriers, hospital workers, park rangers, passport processors, Social Security representatives, museum workers.
Workers and union representatives from six different agencies — including the Social Security Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — said in interviews, emails and text messages with The Washington Post that Spain’s experience is not unique. They or their co-workers also have been exposed to the virus and say their supervisors are not giving proper guidance or support.
The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 700,000 federal employees, has criticized the Trump administration.
“Agencies are not communicating with their workforces with enough information or to a degree that will allow them to protect themselves or the public in a timely manner to contain the spread of this virus,” union president Everett Kelley said recently during testimony before Congress.
The Trump administration has not publicly addressed the unions’ concerns. The White House’s coronavirus task force did not respond to requests for comment.
The federal government is not keeping a tally of the number of workers who have tested positive for the virus, nor does it have an estimate of how many federal workers have been exposed to the coronavirus, like Spain, the TSA supervisor. At least three other TSA screeners in the San Jose airport have AD tested positive for the virus.
Spain’s quarantine was short because the infected security screener’s last day at work — when Spain would have been last exposed — was two weeks ago. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends a self-quarantine of 14 days in such circumstances. Spain, who did not have symptoms as of Friday, said he will not return to work until he gets tested, something the Navy veteran is now seeking through the Department of Veterans Affairs. TSA representatives did not respond to requests for comment.
Wash hands, wear mask
Other workers are complaining about being exposed to the virus at work and finding out about it from colleagues, not their managers.
Jason Phillips, a technician who performs X-rays and CT scans at a Veterans Affairs hospital in Portland, Ore., filed a whistleblower complaint with the Office of Special Counsel on Thursday after he worked with a patient who later tested positive for the coronavirus.
Phillips said he helped the patient on and off a gurney and also helped him on and off of a CT scanner table. Phillips was wearing gloves, but no mask, and was with the patient for about 15 minutes, the sort of exposure that health officials say places people at heightened risk of infection.
“I learned he had coronavirus through a text message from a worker, not a supervisor, so I was panicking,” Phillips said in an interview, adding that he alerted his supervisors the next day. “They told me to come to work like normal. Wash my hands, wear a mask.”
Instead, Phillips, 47, contacted the Washington State Department of Health and the CDC, which told him to self-quarantine.
By then, Phillips had exposed his wife, their four children and his father-in-law. They are all now secluded in their home in Washougal, Wash. Phillips said he filed the whistleblower complaint because he was not notified by supervisors of the sick patient, but also because he said his supervisor tried to coach him to change his story about not wearing a mask and about the length of time he was exposed to the patient.
Daniel Herrigstad, a spokesman for the VA Portland Health Care System, said in a statement: “These are serious allegations and the department will look into them right away.”
Social Security Administration workers in Casa Grande, Ariz., wonder if they have been infected with the coronavirus.
On Monday, a colleague who returned from a cruise over the weekend reported to work “hacking and coughing” but remained on the job throughout the workday, said Ralph Dejuliis, national president for the union that represents SSA workers.'
On Tuesday, the worker called in sick. Coronavirus was suspected. Panic spread.
Information about the worker’s health, and what the rest of the office staff should do in response, has not been shared with the sick workers’ colleagues, Dejuliis said.
On any given workday, about 200 people come through that field office — one of about 160 across the country — with most of them particularly vulnerable to the virus. They are often seeking benefits because they are either elderly, disabled or both.
Nicole Tiggemann, a spokeswoman for the Social Security Administration, declined to comment on the ill employee but said in a statement: “We are implementing additional steps to protect our employees who may be most vulnerable to COVID-19” through expanded telework, social distancing and other measures.
Dejuliis said guidance has been vague. Workers are told to not report to work if they are sick, but the SSA did not outline which symptoms should be of concern until Friday. “We’ve been asking the administration for information about what is going on in that office — it’s been nothing but crickets,” Dejuliis said.
Short on hand sanitizer
TSA workers have similar complaints. A notice to TSA employees, obtained by The Washington Post, directs workers to stay home if they are ill.
However, the memo does not say what symptoms should prompt a worker to stay home. The notice also directed workers to wash their hands with warm soap and water if hand sanitizer and alcohol wipes are not available — something screeners can’t do without leaving their work station.
“They are running out of hand sanitizer and alcohol wipes at some of the larger airports,” said Hydrick Thomas, president of the union representing TSA workers. “They don’t have the right sized gloves at others. They are too big for some people and they are rolling off of their hands. It’s unacceptable.” The TSA did not respond to calls and emails seeking comment.
Some federal workers said that in the absence of clear safety protocols, they are proposing their own to their supervisors, but those requests are often ignored or have been rejected, they said.
In addition to the 160 Social Security field offices, the Social Security Administration has another 163 offices with hearing rooms, where sick and disabled people appeared before administrative law judges who rule on their requests for federal benefits.
Judge Melissa McIntosh, who works in Tampa and is also union president for the judges, said people are showing up in hearing offices and courtrooms across the country with respiratory problems and fevers. In a Feb. 27 email, McIntosh asked SSA officials to give judges the authority to ask those who show up with these symptoms to consider doing the hearing over the telephone. A week later, an associate commissioner rejected her request, saying only SSA management can make such a suggestion, according to an email obtained by The Post. SSA officials did not provide further comment.
“They show up sick because it can take months to get a hearing. Sometimes [they are] in the waiting room with other people for hours,” McIntosh said in an interview. “We would simply like the ability to give them the option so they don’t get other people sick, including us. It is stunning SSA refuses to respond to its judges and simply implement our common-sense suggestions.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/these-federal-workers-deal-with-the-public-theyve-been-exposed-to-the-coronavirus/2020/03/14/096a4400-647f-11ea-845d-e35b0234b136_story.html
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over four decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, nihilistic, hyper-partisan fascist cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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This Thanksgiving should be dedicated to all those medical and essential workers battling on the front line in this war against a deadly pandemic, selflessly working so hard to heal us, to keep us well, to keep us alive, at great personal cost and risk to themselves. And the best way to give them thanks is keeping ourselves and others around us safe from COVID-19. Those sacrifices we make are so trivial and miniscule in comparison to what they make, yet mean so very much. In this war, those small sacrifices we citizens make to wear a mask, socially distance, avoid gatherings, are so essential to success, so critical to our own well-being. To think of the years of much greater sacrifice Americans have had to make in past wars, and to compare that with these small sacrifices only being required for just one year or a bit more until vaccinations allow us to prevail in this war, it seems unimaginable that Americans would lack that minimal amount of common sense and patriotism.
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Congressional Republicans are traitors to our democracy and country. They are cowards. They read the Mueller Report, they KNOW our President is a traitor and a crook. They KNOW this administration is corrupt, its head unfit for office. Yet, they just continue putting on political theatre to create an alternate phony reality for their base, while obfuscating the truth and obstructing justice. They are derelict and disdainful of their sworn duty to uphold our Constitution. None of these Republicans in Congress deserve to hold their office; they are disgraced Americans who no longer deserve any right to represent their fellow Americans anymore. In their greed for power, they would lie and betray their country, our Constitution, and the American people. Barr must be brought to justice for his perjury and role. He deserves prison for what he has done, and for the disgrace and damage he had wrought upon his office, the DOJ, and this nation. President Trump must be impeached for his unlawful transgressions and conduct unbecoming the office.
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It's like rowing or paddling upstream, or into a stiff wind--if you ease-up too much or stop, you will only have to paddle twice as hard to make up all the previous hard-earned progress that was quickly lost. Failing to maintain isolation and other measures for sufficient time to stop the spread of COVID-19 transmission will cost U.S. more in time, effort, money, and LIVES. Reopening and relaxing measures too early in defiance of the science and data is the ultimate in colossal ignorance, greed, ruthlessness, and arrogance.
We have a segment of Republican cult willfully ignorant, who malevolently seek to sabotage containment efforts. But many do not grasp how important it is that we treat ourselves and everyone else as being infected.
This is because people know that is very unlikely, especially outside dense urban areas, where incidence rates are low. Because of the delay in onset of the disease and asymptomatic carriers, COVID-19 is a stealth killer that uses Americans against each other as its foot soldiers, transporting it, keeping the disease and its train of transmission alive. This is further complicated because people cannot see a virus, see it attacking, see it spreading, until it is too late. For many of us, seeing is believing, and people are incapable or reluctant to make that leap of logic required to keep them and everyone safe--even with the massive public education efforts.
Of course, the problem becomes greatly exacerbated when the President refuses to wear a mask, and his administration works against itself in fighting this deadly global pandemic, sending conflicting messages to the public. Toxic Trump, his administration, and all the Republicans who have aided and abetted him, are directly responsible in our view for the senseless deaths of tens and thousands of Americans. The dead are the worst of it, but there is also the tremendous needless suffering and economic loss accompanying their wanton criminal negligence.
No national testing, no rational national coordinated pandemic response. Republican governors reopening too quickly in defiance of CDC guidelines are only following the President's lead. Democratic governors in many states likewise being adversely pressured by Toxic Trump's pandemic disinformation and Republican opposition to requisite lockdowns. Problem starts at the top. Don't fault even the worst Republican governors as much as this President. The President needed to take the lead, take the hit for the hard decisions--not put all the weight on governors as he as.
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Trump Has Sabotaged America’s Coronavirus Response
by Laura Garrett
In 2018, the Trump administration fired the government’s entire pandemic response chain of command, including the White House management infrastructure. In numerous phone calls and emails with key agencies across the U.S. government, the only consistent response I encountered was distressed confusion.
....
White House efforts included reducing $15 billion in national health spending and cutting the global disease-fighting operational budgets of the CDC, NSC, DHS, and HHS. And the government’s $30 million Complex Crises Fund was eliminated.
In May 2018, Trump ordered the NSC’s entire global health security unit shut down, calling for reassignment of Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer and dissolution of his team inside the agency. The month before, then-White House National Security Advisor John Bolton pressured Ziemer’s DHS counterpart, Tom Bossert, to resign along with his team. Neither the NSC nor DHS epidemic teams have been replaced. The global health section of the CDC was so drastically cut in 2018 that much of its staff was laid off and the number of countries it was working in was reduced from 49 to merely 10. Meanwhile, throughout 2018, the U.S. Agency for International Development and its director, Mark Green, came repeatedly under fire from both the White House and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. And though Congress has so far managed to block Trump administration plans to cut the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps by 40 percent, the disease-fighting cadres have steadily eroded as retiring officers go unreplaced.
Public health advocates have been ringing alarm bells to no avail.
Ronald Klain, who directed U.S. efforts on Ebola, has been warning for two years that the United States was in grave danger should a pandemic emerge. In 2017 and 2018, the philanthropist billionaire Bill Gates met repeatedly with Bolton and his predecessor, H.R. McMaster, warning that ongoing cuts to the global health disease infrastructure would render the United States vulnerable to, as he put it, the “significant probability of a large and lethal modern-day pandemic occurring in our lifetimes.” And an independent, bipartisan panel formed by the Center for Strategic and International Studies concluded that lack of preparedness was so acute in the Trump administration that the “United States must either pay now and gain protection and security or wait for the next epidemic and pay a much greater price in human and economic costs.”
https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/31/coronavirus-china-trump-united-states-public-health-emergency-response/
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Donald Trump, at White House press conference on 04/07/20:
And we’re going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO. We’re going to put a very powerful hold on it, and we’re going to see.
Trump later at that same press conference:
Q: Thanks. A quick follow-up on that. So is the time to freeze funding to the WHO during a pandemic of this magnitude?
THE PRESIDENT: No, maybe not. I mean, I’m not saying I’m going to do it, but we’re going to look at it.
Q: You did say that you’re going to —
THE PRESIDENT: We give a tremendous —
Q: You said you’d put a hold on it.
THE PRESIDENT: No, I didn’t.
Toxic Trump, one week later, on 04/14/20: "I'm withholding WHO funding!"
ME, US, the world: WTF?? Why in HELL is that raving lunatic STILL in charge during this major pandemic health crisis?!? Hasn't he KILLED enough AMERICANS, already?!?
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U.S. axed CDC expert job in China months before virus outbreak
By Marisa Taylor -- 03/22/20
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Several months before the coronavirus pandemic began, the Trump administration eliminated a key American public health position in Beijing intended to help detect disease outbreaks in China, Reuters has learned.
The American disease expert, a medical epidemiologist embedded in China’s disease control agency, left her post in July, according to four sources with knowledge of the issue. The first cases of the new coronavirus may have emerged as early as November, and as cases exploded, the Trump administration in February chastised China for censoring information about the outbreak and keeping U.S. experts from entering the country to help.
“It was heartbreaking to watch,” said Bao-Ping Zhu, a Chinese American who served in that role, which was funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, between 2007 and 2011. “If someone had been there, public health officials and governments across the world could have moved much faster.”
Zhu and the other sources said the American expert, Dr. Linda Quick, was a trainer of Chinese field epidemiologists who were deployed to the epicenter of outbreaks to help track, investigate and contain diseases. As an American CDC employee, they said, Quick was in an ideal position to be the eyes and ears on the ground for the United States and other countries on the coronavirus outbreak, and might have alerted them to the growing threat weeks earlier.
No other foreign disease experts were embedded to lead the program after Quick left in July, according to the sources. Zhu said an embedded expert can often get word of outbreaks early, after forming close relationships with Chinese counterparts.
Zhu and the other sources said Quick could have provided real-time information to U.S. and other officials around the world during the first weeks of the outbreak, when they said the Chinese government tamped down on the release of information and provided erroneous assessments.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/exclusive-us-axed-cdc-expert-job-in-china-months-before-virus-outbreak/ar-BB11y4rh?ocid=spartanntp
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This June, Rep. Anthony Gonzalez vote AGAINST establishing the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.
In August he voted AGAINST the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. In March he voted AGAINST the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act and AGAINST the For the People Voting Rights Act.
He also opposes environmental protection, financial sector regulation, humane immigration policy, labor rights and wages, LBGTIQ rights, avoiding default, countering Russian interference, and women's rights.
Gonzalez now avows he is not going to let our democracy fall, so he's going to retire, instead of staying in a position of power where he could do the most good? That makes absolutely no sense. His actions are incongruent with his words. His voting record, even recent, shows his disdain for democracy. He has been an enabler of Republican fascism throughout his career, and now he is bailing because he doesn't like the poisoned fruit from the tree he helped sow and cultivated? No admission of responsibility for his role in helping create the divisive, toxic environment and being silently complicit for so long? Sure, he is finally speaking the truth about the Big Lie and the evil being perpetrated against our Constitution by the GOP that most of us have been condemning for months, but his words ring hollow.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or "the Wall") is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle's name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called "leaders" in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 -- than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to--and a barrier against--our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It's design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge--and help teach--people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see...if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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***MEDIA FAIL*** -- Is Smercartoonish just playing Devil's advocate, or is he really that clueless? Judging from other Smercartoonish episodes, it seems more likely the latter than the former, ignoring and paying little respect to the decision made by the district court of appeals in this case. Posting some vulgar words and gestures online outside of school, disgusted by a dubious decision made by an extracurricular coach, is hardly in the same league as making bomb or other threats against a school or one of its employees. Like the father said, it should be his decision to educate and/or discipline his daughter, not the school's. And, like the lawyer pointed out, schools should not be limiting free speech outside of schools; for courts to allow that would set a dangerous precedent. Finally, his dig on the student at her expense in the end wasn't funny. Smercartoonish should have learned by now that you punch up, not punch down.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
Democrats, Independents, others: WTF?!?
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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No question that Toxic Trump wants to manipulate the data to paint a rosy picture, sacrificing American lives for his own personal gain. But states are doing nearly all the testing, not the feds. State and private labs are doing nearly all the test processing. The big failure regarding this aspect of the catastrophically failed pandemic response is Putin puppet-pie President Nero's criminal negligence in failing to authorize the Defense Production Act to build capacity for testing and TIMELY processing.
It's not just about quantity of tests. More important is quality. Most critically, it is taking TWO WEEKS or more to obtain the TEST RESULTS unless hospitalized. Due to the long lab processing times due to lack of capability and backlog, the contact tracing needed to contain and control the spread becomes no longer practical or tenable, creating an untenable situation of contagion, hospitalizations, and subsequent avoidable deaths. While some infected people waiting for test results may quarantine themselves, many others taking routine tests, who may be positive and asymptomatic, will not, unwilling or unable to wait that long for their results to come back. This latter group is spreading the disease in their communities. Until we have TIMELY TEST RESULTS, the quantity of tests administered is a largely MEANINGLESS figure. While true the U.S. is STILL only performing just a fraction of the COVID-19 testing needed, ramping up testing won't help unless or until the turnaround processing time problem is fixed and ALL test results can be obtained within less than 48 hours.
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The Molotov cocktail recipe:
Mix in equal parts of mental illness, willful ignorance, fear, hate, decades of 24/7 Reich-wing disinformation, misinformation, and crackpot conspiracy programming by Republican politicians, media and demagogues, add supplemental divisive Russian propaganda attacking and weakening America, stir well, garnish with COVID-19, and you have the mindless Republican cult descending into fascism, committing terrorism and sedition. Then, grab a stiff drink--you'll need it.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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With Toxic Trump and his administration, we can't even count on the CDC to protect the public, anymore! CDC allowing our nation meat plants to continue being breeding grounds for new COVID-19 cases, utterly failing to protect the workers in these factories, to protect their families and loved ones they come into contact with, to protect their communities in which they live, and to protect our nation as a whole.
Finally, on May 15, Trump issued the long-awaited CDC guidelines he had been withholding--unfortunately, they guidelines were censored and stripped down by Toxic Trump. Instead of detailed, specific instructions needed for businesses to open, workers to be safe, and the public to have confidence, all we got was vague generalities and waffle words that are not only useless, but dangerous.
How can the U.S. stop this deadly pandemic when the public can't trust this administration, and now not even the CDC?!? When CDC policies are exacerbating the spread of the pandemic they're charged with controlling?!? CDC already so royally screwed up big on COVID-19 testing that it set the U.S. back months; now, they're going to double-down on ignorance? The absence of any real national leadership is killing us, and the U.S.!
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Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country, albeit using the law, not targeted assassinations, which I generally oppose in any case. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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Mohsen ? ~ Thanks--and you're quite welcome, of course. The quote does encapsulate not only Nazi Germany, but communist Russia and no doubt some other nations throughout history. More importantly, it directly applies to Trump and today's GOP. So, while sympathetic to how the quote was used here, just think that if we are to be advocates for the truth, then correctly attributing quotes should be part of that effort----even though think this was a common mistake and there was not any deliberate attempt involved here to deceive, merely a failure to independently examine and research what was seen or heard before repeating it.
There are actually two replies here in this thread of ours that involve quotes and history, plus another one consisting of only a Mark Twain quote. If you hadn't read the other yet, think you will appreciate the one describing the first 'America First' movement, the precursor to Trump's proto-fascism that began nearly a century ago.
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Problem is not with the House, but the Senate, where Republicans can't even agree amongst themselves on any economic stimulus package for COVID-19 relief. Senate Republicans aren't even ready to come to the table, so that shouldn't--and can't--be blamed on both chambers of Congress. Regardless, support House fighting for proper pandemic response, not accepting irresponsible Republican proposals lacking support even among Republicans. House has had a comprehensive bill for economic stimulus relief for COVID-19 sitting on the Senate Leader's desk for SEVENTY-SEVEN days, now, while McConnell did nothing. Moreover, if Senate Republicans were ever to get their act together, House Leader Pelosi and Democrats could act. Until then, there is actually very little they can do.
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There is only one reality. Yet, here we are, a month later, and Republicans still keep pretending the Mueller Report and its implications don't exist. This, despite open war on Congress, Constitution and justice being waged by Trump to cover-up. Surely, they're not residing in this universe. It's become clear now, the body snatchers people were right all along...America has been invaded by traitorous aliens! For exhibit (A), allow me to present for your inspection:
SENATOR Graham advises Don Jr. to ignore SENATE Subpoena!?!?!
Lindsey Graham, Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Cover-up Kommittee (SICK)
also, Co-Chairman of the Senate Unconcealed Cover-up Kommittee Sub (SUCKS)
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Freedoms can exist only up to the point they infringe upon the freedom of others. Religious tolerance can be practiced only up to the point it becomes intolerant of others. Our Constitution is a secular document, not a religious one, and it was certainly never intended to be a suicidal death pact. Getting vaccinated and following CDC guidelines brings freedom from preventable illness or injury, and a senseless premature death, but the mindless fascist Republican cult only believes in freeDUMB. Just as they don't understand or would deny the Constitution is as much about the common good as personal liberties, and that those two things are intrinsically and inextricably intertwined.
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge." ~ Ben Franklin, from Poor Richard's Almanack
Those who scorn public health guidelines during a deadly global pandemic and confuse a grievous public health issue with "essential" liberty to kill and harm themselves and their fellow citizens--as well as their nation--sorely lack both care and knowledge. They are also sorely lacking in common sense, something else about which Mr. Franklin was quite keen. Mr. Franklin was also one our nation's first scientists--yet these modern-day knuckleheads who ought know better refute science! Were he alive today, he would be rather dismayed, disgruntled, and disgusted with the fascist anti-science Republican cult, that much is crystal clear.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of conspiracy theories, the party of hate, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of corruption, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, don't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their deal with the Devil.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and disturbing. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of crackpot conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of greed, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of plutocrats, the party of corruption, the party of anti-democracy, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their pact with the Devil.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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War against a foreign country only happens when the moneyed classes think they are going to profit from it. ~ George Orwell
"Peace is not a very big thing to ask for, is it?" ~ Fatima Gailani, Afghan activist and negotiator, pleading for continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan
It is when asking the Taliban, who do not seek peace or to bargain in good faith, but total domination once again. U.S. has spent 20 years and over $2 trillion trying to achieve peace in Afghanistan, losing over 4000 American lives (military and civilian contractors), with tens of thousands of Americans wounded there.
"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials … have given Afghans little reason to support their government," Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the commander of U.S. forces in the country, wrote in a 2009 memorandum. "This crisis of confidence, coupled with a distinct lack of economic and educational opportunity, has created fertile ground for the insurgency."
That was 11 years ago, and little has changed since. Thought the invasion of Afghanistan by Bush was a mistake that would lead to a quagmire, and have been proven correct. Still, initially supported efforts to bring peace and stability there, along with basic human and civil-rights, because after invading felt we had an obligation to rebuild. However, while U.S. blunders there have contributed to a failure, Afghans are their own worst enemy, and no one can help them until enough of them are willing to help themselves.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-‘n-‘Thief, Toxic Trump, so much—although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages—as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, homophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, divisive, anti-democratic raving lunatic and his corruption, a man compromised by foreign nations, including our principle adversary, through his tremendous debt. Between that, his catastrophic, irresponsible handling of COVID-19, and his incitement of anti-democratic violent Reich-wing groups, Trump has made himself America's #1 most serious national security threat. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself, mental illness, and his upbringing, who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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General was half-right--ballistic missiles don't discriminate between military structures and equipment, and military personnel. However, there is a very real possibility that Iran breathed a sigh of relief their signal sent didn't kill any Americans, widening the conflict.
We think the General wants to kill, but does that mean we can read his mind, know for sure? Do we kill the General because we think he wants to kill? I'm sure he has his reasons for killing, just like those who see their fellow countrymen killed unjustly by him have their reasons for killing him. Wonder what's is in the General's mind when he orders strikes he knows will kill civilians, as frequently our military does with drones and bombs that don't discriminate between combatant and civilian? When the U.S. kills more civilians than combatants, why isn't that terrorism? When the U.S. Commander-in-Chief threatens to obliterate another nation's cultural heritage sites and conduct wholly disproportionate military responses in violation of International Law to which the U.S. is signatory, isn't that terrorism?
So, we know the General is no mind reader, yet he wants to be judge, jury and executioner. Why? Because we got attacked in a country which told us to leave because of Trump's willful provocations; we promised we would but lied to the Iraq government? U.S. troops should have been removed in respect of Iraq sovereignty, and there would have been no threat to them in the first place. Any American casualties would have been on Trump's hands for pulling this stunt to save his sorry butt from impeachment, anyway. Any Americans get killed, the underlying blame goes to our sociopathic Traitor-in-Thief, President Nero.
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Toxic Trump: "It's a HOAX!"
Much later: …."I got this pandemic completely under control, we're safe!"
Shortly after: …."It's not my fault! States need to take charge! I don't take ANY responsibility! It's unsafe! You need to stay home!"
Next day: ...."The cure is worse than the disease, you need to go back to work!
Next week: ...."Don't listen to me! Listen to the CDC!"
Following days: ...."USA #1 in coronavirus cases--and now we're #1 in coronavirus DEATHS! We're the BEST! Thanks to my extremely stable genius wartime leadership, only 100,000-240,000 Americans will die! We're doing a TREMENDOUS job! I still don't take ANY responsibility!"
Last week: ... "I've anointed myself All Powerful Dear Leader and will soon order all my subjects back to work despite lack of vaccine, cure, testing, PPE, medical staffing, and the sure-fire massive resurgence resulting thereof, killing tens of thousands more Americans--because this pandemic is killing my lucrative Emoluments business, and even my Soviet-style election chances!"
Now: … "Scratch that; might have to actually do stuff. My greatest-ever new half-baked plan shifts all responsibility and blame back to governors! For now. Somewhat. Maybe. We'll be letting you know, hopefully!"
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Trump and Giuliani have threatened to throw each other under the bus before. The real scoop isn't some O'Reilly interview, scintillating as that is. Should come as no surprise to anyone that there is no honor among thieves. No, the day's real scoop was that Toxic Traitor Trump knew about the whistle-blower before the end of August, before releasing the military aid to Ukraine, and after Congress was notified, how he likely delayed the IG whistle-blower report to Congress, in an attempt to cover-up his crimes. The other big scoop was the deposition of OMB's Sandy, which provides direct testimonial evidence of Trump ordering the Ukrainian military aid withheld, which is well-documented by a paper trail implicating Trump and others in the administration. At least two OMB officials resigned in protest of the illegality of Trump's hold on the appropriated money.
Moreover, Giuliani and Trump are joined at the hip in crime; neither stands to gain anything by ratting the other out, it's a lose-lose scenario for either man--neither of which is going to receive much, if any, credit for confessing their principal roles, anyway. Not to mention Giuliani is Trump's lawyer, with all the implications that entails. Consequently, while tantalizing to salivate over the possibility, more objective to consider it more likely for Pence, Perry, Pompeo, and/or Mulvaney to be the Republican rat(s) possessing high-level complicity and criminal exposure to turn, sinking the pirate ship.
The takeaway from this aspect is that Trump and Giuliani's sparring only serves to motivate other's betrayal, because their truthful testimony is a once-in-a-lifetime deal, with a very limited shelf-life, very soon to expire, and the opportunity presented strictly on a first-come, first-served basis! Keep in mind, any competent personal defense attorney (and they've all lawyered-up) is by this point, no doubt, advising them not to implicate themselves further, and to testify truthfully. So far, they have not heeded that advice, but we can be assured at this rate even they will realize how untenable their position and, finally, capitulate to common sense. The writing is on the wall, the wall will crack, then crumble, then fall, then be washed away by the winds of political vicissitude.
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We got Big Brag Daddy Baghdad Bob broadcasting direct from Washington, D.C. daily, with Toxic Trump and a revolving cast of his sycophantic minions! Happy talk, disinformation, empty promises, idle threats, vicious smears, bogus pandemic models, dog whistles, continuous crackpot conspiracies--they got it all, and more!
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Toxic Trump: "I'm the BEST, just absolutely CRUSHING the competition, with over TWO POINT FIVE MILLION coronavirus cases and over 125--one-hundred and twenty-five!!!--THOUSAND deaths! Easy as 1-2-3! They ALL got eighty-sixed, 'cause nobody else even comes close! With a QUARTER of the world's cases AND deaths--can you even imagine how truly great, how awesome, that achievement is, with only just FOUR PERCENT of the world's population to work with? Believe it or not, I accomplished in only FIVE WEEKS what it took the Vietnam War a whole TWELVE YEARS to do! Not done with the fun--and not to be outdone--I then doubled down on the death toll from Vietnam in just FOUR MONTHS! PLUS, we're not even counting ALL the COVID-19 cases and deaths here in the U.S.! And, with only SEVEN PERCENT of the U.S. population already infected, we're just getting started with all the sickness and death; there's PLENTY more to come! Those other weaklings and losers don't stand a chance, because we're going to keep right on winning--as long as I'm in charge! Now, vacation's over; time to get back to work on increasing those numbers, people! Let's keep America great, get rid of all the excess baggage! As wartime President, I am commanding all CIVILIANS to senselessly sacrifice their lives for my arrogance, stupidity, vanity, malevolence, and greed!"
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@ReasonsReasons ~ Thanks. Figured might as well fight fire with fire. The comment responded to here engages in Whataboutism, so thought to reply in kind, to bring the subject back on track to the video.
There are some critical differences between the two events. While M19 was fighting AGAINST the lies told by the U.S. government about the Vietnam War and AGAINST endemic social injustice, it nonetheless was not representative of the Democratic Party of that day. Whereas, the Trump supporters committing the terrorist attack against the Capitol this year were fighting FOR the lies fed to them by Republicans in the U.S. government, FOR perpetuating endemic social injustice, and very much ARE representative of the Republican party of today. Moreover, unlike M19, Republicans were attempting an armed insurrection against their own government, a coup or autogolpe to overturn a fair and legal election which, had it been successful, would have severely weakened our democracy and republic, if not destroyed it, likely provoking some kind of civil war, something many radicalized extremists in the Reich-wing want.
M19 was wrong to engage in terrorism, but that doesn't lessen or absolve in any way Republicans use of terrorism on January 6, 2021 against the nation's Capitol. The extensive reliance upon and use of Whataboutism to escape responsibility and accountability by Republicans is dishonest, wrong, and destructive to our society. It's also highly hypocritical coming from the party that claims to believe in personal responsibility and values. But that Republican party, flawed as it was, is gone, replaced by something else entirely that embraces fascism, nihilism, and anarchy, that only pretends to practice conservativism.
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To protect our health care and front-line workers, it is critical to protect ourselves and others! Protecting those most vulnerable groups among us--like the elderly, homeless, prisoners, minorities, and migrants--is one of the best ways of protecting ourselves! It's a win-win situation, folks--even without a global pandemic, but now especially! Conversely, it is actually Trump and the GOP's rejection of truth, facts, and science, fear-mongering, stigmatization, bigotry, xenophobia, racism, cruelty and lack of compassion which endangers Americans. Ignorance kills.
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Worst economic downturn in American history, catastrophically botched COVID-19 pandemic response with over 160,000 senseless American deaths. TWENTY straight weeks of over ONE MILLION new unemployment claims. Deaths projected to double by the end of year due to most corrupt, incompetent, racist, and ignorant President in U.S. history. A treasonous President that compromised himself with Russia, who refuses to hold the U.S. principle foreign adversary accountable for its attacks on America, who won't even speak out against Russian bounties on U.S. soldiers. Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy: "Toxic Trump is doing a helluva job!" Rabid right-wing cult media is DESTROYING America!
What's really confusing America is Newsmax, Faux News, and all the other rabid right-wing media outlets propagating and spreading disinformation. Without the supporting cast of willing supplicant proto-fascist right-wing media exploiting and profiting from them, the lies and distortions of Toxic Trump and Republicans would hold very little power, and could not persist.
Anyone really all that surprised that the CEO of Newsmax, Chris Ruddy, is a dishonest partisan hack with no character or integrity whatsoever? If so, that's only because you've never seen Newsmax.
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation—only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regurgitation
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump’s COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration…
Now reaching vacation destination!
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GOP cult: “Democracy is great…only so long as we can subvert it with lies, cheating, a multitude of Jim Crow voter suppression laws, egregious gerrymandering, obstruction, coups, election interference, sedition, and terrorism to gain power and maintain our corrupt, plutocratic, minority fascist rule!”
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Toxic Trump: "I'm the BEST, just absolutely CRUSHING the competition, with over TWO POINT EIGHT MILLION coronavirus cases and over 130 -- one-hundred and thirty!!! -- THOUSAND deaths! Easy as 1-2-3! They ALL got eighty-sixed, 'cause nobody else even comes close! With a QUARTER of the world's cases AND deaths--can you even imagine how truly great, how awesome, that achievement is, with only just FOUR PERCENT of the world's population to work with? Believe it or not, I accomplished in only FIVE WEEKS what it took the Vietnam War a whole TWELVE YEARS to do! Not done with the fun--and not to be outdone--I then doubled down on the death toll from Vietnam in just FOUR MONTHS! PLUS, we're not even counting ALL the COVID-19 cases and deaths here in the U.S.! And, with only SEVEN PERCENT of the U.S. population already infected, we're just getting started with all the sickness and death; there's PLENTY more to come! Those other weaklings and losers don't stand a chance, because we're going to keep right on winning--as long as I'm in charge! Now, vacation's over; time to get back to work on increasing those numbers, people! Let's keep America great, get rid of all the excess baggage! As wartime President, I am commanding all CIVILIANS to senselessly sacrifice their lives for my arrogance, stupidity, vanity, malevolence, and greed!"
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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For three years, Republicans have propped up and protected a racist, corrupt, sociopathic narcissistic menace to society, gaslighting and covering up Traitor Trump crimes, ineptness, and incompetence. Republicans don't really care about our country; time and again, for decades now, they have put their politics and greed for power above the welfare of this nation. The destructiveness of GOP politics on American government began under Nixon, but starting with Reagan it became a Republican selling point. Conservatism won't die, but Republicanism has become a zero-sum game for losers. This incarnation of the GOP needs to die, or it will be the end of American greatness.
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Trump excluded the Afghan government from peace negotiations with the Taliban, legitimizing the Taliban by making a separate peace deal with them and delegitimizing the government we worked so long and hard at so much cost to build and support, while releasing 5,000 Taliban prisoners and agreeing to withdraw all U.S. forces by May 1, 2021, guaranteeing failure. Moreover, Trump eviscerated the refugee program for Afghan and Iraqi allies visa programs, creating a huge backlog over several years. A federal judge even ruled Trump's delaying of those visas illegal. Furthermore, Trump abandoned are Kurdish allies in Syria and Iraq. Trump and Pompeo could hardly have screwed up our foreign policy any worse, and the damage they did will take decades to repair. But the Republican cult morons are too stupid to know and too stupid to care; they'll just deny and try to shift blame, as usual.
Liz Cheney's right----it didn't have to happen this way: her father, Dick Cheney, and George Bush were responsible for the deterioration of affairs in Afghanistan by diverting troops and resources to conduct an illegal invasion of Iraq on the false premise of WMD and Iraq harboring terrorists. The situation in Afghanistan never recovered from that fatal mistake by Cheney and Bush; it allowed the Taliban to regroup and come back bigger and stronger than ever. Cheney and Bush's illegal war in Iraq also resulted in the emergence of ISIS.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It's that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don't care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another five months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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@trunorth9243 ~ Typical response, as was already predicted: "What? Who me? What did I do?" Besides, you're just back to projecting again, Doc! It has been Trump and Republicans all along politicizing science and this global pandemic, just as Republicans have done with climate change and so many other things involving science over the years.
Show us where you questioned authority with former President Trump, provide us some links to your comments where you questioned his lies about COVID-19 (or any of his other 30,000+ lies he told while in office). Bet you won't, because you can't.
You accuse others of making assumptions, but you posting the Einstein quote is in itself making an implicit baseless assumption. Who has a blind belief in Dr. Fauci? Has Dr. Fauci given us any reason not to believe him? If so, what reason(s)? Moreover, you are deliberately confusing and conflating proven trust----which doesn't preclude questioning where appropriate----with blind belief. When the weatherman says the sun will rise in the morning, as a person of authority on the weather, a meteorological scientist, by your twisted logic people should automatically question his assertion, which is ludicrous.
You're also making an assumption about which side of the political aisle on which I reside, while unwittingly making it abundantly clear where you reside. Nobody on the left says, "The MSM has trained you well." As already pointed out, you're too clever by half.
As also already pointed out, you're just engaging in a transparent ploy to distract, deflect, and redirect from Trump and Republican's own culpability and responsibility for the senseless excess half-million American deaths from COVID-19. If you were truly concerned about accountability and questioning authority, that would be your focus----NOT Dr. Fauci. Which just goes to prove you're nothing more than a hyper-partisan propaganda hack.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country
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Toxic Trump: "I'm the BEST, just absolutely CRUSHING the competition, with over TWO POINT FIVE MILLION coronavirus cases and over 125--one-hundred and twenty-five!!!--THOUSAND deaths! Easy as 1-2-3! They ALL got eighty-sixed, 'cause nobody else even comes close! With a QUARTER of the world's cases AND deaths--can you even imagine how truly great, how awesome, that achievement is, with only just FOUR PERCENT of the world's population to work with? Believe it or not, I accomplished in only FIVE WEEKS what it took the Vietnam War a whole TWELVE YEARS to do! Not done with the fun--and not to be outdone--I then doubled down on the death toll from Vietnam in just FOUR MONTHS! PLUS, we're not even counting ALL the COVID-19 cases and deaths here in the U.S.! And, with only SEVEN PERCENT of the U.S. population already infected, we're just getting started with all the sickness and death; there's PLENTY more to come! Those other weaklings and losers don't stand a chance, because we're going to keep right on winning--as long as I'm in charge! Now, vacation's over; time to get back to work on increasing those numbers, people! Let's keep America great, get rid of all the excess baggage! As wartime President, I am commanding all CIVILIANS to senselessly sacrifice their lives for my arrogance, stupidity, vanity, malevolence, and greed!"
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This Thanksgiving should be dedicated to all those medical and essential workers battling on the front line in this war against a deadly pandemic, selflessly working so hard to heal us, to keep us well, to keep us alive, at great personal cost and risk to themselves. And the best way to give them thanks is keeping ourselves and others around us safe from COVID-19. Those sacrifices we make are so trivial and miniscule in comparison to what they make, yet mean so very much. In this war, those small sacrifices we citizens make to wear a mask, socially distance, avoid gatherings, are so essential to success, so critical to our own well-being. To think of the years of much greater sacrifice Americans have had to make in past wars, and to compare that with these small sacrifices only being required for just one year or a bit more until vaccinations allow us to prevail in this war, it seems unimaginable that Americans would lack that minimal amount of common sense and patriotism.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
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Bush v. Gore, Citizens United, Chief Jester Roberts smiling and nodding along while presiding over sham Senate impeachment trial, Assassination Goon B.S. Barr butchering the law, slaughtering justice, politicizing and weaponizing the DOJ. It's why we lost all respect for the Supreme Court, the law, and the justice system in this country. Congratulations, Republicans, on turning our nation into a banana Republic, making America an object lesson to the world on how to destroy democracy!
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@IAGoose ~ The party of infanticide would be Republicans, whose selfish and short-sighted policies have created an America that has a higher rate of infant mortality than any industrialized nation, one higher even than many second and third-world nations.
Besides engaging in intellectually dishonest Whataboutism and projectionism to deflect and distract, they are confusing the LEGAL right of women to have control of their own bodies, exercise reproductive choice, which involves zygotes and embryos in over 95% of cases, except where the life of the mother is endangered, where it involves an unborn fetus--not an infant that has been given birth. The spinal cord does not connect to the brain of a fetus until six months, so there is no pain involved, although before then it may react to stimuli, just as one's knee can be made to jerk by a doctor's little rubber mallet. Most abortions today are accomplished with a pill, not a procedure, and typically involve a small mass of largely unformed tissue no larger than a dime.
Not to mention, it was a REPUBLICAN SCOTUS that made reproductive choice for women legal, and it's a REPUBLICAN SCOTUS which has repeatedly reaffirmed that right. We have had a REPUBLICAN President, with REPUBLICAN control of both the House and Senate his first two years, and a REPUBLICAN SCOTUS. REPUBLICANS could have overturned the decision, taken away women's right to choose, if they had wanted to, but they didn't, because that would mean losing elections, power, and corrupt money, since for decades now, two-thirds of Americans support Roe v. Wade. REPUBLICANS are responsible for for the Roe v. Wade decision, and responsible for its remaining the law of the land, not Democrats.
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A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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To those not wearing masks, social distancing, or following guidelines: Your willful ignorance does not mask your wanton disregard for human life, your appalling lack of humanity and humility, your supremely selfish inconsideration of others. Despite absolutely loathing wearing a mask, it's also the reason it's worn. The sooner we all start wearing masks, social distancing, and taking this deadly pandemic seriously, the sooner we get to take them off, the less time they'll need to be worn. Not to mention, the sooner we can go back to a normal that is more like normal, the sooner we can get our jobs back and our economy rolling, again. And, of course, most importantly, the more lives we can save--which might even be your own life, or the life of a friend or loved one.
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GOP cult: “Democracy is great…only so long as we can subvert it with lies, cheating, a multitude of Jim Crow voter suppression laws, egregious gerrymandering, obstruction, coups, election interference, sedition, and terrorism to gain power and maintain our corrupt, plutocratic, minority fascist rule!”
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Traitor-'n-Thief Toxic Trump is a compromised Russian asset who puts his own personal interests--legal, financial, and egotistical--ahead of the national interest in both domestic and foreign policy. A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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@penelopeharris3986 ~ Thanks for taking the time to read it. Republicans embracing not just fascism, but nihilism, too. A couple of other original commentary you may also appreciate. As always, feel free to share or repost--no accreditation even necessary:
You don't get denialism without nihilism. As life-long conservative Bill Kristol astutely pointed our just recently in a tweet, the Republican party has embraced nihilism. Republicans still labeling COVID-19 a "hoax;" Republicans still refusing to wear masks or social distance after over half-a-million American fatalities from COVID-19; Congressional Republicans obstructing a COVID-19 stimulus bill certain to pass just to delay vital and urgently needed relief to Americans desperate for help; Republican governors dropping mask mandates and all restrictions on businesses, heedless of rising case counts in their states and deadly new variants of the virus; and Republican leaders continuing to push the Big Lie that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen without evidence and in disregard of plentiful evidence and facts to the contrary, even AFTER their Big Lie incited a terrorist attack by a mindless Republican mob against the nation's Capitol in insurrection against the government, attempting to overturn a legitimate election, sieging, storming, sizing, sacking, defiling, defacing and disgracing America's citadel of, and temple to, democracy--these are all prime examples of nihilism.
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@penelopeharris3986 ~ As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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You don't get denialism without nihilism. As life-long conservative Bill Kristol astutely pointed our just recently in a tweet, the Republican party has embraced nihilism. Republicans still labeling COVID-19 a "hoax;" Republicans still refusing to wear masks or social distance after over half-a-million American fatalities from COVID-19; Congressional Republicans obstructing a COVID-19 stimulus bill certain to pass just to delay vital and urgently needed relief to Americans desperate for help; not one Congressional Republican in either chamber voting for the badly needed stimulus bill; Republican governors dropping mask mandates and all restrictions on businesses, heedless of rising case counts in their states and deadly new variants of the virus; and Republican leaders continuing to push the Big Lie that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen without evidence and in disregard of plentiful evidence and facts to the contrary, even AFTER their Big Lie incited a terrorist attack by a mindless Republican mob against the nation's Capitol in insurrection against the government, attempting to overturn a legitimate election, sieging, storming, sizing, sacking, defiling, defacing and disgracing America's citadel of, and temple to, democracy--these are all prime examples of nihilism.
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Alright, watched the video, prefer progressive over Biden, disagree slightly with some of the analysis, but this was not an endorsement of Biden or a disparagement of any other Dem candidate, it was simply an analysis of the Dem front runner status and strategy. Why all the negative comments, thumbs down, and attacks against CNN? Definitely not warranted for this video. This was a fairly objective piece, and it pains me to see Dems acting like Republicans to news they don't like. In this case, apparently just because the front-runner is getting publicity--and it isn't even flattering! We better than this, Dems! Warren/? 2020!
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Trumpturds don't care about Trump fostering hate, bigotry and racism, or Trump hypocrisy, or Americans paying billions more in Trump tariff taxes, or Trump felonies, or Trump treasonous acts, or Trump gross corruption, or Trump separating children from their parents and putting them in cages, or Trump pathological lying, or Trump dodging taxes, or Trump dividing and weakening America, or Trump being a fraud and common grifter, or Trump having no dignity, honor or decorum, or Trump co-opting religion for personal political gain, or Trump being compromised by Russia, endangering all Americans. Trumpturds don't care they are selling out their country for "winning." Proving Trumpturds don't really care anything about principles. Ironically, Trumpturds ignorance reason America not great.
Every word true
Maybe really think
About why that would
Ever bother you
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Republicans can't handle reality, would rather traffic and believe in lies. The GOP has become a fascist, nihilistic cult that would destroy democracy and America if given sufficient opportunity. And THAT, folks, is your reality check.
What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil. They are either actively or silently complicit in fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorist violence, Reich-wing insurrection, and Reich-wing undermining of our democracy and Constitution.
It's crystal clear that Trump, Boebert, Greene, Gosar and other Republicans like them are fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorism. The GOP has become radicalized to such an extent that it has essentially become a fascist terrorist organization, with members that fantasize and promote violence against their fellow Americans. While those Republican elected officials must be condemned and sanctioned, they are only a symptom of the disease poisoning a third of America, the most visible part of the cancer infecting our nation.
The GOP has been mainstreaming radicalization of their voter base for decades, ALLOWING Reich-wing media and Reich-wing demagogues to take over the party, to the point it has become a fascist, nihilistic cult. Because just as now, Republican politicians and their plutocratic masters have always seen it as the ends justifying whatever means to win power. Remember the Republican Tea Party? This catastrophe with the GOP didn't start with Trump, who just exploited what Republicans had already built.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle for graft and to grift their voters and us taxpayers. You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A quarter of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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GOP cult: “Democracy is great…only so long as we can subvert it with lies, cheating, a multitude of Jim Crow voter suppression laws, egregious gerrymandering, obstruction, coups, election interference, sedition, and terrorism to gain power and maintain our corrupt, plutocratic, minority fascist rule!”
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As if Mr. Rogers could talk sense into Republicans! Wishing it were so won't make it so, thus this seems piece seems rather pointless. Personally, his show didn't air until starting school, and as a first-grader was a book-worm able to appreciate Plato, got taunted by older kids it was a put-on; that the book was carried around merely to pretend to be smart! Well, remember it hurting some, but understood even back then it was the tormenters who were the lesser. Anyway, the point being that found Mr. Rogers rather simplistic and stupid growing up, and it wasn't until more mature that respect for the man and his work grew. For Republicans, they may have loved him as a kid, but as political adults, many viewed him as an effeminate liberal seeking to overthrow traditional America--more someone to hate and be suspicious of than as any kind of hero. Complete nonsense, but for years, that is what passes for Republicanism in America. The GOP doesn't listen to Bill Nye, the science guy, much less Mr. Rogers!
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“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over four decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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Donald Trump, at White House press conference on 04/07/20:
And we’re going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO. We’re going to put a very powerful hold on it, and we’re going to see.
Trump later at that same press conference:
Q: Thanks. A quick follow-up on that. So is the time to freeze funding to the WHO during a pandemic of this magnitude?
THE PRESIDENT: No, maybe not. I mean, I’m not saying I’m going to do it, but we’re going to look at it.
Q: You did say that you’re going to —
THE PRESIDENT: We give a tremendous —
Q: You said you’d put a hold on it.
THE PRESIDENT: No, I didn’t.
Toxic Trump, one week later, on 04/14/20: "I'm withholding WHO funding!"
WHO held a important meeting on COVID-19 vaccines at the beginning of May, with all nations attending...except, unbelievably, no U.S. medical and scientific representatives sent by the Trump Administration, without any explanation. The absence particularly stunning in light that U.S. has half of world's cases and a quarter of the deaths, although possessing just 4% of the global population. Then, on May 29, Toxic Trump announced the U.S. was completely withdrawing from the World Health Organization!
ME, US, the world: WTF?? Why in HELL is that raving lunatic STILL in charge during this major pandemic health crisis?!? Hasn't he KILLED enough Americans, ALREADY?!?
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of plutocrats, the party of corruption, the party of anti-democracy, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their pact with the Devil.
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Christie is a two-faced weasel, desperate to stay relevant, stay in the public spotlight on ABC and the other networks, so he says the right things on the air, but then goes out and votes for Trump. He's also a perfect example of the Republican cult, with his gaslighting, his twisting of the truth, his lies, his willingness to put people's lives in danger with Christiegate to strongarm his opponents, then deny and cover-up. Just like Santorum and a host of other Republican cult weasels, who know better, but "cultivate" and exploit the mindless Republican cult mob.
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Republicans are all about wrecking government, making it work for themselves and their wealthy elite cronies, instead of making it work for the American people.
GOP = Grifters Over People
Republicans use obstructionism as a means to gain power, and power as a means to further their corruption. The Republicans party is composed of grifters, grafters, white supremacists, Christian nationalists, lunatics, assorted bigots, and the gullible sheep they prey upon. It's ideology is no longer conservatism, but fascism and nihilism. It traffics in lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, ignorant culture wars, and hypocrisy.
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
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GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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You hit the nail on the head. Hadn't seen this comment of yours before posting my own conflicted thoughts--the first above, the second here:
This is a right-wing hit piece by Rumsfeld apprentice and later Dubya speechwriter Marc Thiessen, which does not reflect the opinions of the WashPo editorial staff and board. Thiessen is a political hack, not any kind of objective journalist. Promotes illegal, immoral, senseless torture and senseless, costly wars based on fabrications and cherry-picked intelligence.
This piece is intellectually dishonest, comparing apples and oranges. Not to defend Schumer's argument against witnesses in Clinton impeachment, but the two situations are so different that any such comparison made with the willful omission of those crucial differences, providing a full understanding of the context, is nothing more than a bald-faced lie.
Furthermore, Thiessen is engaging in typical Russian-Republican Whataboutism propaganda, which is more intellectual dishonesty. Doesn't matter if Schumer was right or wrong before. It can't and won't change what is right or wrong with this impeachment trial. Should witnesses be called? Of course, they should. We want the truth, whether it proves innocence or guilt, right? Thiessen is merely throwing up a smoke screen to obfuscate the obvious norms, principles, ethics and mores that one would standardly apply.
Thiessen is also being intellectually dishonest in that neither Biden is actually relevant to Trump's impeachment trial. Such irrelevant testimony is not allowed in courts for good reason; it only distracts and disinforms jurors. Thiessen dishonestly omits the fact that Republican Senators have shown little appetite for improperly calling either Biden as a witness, turning a solemn process into a crazy kangaroo circus that degrades them and the Senate, disrespecting and disgracing that institution, the Constitution, our nation, and the American people. Thiessen omits the fact that Chief Justice Roberts would likely rule against allowing either Biden to be called as witnesses because they are not relevant, and that Republican Senators are likely not looking to anger or cross the Chief Justice by ignoring his decisions, or encompassing him in their tawdry cover-up of Trump's drug deals.
Normally, would have highlighted these sentiments as a MEDIA FAIL, but this is clearly marked as an opinion piece. May not respect the opinion, but do respect that others can possess ignorant opinions, and even WashPo for airing such diversity of opinion, even while desiring him replaced for more intelligent and honest conservative writers like Jennifer Rubin. It's really not the difference of opinion found fault with, there are often many paths one can take to reach the same destination, with valid disagreements to be had on which is the best path--it's the consistent intellectual dishonesty from many of these conservative pundits that is found simply intolerable.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast would soon come to consume them.
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Elmer Fudd's always trying to convince me he just wants unity.
What he really means is that he wants to eat me.
When the truth is divisive, then there can be no unity. Unity and compromise is a two-way street that only works if both parties operate in good faith. Republicans have a long history of failing to do that--or even trying. Recent history since Biden won the election shows no indication of them changing their divisive, destructive words, attitudes, obstruction and other acts. Tyrant Trump incited a terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol to overthrow an election, endangering his VP and members of Congress, sat by and gleefully reveled in watching it happen for hours, ignoring desperate pleas for help from Congressional Republicans forced to flee for their lives, and only a very few Republican were willing to speak out, impeach him, convict him, and prevent him from holding public office again? Now Republican won't even agree to a bipartisan January 6 commission formulated upon a plan in which all there demands were met? That's not loyal opposition--that's a dangerous terrorist political cult of fascists.
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It's not, everything isn't presented that way, and you're engaging in the same hyperbole you critique, which is both ironic and hypocritical. Put a lot of thought into your comment, didn't you, really strained the old, feeble brain to make a fool of yourself? The word in the title is put in quotation marks, signifying that it shouldn't be taken literally, which most people with even a minimum of education know. The lady in the video is just quoting what some in the industry have called it, no doubt to call attention to a serious developing crisis. But the morons always ignore the substance of all the good information provided to focus on the trivial and irrelevant, because they "think" it makes them look superior and intelligent, when in reality all they're doing is parading their ignorance.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and disturbing. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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Republicans are willing to gain and hold power at any cost...even if the price is our democracy!
Farmer wakes up one morning, goes outside to milk his cows, and discovers his entire herd is missing! So, he then walks over nest door to where the Republican cult lives, notices them grinding a whole bunch of beef into hamburger, and asks them, "Did you see what happened to all my cows?"
Republican cult: "Yeah, they jumped over the moon."
Farmer: "Do you have any actual evidence of that?"
Republican cult: "No, because they landed on the dark side, and you can't see them over there. But we're conducting a bunch of investigations and fraudits, and we're confident evidence will soon emerge to prove it!"
Farmer: "You know, that sounds like a load of manure!"
Republican cult: "Well, that's what we all choose to believe!"
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It's that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don't care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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"Peace is not a very big thing to ask for, is it?" ~ Fatima Gailani, Afghan activist and negotiator, pleading for continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan
It is when asking the Taliban, who do not seek peace or to bargain in good faith, but total domination once again. U.S. has spent 20 years and $2 trillion trying to achieve peace in Afghanistan, losing over 4000 American lives (military and civilian contractors), with tens of thousands of Americans wounded there.
"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials … have given Afghans little reason to support their government," Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the commander of U.S. forces in the country, wrote in a 2009 memorandum. "This crisis of confidence, coupled with a distinct lack of economic and educational opportunity, has created fertile ground for the insurgency."
That was 11 years ago, and little has changed since. Thought the invasion of Afghanistan by Bush was a mistake that would lead to a quagmire, and have been proven correct. Still, initially supported efforts to bring peace and stability there, along with basic human and civil-rights, because after invading felt we had an obligation to rebuild. However, while U.S. blunders there have contributed to a failure, Afghans are their own worst enemy, and no one can help them until enough of them are willing to help themselves.
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"Without accountability, an attempted autogolpe or insurrection is just practice."
"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ― Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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GOP cult: “Democracy is great…only so long as we can subvert it with lies, cheating, a multitude of Jim Crow voter suppression laws, egregious gerrymandering, obstruction, coups, election interference, sedition, and terrorism to gain power and maintain our corrupt, plutocratic, minority fascist rule!”
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Hypocritical Republican cult whines about cancel culture...
--while making death threats against those disagreeing with them
--while censuring any Republican leaders daring to speak the truth about January 6.
--while conducting a terrorist attack against the nation's Capitol in insurrection, beating and killing police, intent on killing lawmakers and the Republican VP, attempting a coup to overthrow the results of a free and fair election...just because their candidate lost.
--while trying to cancel out the votes of millions of Democrats and minorities by objecting solely to their votes, enacting numerous voter suppression measures, and engaging in egregious gerrymandering.
--while labeling MSM "the enemy of the people."
--while censoring and moving to remove fellow Republicans of integrity who speak up for truth and decency, and against GOP lies, terrorism, and crackpot conspiracy theories.
--while Reich-wing media turns off comments yet rants against "censorship."
--while Faux News fires its news editor for truthfully reporting that Arizona had been called for Biden.
--while trying to run a Biden campaign bus off the road.
--while Rep. Marjorie Greene prevents press from covering town hall meetings where nobody wore a mask.
--after seriously injuring over 140 police officers and killing one in the Republican cult's seditious terrorist attack of insurrection against the nation's Capitol, Republican cult terrorists threaten to call the cops on reporters trying to get their side of the story.
--after canceling out millions of American's jobs under George W. Bush's recession and the largest loss of jobs since the great Depression under Toxic Trump due to his gross incompetence, lies, and willful criminal negligence in responding to a global pandemic.
--while canceling out the lives of hundreds of thousands of their fellow Americans by spreading lies about COVID-19, politicizing a deadly pandemic, and refusing to follow common sense health guidelines.
--while threatening to cancel baseball's anti-trust exemption for exercising their right to free speech
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
― Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a serious threat to our very security.
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again." ― Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney
More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, phony culture wars, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They have essentially become a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Merrick Garland: "Trump and Congressional Republicans screwed me out of a seat on the Supreme Court...that's why now as AG I can't prosecute them for the many crimes they've committed!"
Merrick Garland’s House Testimony Demonstrated the Failure of His Hyper-Cautious Approach to His Job
Despite Garland’s many efforts to not appear political by declining to investigate Trump and his cronies for possible crimes and by using DOJ resources to actively protect Trump from civil liability, Republicans are still portraying him as the most political attorney general in history.
The other weakness of Garland’s timid approach was on full view during his opening statement and responses to Democratic members of Congress. “The essence of the rule of law is that like cases are treated alike. That there not be one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans; one rule for friends, another for foes,” Garland stated grandly. But by declining to investigate Trump and his associates, Garland is enabling further attacks on our democracy. (While proving inequity by putting Republicans above the law.)
Crucially, the two parties are not the same. Garland’s standard sets up a false equivalency between the Democratic Party and a political party whose national leader, Donald Trump, incited and celebrated a violent assault on our nation’s Capitol to overthrow the results of a free and fair election and who continues to portray the insurrection as a glorious “protest.” To that end, in the middle of the attorney general’s testimony, Trump issued a statement highlighting Garland’s feebleness at failing to even investigate the organizers and leaders of the Jan. 6 events, declaring “the insurrection took place on November 3, Election Day. January 6 was the Protest!”
Garland’s efforts to depoliticize the DOJ have proved to be an abdication of his responsibility to protect the rule of law. Take just a few examples: Garland’s failure to reconsider the obstruction of justice case against the former president, his deferral of an investigation of possible financial crimes by Trump and his organization to local prosecutors in New York City and Westchester, his use of the DOJ to protect Trump from defamation allegations, and his deferral of a soliciting of voter fraud felony probe in Georgia to local prosecutors there. By abdicating his responsibility, Garland is also opening the door for Trump to commit these possibly criminal abuses all over again, this time with the full support of the Republican Party, and maybe ultimately return to power.
--Mark Stern
"Try as he may, Merrick Garland cannot perform boring independence fast enough to outrun GOP claims that he’s a wild-eyed, violent socialist. And while the GOP currently exists only to cast everything you thought you believed into doubt, the real endgame is vigilantism. The endgame is to ensure that people mistrust government, election systems, school boards, (teachers, health care officials) the media, and the justice system enough to lend a hand in their destruction."
--Dahlia Lithwick
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Funny how quickly and dramatically Dr. Birx changes her tune on public gatherings, now telling everyone to avoid them and get tested, when just a month ago that suck-up bird Birx was singing a different song: Dr. "Babbling" Birx was laying bricks, lying and dissembling! Says she trusts churches and churchgoers to make it safe, not go to church if sick--knowing asymptomatic people don't know they're sick, and can't be detected! Then, there's the fact that many religious people gather at religious shrines and places of worship hoping to be "healed" when sick. Moreover, she knows "Pastor" Tony Spelling in Louisiana was packing his megachurch during the middle of a severe outbreak, busing them in from a 50-mile radius; she knows all about the devastating spread in South Korea from religious services, she knows about the super-spreader event at the church in Oregon defying state lockdown orders. Dr. Birx KNOWS the U.S. lacks the requisite testing capabilities to reopen safely. Dr. Birx KNOWS all the states are reopening in defiance of CDC guidelines. Dr. Birx KNOWS how Toxic Trump has ignorantly politicized a global pandemic, sent conflicting messages to the public. Dr. Birx KNOWS a good proportion of Americans are NOT following basic CDC guidelines; NOT wearing masks, NOT social distancing. And she knows without detailed specific CDC federal guidelines for businesses reopening, we got chaos, sickness, and MORE senseless deaths. Birx needs to have her medical license revoked. She can be the next SmellyAnne Con-Her-Way, that's what she wants.
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GOP cult is NOT the party of law and order, NOT the party of the Constitution and patriots, NOT the party of "values," NOT the party of fiscal responsibility, NOT the party of clean government, NOT the party of freedom. It's the party of terrorism, lawlessness, corruption, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry, misogyny, Big Lies, unmitigated greed, gross hypocrisy, socialized taxpayer payouts for plutocrats, sedition, traitors, and tyranny.
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Gee, didn't you know? Republicans don't care anything about protecting workers, public health, law, justice, or the environment...only about maximizing profits! That's how we got into this pickle in the first place, with 100,000 Americans dead in just three months; that's why other nations have stopped the spread, but we're STILL in the first wave, losing a 1,000 Americans daily, remember?
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Merrick Garland’s House Testimony Demonstrated the Failure of His Hyper-Cautious Approach to His Job
Despite Garland’s many efforts to not appear political by declining to investigate Trump and his cronies for possible crimes and by using DOJ resources to actively protect Trump from civil liability, Republicans are still portraying him as the most political attorney general in history.
The other weakness of Garland’s timid approach was on full view during his opening statement and responses to Democratic members of Congress. “The essence of the rule of law is that like cases are treated alike. That there not be one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans; one rule for friends, another for foes,” Garland stated grandly. But by declining to investigate Trump and his associates, Garland is enabling further attacks on our democracy. (While proving inequity by putting Republicans above the law.)
Crucially, the two parties are not the same. Garland’s standard sets up a false equivalency between the Democratic Party and a political party whose national leader, Donald Trump, incited and celebrated a violent assault on our nation’s Capitol to overthrow the results of a free and fair election and who continues to portray the insurrection as a glorious “protest.” To that end, in the middle of the attorney general’s testimony, Trump issued a statement highlighting Garland’s feebleness at failing to even investigate the organizers and leaders of the Jan. 6 events, declaring “the insurrection took place on November 3, Election Day. January 6 was the Protest!”
Garland’s efforts to depoliticize the DOJ have proved to be an abdication of his responsibility to protect the rule of law. Take just a few examples: Garland’s failure to reconsider the obstruction of justice case against the former president, his deferral of an investigation of possible financial crimes by Trump and his organization to local prosecutors in New York City and Westchester, his use of the DOJ to protect Trump from defamation allegations, and his deferral of a soliciting of voter fraud felony probe in Georgia to local prosecutors there. By abdicating his responsibility, Garland is also opening the door for Trump to commit these possibly criminal abuses all over again, this time with the full support of the Republican Party, and maybe ultimately return to power.
--Mark Stern
"Try as he may, Merrick Garland cannot perform boring independence fast enough to outrun GOP claims that he’s a wild-eyed, violent socialist. And while the GOP currently exists only to cast everything you thought you believed into doubt, the real endgame is vigilantism. The endgame is to ensure that people mistrust government, election systems, school boards, (teachers, health care officials) the media, and the justice system enough to lend a hand in their destruction."
--Dahlia Lithwick
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@IndependentMind115 ~ Clearly, you don't understand agnostic atheism. Suggest you do some research on the different types of atheism so you don't appear ignorant. Most atheists are agnostic atheists.
At this point in human evolution, what is known is still only the tiniest fraction of what there is to be known. Now, that can be a basis for fear, or for awe and wonder, depending on a person's mindset. People with closely-held spiritual beliefs do tend to be more close-minded. If a person devoutly believes in a literal interpretation of the Bible, for instance, they are generally unwilling to consider other possibilities of how humans came to inhabit Earth. But to suggest that non-religious people are somehow "blind" to as-yet-unexplained phenomenon is pure hogwash.
Plenty of scientists hold religious beliefs. You are erroneously confusing and conflating science with religious belief. You are also confusing and conflating Covid-19 with conspiracy theories. Covid-19 is a global pandemic caused by a virus. It's a demonstrable fact, not a conspiracy theory. Scientific methodology eschews and works to prevent bias. It builds upon and expands previous discoveries and scientific knowledge. One doesn't "believe" in science as with religion. One possessing a good understanding of scientific methodology may trust the scientific process, recognizing that the sciences are merely a tool used to help us categorize and better understand ourselves and everything around us. That's like saying people "believe" in shovels because they recognize they are useful in digging holes and can help us discover what is hidden below the surface.
Religion and science collide over many things, not just health and safety. The religious beliefs of a population can influence laws, nothing new there. But to say some "god" makes the laws, you first have to prove that such a "god" exists. Why only three choices, then, why not whales making our laws, or elephants? At least, we can prove those things exist!
When it comes to public health and safety, laws are generally decided by facts, logic, science, ethics, and morals. If one's religion tells them to not wear a mask or get vaccinated during a deadly global pandemic, passing the disease onto countless others, causing untold suffering, sickness, and death, then that religion is neither ethical or moral.
In this particular case, it isn't about laws, per se, it is about the ethics and morals guiding organ transplants in humans that is set by the organization of medical professionals in that field. There is a limited supply of transplant organs and a waiting list of patients needing them. As a kidney donor, I can tell you that both donor and recipient are at higher risk of contracting Covid-19, getting seriously ill from it, and dying from it. Hard decisions constantly have to be made for this scarce and valuable life-saving resource, which involves who is most likely to benefit from the procedures.
But if these two people not vaccinated are so religious, why aren't they trusting in their "god" to cure the potential recipient or the organ transplant? Why can't they believe that "god" created the vaccine through his vehicle, other humans, to save lives? Their choice not to get vaccinated is based upon either irrational religious nonsense or irrational cult-like political ideology. Hey, if they're willing to die from either Covid-19 or organ failure, isn't their own stupidity responsible, and no one else?
No, just because some religion "claims" to have all the answers (and which ones don't, anyway?) doesn't mean that we all need to study it over and over again. Your assertion is preposterous on its face. So, if I simply "claim" to have all the answers, everyone should study over and over again my beliefs? Religion is faith, not fact. If it could be proven, it wouldn't be religion anymore, it would be science. And, no, if you're cherry-picking which science you choose to believe without any reasonable rationale, then you don't really believe in science, you're actually anti-science. Also, belief in crackpot conspiracy theories may be somewhat similar to religious belief, but it is the antithesis of science.
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@IndependentMind115 ~ You have a bunch of pet theories that don't withstand even scant scrutiny. The number of religious people who are anti-vax is a very small proportion of the population. There are non-religious people who are also anti-vax. Regardless which group, their fears of vaccination are irrational and unwarranted. Most religious people do get vaccinated against a variety of diseases. What is driving most Covid-19 unvaccinated people is clearly political ideology, not religion, and it is driven by Covid-19 vaccine misinformation and disinformation, along with bogus appeals to freeDUMB and to individual rights by the right.
Sure, most people have a degree of distrust in governments. That's just stating the obvious. Within reason, that is healthy, as governments require vigilance and due diligence. Unless one is naïve, one doesn't place blind trust in anyone or any human endeavor. But that doesn't mean that governments are all alike, or are necessarily inherently bad, or that governments can never be trusted, or that there is any better alternative to government. Here, the discussion is about America, and we are a self-governing country, a democratic republic. Government will always be only as good as citizens make it.
“Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a President and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country.” ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt
"Humanism" was not always secular, and the meaning of the term has changed with the intellectual movements that identify with it. In fact, while humanism is currently defined as secular, humanists and those of religious beliefs often share many of the same ideals, if not ideology, and their means of obtaining those ideals can be similar or the same.
Is our justice system perfect and could it be improved? Sure, but what system of justice has ever been perfect? To call it a "shambles" is just pure hyperbole. As is calling our education system "embarrassing." I would take our education system today over what existed 50, 100, 150, or 200 years ago. The problem is not so much our educational system as it is societal problems. Parents bear an equal responsibility for educating their children, it's not just the responsibility of schools and our education system. And it is Republican initiatives that work to weaken our public school systems, be it trying to introduce religious indoctrination like "intelligent design" into science, privatizing schools for profiteers like they have with prisons, or restricting the teaching of certain subjects because they tell the truth about America, which isn't always flattering.
Our political arena isn't "cutthroat," but it has been poisoned by decades of Reich-wing propaganda by Republicans politicians, demagogues, and media. And don't try handing me the logical fallacy of both-sidesism, as it just doesn't wash, and you're only demonstrating an unwillingness to be objective and a willful ignorance of just how low the GOP has sunk.
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@IndependentMind115 ~ Your arguments on "god" are nonsensical and employ circular logic. If you claim "god" exists, then the burden of proof isn't upon others to prove it false, it is upon those making that claim to prove it true. The same goes for some "god" writing our laws. But why just one "god?" What proof is there that there are not multiple "gods?" You are simply demonstrating your own Western theological bias.
Besides, we don't need scientific methodology or the process of elimination to know that humans wrote our laws, because we have the historical record. We regularly witness laws being passed by Congress and the President. We know the specific individuals who are responsible for writing our Constitution, our Bill of Rights, and all the subsequent laws of our land, because the votes in Congress are recorded, and the President signs it into law.
Anything that is imaginable can be called "unfalsifiable." Essentially, what you're asserting is that belief in any mythical thing is justified since a negative can't be proven. Sorry, but that's not the way logic and reasoning works.
We can't do "tests" on anything not proven to exist, so you're making another absurd argument about humans being in a "bind." That's like saying we can't do "tests" on purple flying spaghetti monsters, so therefore if some people choose to have "faith" that they exist and created all life on Earth, we'll never know the truth. The only thing in a "bind" is your twisted pretzel logic.
Students are only taught evolution in schools because it's well-established scientific theory, and because so-called "intelligent design" isn't science----it's religion, merely a rebranding of creationism in a perverted attempt to religiously indoctrinate children in public schools. Not all students are religious, and not all share the same religious beliefs, and it would be wrong to force teachers----who also may not be religious or share the same religious beliefs----to teach any particular religious belief in our public schools. Parents are free to raise their children with whatever religious beliefs they wish, or none at all; they can take them to church, have them attend Sunday school, they can enroll them in religious schools as an alternative to public schools.
Our public school system is secular because we have separation of church and state in this country. The only people who think it is polarizing are those who want to impose their Christian religious beliefs upon others, and who don't want science contradicting those beliefs. Nor should unproven, fanciful fairy tales be given equal weight with science.
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@IndependentMind115 ~ You contradict yourself. You claim that we can't "test" for God, but then turn around and say that we must keep testing and testing until proven true or false. If some supreme being created everything, than Jesus and the anti-Christ are merely two sides of the same coin, and should therefore command equal respect and homage. If a "god" is omniscient, than humans don't really have free will, as everything is already foreseen and preordained. Indeed, from a non-religious perspective, a growing number of scientists and philosophers are proposing that free will is merely an illusion. "God" can't be both omniscient and omnipotent, as the two are mutually exclusive; if everything is foreseen and preordained, then that "god" would lack the power to change things. You talk about endlessly testing Jesus to prove or disprove the existence of a "god," but why not Muhammad or Buddha or Shiva or a host of other "gods?" Once again, your Western theocratic bias and agenda is on full display.
Don't think you understood the article to which you linked, or perhaps didn't fully read it, as it is actually an affirmation of evolution and science. In fact, the article points out the objection that unscrupulous religious actors would wrongly twist the science to push non-scientific religious creationism hokum, which is what you appear to be doing. And the article notes that Darwin himself had always thought that other factors besides natural selection could play a role in evolution. Moreover, the very fact that there is scientific debate on potential intricacies of evolution is in itself an affirmation of the scientific process. Last, but not least, the writer issues a disclaimer that he is not a scientist, and that non-scientists are typically dependent upon scientists. I would note that even scientists are dependent upon other scientists, because they all specialize in various fields, and no scientist is fully versed in all fields of scientific endeavor. Science is a collective and cumulative effort, one that is open to change as new data and new ideas emerge, in order to offer the best possible explanations----unlike religion, which consists largely of dogma, and is stubbornly resistant to change, despite emergence of new facts and ideas.
Idle speculation does not a conspiracy theory make. One could speculate that the price of gas is going to go down to one dollar, and maybe it becomes true one day, but that doesn't make it a conspiracy theory. The general consensus was that vaccine mandates for health care workers were inevitable, since they work with sick and vulnerable people and getting vaccinated was already a requirement for most health care workers. People in the military were already required to get 18 different vaccinations, and just as George Washington ordered his soldiers to be vaccinated against smallpox, so, too, is it necessary to keep our military force from being weakened by disease to maintain a strong defense. There is still no universal mandate for vaccines, however.
There are plausible conspiracy theories and then there are crackpot conspiracy theories. A bank is broken into in the middle of the night, and the money out of the vault is stolen. Given the collective evidence left behind like the big tunnel dug, it is clear that the robbery had to have involved more than one person, so it must have been a conspiracy to commit bank theft. However, when people spout off half-baked theories with little evidence to support them and with countervailing evidence against them, they will rightly be called out for propagating crackpot conspiracy theories, such as with the bogus claim that Trump didn't lose the 2024 election, that it was "stolen" from him, for example. And if one spews out a supposition, asserting it as truth, lacking in fact and rational argument that later turns out just by rare chance to be true, it would still have been an irrational crackpot conspiracy theory at the time it was advanced, and people would have been correct to label it as such. I also think there is some confusion here on your part, as what people commonly refer to as conspiracy theories are often in actuality unsupported suppositions being espoused as fact, a practice in which you have engaged in our discussion. Also, as you seem to concede, if enough people start to believe in a crackpot conspiracy theory, there is the potential for it in some circumstances to become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
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@IndependentMind115 ~ To be clear, you were talking about studying if there was a "god," and then followed that up to say that we need to test it and test it over and over again. But walk it back if you like, it's still nonsense. How do you test if a congregation is "experiencing god" if "god" can't be proven to exist? Obviously, that's impossible. Nor could one then reasonably ascertain that what a person might experience in a spiritual setting or mood has anything to do with any "god."
Odd and perhaps fitting that you use the phrase "hocus pocus" to collectively describe religion, ghosts, witches, and aliens.
hocus-pocus
ˌhō-kəs-ˈpō-kəs
NOUN
1.) sleight of hand
2.) nonsense or sham used especially to cloak deception
Imagine all the things people called "miracles" and "supernatural" phenomenon just a few centuries ago that are now understood to have perfectly natural and reasonable explanations. Think of all the very strange phenomenon that can be observed in particles and waves that can be explained by quantum physics. So, why is it some people's first instinct in today's modern society to still want to attribute something not yet understood to some "god?" Did you ever read Mark Twain's 'A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court?' Well, if people from medieval Europe could be transported forward in time to today to witness all the technological marvels, what would be their impression do you think? Might they not look upon us as some kind of "gods?"
What we have in religion is a failure of imagination, which imagines only one possibility to cover all eventualities. People buy into it because it's simple to grasp and understand, and provides a ready explanation for anything. "Allah wills!" or, "It is God's will!" Did you know that, even today, native Hawaiians still perform rituals and throw offerings into the volcano to appease the spirit of the volcano "god?" Humans may never discover the origin of he universe(s) or if there is any real purpose for our existence, but I hope and expect that sometime in the near future we will have come to the common recognition that religions are primitive attempts to understand and find answers to those questions.
Sorry to hear that you were born into such a terrible family and have chosen such bad friends and associates that you need an imaginary friend to rely on to lift you up. Personally, my experience has been almost totally opposite of yours. I have benefited greatly from the generosity and kindness of others, I have friends and family that I can rely upon, I have learned to improve myself and be largely self-reliant, I look to help others in need, and "Christ" has repeatedly failed me. But the Flying Purple Spaghetti Monster has been truly incredible! I pay homage and credit it for all my wonderful successes! Isn't that just wonderful?!? 😉😉
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Welcome to war. This is what war is. It's terrible, it's tragic, it stinks, it's unfair, it's sad, it's wasteful, it's hell, innocents die, and things always go wrong. You think we'd have learned that by now, but no, it's a lesson that has to be repeatedly learned, evidently. The consensus is that nobody foresaw the Afghan government and its armed forces completely capitulating so quickly as they did. Some say there should have been a contingency plan for this, but even though hindsight is 20/20, have yet to hear any rational plan that could have dealt with this situation. Shit happens, and Biden got handed a turd with Afghanistan. Instead of allowing the crap to continue, Biden made the hard, responsible decision to pull the U.S. out of another country's civil war. Fallout was inevitable, and people need to deal with that.
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No question that Toxic Trump wants to manipulate the data to paint a rosy picture, sacrificing American lives for his own personal gain. But states are doing nearly all the testing, not the feds. State and private labs are doing nearly all the test processing. The big failure regarding this aspect of the catastrophically failed pandemic response is Putin puppet-pie President Nero's criminal negligence in failing to authorize the Defense Production Act to build capacity for testing and TIMELY processing.
It's not just about quantity of tests. More important is quality. Most critically, it is taking TWO WEEKS or more to obtain the TEST RESULTS unless hospitalized. Due to the long lab processing times due to lack of capability and backlog, the contact tracing needed to contain and control the spread becomes no longer practical or tenable, creating an untenable situation of contagion, hospitalizations, and subsequent avoidable deaths. While some infected people waiting for test results may quarantine themselves, many others taking routine tests, who may be positive and asymptomatic, will not, unwilling or unable to wait that long for their results to come back. This latter group is spreading the disease in their communities. Until we have TIMELY TEST RESULTS, the quantity of tests administered is a largely MEANINGLESS figure. While true the U.S. is STILL only performing just a fraction of the COVID-19 testing needed, ramping up testing won't help unless or until the turnaround processing time problem is fixed and ALL test results can be obtained within less than 48 hours.
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“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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@jessesmithson7941 ~ This election was an IQ test for America. Since Biden won, we get a passing grade...but just barely, because is shouldn't have even been close, and his Republican enablers were not roundly repudiated. Score it a 'D,' for democracy on life support.
Maybe as high as 30% are hard-core Republican cult. Still, most Republicans in my conservative town have taken down their Trump-Pence campaign signs, conceding his defeat, so it may not even be that high. That said, the Republican cult isn't going away, and it's very vocal and active, belying its minority status.
However, it should also be remembered that the political affiliation in America has become mostly those identifying as Independent, followed by Democrat, then Republican. Fortunately, most Independents tend to align themselves more with Democrats than Republicans. Personally, find most Independents to be apolitical, apathetic, or rather uninformed about politics and the issues, easily manipulated and swayed, vulnerable to GOP disinformation. It's how we got an election that wasn't the landslide for Biden and repudiation of corrupt Republicans that should have happened.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance.
In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump left office, one out of every 800 Americans had died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 400,000 fatalities, as many American casualties as WWII. It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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This June, Rep. Anthony Gonzalez vote AGAINST establishing the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.
In August he voted AGAINST the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. In March he voted AGAINST the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act and AGAINST the For the People Voting Rights Act.
He also opposes environmental protection, financial sector regulation, humane immigration policy, labor rights and wages, LBGTIQ rights, avoiding default, countering Russian interference, and women's rights.
Gonzalez now avows he is not going to let our democracy fall, so he's going to retire, instead of staying in a position of power where he could do the most good? That makes absolutely no sense. His actions are incongruent with his words. His voting record, even recent, shows his disdain for democracy. He has been an enabler of Republican fascism throughout his career, and now he is bailing because he doesn't like the poisoned fruit from the tree he helped sow and cultivated? No admission of responsibility for his role in helping create the divisive, toxic environment and being silently complicit for so long? Sure, he is finally speaking the truth about the Big Lie and the evil being perpetrated against our Constitution by the GOP that most of us have been condemning for months, but his words ring hollow.
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@stargoddess2344 ~ Republican cult morons rail against the very "elite" they keep voting for, who give tax cuts to the rich and have created the greatest income inequality and wealth disparity in American history.
Why? They are driven by the divisive fear and bigotry programmed into them 24/7 by the Reich-wing media and propaganda owned or funded by the plutocracy. It's absolutely Orwellian, and it began around 1984 in America. What is witnessed now is just the rotten results from the poisoned tree bearing fruition. It's the disease killing America that existed long before COVID-19, and which is likely to persist long after.
Republican cult going to believe what the Republican cult wants to believe, whatever the truth, whatever proof, whatever anybody says. "Healing" the country means deprogramming the 30-40% of Americans deep in cultdom. That needs to be recognized, acknowledged, and acted upon if we truly wish to revive the patient, America, and restore it to glory.
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***MEDIA FAIL*** -- So, when the media holds Republicans accountable for corruption and incompetence, it's "PLAYING GAMES?" If not, why is the media making that insinuation against Democrats? What happened to truth? Calling balls and strikes? Is this a good time now, media, to stop holding this administration accountable; should Democrats be silent, while Americans could soon be dying by the truckload that were entirely preventable? How stupid is media?!? Media degrades our discourse and society, contributes to Republican cultism, nourishes it--it's not just Faux News, folks--look in the mirror, sometime, media. It's good to help us, but you shouldn't be helping to kill us, for Christ's sake!
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@RetirededKat ~ There's only three options for you, Doc:
1.) You're totally ignorant, refuse to do any research, gullible enough to believe whatever you're told.
2.) You're a Russian bot sowing disinformation, discord, and division to weaken America, kill Americans.
3.) You're part of the Republican cult unwittingly or uncaringly helping Russia, a Putin pawn. You know the truth, but seek to distort it to smear your political opponents, placing partisan advantage before the country you falsely claim to love.
Democratic Party existed well before the KKK was started, so your claim is obviously a lie.
No, the Democratic Party didn’t create the Ku Klux Klan
President Donald Trump has faced criticism for normalizing white nationalists but some conservative bloggers are trying to flip the script, shooing the Ku Klux Klan out of the "Big Tent" and into liberal territory.
One historian confirmed there’s a historic link between the Democrats and the KKK: Many angry Southern whites during the 1860s and 1870s were Democrats, and some joined the KKK. But according to J. Michael Martinez, who wrote the 2007 book "Carpetbaggers, Cavalry and the KKK," it’s misleading to say the Democratic Party founded the Klan.
It was a more of a grassroots creation, Martinez said. Plus, the Democratic Party of the past is not the Democratic Party of today. From the 1930s onward, "you think of the Democratic Party being considered the party of the disenfranchised," he said.
Carole Emberton, an associated professor at the University of Buffalo, agreed.
"Although the names stayed the same, the platforms of the two parties reversed each other in the mid-20th century, due in large part to the white ‘Dixiecrats’ flight out of the Democratic Party and into the Republican Party after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964," she said.
By the time the Civil Rights Act became law, the Democratic Party supported so-called liberal causes that "had been the banner of the Republican Party."
While some Democrats supported the KKK, there’s no evidence the group was founded by their political party. And context matters—the anti-black Democratic Party of yore is not the party of today.
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2018/oct/24/blog-posting/no-democratic-party-didnt-create-klu-klux-klan/
The working assumption nowadays under Putin's pawn Toxic Trump is that you're a Russian bot. #moreRussiasanctions
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Gee, didn't you know? Republicans don't care anything about protecting workers, public health, law, justice, or the environment...only about maximizing profits! That's how we got into this pickle in the first place, losing over 100,000 Americans to COVID-19 in just three months; that's why other nations have stopped the spread, but we're STILL in the first wave, losing a 1,000 Americans daily, remember?
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The Molotov cocktail recipe:
Mix in equal parts of mental illness, lies, willful ignorance, fear, hate, greed, decades of 24/7 Reich-wing disinformation, misinformation, and crackpot conspiracy programming by Republican politicians, plutocrats, media and demagogues, add supplemental divisive Russian propaganda attacking and weakening America, stir well, garnish with COVID-19, and you have the mindless Republican cult descending into fascism, committing terrorism and sedition. Then, grab a stiff drink--you'll need it.
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Floyd Roseberry is a Republican registered voter from North Carolina. Roseberry posted several videos on a now-deleted Facebook page on Thursday, demanding to speak with President Joe Biden. During a long Facebook live video, Roseberry said, “the revolution is on” and that he would “die for this land.” He said Democrats should resign. Videos posted to Facebook before the page was taken down appear to show Roseberry at the Nov. 14 rally attended by thousands of Trump supporters to protest what they claimed was a stolen election. A video appears to have been shot by Roseberry as he marches with a crowd of hundreds carrying US flags and Trump flags and shouting “stop the robbery.” Roseberry’s ex-wife, Crystal Roseberry, said she had seen images of the man in the confrontation on Capitol Hill and confirmed to The Associated Press that she was her ex-husband. She said that she had never known he had explosives, but that he was an avid firearms collector. Roseberry ranted about Biden on Facebook. “It’s almost time…take an extra pair of civilians clothes for our heroes… who can carry arms in… BIDEN YOUR FIRED…NO ISN’T A OPTION…FLEE OUR LAND,” he wrote four days ago. I love this land. We got a few options here Joe. You shoot me, two and half blocks are going with me. And then you’re talking about a revolution. The Revolution is on,” he said in one Facebook Live video. “My trench coat will be here Friday… I’m excited,” he wrote with a typo the day before, showing a flag and cowboy hat on his pickup dashboard. Roseberry ranted about Facebook, comparing the platform to a “lying Democratic politician.” He criticized Greta Thunberg. The New York Times quoted a law enforcement official as saying he was making “anti-government statements” on Facebook.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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@isabellebarnes3206 - You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It's that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don't care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another five months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
― Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a serious threat to our very security.
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again." ― Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney
More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They have essentially become a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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For five long years, the American people, Lady Justice, and Constitution have all been crying out for accountability, pleading, "Until this moment, Republicans, I think I have never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness. ...You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"
Insane stuff from an insane man, that describes Traitor Trump to a "T." What it constitutes is an attempted coup and an insurrection. So, why hasn't Trump and his accomplices been arrested for those and all his other crimes, yet? Why is Merrick Garland and his DOJ failing to do their duty? If Trump is not prosecuted, it sets a terrible precedent enabling the next wannabe authoritarian President. This is no time for playing nice.
Expect these documents from the National Security Archives to produce even more incriminating evidence of Traitor Trump's autogolpe. Also expect the House Select Committee to pass them on to the DOJ, along with a referral for criminal charges against Trump and his accomplices. Merrick Garland MUST prosecute Trump for his many crimes, or our justice system and democracy will be destroyed.
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Rep. Omar is only making the same observation that many of us have made for years and decades. And we have the proof staring us in the face----just look how we went after foreign terrorists after 9/11, then look how we treat domestic terrorists that attacked our nation's Capitol in insurrection on January 6! Why aren't we targeting the real leaders of those domestic terrorists, the ones that incited them to attack the Capitol, with the same vigor and determination that we went after Osama bin Laden and other leaders of al-Qaeda? Why aren't we intercepting and seizing their funding, making any contributions to them illegal? Why the hypocrisy, the double-standard shown by our government? Furthermore, we denied suspected foreign terrorists, many of them innocent, the same rights we afford our own domestic terrorists. Last checked, torture is a war crime, and the U.S. used torture against al-Qaeda suspects----some of them, again, innocent. Yet, the Obama administration swept the war crimes of the previous Bush administration under the rug, and there has been no accountability and no justice for the victims of those U.S. war crimes.
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What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil. They are either actively or silently complicit in fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorist violence, Reich-wing insurrection, and Reich-wing undermining of our democracy and Constitution.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle for graft and to grift their voters and us taxpayers. You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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There will be an impeachment; pay no attention to political posturing to get public onboard. The, impeachment process will destroy Trump -- make no mistake! Clinton, Nixon and Johnson never recovered from their impeachments, even though none actually impeached from office (Nixon was forced to resign). But there are many factors at play bearing consideration; this is not as simple as the media would have us believe, sometimes. For instance, the power of Pence to pardon Trump should he be impeached, the resistance and cover-up by Republicans required for impeachment.
In case it wasn't noticed, impeachment is ongoing, if not yet declared. The obvious inevitable "official" announcement timing is not nearly as concerning as the media selling Dems and their leadership short, neglecting their own duty to investigate and cover corrupt Congressional Republicans equally responsible for impeachment who are--contrastingly--derelict and openly defiant to their sworn oath by engaging in this cover-up in plain sight of the Mueller Report. No Pulitzer there. Media cowards fail big time! Media optics obsessive, misguided focus on Democrat strategy overly and overtly politicizes, is bad for impeachment, helpful to Trump and Republicans. Stupid.
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Canada: In Alberta, we have the largest production of tar sands, one of the dirtiest fuels, polluting our rivers, soil, and air! Canada's ecological footprint pre capita was graded at 8.17, just below the U.S. at 8.22 (2016), which is higher than European nations.
Some small oil-producing nations like Kuwait and UAE produce far more greenhouse gases because of their refineries. But the problem is about more than just who is producing the most greenhouse gases or who is producing the most green energy; it also involves who is consuming the most products made with those greenhouse gases, who is most exploiting Earth's resources faster than they can be renewed?
Now, the figures given were for per capita, but if we look at national rankings without regard to population and other factors such as China and the U.S. being major exporters, then those rankings change. But one could well argue that per capita ratings are a more accurate and fair measure. In that regard, Canada is on par with the U.S., Oman, Mongolia, and Australia, the only five in the world which require more than 6.7 global hectares per capita.
ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT PER PERSON: The Ecological Footprint per person is a nation's total Ecological Footprint divided by the total population of the nation. To live within the means of our planet's resources, the world's Ecological Footprint would have to equal the available biocapacity per person on our planet, which is currently 1.7 global hectares. So if a nation's Ecological Footprint per person is 6.8 global hectares, its citizens are demanding four times the resources and wastes that our planet can regenerate and absorb in the atmosphere.
Here are the ecological footprint national rankings from Global Footprint Network for the five worst nations:
1. China
China has an ecological footprint of 3.71 hectares per capita and a biocapacity of 0.92 per capita. China’s total ecological deficit is -3,435.62, the largest in the world. As China’s economy continues to rapidly expand, people’s incomes are rising, and, as a result, so is their consumption. With the largest population of any country in the world at about 1.4 billion combined with inefficient resource use, China is depleting its resources quickly.
2. United States
The U.S. has an ecological deficit of -1,416.05. Its ecological footprint per capita is 8.04 hectares and its biocapacity per capita is 3.45 hectares. The average US ecological footprint is about 50% larger than the average person in most European countries. The U.S. has more suburban sprawl, less public transportation, and uses more energy and water per person than other comparable, developed countries. Additionally, California has the same ecological footprint as France.
3. India
India’s ecological footprint per capita is 1.19 and its biocapacity per capita is 0.43 hectares. India’s total ecological deficit is -878.05 hectares. India represents about 6% of the world’s ecological footprint. India, like China, has a population of over 1 billion people. While India’s ecological footprint is relatively low, its biocapacity is much lower, leading to its large deficit.
4. Japan
Japan’s ecological footprint is 4.65 hectares per capita and its biocapacity is 0.59 hectares per capita. Japan’s ecological deficit is -547.18 hectares, the fourth-highest in the world. A majority of Japan’s ecological footprint is made up of Japan’s carbon footprint. If everyone lived based on the Japanese standard of living, we would require the equivalent of 2.3 Earths to support the world population.
5. United Kingdom
The U.K. has the fifth-largest ecological deficit in the world of -483.83. The U.K.’s ecological footprint per capita is 4.20 hectares and its biocapacity per capita is 1.08 hectares. Between 2014 and 2016, the United Kingdom’s carbon footprint dropped 11.7% driving the country’s total ecological footprint down by 8.8%. Although the U.K.’s ecological deficit is the fifth-highest in the world, the country seems to be moving in the right direction.
A note on hydropower: In addition to methane, hydropower can have significant environmental effects such as fish injury and impact on downstream water quality. By diverting water out of the water bodies for power, dams remove water needed for healthy in-stream ecosystems thereby disrupting the natural river flows. Dams also slow down the flow of the river. The size of the reservoir created by a hydroelectric project can vary widely, depending largely on the size of the hydroelectric generators and the topography of the land. Hydroelectric plants in flat areas tend to require much more land than those in hilly areas or canyons where deeper reservoirs can hold more volume of water in a smaller space.
At one extreme, the large Balbina hydroelectric plant, which was built in a flat area of Brazil, flooded 2,360 square kilometers—an area the size of Delaware—and it only provides 250 MW of power generating capacity (equal to more than 2,000 acres per MW). In contrast, a small 10 MW run-of-the-river plant in a hilly location can use as little 2.5 acres (equal to a quarter of an acre per MW).
PS: Love Canada and Canadians, so don't get the wrong idea. But we also need to be realistic about the problems and their causes. Had always admired Canada as being very environmentally conscious, but with the Alberta tar sands, Canada placed greed before the health of humans and the environment. Canada is by no means alone in this area; plenty of other nations are guilty of the same. My own country, the U.S., is likewise a large source of the problem, and we need to do much more to change our own policies and lifestyles. Greed may improve quality of life in the short-term, but it is inexorably killing us and destroying quality of life for all of us in the long term.
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GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
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07/11/20 -- 3,356,000 confirmed cases; 137,400 deaths.
07/10/20 -- 3,292,000 confirmed cases; 136,700 deaths.
07/09/20 -- 3,220,000 confirmed cases; 136,000 deaths.
07/08/20 -- 3,159,000 confirmed cases; 134,900 deaths.
07/07/20 -- 3,097,000 confirmed cases; 133,900 deaths.
07/06/20 -- 3,041,000 confirmed cases; 133,000 deaths.
07/05/20 -- 2,984,000 confirmed cases; 132,500 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
07/04/20 -- 2,936,000 confirmed cases; 132,300 deaths.
07/03/20 -- 2,890,000 confirmed cases; 132,100 deaths.
07/02/20 -- 2,837,000 confirmed cases; 131,500 deaths.
07/01/20 -- 2,780,000 confirmed cases; 130,800 deaths.
06/30/20 -- 2,722,000 confirmed cases; 129,400 deaths. NIH predicts 100,000 cases per day soon from premature reopening and people not following CDC guidelines.
06/29/20 -- 2,682,000 confirmed cases; 128,800 deaths.
06/28/20 -- 2,638,000 confirmed cases; 128,400 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
06/27/20 -- 2,597,000 confirmed cases; 128,200 deaths.
06/26/20 -- 2,553,000 confirmed cases; 127,600 deaths. CDC projects TEN times as many COVID-19 cases as confirmed; approximately 25 million, or 7% of U.S. pop.
06/25/20 -- 2,505,000 confirmed cases; 126,800 deaths.
06/24/20 -- 2,463,000 confirmed cases; 124,300 deaths.
06/23/20 -- 2,424,000 confirmed cases; 123,500 deaths.
06/22/20 -- 2,388,000 confirmed cases; 122,600 deaths.
06/21/20 -- 2,357,000 confirmed cases; 122,200 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
06/20/20 -- 2,331,000 confirmed cases; 122,000 deaths.
06/19/20 -- 2,297,000 confirmed cases; 121,400 deaths.
06/18/20 -- 2,264,000 confirmed cases; 120,700 deaths.
06/17/20 -- 2,235,000 confirmed cases; 119,900 deaths.
06/16/20 -- 2,199,000 confirmed cases; 118,800 deaths.
06/15/20 -- 2,182,000 confirmed cases; 118,200 deaths.
06/14/20 -- 2,162,000 confirmed cases; 117,800 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
06/13/20 -- 2,139,000 confirmed cases; 117,500 deaths. Latest projection has 200,000 Americans dead from COVID-19 before October.
06/12/20 -- 2,117,000 confirmed cases; 116,800 deaths.
06/11/20 -- 2,090,000 confirmed cases; 116,000 deaths.
06/10/20 -- 2,066,000 confirmed cases; 115,100 deaths.
06/09/20 -- 2,046,000 confirmed cases; 114,100 deaths.
06/08/20 -- 2,026,000 confirmed cases; 113,000 deaths.
06/07/20 -- 2,007,000 confirmed cases; 112,500 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
06/06/20 -- 1,976,000 confirmed cases; 111,900 deaths.
06/05/20 -- 1,949,000 confirmed cases; 111,000 deaths.
06/04/20 -- 1,924,000 confirmed cases; 110,100 deaths.
06/03/20 -- 1,902,000 confirmed cases; 109,100 deaths.
05/31/20 -- 1,837,000 confirmed cases; 106,200 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/30/20 -- 1,817,000 confirmed cases; 105,600 deaths.
05/29/20 -- 1,793,000 confirmed cases; 104,500 deaths.
05/24/20 -- 1,686,000 confirmed cases; 99,300 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/23/20 -- 1,667,000 confirmed cases; 98,700 deaths.
05/22/20 -- 1,645,000 confirmed cases; 97,600 deaths.
05/17/20 -- 1,528,000 confirmed cases; 91,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/16/20 -- 1,497,000 confirmed cases; 89,400 deaths.
05/11/20 -- 1,379,000 confirmed cases; 81,500 deaths.
05/10/20 -- 1,364,000 confirmed cases; 80,600 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/07/20 -- 1,289,000 confirmed cases; 76,500 deaths.
05/06/20 -- 1,260,000 confirmed cases; 74,500 deaths.
05/05/20 -- 1,233,000 confirmed cases; 72,000 deaths.
05/04/20 -- 1,208,000 confirmed cases; 69,600 deaths. CDC projects cases increasing to 200,000 per day with deaths rising to 3,000 per day by June because of states, localities and people not following guidelines and reopening their economies too soon.
05/03/20 -- 1,184,000 confirmed cases; 68,300 deaths. Every 44 seconds, another American dies from COVID-19. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/02/20 -- 1,158,000 confirmed cases; 67,000 deaths.
05/01/20 -- 1,129,000 confirmed cases; 65,500 deaths.
04/30/20 -- 1,094,000 confirmed cases; 63,600 deaths. The U.S. accounts for over a third of the world's cases, and over a quarter of COVID-19 deaths--despite possessing only 5% of the world's population. Yet--even now--we still lack the adequate testing capabilities that are critically needed to safely reopen the economy, and remain sorely lacking the necessary rational national leadership so vital to saving American lives and livelihoods.
04/29/20 -- 1,064,000 confirmed cases; 61,500 deaths. The U.S. now has as many COVID-19 deaths in just NINE WEEKS as there was for all TWELVE YEARS of the Vietnam War.
04/28/20 -- 1,034,000 confirmed cases; 59,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/27/20 -- 1,009,000 confirmed cases; 56,500 deaths.
04/22/20 -- 853,000 confirmed cases; 47,800 deaths (+2,674*)
04/21/20 -- 825,000 confirmed cases; 45,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/20/20 -- 788,000 confirmed cases; 43,200 deaths.
04/16/20 -- 671,000 confirmed cases; 33,100 deaths. Less COVID-19 testing performed this week than last, despite desperate need to ramp up volume to reopen economy.
04/15/20 -- 640,000 confirmed cases; 30,800 deaths. The United States recorded its first coronavirus fatality on Feb. 29. It took 38 days to reach 10,000 deaths and just nine more days to go from 10,000 fatalities to 30,000. An increase in fatalities over the last 48 hours was expected, but was also due to new CDC policy, starting on 04/14, to include probable COVID-19 deaths...finally.
04/14/20 -- 609,000 confirmed cases; 26,600 deaths (+2,364 - *New worst daily death toll)
04/13/20 -- 583,000 confirmed cases; 24,200 deaths
04/12/20 -- 558,000 confirmed cases; 22,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S. With just 4.25% of the world's population, the U.S. has 30% of the COVID-19 infections and 20% of the COVID-19 deaths. So far, the U.S. has the very WORST response of ANY nation, something formerly inconceivable, and inexcusable that it could now be allowed to happen here. In the U.S., we have 1.5 million seniors in 15,000 nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Despite forming only 0.45% of the U.S. population, they make up almost 10% of deaths, primarily because our federal government is not doing enough to protect them. Reported that many hospitals are no longer accepting COVID-19 patients from nursing homes, preferring they die there, instead. Our seniors, who helped build, grow and make America great, are being sacrificed, solely to ignorance.
04/11/20 -- 530,000 confirmed cases; 20,500 deaths.
04/08/20 -- 432,000 confirmed cases; 15,900 deaths.
04/07/20 -- 400,000 confirmed cases; 13,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. Figures indicate a Covid-19 fatality rate for TESTED Americans at 3.25%.
04/06/20 -- 369,000 confirmed cases; 11,000 deaths.
04/02/20 -- 246,000 confirmed cases; 6,050 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/01/20 -- 217,000 confirmed cases; 5,150 deaths.
03/31/20 -- 190,000 confirmed cases; 4,200 deaths.
03/29/20 -- 143,000 confirmed cases; 2,450 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
(Update 5: Friday, 03/27/20, confirmed U.S. cases 105,000--which is 50% over NIH high-end estimate; deaths 1,700 by end of day. The perspective for cases is significantly skewed low and thus highly misleading, however, as just 0.17% of U.S. population has been tested to date.)
"As many as 70,000 Americans could be confirmed as infected with coronavirus by the end of next week, marking a “pretty dramatic” increase in the number of confirmed cases," the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, told his employees in an agency-wide conference call on 03/20/20.
Except 03/21/20 saw a 33% jump in U.S. cases, from 18,000 to over 24,000. If continuing at 33% every 24 hours, the number of confirmed cases is trending much higher than just 70,000 by 03/27/20. Suspect confirmed cases will be double that. Bear in mind, states hardest hit are not testing many people, saving the tests for those most in need. So the actual number of infected Americans is going to be far higher than just what limited testing of the population has so far confirmed. Don't think this fact is being given enough attention. More important than the number of cases confirmed is the number contracting the disease and not getting tested, spreading the disease, in many cases unknowingly. Hospital projections are for about 100 MILLION Americans to become infected, with about 500,000 dead from covid-19.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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Trump and Republicans perversions of truth, democracy, justice, law, and common decency are despicable, sickening, and infuriating. It's not just one thing, either. It's everything, all the time, that something shady is going on with these sleazebags--a non-stop corruption circus! But the Big Top act is way, way over the top, and we're going to have to bring a cease to this conundrum, contain their contemptible crazy carnival criminal cruise.
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The highly-coveted Top Prize for our contestants today is an all-funeral-expenses-paid romantic getaway for two aboard the magnificent Corona Queen, taking you for an exclusive extended cruise, to a secluded stay on the exotic, remote, tropical Isle of Covid-19, where the fun is SUPER-contagious, and you will luxuriously bask in fabulous face masks and rejuvenating oxygen respirators, with the wonderful scent of disinfectant surrounding you! Sure to be a lifetime experience for some lucky few! Just remember--the couple that dies together, stays together!
BONUS SPECIAL CASES: Providing accompanying entertainment is Chief Jester Roberts and the entire Trump comedy team, featuring the Clown Commander, for laughs and coughs! There just ain't no cure, for them ocean cruise blues! Bon voyage!
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
― Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a serious threat to our very security.
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again." ― Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney
More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They have essentially become a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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@bobsullivan5714 ~ Your "experience" does not reflect that of mine or other truckers I know. Which doesn't mean that one never encounters difficulties with individual workers, whether at the docks, or at a non-union warehouse or factory, but that is not generally the case, and your accusation is overly broad and sweeping. Your baseless accusations against the ILWU offered no supporting evidence from any reputable source, and I find you to be less than credible.
Yes, it was certainly possible for you to acknowledge that this issue involves much more than one piece, in this format or any other. Moreover, my replies in this thread are about pointing out there is more to the problem than any one single piece, and you respond to me by blaming solely one facet. Surely, you're intelligent enough to see your incongruity in responding thus.
Your initial reply started off with vitriol, and continues with this last reply. Don't belong to a union, but truckers good; dock workers bad, or "Me good; you bad....Me virtuous; you evil" more accurately describes your own attitude displayed towards myself and union workers, so now you're just trying to project, in typical Republican fashion.
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Dr. "Babbling" Birx is laying bricks, lying and dissembling! Says she trusts churches and churchgoers to make it safe, not go to church if sick--knowing asymptomatic people don't know they're sick, and can't be detected! Then, there's the fact that many religious people gather at religious shrines and places of worship hoping to be "healed" when sick. Moreover, she knows "Pastor" Tony Spelling in Louisiana was packing his megachurch during the middle of a severe outbreak, busing them in from a 50-mile radius; she knows all about the devastating spread in South Korea from religious services, she knows about the super-spreader event at the church in Oregon defying state lockdown orders. Dr. Birx KNOWS the U.S. lacks the requisite testing capabilities to reopen safely. Dr. Birx KNOWS how Toxic Trump has ignorantly politicized a global pandemic, sent conflicting messages to the public. Dr. Birx KNOWS a good proportion of Americans are NOT following basic CDC guidelines; NOT wearing masks, NOT social distancing. And she knows without detailed specific CDC federal guidelines, we got chaos, sickness, and MORE senseless deaths. Birx needs to have her medical license revoked. She can be the next SmellyAnne Con-Her-Way, that's what she wants.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast would soon come to consume them.
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Alright, watched the video, prefer progressive over Biden, disagree slightly with some of the analysis, but this was not an endorsement of Biden or a disparagement of any other Dem candidate; it was simply an analysis of the Dem front runner status and strategy, and also an attempt to make a frank assessment of the nation's political outlook. Why all the negative comments, thumbs down, and attacks against CNN? As a frequent media critic, definitely not warranted for this video. This was a fairly objective piece, and it pains me to see Dems acting like Republicans to news they don't like. In this case, apparently just because the front-runner is getting publicity--and it isn't even flattering! We better than this, Dems! Better to save that criticism for when it is justified than using it unjustly trying to influence the refs! (Voted Bernie last time, like Warren better this time around, but would be quite pleased with either.)
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Sure, let's create a cult like Republicans, use media which only satisfy our confirmational bias! How stupid do you have to be? Use a variety of sources, examine different perspectives, use your own judgment, logic, and critical thought. Stay objective, keeping political posturing in proper perspective. Obviously, right-wing media outlets like Fox, Newsmax, Breitbart and others are nowhere near the level of our other MSM, and lumping all MSM media together demonstrates an ignorance of the problems and issues. While there's plenty of room for improvement in MSM news, it remains a valuable, worthwhile resource helping to keep Americans informed. While a big supporter of Democracy Now, it is not always the most reliable, pushing far-left notions not always backed up by the facts. This, from someone very progressive, if also pragmatic and realistic. Moreover, while commendable that they explore issues in depth, they do not offer the breadth of coverage in real time as CNN and other MSM does, which is a necessary part of keeping informed. Nonetheless, pleased to have both CNN and Democracy Now available to me. And, while not approving of most right-wing media nowadays, appreciate that it does at least provide a window into Republican perspectives, irrational as they may be.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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Millions of Americans are starving, millions about to go homeless, tens of thousands of small businesses are going under, states are going under, millions of jobs lost, still lacking PPE and testing capability for COVID-19, millions of dollars need to be disbursed for vaccine distribution and vaccinations. And Congressional Republican could care less; would rather play politics, adjourn the Senate a day early and go home instead of providing desperately needed relief to the American people. So disgusted, sick, and fed-up with the Republican cult. They need to be held accountable for all this suffering and misery. Tell you one thing--not going to willingly patronize ANY Republican business anymore. If enough of us boycott them, maybe thinking about their wallets will prod them into thinking more about their fellow Americans.
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#defundCBPandICE Appears Toxic Trump is turning CBP into Nazi SS Stormtroopers. Here's the thing, though: CBP personnel aren't military, can quit anytime. Short of that, they can refuse the assignments, citing conscientious objection, in a bid to save their job. If the Traitor-'n'-Thief President Nero was using me to terrorize and brutalize my fellow citizens, would first refuse the assignment. If they threatened to terminate employment, would quit. Would also be organizing my fellow CBP coworkers to join together in protesting and taking action against such unethical and immoral (and possibly even illegal) assignment. All of these CBP and other Federal law enforcement allowing themselves to be used against the civilian population by Toxic Trump are willing participants in his bid to foment destruction, discord and divisiveness -- if not outright civil war -- among Americans. No doubt, many of these are volunteers for the dirty work--the very worst of the worst CBP has to offer, which is really quite horrifying. #defundCBPandICE
Looks like taxpayers will have to fork over billions to retrain and replace the entire Federal workforce after Toxic Trump. It's true what they say -- One bad apple spoils the whole bunch!
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Significant developments 03/18/20:
U.S. markets nose-dived Wednesday, with the Dow plunging 1,300 points as White House plans to bail out embattled industries and cut checks to Americans failed to quell investor fears about the devastating economic impact of the coronavirus.
All 50 states and the District of Columbia have confirmed cases. More than 150 people infected with the virus have died in the United States, a toll that experts expect to rise quickly. Two U.S. congressmen among the over 9,400 infected now nationwide. NY state has nearly 3,000--with nearly 2,000 of those in NY city.
New study estimates 5-10 undetected people infected with covid-19 for every confirmed case.
Dozens of mall closings throughout the U.S.
The White House is postponing a scheduled April visit by Spain’s king and queen.
Coronavirus Infections Pass 200,000 Globally (over 220,000 by day's end)
Lucy Craymer -- The Wall Street Journal -- 03/18/20
The number of confirmed coronavirus infections topped 200,000, more than doubling in two weeks, despite an escalation in global travel restrictions and the imposition of home quarantines in many parts of the world.
There were 201,530 confirmed cases of the disease known as Covid-19 early Wednesday, with infections outside of mainland China—where the epidemic began—now above 120,000, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Deaths globally have also more than doubled over the past two weeks to more than 8,000. In Europe, the death toll reached 3,415, overtaking China for the first time and cementing the continent’s position as the new epicenter of the pandemic.
The U.S. has 6,496 confirmed cases, including 114 deaths. U.S. stock futures and international stock indexes tumbled again Wednesday.
In Italy, the second worst-hit country after China, infections topped 31,500 and deaths reached 2,503. Scientists expect the number of fatalities in Italy to overtake those in China within days.
The rapid increase in world-wide cases reflects, in part, how people in many countries were unwittingly transmitting the respiratory virus before governments grasped the scale of the problem. In recent days, they have taken aggressive actions to close schools, cancel events and large gatherings, and in some cases, impose countrywide lockdowns and ban tourist arrivals.
In further evidence for the unprecedented nature of the economic shock facing the world, Deutsche Bank AG said gross domestic product could shrink 24% in the eurozone and 13% in the U.S. in the second quarter on an annual, seasonally adjusted basis—declines that would be the biggest in recorded history.
French authorities mobilized the army on Wednesday to transfer patients from one hospital to another. France has enough beds to deal with the 2,500 infected patients currently hospitalized. But in some regions, local hospitals have been overwhelmed by the sudden increase in the number of cases, with infections now totaling 7,730.
In Germany, with just under 10,000 cases, the national agency for disease control warned that failure to follow social-distancing rules could result in 10 million people becoming infected in two to three months.
In Portugal, António Vieira Monteiro, the 73-year-old chairman of Banco Santander SA’s operations in the country, died from Covid-19, a person familiar with the situation said.
The spread of the virus should slow in the coming weeks as the measures imposed by authorities take effect, said Meru Sheel, an infectious-diseases epidemiologist and research fellow at Australian National University in Canberra. “Individual behavior is going to be crucial to this.”
With hundreds of millions of people practicing social distancing and undergoing quarantines for 14-day periods, health authorities world-wide are hoping that infection rates will drop like they have in China and South Korea.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/coronavirus-infections-pass-200-000-globally/ar-BB11lUw7
Nobody Knows How Hard COVID-19 Will Hit the Economy—Or Even Their Own Company
Josh Barro -- Intelligencer -- 03/17/20
Ordinarily, four times a year, the Federal Reserve releases a document called the Summary of Economic Projections, or the SEP. This document lays out Fed policymakers’ expectations about growth, inflation, unemployment, and short-term interest rates. These projections help market participants anticipate what actions the Fed might take in the future and why — for example, if Fed policymakers are worried about rising inflation, you might expect them to be more eager to raise interest rates.
So at Fed chairman Jerome Powell’s press conference this Sunday announcing emergency moves including a one-percentage point interest rate cut, New York Times reporter Jenna Smialek had a question: Where’s the SEP? It was supposed to come out this week, at the regularly-scheduled meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee. But that meeting has been canceled in favor of Sunday’s emergency meeting.
Powell’s response was that there is no SEP this quarter because, essentially, there is no point in making economic forecasts right now.
“The economic outlook is evolving on a daily basis,” he said. “And it really is depending heavily on the spread of the virus, and the measures taken to affect it, and how long that goes on. And that’s just not something that’s knowable. So, actually writing down a forecast in that circumstance didn’t seem to be useful. And in fact, it could have been more of an obstacle to clear communication than a help.”
Powell did say he expects to release a SEP in June, but he and his colleagues at the Fed are not the only ones begging off economic forecasting for now. Increasingly, companies are unwilling to forecast even their own financial performance, let alone the performance of the broader economy.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/nobody-knows-how-hard-covid-19-will-hit-the-economy—or-even-their-own-company/ar-BB11jfjd
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@Maliceless100 ~ The title is misleading, as this fluff piece was a very superficial and wide-angle overview of the whole affair. The complete story involves our society and what led to Britney's conservatorship, and our society and what led to the movement resulting in a public outcry against the potential abuses of conservatorships. Had this been intended to be a deep-dive look confined solely to the issue of conservatorships, then it would have included legal and psychiatric experts.
In sum, this segment was light coverage of a topical celebrity news subject done from a cultural perspective. As such, briefly touching upon possible racial implications or aspects was not incongruous or unwarranted. Personally, I appreciated and welcomed the astute observations, found them to be relevant and insightful. While I regretted that this piece wasn't a more substantial and comprehensive discussion of conservatorship law, what I find misguided and out of place is your objection, which reflects poorly upon you. Because even if you didn't agree with those observations or think them particularly pertinent, we should be appreciative and open to hearing minority voices speaking their thoughts on race relations.
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@Maliceless100 ~ Britney exploited society's obsession with celebrity to elevate and benefit herself, but that same obsession diminished and damaged her. Regardless, Britney admittedly suffers from bipolar disorder and takes lithium to help stabilize her erratic mood swings. Kanye is another pop star who also suffers from bipolar disorder, which is why the racial contrast was introduced and questioned. And, yes, whether it's Gabby or Britney, our society does place more emphasis upon and pay more attention to attractive white women, which is manifested in a number of different ways.
It does not matter how much you want to deny it and insist upon viewing this through a very narrow prism, this is quite obviously a cultural news segment that took a very wide-ranging approach and light treatment to this topic. I noticed after replying before a number of comments complaining that this was a fluff piece more akin to entertainment news than CNN. There is some validity to that complaint.
Like you, I was disappointed that the focus wasn't narrower and lacked the expertise of ethicists, psychiatric professionals, and legal scholars on conservatorships. Nonetheless, it wasn't a bad overview, and the additional different perspectives were appreciated. I get that you wanted to look at the object from just one side, but the segment is presented to a wider audience than just you, and others like to consider the object from all sides. What your comment displays is a certain lack of tolerance, which is hoped not grounded in racial intolerance.
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@Maliceless100 ~ According to Britney herself, yes, that is what she had always wanted from a young age. Yours is a somewhat disingenuous argument, anyway, because she continued on that path as an adult. It wasn't until after diminished and damaged as an adult by society's obsession with celebrities that her views changed.
Notably, you offer no rebuttal to the rest of my reply. Am heartened, though, that you don't deny the existence of systemic racism, and your assurance which lends me to believe that you are clearly not racist. Would agree that seeing racism where it does not exist can be counterproductive, but would make the critical distinction between that and the benefit of questioning where ingrained racism MAY exist, which is exactly what was done in this video. At any rate, we may see things a bit differently and agree to disagree, but I nevertheless respect, value and appreciate your perspective and civility; it's been a pleasure!
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@marielamela4243 ~ You're apologizing, but then blaming me for your own mistake, which seems a bit incongruous! That's OK, though, just an unfortunate misunderstanding.
No one had ever accused me before of being pedantic or pretentious, and I think that was only because you don't know me. I remember standing outside waiting for the bus to take me to school in the second grade, reading Plato, and getting teased by the older kids there who didn't yet know me very well yet (my family had just moved in not too long before). They voiced a similar sentiment; that I didn't understand it and was just trying to look smart. But that wasn't true at all, because I actually did have a pretty good understanding and an appreciation for the wisdom contained. I very much enjoyed reading Plato. I suppose, looking back, that I was somewhat of a precocious child, but I certainly didn't think of myself that way then, and I don't really consider myself extraordinary now, decades later (don't let the moniker fool you, because Bugs wasn't always so smart, and that's not why it was chosen back when the Internet began). Admittedly, I do tend to be more erudite and eloquent in my written speech, because that is something which I value, and because one is able to put more time and thought into it.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It’s that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes have to KNOW at some level he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don’t care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn’t want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it’s more than hope—those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another two months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn’t really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
“The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.”
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump’s hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic hyper-partisan Republican cult placing political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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Republicans can't handle reality, would rather traffic and believe in lies. The GOP is a fascist, nihilistic cult that would destroy democracy and America if given sufficient opportunity. And THAT, folks, is your reality check.
What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil. They are either actively or silently complicit in fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorist violence, Reich-wing insurrection, and Reich-wing undermining of our democracy and Constitution.
It's crystal clear that Trump, Boebert, Greene, Gosar and other Republicans like them are fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorism. The GOP has become radicalized to such an extent that it has essentially become a fascist terrorist organization, with members that fantasize and promote violence against their fellow Americans. While those Republican elected officials must be condemned and sanctioned, they are only a symptom of the disease poisoning a third of America, the most visible part of the cancer infecting our nation.
The GOP has been mainstreaming radicalization of their voter base for decades, ALLOWING Reich-wing media and Reich-wing demagogues to take over the party, to the point it has become a fascist, nihilistic cult. Because just as now, Republican politicians and their plutocratic masters have always seen it as the ends justifying whatever means to win power. Remember the Republican Tea Party? This catastrophe with the GOP didn't start with Trump, who just exploited what Republicans had already built.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle for graft and to grift their voters and us taxpayers. You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It’s that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don’t care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn’t want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it’s more than hope—those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another three months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn’t really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
“The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.”
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump’s hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of corruption, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their deal with the Devil.
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@notabene7381 ~ Why do you want to pimp the false Russian narrative for a brutal, ruthless, repressive despot like Putin? Your moniker does not fit you, Doc, because your observations are very poor. This is much more about Putin pushing Russian nationalism, a return to the "glory" days of the former USSR, to maintain popular support among the Russian people for his corrupt authoritarian oligarchy regime, and also economic and political hegemony over Ukraine. What it amounts to is raw, naked Russian military aggression and an extortion racket against Ukraine.
If Ukraine entered into NATO it would have been years and years away, and only if approved by all 30 NATO members. However, Putin's military aggression is only hastening that, making it inevitable. Ukraine is a sovereign nation, whose people have the right to make their own choices.
Your analogy is critically flawed, but it does point out the problem with bad actors on the world stage like Russia. If Mexico felt the need to deploy missile launchers to protect itself against military aggression from the U.S., then the problem would be with the U.S. foreign policy towards Mexico.
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@stephendaedalus4003 ~ Yes, Russia did attack Ukraine. Yes, they did illegally annex Crimea, which has been heavily condemned and a Russian land grab of Ukranian territory not recognized by the U.N. or the world. Yes, they do have troops inside Ukraine, both in Crimea and repeatedly identified within the conflict region inside of Ukraine's Easter border. Yes, a Russian-operated missile launcher shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 while in Ukrainian territory, killing 298 innocent people.
So, you support brutal repressive despots and terrorists, Doc, like to push Putin's false Russian propaganda narrative because you hate America so much. I get that. Which only demonstrates your own lack of objectivity.
Try as hard as you want to make it otherwise with your Whataboutism, this isn't about America, and it's not about me. This is about the people of Ukraine. Ukraine is an independent sovereign nation, and the people of Ukraine get to decide their government, whom to trade with, whom to align themselves with. Just like the nation you live in, hopefully. And try as hard as you want to switch it around, it doesn't change the fact that this is about Russian hegemony over Ukraine and a Russian military aggression extortion racket to achieve that end.
You are being disingenuous on multiple levels. You don't admit you were wrong about Russia securing its border. You don't respond to the points and arguments. Apparently, out of your hatred for America, you're just acting as a propaganda puppet pawn for Putin. If your hatred was not blinding you, you might be able to see that Putin's military aggression is not good for the people of Russian, not good for the people of Ukraine, not good for any of us.
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@Herr.Mitternacht ~ So, no rational response, all you got is Putin's propaganda and Whataboutism, Doc! Try as hard as you want to make it otherwise with your Whataboutism, this isn't about America, and it's not about me. This is about the people of Ukraine. Ukraine is an independent sovereign nation, and the people of Ukraine get to decide their government, whom to trade with, whom to align themselves with. Just like the nation you live in, hopefully. And try as hard as you want to switch it around, it doesn't change the very obvious fact that this is about Russian hegemony over Ukraine and a Russian military aggression extortion racket to achieve that end.
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What we are witnessing and feeling is an ongoing train wreck, from the vantage point of the passengers. The lunatic conductor of the LOCO-motive, Toxic Trump, knew the end-of-the-line was coming, yet kept increasing acceleration, anyway. He's still trying to pump the gas, even with the train off the track! Wants to go faster, faster, faster with the fascism! We on the HELL bound train, now, Lucifer's demented and depraved minion absolutely determined, dedicated, DEVOTED to getting us all there on time!
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, along with Reich-wing demagogues and media, who were complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance, and in spreading disinformation and misinformation. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump left office, one out of every 800 Americans had died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 410,000 fatalities, as many American casualties as all of WWII. To put it into further perspective, throughout Trump's catastrophic mishandling of a deadly global pandemic, the U.S. led the world in cases and deaths, suffering nearly 25% of each, despite having only 4.25% of global population, despite having the advantage of being the richest and most advanced nation in the world.
The memorial would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure. Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or "the Wall") is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle's name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called "leaders" in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 -- than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to--and a barrier against--our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It's design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge--and help teach--people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see...if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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Extremely Stable Genius (TM) looking now to extort China to fabricate dirt on his political opponent, blissfully heedless how he's strung himself up by the balls for them, while they hold the prospects for his reelection and any trade deal--along with American's economy and security--in the palm of their gleeful, grateful hands, resting on the tightening winch he's using to elevate himself. He'll need to raise himself through the roof to pull off another election miracle, but the aperture appears a just a tad too narrow, sure to subject his scaly, sagging scrotum to tremendous, excruciating pressure. Look out below, then, because Toxic Traitor Trump's tiny tote won't tolerate the treatment, and it WILL be ugly, witnessing a novel form of castration!
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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--Instead of striving to bring out the best in people, Toxic Trump reveled in bringing out the very worst.
--Instead of uniting the country, Toxic Trump sought to divide us.
--Instead of abiding by and honoring our Constitution and the rule of law, Toxic Trump held them in disdain, disregarded them, and degraded them, running the most corrupt administration in U.S. history.
--Instead of strengthening democracy and our cherished institutions, Toxic Trump worked to diminish and destroy them, inciting a terrorist insurrection against his own government, attempting a coup to steal an election.
--Instead of insuring a peaceful transfer power after losing the election, Toxic Trump kept insisting against all evidence that he won, continuously repeating the Big Lie that resulted in the terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol.
--Instead of confronting a serious threat to Americans with a deadly global pandemic, Toxic Trump lied to the American people about it, ignored it, and refused to take any responsibility for his gross homicidal criminal negligence that resulted in one out of every 800 Americans dying from COVID-19--over 400,000 American lives in just ten months, as many casualties as all of WWII.
--Instead of confronting the ever-increasing existential crisis from climate change and its harmful effects, Toxic Trump gutted regulations and withdrew from the voluntary Paris climate accords, exacerbating the problem and poisoning citizens.
--Instead of creating jobs, Toxic Trump was the first President since the Great Depression to preside over a net loss of jobs over his tenure.
--Instead of lowering the national deficit, Toxic Trump increased it from 19.2 trillion to 27 trillion----the highest rate of increase of ANY President, ever.
--Instead of helping out the least among us, Toxic Trump widened the wealth and income disparity gap. 50% of his $1.9 trillion tax cut went to the top 5%; 65% went to the top 20%, with the top 40% benefiting next most, and the bottom 20% only receiving 1%. Moreover, his huge tax cut for big corporations and the wealthy left a legacy adding $1,000,000,000,000 a year to the federal deficit while lowering federal revenue.
--Instead of building bridges, humane immigration reform, and infrastructure, Toxic Trump built walls, cages, and concentration camps, separated children from mothers, allowed American infrastructure to decline and deteriorate, rejected economic opportunity.
--Instead of raising our standing and security in the world, Toxic Trump lowered and weakened it.
--Instead of draining the swamp, Toxic Trump turned it into a noxious overflowing sewer of Republican corruption.
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Question: Which are worse, Russian bots/apparatchiks attacking America to divide and weaken us, or their tools, the Republican cult dupes helping them?
Answer: The American fools, of course. While hostile foreign powers are an ever-present reality, the treasonous behaviors of the GOP against its own nation's democracy, well-being, and national security, and even its members own welfare, is the far greater evil. If it persists, this mighty nation will certainly perish in ignominy.
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If that's true, then it's also true that it was God's will that 160 people be massacred. Which also begs the question, who did God use as his instrument to kill all those people for God's "honor" and "glory?" If that's your idea of God, then no thanks to a capricious, malicious, cruel and heartless monster!
The common sense explanation is that his girlfriend didn't get to spend much time with him, there was an opportunity for them to spend some quality time together, and she didn't feel like being alone. It happens all the time, and buildings don't collapse. And the truth of the matter appears to be that this was a senseless, avoidable tragedy that didn't have to happen, caused by human negligence and greed, not God. Moreover, that human negligence and greed didn't just cause the guilty to be punished, it caused innocents to receive the same punishment, as well.
You also present a paradox, a contradiction. Does God give humans free will, as Christians supposedly believe? Or, are everyone's lives predetermined, with God pulling all the strings? Which is it? Because it can't be both things. Also, the problem with such thinking is that if it's all attributable to God, why bother holding people accountable for their malfeasance? What would be the point, if it's not really their fault? Are we to punish people for just doing what God planned for them to do? Who are we to question God's will, right? So, if we hold those responsible for harmful acts against others, we would actually be going against God. A God that makes us helpless, mere puppets on a string, is not a God I could accept, either.
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Setting aside the sleazy immoral Reich-wing grifters at the top -- people like Trump, Congressional Republicans, Reich-wing demagogues and media -- the rank-and-file of the GOP has become a fascist cult. To be clear, Trump did not create the cult, it existed before him. He merely served as a unifying figure they chose to rally around and worship as their fool's gold god. Trump appealed to their basest nature and told them what they wanted to hear. Now, those Reich-wing grifters may have cultivated their cult to exploit for their own greed, power and vanity, but at least to some extent the Republican cult in turn seeks to exploit the GOP for their own various misguided purposes. They CHOOSE to be willfully ignorant, to believe or espouse the lies, because as a political calculus they shortsightedly see it as expedient to their ends.
What must also be taken into consideration are the characteristics of a cult. Why do people join a cult? Why do they choose to remain in a cult? No need to go into detail; the answers are largely common knowledge or easily researched. But it should be pointed out that in a complex world, the simplistic and rigid beliefs embraced by cults can be very alluring, no matter how fantastical and removed from reality. It should also be acknowledged that the Republican cult is not a monolithic entity, but an amalgamation of sects, including White supremacists, Christian nationalists, libertarians, sovereign nationals, anarchists, tax resistors, Qanon and other extremist fringe groups. Of course, not every Republican is an extremist, a fascist, or untethered from reality. But this latter more benign group is nevertheless part of the fascist Republican cult, complicit in their support of the whole, whether through their silent acquiescence and votes or willing assistance.
It's a very dangerous feedback loop, a vicious circle, one that as it sinks further into depravity its threat correspondingly rises, for as the Republican cult has over time been becoming increasingly more radicalized, we witness the election of more radical politicians to represent them, more radicalized Reich-wing media and demagogues to feed them propaganda. While some Republicans are leaving the GOP and some others are speaking out and trying to save their party, they constitute a weak minority, unfortunately.
In a normal, sane world, the Republican cult would have ended or been marginalized after the Mueller Report, after Trump's Ukraine shakedown and impeachment, after Trump's horrendous handling of a deadly global pandemic, after his election defeat, or after January 6th and his second impeachment. But that hasn't happened. Instead, the Republican cult continues to become increasingly more radicalized and extreme. As President Biden says, "We are in a battle for the soul of this nation." And the fight is far from over.
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Asked by reporters about the protestors gathering against pandemic lockdowns, the vast majority not wearing face masks or observing social distancing, Toxic Trump--who tweeted his supporters to "Liberate" three states with Democratic governors critical to his reelection, against his own administrations pandemic edicts and guidance, and in foment of partisan rebellion against state's governors during a Federal National Emergency declared against this pandemic--said, "They seem to be very responsible people to me!"
Trumpette insanity that should have us ALL livid with outrage! Not only are these Republican cult fools putting themselves, their loved ones, and everyone else in danger, they are putting an increased burden upon our already over-stressed health care workers and system, FURTHER endangering them and those they would serve. They put all our other essential front-line workers at increased risk, as well--those we need for our groceries and supplies (including migrant workers), to keep the government, electric, gas and other critical infrastructure functioning. What's really, really stupid about their aberrant, irrational partisan cult behavior, is that they are only PROLONGING restrictive measures to contain COVID-19, EXTENDING the time until our economy can reopen fully, REDUCING the amount our economy can be opened--all of which DAMAGES Trump's reelection chances! But that isn't the worst of it. These Trumpettes ignorantly protesting are KILLING actual Americans, just as surely as they put a gun to their heads and pulled the trigger. Toxic Trump shares responsibility, but it is these GOP idiots who own primary responsibility for manslaughter. They should be charged, tried, and convicted, in our view. At the very, very least, they should all be arrested for public endangerment. Ludicrous and lethal ignorance!
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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TRUM_PLANNED_EMIC!
Given plenty of advance warnings about COVID-19, Toxic Trump chose not to heed the sound advice provided. We could have been Taiwan, with a comparative 100 deaths in the U.S.; or South Korea, with a comparative 1500 deaths here, after adjusted for population size. Taiwan had just seven deaths; South Korea less than 300. We got over 150,000 deaths already, with the count still rapidly rising, while we remain, still, firmly mired in the first wave of the disease. Even worse, after six months, we STILL lack the adequate testing and rational national response to contain the disease.
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randsterama ~ U.S. sent millions of face masks to China early this year, ignoring pandemic warning signs
Juliet Eilperin, Jeff Stein, Desmond Butler, and Tom Hamburger -- Washington Post -- 04/19/20
U.S. manufacturers shipped millions of dollars’ worth of face masks and other protective medical equipment to China in January and February with encouragement from the federal government, a Washington Post review of economic data and internal government documents has found. The move underscores the Trump administration’s failure to recognize and prepare for the growing pandemic threat.
In those two months, the value of protective masks and related items exported from the United States to China grew more than 1,000 percent compared with the same time last year — from $1.4 million to about $17.6 million, according to a Post analysis of customs categories which, according to research by Public Citizen, contain key PPE. Similarly, shipments of ventilators and protective garments jumped by triple digits.
“Instead of taking steps to prepare, they ignored the advice of one expert after another,” said Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Tex.). “People right now, as we speak, are dying because there have been inadequate supplies of PPE.”
On Feb. 26 — when total deaths had reached 2,770, nearly all in China — the Commerce Department published a flier titled “CS China COVID Procurement Service,” guiding American firms on how to sell “critical medical products” to China and Hong Kong through Beijing’s fast-tracked sales process. Doggett obtained the flier — from the division of the International Trade Association’s Commercial Services Office in China — and other Commerce communications.
America now faces acute and deadly shortages of proper medical equipment. A recent survey found nearly 90 percent of American mayors say they do not have enough test kits or face masks, while 85 percent say they do not have enough ventilators. The Office of the Inspector General at HHS found “severe shortages” of testing kits and personal protective equipment. Numerous hospitals and states have reported that nurses and doctors are forced to resort to makeshift gear that increases the odds of exposure.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/us-sent-millions-of-face-masks-to-china-early-this-year-ignoring-pandemic-warning-signs/ar-BB12QkxE
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Welcome to war. This is what war is. It's terrible, it's tragic, it's ugly, it stinks, it's unfair, it's sad, it's wasteful, it's hell, innocents die, and things always go wrong. You think we'd have learned that by now, but no, it's a lesson that has to be repeatedly learned, evidently. The consensus is that nobody foresaw the Afghan government and its armed forces completely capitulating so quickly as they did. Some say there should have been a contingency plan for this, but even though hindsight is 20/20, have yet to hear any rational plan that could have dealt with this situation. Shit happens, and Biden got handed a turd with Afghanistan. Instead of allowing the crap to continue, Biden made the hard, responsible decision to pull the U.S. out of another country's civil war. Fallout was inevitable, and Republicans trying to capitalize on that politically or media trying to profit from it is truly degenerate.
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SE CUPP -- Just a few things.
1) It may not have captured every single aspect of the inappropriateness of Trump's July 4th cheesy spectacle, your analysis nonetheless provided a very thorough and compelling deconstruction outlining the wrongness of the misappropriation. Nice!
2) Excellent job focusing on Amash principles and GOP lacking thereof. More please! Necessary for impeachment!!
3) You couldn't be more wrong! "'Tis not, 'my country, right or wrong;' 'tis, 'my country, what is right to be kept right, what is wrong to be set right!'" -- Carl Schurz
Long before there was Amash, there was principled progressive visionary Republican Carl Schurz. German revolutionary, journalist, American statesman, abolitionist and superb orator who campaigned tirelessly in support for Lincoln, U.S. diplomat, beloved Union Army General, U.S. Senator for Missouri, helped shape a Reconstruction policy that enfranchised the freed slaves, championed civil service reform, a founder of the Republican Party in Wisconsin, founded the Liberal Republican movement, was a leader of the "Mugwump" exodus from the Republican party, denounced American imperialism in the Spanish-American War, and passionate advocate for the conservationist movement in America which he helped to create. His wife started the first kindergarten in the U.S.
At the age of 19 he was a leader of the student movement that became the spearhead of democratic revolutionary ferment in many parts of Germany. In 1849 Schurz was commissioned a lieutenant in the revolutionary army, which was finally defeated by the Prussians. Knowing he would be shot if captured, he fled the country. He later returned under a false passport to rescue a professor from Spandau prison and spirit him out of Germany in the most daring exploit of the entire revolution. Schurz came to the U.S. in 1852.
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GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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@Turbo_TechnoLogic ~ Just more ignorant BS from you, Doc! You're trafficking in lies, crackpot conspiracy theories, and Covid-19 disinformation. Fact is, seatbelts do have side effects. As pointed out, there are rare cases where NOT wearing a seat belt can save a life or prevent more serious injury. The analogy is spot-on because, just as with seat belts, serious side effects are extremely rare with vaccines, and anyone with an ounce of common sense can easily judge the risk assessment competently, knowing enough to wear a seat belt and to get vaccinated.
Freedoms can exist only up to the point they infringe upon the freedom of others. Religious tolerance can be practiced only up to the point it becomes intolerant of others. Our Constitution is a secular document, not a religious one, and it was certainly never intended to be a suicidal death pact. Getting vaccinated and following CDC guidelines brings freedom from preventable illness or injury, and a senseless premature death, but the mindless fascist Republican cult only believes in free DUMB. Just as they don't understand or would deny the Constitution is as much about the common good as personal liberties, and that those two things are intrinsically and inextricably intertwined.
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge." ~ Ben Franklin, from Poor Richard's Almanack
Those who scorn public health guidelines during a deadly global pandemic and confuse a grievous public health issue with "essential" liberty to kill and harm themselves and their fellow citizens--as well as their nation--sorely lack both care and knowledge. They are also sorely lacking in common sense, something else about which Mr. Franklin was quite keen. Mr. Franklin was also one our nation's first scientists--yet these modern-day knuckleheads who ought know better refute science! Were he alive today, he would be rather dismayed, disgruntled, and disgusted with the fascist anti-science Republican cult, that much is crystal clear.
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@an.american ~ Very convenient crackpot conspiracy theory you got there, Doc, but you're just spewing nonsense that only proves you don't know what the hell you're talking about! Doctors, public health experts, biologists and epidemiologists all come to the same independent conclusions as Fauci because of the science and the data.
Besides, Fauci may have a well-earned reputation as a knowledgeable and trustworthy source that makes him an influential voice, but he has very little actual power, and the scientific process involves independent research and peer review. Case in point is Trump, who DID wield great power, but who was not a knowledgeable or trustworthy source, and whose unscientific claims were widely rejected and condemned as dangerous disinformation by the scientific and medical communities.
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Getting vaccinated and following CDC guidelines brings freedom from preventable illness or injury, and a senseless premature death, but the mindless fascist Republican cult only believes in freeDUMB. Just as they don't understand or would deny the Constitution is as much about the common good as personal liberties, and that those two things are intrinsically and inextricably intertwined.
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge." ~ Ben Franklin, from Poor Richard's Almanack
Those who scorn public health guidelines during a deadly global pandemic and confuse a grievous public health issue with "essential" liberty to kill and harm themselves and their fellow citizens--as well as their nation--sorely lack both care and knowledge. They are also sorely lacking in common sense, something else about which Mr. Franklin was quite keen. Mr. Franklin was also one our nation's first scientists--yet these modern-day knuckleheads who ought know better refute science! Were he alive today, he would be rather dismayed, disgruntled, and disgusted with the fascist anti-science Republican cult, that much is crystal clear.
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You don't get denialism without nihilism. As life-long conservative Bill Kristol astutely pointed out, the Republican party has embraced nihilism. Republicans denying systemic racism; Republicans denying climate change; Republicans still labeling COVID-19 a "hoax;" Republicans refusing to wear masks or social distance after over half-a-million American fatalities from COVID-19; Congressional Republicans obstructing a COVID-19 stimulus bill certain to pass just to delay vital and urgently needed relief to Americans desperate for help; not one Congressional Republican in either chamber voting for the badly needed stimulus bill; Republican governors dropping mask mandates and all restrictions on businesses, heedless of rising case counts in their states and deadly new variants of the virus; and Republican leaders continuing to push the Big Lie that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen without evidence and in disregard of plentiful evidence and facts to the contrary, even AFTER their Big Lie incited a terrorist attack by a mindless Republican mob against the nation's Capitol in insurrection against the government, attempting to overturn a legitimate election, sieging, storming, sizing, sacking, defiling, defacing and disgracing America's citadel of, and temple to, democracy; and now Republicans attempting history revisionism, trying to sweep the January 6 insurrection under the rug, refusing to support a January 6 bipartisan commission----these are all prime examples of nihilism.
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Why America is so vulnerable to coronavirus
Ryan Cooper
All over the world, governments are scrambling to defend their citizenry from COVID-19, the disease caused by the outbreak of novel coronavirus. So far it seems levels of success have varied; countries like Italy and Iran have struggled so far, while Vietnam and Taiwan have seemingly put forth an efficient and effective response.
The United States, where a major outbreak is clearly developing, however, is in a class by itself. America's atrociously inadequate welfare state makes it by far the most vulnerable rich country to a viral pandemic, and the vicious, right-wing ideology of the Republican Party has wrecked the government's ability to manage crises of any kind.
The national health care system is of course the most important tool for any country trying to fight off an epidemic — all citizens need to be able to get tested, receive treatment, or be quarantined if necessary. If and when a vaccine is developed, the system needs to distribute it to everyone as fast as possible. That means handing it out for free in locations across the country, and perhaps making
The American health care system fails at every one of these tasks. Nearly 30 million Americans are uninsured, and a further 44 million are underinsured — meaning they will likely hesitate to go to the doctor if they start developing COVID-19 symptoms. This problem is seriously exacerbated by the rampant predatory profiteering that infects every corner of the health care system. Indeed, responsible citizens who have gone in for tests have already started getting slammed with multi-thousand dollar bills. A father and daughter who were evacuated from China and then forcibly quarantined for several days (luckily they were not infected) went home to find $3,918 in bills.
If you are working-class person with a $10,000 deductible (not at all uncommon), going to the doctor simply because you have flu-like symptoms (which is how most cases of COVID-19 are experienced) could very easily send you into bankruptcy. If infected, millions of Americans are likely going to take their chances — and keep spreading the virus.
Indeed, U.S. health care is not only by far the worst system among rich countries, it is much worse than that of many middle-income or poorer countries when it comes to confronting a fast-moving epidemic. Distributing a vaccine is not that difficult of a task — World Health Organization workers managed it with smallpox even in desperately poor African countries in the 1970s. You just round up everyone, and give out the shot. But that will be a heavy lift indeed with a health care system geared above all to price-gouge sick people out of as much money as possible. While in theory the government could stand up a one-time free (or cheap) vaccination program, the administration has already ruled that out. "We can’t control that price because we need the private sector to invest," said HHS Secretary Alex Azar. That very likely means an eyewateringly-expensive vaccine that tens of millions can't get — we've seen what rapacious pharma companies do with insulin. (Speaking of vaccines, as Ryan Grim points out at The Intercept, Joe Biden voted against a Bernie Sanders amendment to force drug companies to provide drugs funded by public research at a reasonable price.)
It's worth pointing out again that if we had Medicare-for-all, these concerns would vanish at a stroke. People experiencing symptoms would feel free to seek medical care without worrying about breaking the bank, and a vaccine could be distributed by the government through hospitals and clinics at no cost to patients.
But there are still further problems. The United States is one of only a handful of countries (almost all of them desperately poor) with no national sick leave program, which means many workers who come down with COVID-19 will be forced to choose between starving or spreading the disease. Food service workers are especially unlikely to have sick leave from their employers, and are generally not paid well either. So-called "gig economy" companies naturally provide no sick leave either. In China, food delivery services have been critical for feeding cities under lockdown, but in America they are likely to become just another vector of infection.
Finally, there is conservative ideology. As I have written, the Trump administration — under the influence of conservative fanatics like Mick "The Knife" Mulvaney — has deliberately devastated the government's pandemic response capacity. He's cut key personnel, slashed funding, and made sure thousands more Americans have been thrown off their insurance. And while Trump is certainly the most incompetent president in American history, his style of government is not at all out of keeping with typical Republican rule. As Thomas Frank writes in his book The Wrecking Crew, for decades GOP rule has meant rampant corruption and disastrous incompetence. When a Republican is in the White House, unqualified cronies end up in charge of federal emergency management, and American cities and towns end up ruined. Even today, the Trump regime is doing its level best to kick as many people off their health insurance as possible — the Supreme Court just announced it would hear the latest Republican attempt to destroy the Affordable Care Act through judicial rule-by-decree.
The conservative movement has served like a bath of hydrofluoric acid on the quality, competence, and basic decency of American institutions. Republicans have all but posted up signs everywhere saying "epidemics welcome here." So now they are resorting to the only thing they know how to do really well — lying, concocting conspiracy theories and blaming Democrats and the media for any bad news. It does not bode well.
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Biggest Loser shreds Iran nuclear deal for no good reason, other than blind malice and pure ignorance. Feeling neglected by the Clown-in-Chief, Boo Boo Bolton mounts massive Iran operation to help boss distract the public from the Mueller Report and impending impeachment, while satisfying fetish for bloody wars. But Coward-in-Chief not want war -- cuts into golf time too much -- so whole operation called off, to tremendous relief of nation. To relieve increasing pressure, Cheater-in-Chief takes a dump on Congress, releasing 12-page turd declaring Constitution invalid. Barr and Republicans continue chipping away at foundation, our Constitution, simultaneously multitasking undermining both justice and American security. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court remains out to lunch, likely to distance itself from the overripe, corrupt stench permeating the White House.
Just another close call in a terrifying ride, with America passenger to a narcissistic, power-drunk driver.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, along with Reich-wing demagogues and media, who were complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance, and in spreading disinformation and misinformation. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump left office, one out of every 800 Americans had died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 410,000 fatalities, as many American casualties as all of WWII. To put it into further perspective, throughout Trump's catastrophic mishandling of a deadly global pandemic, the U.S. led the world in cases and deaths, suffering nearly 25% of each, despite having only 4.25% of global population, despite having the advantage of being the richest and most advanced nation in the world.
The memorial would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure. Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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It's like rowing or paddling upstream, or into a stiff wind--if you ease-up too much or stop, you will only have to paddle twice as hard to make up all the previous hard-earned progress that was quickly lost. Failing to maintain isolation and other measures for sufficient time to stop the spread of COVID-19 transmission will cost U.S. more in time, effort, money, and LIVES. Reopening and relaxing measures too early in defiance of the science and data is the ultimate in colossal ignorance, greed, ruthlessness, and arrogance.
We have a segment of Republican cult willfully ignorant, who malevolently seek to sabotage containment efforts. But many do not grasp how important it is that we treat ourselves and everyone else as being infected.
This is because people know that is very unlikely, especially outside dense urban areas, where incidence rates are low. Because of the delay in onset of the disease and asymptomatic carriers, COVID-19 is a stealth killer that uses Americans against each other as its foot soldiers, transporting it, keeping the disease and its train of transmission alive. This is further complicated because people cannot see a virus, see it attacking, see it spreading, until it is too late. For many of us, seeing is believing, and people are incapable or reluctant to make that leap of logic required to keep them and everyone safe--even with the massive public education efforts.
Of course, the problem becomes greatly exacerbated when the President refuses to wear a mask, and his administration works against itself in fighting this deadly global pandemic, sending conflicting messages to the public. Toxic Trump, his administration, and all the Republicans who have aided and abetted him, are directly responsible in our view for the senseless deaths of tens and thousands of Americans. The dead are the worst of it, but there is also the tremendous needless suffering and economic loss accompanying their wanton criminal negligence.
No national testing, no rational national coordinated pandemic response. Republican governors reopening too quickly in defiance of CDC guidelines are only following the President's lead. Democratic governors in many states likewise being adversely pressured by Toxic Trump's pandemic disinformation and Republican opposition to requisite lockdowns. Problem starts at the top. Don't fault even the worst Republican governors as much as this President. The President needed to take the lead, take the hit for the hard decisions--not put all the weight on governors as he as.
We all knew about Trump's Hitleresque impulses, but who ever even imagined he'd be reviving eugenics, to use against his own supporters?
Toxic Trump: "The oleo comes out of the polio, then gets unsaturated! If you don't test, the pandemic magically goes away! Vaccines and victims are way overrated!"
Problem isn't Toxic Trump leaving to golf all the time...it's that he keeps coming back!
To those not wearing masks, social distancing, or following guidelines: Your willful ignorance does not mask your wanton disregard for human life, your appalling lack of humanity and humility, your supremely selfish inconsideration of others. Despite absolutely loathing wearing a mask, it's also the reason it's worn. The sooner we all start wearing masks, social distancing, and taking this deadly pandemic seriously, the sooner we get to take them off, the less time they'll need to be worn. Not to mention, the sooner we can go back to a normal that is more like normal, the sooner we can get our jobs back and our economy rolling, again. And, of course, most importantly, the more lives we can save--which might even be your own life, or the life of a friend or loved one.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It's that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don't care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another five months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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There has never been a graceful exit for the losing side in any war.
Truth is, our hasty withdrawal from Vietnam was even worse if you look at the numbers and the whole picture. Only 7,000 were evacuated from Vietnam during the fall of Saigon, with many more left behind, including two dead American soldiers----the last to die in the Vietnam War----left behind in a hospital and not returned until a year later by the Vietnamese. That evacuation occurred under hostile NVA and Vietcong fire. Since August 14, over 82,000 have already been evacuated from Afghanistan despite the complete capitulation of the Afghan government and Afghan Army, with no hostile fire upon American troops by the Taliban so far. 87,000 have been evacuated since the end of July. Moreover, the January 27, 1973 peace agreement signed by the Americans with the North Vietnamese ended all direct U.S. military involvement in Vietnam, and provided sixty days for troop removal. Just as with Afghanistan, all troops were removed. However, it was over two years later, on April 30, 1975, when the fall of Saigon occurred. So, the U.S. had nearly two-and-a-half years to evacuate everyone else before the fall of the South Vietnamese government and armed forces, instead of just the two weeks like in Afghanistan so far.
The other thing in stark contrast between Vietnam and Afghanistan is that no Democrats----including Carter, who was running against Ford for President----tried to use the situation for political gain like Republicans are so desperately and depravedly doing now. That, despite the fact that it was the previous Trump administration which bears the brunt of the blame for the current situation.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, John Eastman and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed? If Garland doesn't stand up for justice and democracy, this nation is soon doomed.
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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***MEDIA FAIL*** -- Right, Chris Cuomo, because watching Trump's phony, maudlin vaudeville act is what we should be doing, instead of all the other really important stories breaking by the minute telling us what's REALLY going down in the middle of a national emergency health crisis of considerable magnitude!! Clueless, much? Like Don laid out for you--and yet you chose to ignore--the media can edit and condense the Trump nonsense down to its essential bits, then have a news anchor and panel break it down for the public into an intelligent assessment of current events. Don't need to--would not and do not--watch an hour of Trump happy talk B.S. and political campaigning, when can tune in for an analysis that takes five minutes, and which informs in all the ways Trump fails in leading the nation during this crisis. You want to be that place we tune in, Chris, or do we have to go elsewhere, while you waste our time senselessly?
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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@trumpisacreepoid554 Well, wouldn't you know it...
Not much of a poet!
More like random dude who dabbles, occasionally taking time for that rhyme! The Strat and Fender amp appreciate the break from torture, as do the neighbors!
Speaking of which, sincere regrets our audio version tortures the ears and mangles the message, but the words just needed to be spoken!
Such a silly, ludicrous spectacle! The barn door was open, all the horses escaped, the barn burned to the ground, but goofy Congressional Republican goons continue play-pretending mucking out the stalls for Nero-in-Chief and their audience of fools, who love a good Blaze and hope to see it all burn!
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First, we got the wolf in the White House stupidly poking the hornet's nest, in a deliberate deed of desperation doing anything to distract from his crimes and impeachment. Then we got the idiots in Iran forgot to ground passenger flights while their radar searching, on high alert for imminent counter-attack by U.S. And, let's not forget the wolf in the Kremlin, who bit off a whole lot of trouble for himself and others--more than he can chew. Last, and least, we got those forming the Republican cult flock of sheep to be fooled, fleeced, then left flummoxed, furious, and frazzled after dazzled and discarded.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, John Eastman and all other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed? If Garland doesn't stand up for the rule of law, justice and democracy, this nation is soon doomed.
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
18 U.S.C. §2383 -- Rebellion or insurrection
Whoever incites, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof … shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.
18 U.S.C. §2384 -- Seditious conspiracy
If two or more persons … in any place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof, … they shall each be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.
18 U.S.C. §2385 -- Advocating overthrow of Government
Whoever knowingly or willfully advocates, abets, advises, or teaches the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying the government of the United States or the government of any State … by force or violence, ... they shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.
18 U.S. Code § 2331 -- Domestic Terrorism (Supplemental penalty of up to 17 years imprisonment)
(5) the term “domestic terrorism” means activities that—
(A) involve acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State;
(B) appear to be intended—
(i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population;
(ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or
(iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and
(C) occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-‘n-‘Thief, Toxic Trump, so much—although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages—as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-‘n-‘Thief, Toxic Trump, so much—although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages—as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, homophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, divisive, anti-democratic raving lunatic and his corruption, a man compromised by foreign nations, including our principle adversary, through his tremendous debt. Between that, his catastrophic, irresponsible handling of COVID-19, and his incitement of anti-democratic violent Reich-wing groups, Trump has made himself America's #1 most serious national security threat. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself, mental illness, and his upbringing, who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast would soon come to consume them.
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Trump immigration policies endanger public health with coronavirus spread
Raul Reyes
As the Trump administration struggles to contain the spread of Coronavirus, its immigration policies may well exacerbate this crisis. The "public charge" rule discourages immigrants from accessing health care. The "Remain in Mexico" policy has created conditions ripe for a viral outbreak along the border. Immigration enforcement actions have sown distrust and fear in Latino communities. Taken together, these measures endanger the well-being of countless Americans.
Consider the administration's controversial "public charge" rule, which was implemented in February. It makes it harder for legal immigrants to obtain a green card if they access federal benefits for which they qualify, like Medicaid, food stamps, and housing vouchers.
In the ongoing litigation over this regulation, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) conceded that the rule could lead to "increased prevalence of communicable diseases, disenrollment from public programs, and increased use of emergency rooms as a primary care method."
Trump's "Remain in Mexico" policy is also potentially harmful to public health. Under this process, asylum-seekers are forced to wait on the Mexican side of the border while their cases are processed here. Nearly 60,000 migrants are currently waiting in Mexico, with thousands living in unsanitary, squalid conditions. As these vulnerable people await humanitarian relief, an outbreak of the virus in their shelters and camps could be devastating. Again, this would not only affect migrants: Due to its highly contagious nature, a coronavirus outbreak along the border would likely expose Border Patrol agents, U.S. troops, and aid workers to the virus too.
Within our borders, the Trump administration has created a less-than-ideal climate for battling a pandemic. The administration's aggressive immigration enforcement actions mean that millions of undocumented people are wary of any interaction with the government, which includes going to the hospital. Health advocates warn that there is a lack of information about coronavirus available in Spanish. And Trump has already demonstrated indifference to the suffering of Latinos; the administration basically ignored Puerto Rico during Hurricane Maria, and the president's response to the El Paso massacre was to stage an insensitive photo-op with a baby orphaned by the mass shooting. It's no wonder that advocacy groups are bracing for the administration to resort to more fear mongering and xenophobia about immigrants.
While any administration would be challenged by the Coronavirus outbreak, there are steps that the president can take that would mitigate its spread.
Trump could suspend the implementation of the "public charge" rule or temporarily halt immigration enforcement actions in and around hospitals and medical facilities. The administration could fund coronavirus outreach programs for Latinos. This would be especially useful as Latinos have the highest uninsured rate of any racial or ethnic group in the U.S., and are significantly affected by conditions that compromise the immune system, like asthma, diabetes, and HIV/AIDS. What the administration should not do is attempt to further politicize this crisis or use it as an excuse for closing our borders. The coronavirus does not discriminate based on immigration status and will not be stopped by a wall.
The coronavirus crisis demands a swift change in the administration's dangerous immigration policies. At stake is nothing less than the lives of immigrants, Latinos - and all Americans.
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Woman's reproductive choice is a Constitutional right under Roe v. Wade, which was rendered 50 years ago in a 7-2 decision by a SCOTUS containing a 7-2 conservative majority. For the past five decades, an overwhelmingly majority of Americans have consistently supported that decision. Besides, Republicans don't give a crap about zygotes, embryos, fetuses, children, or women, as repeatedly and amply proven by their policies. And if Republicans really cared about human life, they wouldn't be banning mask and vaccine mandates during a deadly global pandemic that has already taken over 660,000 American lives in just 18 months. Fascist GOP is a Jim Jones-style cult pro-death party full of heinous hypocrites!
“The lie that abortion is murder is right-wing propaganda designed to demonize Democrats. Abortion is legal all over the world because a fetus without a cerebral cortex cannot think or feel before the 27th week. According to the CDC almost all abortions happen before the 13th week.”
― Oliver Markus Malloy
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@thetruthchannel349 ~ The party of infanticide would be Republicans, whose selfish and short-sighted policies have created an America that has a higher rate of infant mortality than any industrialized nation, one higher even than many second and third-world nations.
Besides engaging in intellectually dishonest Whataboutism and projectionism to deflect and distract, you're confusing the LEGAL right of women to have control of their own bodies, exercise reproductive choice, which involves zygotes and embryos in over 95% of cases, except where the life of the mother is endangered, where it involves an unborn fetus--not an infant that has been given birth. The spinal cord does not connect to the brain of a fetus until six months, so there is no pain involved, although before then it may react to stimuli, just as one's knee can be made to jerk by a doctor's little rubber mallet. Most abortions today are accomplished with a pill, not a procedure, and typically involve a small mass of largely unformed tissue no larger than a dime.
Not to mention, it was a REPUBLICAN SCOTUS that made reproductive choice for women legal, and it's a REPUBLICAN SCOTUS which has repeatedly reaffirmed that right. We have had a REPUBLICAN President, with REPUBLICAN control of both the House and Senate his first two years, and a REPUBLICAN SCOTUS. REPUBLICANS could have overturned the decision, taken away women's right to choose, if the had wanted to, but they didn't, because that would mean losing elections, power, and corrupt money, since for decades now, two-thirds of Americans support Roe v. Wade. REPUBLICANS are responsible for for the Roe v. Wade decision, and responsible for its remaining the law of the land, not Democrats. Moreover, don't represent any political party, just our own self, so you're once again being dishonest, conflating things.
Your moniker is an oxymoron, as you are a constant fount of disinformation and agitation---nothing more than a propaganda troll.
So, which is it, Doc? Are you one of Putin's paid pawns pouring his propaganda piss Kool-Aid;
Are you one of the treasonous, putrid punks (paid or perverted) knowingly passing the Putin propaganda piss on to divide, kill your fellow Americans (mostly Republicans, as with Toxic Trump's super-duper spreader rallies), and weaken America;
Or, are you one of the pathetic clueless Republican cult pukes, sucking up that Putin piss like it's sweet nectar from the gods, like sheep eager to be fleeced, then slaughtered?
#moreRussiasanctions
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
~ "Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts."
~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Unlike many others here, I don't blame Sen. Peters for the omission of the word "insurrection." I'm quite sure that it wasn't the preference of Peters and Democrats on the committee to not use the word, but rather was done at the insistence of Republicans. They----and they alone----are to blame. Peters and the rest of the Democrats rightly decided that getting out a timely report with bipartisan support on the security and intelligence failures, as well as recommendations to secure the Capitol, were more important than inclusion of the word. I am just as disappointed and disgusted about not describing the events of January 6 as an insurrection as everyone else, would agree that there is some danger in not doing so, but it was imperative to get to the bottom of this aspect of January 6, and we needed those recommendations to secure the Capitol. It was a choice of two evils, and I think Peters and the Democrats made the correct decision to get this vitally needed report produced and released. I salute Keilar for her tough questioning, and while I understand Peters is running a critically important committee that requires bipartisanship to function well and is being diplomatic to foster as much cooperation with Republicans as possible, I still wish he had been more forthright about exactly why the word insurrection wasn't used to describe the insurrection, placing blame where deservedly due.
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Seems only fair that the least Toxic Trump could do, after slaughtering over 100,000 Americans already with his "greatest ever" ignorance, is to give the U.S. government his resort properties, to be quickly converted by the Army Corp of Engineers into public hospitals, medical facilities, and morgues. Too bad that's never going to happen--Turd Trump refuses to even sign order for FEMA to help fellow Americans out with OUR taxpayer money to bury their loved ones whom he killed, like they do in every other national emergency, despite repeated pleas to him, appealing for some shred of humanity, respect, and dignity be given for our dead.
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Simone is progressive, whereas Kamala has always been more moderate than progressive. Simone working for Biden's campaign after he won the nomination made sense, but a permanent job under Harris was bound to create friction. Biden is also a moderate, but to his credit he ran on and is pushing a fairly progressive agenda. Picking Harris as his VP may have been advantageous politically in the short term, but I believe Stacy Abrhams, Val Demmings, or Elizabeth Warren would have been much better picks for the job. There are things I like about Kamala, and things I don't. She is very intelligent, and can be personable and no-nonsense at times, but is often too slick for her own good. I think Harris generally supports many progressive positions, but is too calculating, trying to appeal to both moderates and progressives, instead of going with what she knows to be right, hence her not-so-progressive record as DA and AG in California. And while it's good to be ambitious, being overly ambitious can be harmful to one's judgment, integrity, and success, and it seems Kamala falls into the latter category. All that said, would acknowledge that Democrats are often forced to walk a fine line to be successful in getting elected, particularly on the national stage, and am sympathetic to the fact that can be especially true for woman of color.
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@valeriemacphail9180 ~ Thanks for reading. It's not just Americans, but we Americans in particular tend to be arrogant, apathetic, and ignorant when it comes to our own government and politics, heedless how fragile our democracy, how much blood, sweat, and tears shed to bring us thus far, and how the abyss is but one short step away. An abyss where the fall is quick and precipitous, the damage great, after which the struggle to rise back up is long, arduous, and costly. It is far easier and better to maintain our democracy than is losing and trying to regain it.
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@valeriemacphail9180 ~ Ah, we have discovered there is intelligent life out there in the vast internet vacuum! Thanks for the eloquent reply that is on-point. Understood the reference to Rupert Murdoch, and it is hard to argue against Chomsky, whom is much respected and admired as one of the greatest thinkers of our time.
Would just say that our media is like our democracy--it is what we make it. We as humans have the unique capability to create whatever kind of society in which we choose to live. As technological advances expand our horizons, it is the responsibility of all of us to harness those forces in ways that our constructive, rather than destructive. Just as it is wrong and the tool of tyrants to declare a free press the enemy of the people, we should not fall into simplistic thinking that all media is bad--or good. Through each of us making intelligent, selective choices, we can obtain the kind of media we deserve that serves the public interest best.
The same principles apply to our politicians; we should not fall into the cynical trap that simplistically lumps all together as bad. Nor should we take the good for granted, assuming they are infallible or should be immune from criticism where warranted. In a democracy, we get the government we deserve; it is up to each and every citizen to become informed and make wise choices.
While America's founding fathers--through a unique happenstance of time, place, people, and good fortune--did create a sturdy foundation for democracy with the Constitution they authored, it nonetheless remains to this day flawed and in need of shoring up. This last disastrous Presidential administration evidenced some of these defects quite clearly. For instance, had we abolished the antiquated, undemocratic Electoral College as should have been done long ago, we would not have had to suffer through the past four years and Trump's attacks against our democracy, our Constitution, and our institutions. The people got it right, but the Electoral College got it wrong.
While it is believed that a democracy built on a good foundation is fundamentally a strong structure, it is also believed that it remains a fragile construct, a compact of trust among its citizens, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence in order to maintain good health and stability, lest it crumble into the dustbin of history. Also wished to share another commentary of ours relevant to your reply here, which you may appreciate, as well. Will follow separately.
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@valeriemacphail9180 ~ The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Republican cult placing political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
Democrats, Independents, others: WTF?!?
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Republicans are trying to create an unequal justice system, where laws don't apply to their guy, Trump. However, if successful, their reward will be a public where a majority now has NO faith in their justice system and government. So what will they have won? Making America weak, compromised by Russia, their ill-gotten gains meaningless, society resorting to a form of anarchy without due respect for the rule of law?
If one thinks that is hyperbole, think again. Republicans are playing a dangerous game where there are no winners, only losers: the American people, their Constitution, and their country. In their blind obsession for "winning" at whatever cost, Republicans have lost their morals, ethics, principles, honor, and patriotism, incapable even of giving due consideration to the harm they are doing to themselves, their political party, and their own nation.
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With Toxic Trump and his administration, we can't even count on the CDC to protect the public, anymore! CDC allowing our nation meat plants to continue being breeding grounds for new COVID-19 cases, utterly failing to protect the workers in these factories, to protect their families and loved ones they come into contact with, to protect their communities in which they live, and to protect our nation as a whole.
Finally, on May 15, Trump issued the long-awaited CDC guidelines he had been withholding--unfortunately, they guidelines were censored and stripped down by Toxic Trump. Instead of detailed, specific instructions needed for businesses to open, workers to be safe, and the public to have confidence, all we got was vague generalities and waffle words that are not only useless, but dangerous.
How can the U.S. stop this deadly pandemic when the public can't trust this administration and, now, not even the CDC?!? When CDC policies are exacerbating the spread of the pandemic they're charged with controlling?!? CDC already so royally screwed up big on COVID-19 testing that it set the U.S. back months; now, they're going to double-down on ignorance? The absence of any real national leadership is killing us, and the U.S.!
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Education to the fascist Republican cult means programming lies, fears, and hate into people, while discouraging critical reasoning, independent thought, and objectivity. It's killing both Americans and America.
Two Americas: One that values truth, reason, common sense, science, decency, humanity, and justice...and another that rejects all of those things, that CHOOSES willful ignorance and hate, that embraces violence, nihilism and fascism.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-‘n-‘Thief, Toxic Trump, so much—although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages—as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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Instead of insuring adequate testing, contact tracing, surveillance testing, medical equipment, staff, and medical supplies like PPE -- as just as critically, if not more, public adherence to pandemic guidelines like wearing masks and social distancing -- Toxic Trump and Republican leaders pushed strongly for reopening the economy too soon, against CDC guidelines, despite the grave warnings of scientists, experts, and doctors; despite common sense. Most Republican governors took the Putin puppet President's lead, not taking a deadly global pandemic seriously. We need to shutdown, again, and stay that way until we have testing and other capabilities, and we have the current raging spread back under FIRM control. Which means back to isolation for the American public. No sea cruise. No airline flight. No theme park. No barber or beauty salon. No tattoo. No school. Just stay at home. Again. All only because of criminal negligence by Republican leaders and some Americans who just had to be stupid, inconsiderate, and heartless. The whole nation suffers and mourns; the innocents punished alongside the perpetrators of this insanity.
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Republicans are willing to gain and hold power at any cost...even if the price is our democracy!
Farmer wakes up one morning, goes outside to milk his cows, and discovers his entire herd is missing! So, he then walks over nest door to where the Republican cult lives, notices them grinding a whole bunch of beef into hamburger, and asks them, "Did you see what happened to all my cows?"
Republican cult: "Yeah, they jumped over the moon."
Farmer: "Do you have any actual evidence of that?"
Republican cult: "No, because they landed on the dark side, and you can't see them over there. But we're conducting a bunch of investigations and fraudits, and we're confident evidence will soon emerge to prove it!"
Farmer: "You know, that sounds like a load of manure!"
Republican cult: "Well, that's what we all choose to believe!"
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It's like rowing or paddling upstream, or into a stiff wind--if you ease-up too much or stop, you will only have to paddle twice as hard to make up all the previous hard-earned progress that was quickly lost. Failing to maintain isolation and other measures for sufficient time to stop the spread of COVID-19 transmission will cost U.S. more in time, effort, money, and LIVES. Reopening and relaxing measures too early in defiance of the science and data is the ultimate in colossal ignorance, greed, ruthlessness, and arrogance.
We have a segment of Republican cult willfully ignorant, who malevolently seek to sabotage containment efforts. But many do not grasp how important it is that we treat ourselves and everyone else as being infected.
This is because people know that is very unlikely, especially outside dense urban areas, where incidence rates are low. Because of the delay in onset of the disease and asymptomatic carriers, COVID-19 is a stealth killer that uses Americans against each other as its foot soldiers, transporting it, keeping the disease and its train of transmission alive. This is further complicated because people cannot see a virus, see it attacking, see it spreading, until it is too late. For many of us, seeing is believing, and people are incapable or reluctant to make that leap of logic required to keep them and everyone safe--even with the massive public education efforts.
Of course, the problem becomes greatly exacerbated when the President refuses to wear a mask, and his administration works against itself in fighting this deadly global pandemic, sending conflicting messages to the public. Toxic Trump, his administration, and all the Republicans who have aided and abetted him, are directly responsible in our view for the senseless deaths of tens and thousands of Americans. The dead are the worst of it, but there is also the tremendous needless suffering and economic loss accompanying their wanton criminal negligence.
No national testing, no rational national coordinated pandemic response. Republican governors reopening too quickly in defiance of CDC guidelines are only following the President's lead. Democratic governors in many states likewise being adversely pressured by Toxic Trump's pandemic disinformation and Republican opposition to requisite lockdowns. Problem starts at the top. Don't fault even the worst Republican governors as much as this President. The President needed to take the lead, take the hit for the hard decisions--not put all the weight on governors as he as.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over four decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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06/14/20 -- 2,162,000 confirmed cases; 117,800 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
06/13/20 -- 2,139,000 confirmed cases; 117,500 deaths. Latest projection of 200,000 Americans dead from COVID-19 before October.
06/12/20 -- 2,117,000 confirmed cases; 116,800 deaths.
06/11/20 -- 2,090,000 confirmed cases; 116,000 deaths.
06/10/20 -- 2,066,000 confirmed cases; 115,100 deaths.
06/09/20 -- 2,046,000 confirmed cases; 114,100 deaths.
06/08/20 -- 2,026,000 confirmed cases; 113,000 deaths.
06/07/20 -- 2,007,000 confirmed cases; 112,500 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
06/06/20 -- 1,976,000 confirmed cases; 111,900 deaths.
06/05/20 -- 1,949,000 confirmed cases; 111,000 deaths.
06/04/20 -- 1,924,000 confirmed cases; 110,100 deaths.
06/03/20 -- 1,902,000 confirmed cases; 109,100 deaths.
06/02/20 -- 1,881,000 confirmed cases; 108,000 deaths.
06/01/20 -- 1,860,000 confirmed cases; 107,000 deaths.
05/31/20 -- 1,837,000 confirmed cases; 106,200 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/30/20 -- 1,817,000 confirmed cases; 105,600 deaths.
05/29/20 -- 1,793,000 confirmed cases; 104,500 deaths.
05/28/20 -- 1,768,000 confirmed cases; 103,300 deaths.
05/27/20 -- 1,746,000 confirmed cases; 102,100 deaths.
05/26/20 -- 1,725,000 confirmed cases; 100,600 deaths.
05/25/20 -- 1,706,000 confirmed cases; 99,800 deaths.
05/24/20 -- 1,686,000 confirmed cases; 99,300 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/23/20 -- 1,667,000 confirmed cases; 98,700 deaths.
05/22/20 -- 1,645,000 confirmed cases; 97,600 deaths.
05/21/20 -- 1,621,000 confirmed cases; 96,400 deaths.
05/20/20 -- 1,593,000 confirmed cases; 94,900 deaths.
05/19/20 -- 1,571,000 confirmed cases; 93,500 deaths.
05/18/20 -- 1,550,000 confirmed cases; 92,000 deaths.
05/17/20 -- 1,528,000 confirmed cases; 91,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/16/20 -- 1,497,000 confirmed cases; 89,400 deaths.
05/15/20 -- 1,473,000 confirmed cases; 88,200 deaths.
05/14/20 -- 1,448,000 confirmed cases; 86,500 deaths.
05/13/20 -- 1,421,000 confirmed cases; 84,800 deaths.
05/12/20 -- 1,400,000 confirmed cases; 83,000 deaths.
05/11/20 -- 1,379,000 confirmed cases; 81,500 deaths.
05/10/20 -- 1,364,000 confirmed cases; 80,600 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/09/20 -- 1,344,000 confirmed cases; 79,700 deaths.
05/08/20 -- 1,318,000 confirmed cases; 78,200 deaths.
05/07/20 -- 1,289,000 confirmed cases; 76,500 deaths.
05/06/20 -- 1,260,000 confirmed cases; 74,500 deaths.
05/05/20 -- 1,233,000 confirmed cases; 72,000 deaths.
05/04/20 -- 1,208,000 confirmed cases; 69,600 deaths. CDC projects cases increasing to 200,000 per day with deaths rising to 3,000 per day by June because of states, localities and people not following guidelines and reopening their economies too soon.
05/03/20 -- 1,184,000 confirmed cases; 68,300 deaths. Every 44 seconds, another American dies from COVID-19. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/02/20 -- 1,158,000 confirmed cases; 67,000 deaths.
05/01/20 -- 1,129,000 confirmed cases; 65,500 deaths.
04/30/20 -- 1,094,000 confirmed cases; 63,600 deaths. The U.S. accounts for over a third of the world's cases, and over a quarter of COVID-19 deaths--despite possessing only 5% of the world's population. Yet--even now--we still lack the adequate testing capabilities that are critically needed to safely reopen the economy, and remain sorely lacking the necessary rational national leadership so vital to saving American lives and livelihoods.
04/29/20 -- 1,064,000 confirmed cases; 61,500 deaths. The U.S. now has as many COVID-19 deaths in just NINE WEEKS as there was for all TWELVE YEARS of the Vietnam War.
04/28/20 -- 1,034,000 confirmed cases; 59,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/27/20 -- 1,009,000 confirmed cases; 56,500 deaths.
04/26/20 -- 985,000 confirmed cases; 55,400 deaths.
04/25/20 -- 958,000 confirmed cases; 54,000 deaths.
04/24/20 -- 927,000 confirmed cases; 52,400 deaths.
04/23/20 -- 890,000 confirmed cases; 50,400 deaths.
04/22/20 -- 853,000 confirmed cases; 47,800 deaths (+2,674*)
04/21/20 -- 825,000 confirmed cases; 45,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/20/20 -- 788,000 confirmed cases; 43,200 deaths.
04/19/20 -- 760,000 confirmed cases; 41,700 deaths.
04/18/20 -- 735,000 confirmed cases; 39,900 deaths.
04/17/20 -- 702,000 confirmed cases; 37,000 deaths.
04/16/20 -- 671,000 confirmed cases; 33,100 deaths. Less COVID-19 testing performed this week than last, despite desperate need to ramp up volume to reopen economy.
04/15/20 -- 640,000 confirmed cases; 30,800 deaths. The United States recorded its first coronavirus fatality on Feb. 29. It took 38 days to reach 10,000 deaths and just nine more days to go from 10,000 fatalities to 30,000. An increase in fatalities over the last 48 hours was expected, but was also due to new CDC policy, starting on 04/14, to include probable COVID-19 deaths...finally.
04/14/20 -- 609,000 confirmed cases; 26,600 deaths (+2,364 - *New worst daily death toll)
04/13/20 -- 583,000 confirmed cases; 24,200 deaths
04/12/20 -- 558,000 confirmed cases; 22,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S. With just 4.25% of the world's population, the U.S. has 30% of the COVID-19 infections and 20% of the COVID-19 deaths. So far, the U.S. has the very WORST response of ANY nation, something formerly inconceivable, and inexcusable that it could now be allowed to happen here. In the U.S., we have 1.5 million seniors in 15,000 nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Despite forming only 0.45% of the U.S. population, they make up almost 10% of deaths, primarily because our federal government is not doing enough to protect them. Reported that many hospitals are no longer accepting COVID-19 patients from nursing homes, preferring they die there, instead. Our seniors, who helped build, grow and make America great, are being sacrificed, solely to ignorance.
04/11/20 -- 530,000 confirmed cases; 20,500 deaths.
04/10/20 -- 502,000 confirmed cases; 18,800 deaths.
04/09/20 -- 466,000 confirmed cases; 16,700 deaths.
04/08/20 -- 432,000 confirmed cases; 15,900 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S.
04/07/20 -- 400,000 confirmed cases; 13,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. Figures indicate a Covid-19 fatality rate for TESTED Americans at 3.25%.
04/06/20 -- 369,000 confirmed cases; 11,000 deaths.
04/05/20 -- 338,000 confirmed cases; 9,700 deaths.
04/04/20 -- 312,000 confirmed cases; 9,400 deaths.
04/03/20 -- 278,000 confirmed cases; 7,150 deaths.
04/02/20 -- 246,000 confirmed cases; 6,050 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/01/20 -- 217,000 confirmed cases; 5,150 deaths.
03/31/20 -- 190,000 confirmed cases; 4,200 deaths.
03/30/20 -- 165,000 confirmed cases; 3,250 deaths.
03/29/20 -- 143,000 confirmed cases; 2,450 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
(Update 5: Friday, 03/27/20, confirmed U.S. cases 105,000--which is 50% over NIH high-end estimate; deaths 1,700 by end of day. The perspective for cases is significantly skewed low and thus highly misleading, however, as just 0.17% of U.S. population has been tested to date.)
"As many as 70,000 Americans could be confirmed as infected with coronavirus by the end of next week, marking a “pretty dramatic” increase in the number of confirmed cases," the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, told his employees in an agency-wide conference call on 03/20/20.
Except 03/21/20 saw a 33% jump in U.S. cases, from 18,000 to over 24,000. If continuing at 33% every 24 hours, the number of confirmed cases is trending much higher than just 70,000 by 03/27/20. Suspect confirmed cases will be double that. Bear in mind, states hardest hit are not testing many people, saving the tests for those most in need. So the actual number of infected Americans is going to be far higher than just what limited testing of the population has so far confirmed. Don't think this fact is being given enough attention. More important than the number of cases confirmed is the number contracting the disease and not getting tested, spreading the disease, in many cases unknowingly. Hospital projections are for about 100 MILLION Americans to become infected, with about 500,000 dead from covid-19.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of crackpot conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of greed, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of plutocrats, the party of corruption, the party of anti-democracy, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their pact with the Devil.
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Always had great respect and admiration for Lt. Col. Vindman, but learning more about him here from his wife, suddenly realize I wish I was half the man he is. Newfound respect and admiration also for his wife, for her sacrifice in speaking out. It greatly angers me what has been done to Lt. Col. Vindman and his family, and it must not be allowed to stand. The injustices only continue to accumulate, and it is incumbent upon us all to speak out, and speak out loudly, that our voice all be heard, to put an end to his travesty by Trump and Republicans. Thank-you, CNN, Brianna Keilar, for conducting this interview and sharing.
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Trump and Giuliani have threatened to throw each other under the bus before. The real scoop isn't some O'Reilly interview, scintillating as that is. Should come as no surprise to anyone that there is no honor among thieves. No, the day's real scoop was that Toxic Traitor Trump knew about the whistle-blower before the end of August, before releasing the military aid to Ukraine, and after Congress was notified, how he likely delayed the IG whistle-blower report to Congress, in an attempt to cover-up his crimes. The other big scoop was the deposition of OMB's Sandy, which provides direct testimonial evidence of Trump ordering the Ukrainian military aid withheld, which is well-documented by a paper trail implicating Trump and others in the administration. At least two OMB officials resigned in protest of the illegality of Trump's hold on the appropriated money.
Moreover, Giuliani and Trump are joined at the hip in crime; neither stands to gain anything by ratting the other out, it's a lose-lose scenario for either man--neither of which is going to receive much, if any, credit for confessing their principal roles, anyway. Not to mention Giuliani is Trump's lawyer, with all the implications that entails. Consequently, while tantalizing to salivate over the possibility, more objective to consider it more likely for Pence, Perry, Pompeo, and/or Mulvaney to be the Republican rat(s) possessing high-level complicity and criminal exposure to turn, sinking the pirate ship.
The takeaway from this aspect is that Trump and Giuliani's sparring only serves to motivate other's betrayal, because their truthful testimony is a once-in-a-lifetime deal, with a very limited shelf-life, very soon to expire, and the opportunity presented strictly on a first-come, first-served basis! Keep in mind, any competent personal defense attorney (and they've all lawyered-up) is by this point, no doubt, advising them not to implicate themselves further, and to testify truthfully. So far, they have not heeded that advice, but we can be assured at this rate even they will realize how untenable their position and, finally, capitulate to common sense. The writing is on the wall, the wall will crack, then crumble, then fall, then be washed away by the winds of political vicissitude.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of crackpot conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of greed, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of plutocrats, the party of corruption, the party of anti-democracy, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their pact with the Devil.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
For five long years, the American people, Lady Justice, and Constitution have all been crying out for accountability, pleading, "Until this moment, Republicans, I think I have never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness. ...You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"
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America's enemies don't need to spread disinformation, doubt, discord, and division to weaken America, kill Americans--Republican politicians, Reich-wing demagogues, Faux News, OAN, Newsmax, Breitbart and the rest of the Reich-wing media do that so effectively for them, already. More Americans need to realize that the GOP has abdicated it's duty as loyal opposition, and that its prioritization of party over country and welcoming embrace of violent radical Reich-wing extremists diminishes both our government and our national security, endangering ALL Americans, as well as weakening and endangering America itself.
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@mikewhocheeseharry5292 ~ Are Viruses Living or Non-Living?
Viruses are intermediate between living and nonliving entities. A listing of the important characteristics that prove the nature of viruses as living or non-living respectively:
Viruses are non-living
The following characters indicate that they are non-living:
Viruses do not have a complete cellular structure. They are not surrounded by a cell membrane or a cell wall.
They do not show cellular metabolism.
Absence of respiration.
Absence of energy storing systems.
They possess high specific gravity, unlike living organisms. They have high specific gravity which is found only in non-living objects.
Viruses are active only when they are inside the living host’s cell. Outside the host, they are non-living. Thus, they do not have an independent existence.
The postulates of Robert Koch are not true for the viruses. A virus cannot be grown in an in vitro condition in the lab.
Absence of growth and division. Instead, different parts are synthesized separately.
Ability to get crystallized. It can be stored as a crystal in a bottle for several years.
Lack of protoplast.
Inability to live independently of a living cell.
Viruses are living
The following characters indicate that they are living organisms:
They possess genetic material (DNA or RNA), which determines their structure and development. Genetic material is being passed from generation to generation in the usual manner.
Infectivity and host specificity. All viruses are intracellular obligate parasites and attack specific hosts. The bacteriophages recognise the real bacterial surface.
They show the property of mutation. The most mutable virus is HIV or AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) virus followed by the Influenza virus.
They show irritability and respond to environmental conditions such as heat, ultraviolet rays, humidity, drought, alcohol, etc.
Ability to multiply or reproduce. They can grow inside the host and multiply enormously showing one of the most important properties of living organisms. They take over the biosynthetic machinery of the host cell and produce chemicals required for their multiplication.
Viruses resemble living beings in being formed of organic macromolecules that occur only in living organisms.
Some viruses like the Pox virus contain vitamins like Riboflavin and Biotin.
The occurrence of enzyme transcriptase in most viruses.
The occurrence of antigenic properties.
Viruses are killed by autoclaving and ultraviolet x-rays.
They have definite shape and morphology like that of a living organism.
Responsible for a number of infectious viral diseases like the common cold, epidemic influenza, chickenpox, mumps, poliomyelitis, rabies, herpes, AIDS.
Important features of viruses:
Viruses are unique in many ways. Here are some of their important features:
They cannot be termed as prokaryotes or eukaryotes as they do not have a cellular structure.
They contain hereditary material in the form of DNA or RNA forming a core enclosed in a protein coat called the capsid.
Viruses are much smaller than bacteria. They are considered to be the smallest living organisms. The size is about 20 nm to 300 nm, which is about 50 times smaller than bacteria.
They exhibit properties of both living and non-living things. A virus has no metabolic activity of its own. It becomes active and multiplies when it infects (attacks) a specific living host cell. A virus can survive as a parasite only inside a living cell. So they are said to be intracellular obligate parasites.
Biologists are not clear whether they are early primitive forms of living things or are highly evolved super parasites.
Viral genomes are small and contain the information to code for a few proteins only. Viruses make use of the host machinery like enzymes, ribosomes, and other components to form more viral particles rather than the host cell constituents.
The genetic material of viruses could be DNA or RNA. No virus contains both DNA and RNA.
For example,
Influenza virus and smallpox virus contain DNA.
Bacterial viruses (bacteriophages) contain double-stranded DNA.
Mumps virus, measles virus, AIDS virus, Hepatitis B virus, herpes virus contain single or double-stranded RNA.
Tobacco mosaic virus and most of the plant viruses contain single-stranded RNA.
x 174 virus contains single-stranded DNA.
The viruses are very specific about the host they infect. They have been classified into three categories according to the hosts they live in. These are bacterial viruses (also called bacteriophages) that infect bacterial cells, plant viruses that infect plant cells, and animal viruses that infect animal cells.
When a virus infects a cell, it disrupts the host’s metabolism. The virus makes use of the metabolic machinery of the cell to replicate its own kind. The diseased host cell ultimately bursts open, releasing new viruses.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much to future generations--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of crackpot conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of greed, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of plutocrats, the party of corruption, the party of anti-democracy, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their pact with the Devil.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
For five years, the American people, justice, and Constitution have all been crying out, pleading, "Until this moment, Republicans, I think I have never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness. ...You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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cervellone ~ Merrick Garland: "Trump and Congressional Republicans screwed me out of a seat on the Supreme Court...that's why now as AG I can't prosecute them for the many crimes they've committed!"
Merrick Garland’s House Testimony Demonstrated the Failure of His Hyper-Cautious Approach to His Job
Despite Garland’s many efforts to not appear political by declining to investigate Trump and his cronies for possible crimes and by using DOJ resources to actively protect Trump from civil liability, Republicans are still portraying him as the most political attorney general in history.
The other weakness of Garland’s timid approach was on full view during his opening statement and responses to Democratic members of Congress. “The essence of the rule of law is that like cases are treated alike. That there not be one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans; one rule for friends, another for foes,” Garland stated grandly. But by declining to investigate Trump and his associates, Garland is enabling further attacks on our democracy. (While proving inequity by putting Republicans above the law.)
Crucially, the two parties are not the same. Garland’s standard sets up a false equivalency between the Democratic Party and a political party whose national leader, Donald Trump, incited and celebrated a violent assault on our nation’s Capitol to overthrow the results of a free and fair election and who continues to portray the insurrection as a glorious “protest.” To that end, in the middle of the attorney general’s testimony, Trump issued a statement highlighting Garland’s feebleness at failing to even investigate the organizers and leaders of the Jan. 6 events, declaring “the insurrection took place on November 3, Election Day. January 6 was the Protest!”
Garland’s efforts to depoliticize the DOJ have proved to be an abdication of his responsibility to protect the rule of law. Take just a few examples: Garland’s failure to reconsider the obstruction of justice case against the former president, his deferral of an investigation of possible financial crimes by Trump and his organization to local prosecutors in New York City and Westchester, his use of the DOJ to protect Trump from defamation allegations, and his deferral of a soliciting of voter fraud felony probe in Georgia to local prosecutors there. By abdicating his responsibility, Garland is also opening the door for Trump to commit these possibly criminal abuses all over again, this time with the full support of the Republican Party, and maybe ultimately return to power.
--Mark Stern
"Try as he may, Merrick Garland cannot perform boring independence fast enough to outrun GOP claims that he’s a wild-eyed, violent socialist. And while the GOP currently exists only to cast everything you thought you believed into doubt, the real endgame is vigilantism. The endgame is to ensure that people mistrust government, election systems, school boards, (teachers, health care officials) the media, and the justice system enough to lend a hand in their destruction."
--Dahlia Lithwick
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It's that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don't care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another five months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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Republicans can't handle reality, would rather traffic and believe in lies. The GOP is a fascist, nihilistic cult that would destroy democracy and America if given sufficient opportunity. And THAT, folks, is your reality check.
What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil. They are either actively or silently complicit in fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorist violence, Reich-wing insurrection, and Reich-wing undermining of our democracy and Constitution.
It's crystal clear that Trump, Boebert, Greene, Gosar and other Republicans like them are fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorism. The GOP has become radicalized to such an extent that it has essentially become a fascist terrorist organization, with members that fantasize and promote violence against their fellow Americans. While those Republican elected officials must be condemned and sanctioned, they are only a symptom of the disease poisoning a third of America, the most visible part of the cancer infecting our nation.
The GOP has been mainstreaming radicalization of their voter base for decades, ALLOWING Reich-wing media and Reich-wing demagogues to take over the party, to the point it has become a fascist, nihilistic cult. Because just as now, Republican politicians and their plutocratic masters have always seen it as the ends justifying whatever means to win power. Remember the Republican Tea Party? This catastrophe with the GOP didn't start with Trump, who just exploited what Republicans had already built.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle for graft and to grift their voters and us taxpayers. You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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Despite knowing of the emergence of COVID-19 in November, and it threat to world health shortly thereafter, Trump did virtually nothing to prepare for the inevitable coming health crisis of a pandemic. Trump administration has had MONTHS to get its act together, yet public health system and hospital networks are NOT prepared for the kind of outbreaks seen in China, South Korea and Italy. We do NOT have the respirators and ventilators needed for the expected numbers. We do NOT have enough oxygen equipment and medications stockpiled. We do NOT have enough medical personnel to handle the expected numbers. We do NOT have enough medical facilities for those kinds of numbers. We do NOT yet even have the training programs in place to handle this epidemic for either health professionals or the public. There should have been a massive national mobilization by our Federal government started months ago to begin preparation of needed medical equipment, supplies, and drugs. Instead, Trump has peddled delusions and denials of the realities, wasting weeks, which will result in the senseless, unforgivable loss of more American lives due directly to his gross ignorance and incompetence.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It’s that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes have to KNOW at some level he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don’t care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn’t want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it’s more than hope—those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another two months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn’t really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
“The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.”
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump’s hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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Nicki "Hellbound" Haley: "I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean I'm flopping around like a fish out of water, but I got no spine, so it's a miracle like Jesus multiplying the bread and fish, but I just pretend to be a Christian, because I got no character, principles, morals, integrity, or values.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian nationalism religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast would soon come to consume them.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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President Nero stoked racial animosities, igniting the embers, keeps feeding the flames. Lynching, murder of innocent civilians by law enforcement, followed by protests, riots, civil unrest, people hurt, property damaged--those were all inevitable with an arsonist in the Oval, even if his gross criminal negligence with COVID-19 wasn't presently so starkly highlighting the social and economic divides in this nation. You didn't see this trainwreck burning, it's only because you refused to look.
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@prwapps ~Asked by reporters about the protestors gathering against pandemic lockdowns, the vast majority not wearing face masks or observing social distancing, Toxic Trump--who tweeted his supporters to "Liberate" three states with Democratic governors critical to his reelection, against his own administrations pandemic edicts and guidance, and in foment of partisan rebellion against state's governors during a Federal National Emergency declared against this pandemic--said, "They seem to be very responsible people to me!"
Trumpette insanity that should have us ALL livid with outrage! Not only are these Republican cult fools putting themselves, their loved ones, and everyone else in danger, they are putting an increased burden upon our already over-stressed health care workers and system, FURTHER endangering them and those they would serve. They put all our other essential front-line workers at increased risk, as well--those we need for our groceries and supplies, to keep the government, electric, gas and other critical infrastructure functioning. What's really, really stupid about their aberrant, irrational partisan cult behavior, is that they are only PROLONGING restrictive measures to contain COVID-19, EXTENDING the time until our economy can reopen fully, REDUCING the amount our economy can be opened--all of which DAMAGES Trump's reelection chances! But that isn't the worst of it. These Trumpettes ignorantly protesting are KILLING actual Americans, just as surely as they put a gun to their heads and pulled the trigger. Toxic Trump shares responsibility, but it is these GOP idiots who own primary responsibility for manslaughter. They should be charged, tried, and convicted, in our view. At the very, very least, they should have all been arrested for public endangerment. Ludicrous and lethal ignorance!
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic hyper-partisan Republican cult placing political party over truth, reason, and country.
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President Nero stoked racial animosities, igniting the embers, keeps feeding the flames. Lynching, murder of innocent civilians by law enforcement, followed by protests, riots, civil unrest, people hurt, property damaged--those were all inevitable with an arsonist in the Oval, even if his gross criminal negligence with COVID-19 wasn't presently so starkly highlighting the social and economic divides in this nation. You didn't see this coming, it's only because you refused to look.
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@shoko2816 ~ Blah, blah, blah. Same Whataboutism, same deflections and evasions to escape accountability, same pathetic transparent attempt to put the onus on others to escape your own personal responsibility, same hasbara propaganda tool BS from you. You're like a broken record, Doc!
Just as predicted, you learned nothing. Do you really think you're fooling anyone but your own fool self? Do you flatter yourself that you're being clever? Do you really think you're helping Israel? "Meanwhile," you need to first provide answers to my questions, my points and arguments in rebuttal. You want only to be a hasbara propaganda vehicle driving down a one-way street, but discussion is a two-way street.
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Congressional Republicans--conceited, clueless clowns, corrupt to their crappy, childish core, careless of crime and criminal, Constitution and country; contemptible, compassionless cretins who cravenly capitulated to Caesar, their Commander of Cheat and Chief Confabulator, and who can't condone, correct, or cross the cult creation they crazily constructed to compete, commencing to now coopted and conjoined at the cranium.
Currently conveniently--if contrary to courage, or common sense and cause--coldly calculating and crudely conflating control and creepy cash with contentment and continuity, commensurate with, and correspondent to, conspicuously cuckolding their contemporaneous citizens they constantly contrive to confuse and confound, using cunning, charades, and chicanery to ceaselessly convolute, cover-up and conceal their complicity, culpability, cowardice, and complete lack of character and conscience.
Commie comrades call-in condolences and chuckle, contain callous celebration or congratulatory claims, content to be coy with their calamitous conception conveying calumnious election cycle cyber contamination, continually concerned about consequences with certifying, corroborating, or confessing and coming clean to the crud they crafted; cognizant counterstrikes could certainly prove conducive to the collapse of their own censurable compendium of cancerous, cruel crackpots and crummy, conniving crooks.
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Dave Griffin ~ Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-‘n-‘Thief, Toxic Trump, so much—although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages—as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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Republicans use obstructionism as a means to gain power, and power as a means to further their corruption. The Republicans party is composed of grifters, grafters, white supremacists, Christian nationalists, lunatics, assorted bigots, and the gullible sheep they prey upon. It's ideology is no longer conservatism, but fascism and nihilism. It traffics in lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, ignorant culture wars, and hypocrisy.
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Gee, didn't you know? Republicans don't care anything about protecting workers, public health, law, justice, or the environment...only about maximizing profits! That's how we got into this pickle in the first place, with 100,000 Americans dead in just three months; that's why other nations have stopped the spread, but we're STILL in the first wave, losing a 1,000 Americans daily, remember?
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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The problem extends far beyond just the media latching on to a slogan. Republicans have been very adept at manipulating the media for decades, and the media has often been willingly complicit. Easier for the media to go along than risk losing viewers or subscribers and profit. Far too many times, the media engages in the logical fallacies of both-sidesism and false equivalence. The media's job is to be fair to the truth, NOT to each side, which it repeatedly seems to forget. And instead of devoting sufficient time to complex issues, they are reduced to momentary blurbs on the evening news, quickly replaced by the next hot topic of the moment, catering to and fostering in people the attention span of a gnat. While cable news like CNN and MSNBC do a far better job than local news and national network news, they are also guilty of these faults to some extent.
~ “The media are desperately afraid of being accused of bias. And that's partly because there's a whole machine out there, an organized attempt to accuse them of bias whenever they say anything that the Right doesn't like. So rather than really try to report things objectively, they settle for being even-handed, which is not the same thing. One of my lines in a column—in which a number of people thought I was insulting them personally—was that if Bush said the Earth was flat, the mainstream media would have stories with the headline: 'Shape of Earth—Views Differ.' Then they'd quote some Democrats saying that it was round.” ― Paul Krugman
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Let's face it; this American fall towards fascism didn't just happen overnight. Since before the '70s Republicans have engaged in dog whistles and pursued a racist agenda, hidden behind various facades. Reagan helped Goldwater using dog-whistles; Nixon was infamous for his use of them. Roger Ailes micromanaged Nixon's appearances, and stoked racial fears and resentments. Reagan employed them getting elected governor of California. Lee Atwater, who greatly admired Nixon's 'Southern strategy,' worked on Reagan's Presidential campaign, teaming up with Ailes. A year after Reagan's victory, Atwater gave what was then an anonymous interview, and perhaps lulled by the anonymity, he offered an unusually candid response to a question about Reagan, the Southern strategy, and the drive to attract the Wallace voters:
"You start out in 1954 by saying, "N------, N------, N-------." By 1968 you can't say "N-------," that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states' rights and all that stuff. You're getting so abstract now, you're talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you're talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is, blacks get hurt worse than whites. And subconsciously maybe that is part of it. I'm not saying that. But I'm saying that if it is getting that abstract, and that coded, that we are doing away with the racial problem one way or the other. You follow me; because obviously sitting around saying, "We want to cut taxes and we want to cut this," is much more abstract than even the busing thing, and a hell of a lot more abstract than "N------, N------." So anyway you look at it, race is coming on the back burner."
Humiliated and stunned by Nixon's forced resignation, Republicans anointed Reagan their hero, and have long insisted on regarding him as such, despite his repeated use of racial dog-whistles and his mediocre record. In 1980, Reagan characterized food stamp recipients as, "That strapping young buck in front of you at the checkout buying T-bone steak, while you wait in line to buy hamburger," and kicked off his campaign outside Philadelphia, Mississippi--notorious for the KKK lynching of four volunteer civil rights workers just 16 years earlier--by delivering the promise that, "I believe in state's rights!" Reagan returned in 1984 to another cheering crowd, this time endorsing the neo-Confederate slogan, "The South shall rise again!"
Lee Atwater went on to work with Roger Ailes on George H.W. Bush's Presidential campaign, which shamelessly stoked racial fear through the infamous Willie Horton political ad and other means. Roger Ailes would go on to head Fox News for Rupert Murdoch, until numerous allegations of sexual harassment and improprieties, along with related lawsuits against Fox, forced his removal. Ailes was a polarizing influence, who has been called the most destructive force in American politics in 50 years.
Conservative plutocrats and the GOP created the beast over decades with round-the-clock propaganda, but were swallowed whole by their own mutated creations of daily outrage, white grievance politics, and phony populism; first by the Tea Party, then by Trump. Unable to go back, and clearly having no way forward, they remain planted in their own muck and mire, trapped by the cult of their own making. The pundits and conservatives rejecting Trump are trying to salvage their party, but any person of principle and sense ought to know enough to defect the rotten machine.
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Opening statement, opening arguments, impeachment of Donald John Trump, House Managers Chair Rep. Schiff: "Are we here to conduct a proper trial seeking truth and justice? Or, are we here to play out an elaborate charade merely to engage in a cover-up of gross malfeasance? Will the Senate Leader, Mitch McConnell, and Republicans make a mockery of this civic exercise and their oath, disgracing themselves, the Senate, rule of law, our Constitution, our nation, and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court presiding? Or, will they instead choose to respect--and honor--both their Oath of Office and their Impeachment Oath during this trial, participating in an honest effort to find the truth, including obtaining vital documents and witnesses from the Trump administration? The American people want and deserve the truth. Anything less would be simply intolerable and unacceptable."
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Right with you, Rhett--Sabbath is definitely my favorite heavy metal band. Not only the great, unique sound of Iommi's guitar and amp, but Geezer's sublime bass, Ozzy's passionate vocals, the tight drum work--and so many really great songs. Zeppelin is probably my favorite rock-'n-roll band, but never considered them to be a heavy metal band like Sabbath, rather more diverse and blues oriented, capable of belting out great heavy metal. Black Sabbath's softer instrumentals, like 'Solitude,' have always found quite special, as well. The only fault ever had with Sabbath is Iommi's lead parts can sometimes be a bit aimless, disjointed from the song, and overdone. Like lead guitar that can take you away, tells a story, is more melodic. Felt Iommi didn't always succeed in capturing or holding one's interest with his leads on some of their songs, while still enjoying the song overall.
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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Hypocritical Republican cult whines about cancel culture...
--while making death threats against those disagreeing with them
--while censuring any Republican leaders daring to speak the truth about January 6.
--while conducting a terrorist attack against the nation's Capitol in insurrection, viciously beating police, intent on killing lawmakers and the Republican VP, attempting a coup to overthrow the results of a free and fair election...just because their candidate lost.
--while trying to cancel out the votes of millions of Democrats and minorities by objecting solely to their votes, enacting numerous voter suppression measures, and engaging in egregious gerrymandering.
--while labeling MSM "the enemy of the people."
--while censoring and moving to remove fellow Republicans of integrity who speak up for truth and decency, and against GOP lies, terrorism, and crackpot conspiracy theories.
--while Reich-wing media turns off comments yet rants against "censorship."
--while Faux News fires its news editor for truthfully reporting that Arizona had been called for Biden.
--while trying to run a Biden campaign bus off the road.
--while Rep. Marjorie Greene prevents press from covering town hall meetings where nobody wore a mask.
--after seriously injuring over 140 police officers in the Republican cult's seditious terrorist attack of insurrection against the nation's Capitol, Republican cult terrorists threaten to call the cops on reporters trying to get their side of the story.
--after canceling out millions of American's jobs under George W. Bush's recession and the largest loss of jobs since the great Depression under Toxic Trump due to his gross incompetence, lies, and willful criminal negligence in responding to a global pandemic.
--while canceling out the lives of hundreds of thousands of their fellow Americans by spreading lies about COVID-19, politicizing a deadly pandemic, and refusing to follow common sense health guidelines.
--while threatening to cancel baseball's anti-trust exemption for exercising their right to free speech
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You heard it here, folks...Trump hates himself! Publicly confesses his problems...that he's "a negative force, not a positive force." And, if you look at what he said, "he hurts the people of this great country." Furthermore, he acknowledges, "he should actually focus on his job, it would be a lot better if he did that he could straighten out some of the problems he has, and probably some of the problems he's caused." (Trump, answering questions, June 4. 2019)
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***MEDIA FAIL*** -- Trump defense: "Whatever the Traitor-in-Thief chooses to believe at any given moment that will advantage him demonstrates his intent." Really, Mr. Stelter, CNN?!? Whatever happened to common sense? Isn't that lacking the very reason we've reached this Constitutional crisis, with the worst President EVER in our American history, and Congressional Republicans acting seditiously, knowingly using Russian propaganda that was already weakening and destroying America--in furtherance of Russia's attacks against us--merely to protect Toxic Traitor Trump, their Russian asset in the White House??? Not advocating any kind of McCarthyism, here...just good, plain, old-fashioned common sense, people!! But, beyond common sense, whatever happened to American's sense of self-preservation?!? Egads! Media BE better, WE be better!
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Floyd Roseberry is a Republican registered voter from North Carolina. Roseberry posted several videos on a now-deleted Facebook page, demanding to speak with President Joe Biden. During a long Facebook live video, Roseberry said, “the revolution is on” and that he would “die for this land.” He said Democrats should resign. Videos posted to Facebook before the page was taken down appear to show Roseberry at the Nov. 14 rally attended by thousands of Trump supporters to protest what they claimed was a stolen election. A video appears to have been shot by Roseberry as he marches with a crowd of hundreds carrying US flags and Trump flags and shouting “stop the robbery.” Roseberry’s ex-wife, Crystal Roseberry, said she had seen images of the man in the confrontation on Capitol Hill and confirmed to The Associated Press that she was her ex-husband. She said that she had never known he had explosives, but that he was an avid firearms collector. Roseberry ranted about Biden on Facebook. “It’s almost time…take an extra pair of civilians clothes for our heroes… who can carry arms in… BIDEN YOUR FIRED…NO ISN’T A OPTION…FLEE OUR LAND,” he wrote four days ago before parking near the Capitol in a truck he claimed was filled with explosives. "I love this land. We got a few options here Joe. You shoot me, two and half blocks are going with me. And then you’re talking about a revolution. The Revolution is on,” he said in one Facebook Live video. “My trench coat will be here Friday… I’m excited,” he wrote with a typo the day before, showing a flag and cowboy hat on his pickup dashboard. Roseberry ranted about Facebook, comparing the platform to a “lying Democratic politician.” He criticized Greta Thunberg. The New York Times quoted a law enforcement official as saying he was making “anti-government statements” on Facebook.
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Republicans: "I pledge allegiance to the lies of Trump, and to the racism, bigotry, crimes, corruption, crackpot conspiracies, delusions, violence, and ignorance for which he stands, one dysfunctional lunatic fascist cult under Trump, a nation forever divided, with plutocracy, autocracy and injustice for all."
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Like what you're channeling there, but just so you know, it's "Rosie (not Rosy) the riveter." But it shouldn't have to be women shouldering the burden of suffering for this pandemic. Really, "Rosie" should be all Americans chipping in, doing their part. Problem is Republicans don't think we all need to work together in this war--and it is a war, even if the enemy is invisible--against COVID-19. For the Republican cult, it's all about me, me, me, the "right" to be stupid and inconsiderate, and greed for money, greed for power. The bulk of the blame goes to Toxic Trump's lies, gross incompetence, and homicidal criminal negligence, and all of those Republican so-called "leaders" who were complicit in those lies, in aiding and abetting him, and who likewise failed to be leaders. Because of Republicans, women and minorities were disproportionately punished, one out of every 800 Americans senselessly died, with the U.S. taking more casualties in ten months than lost in all of WWII, plus many injured, afflicted by either short-term or long-term debilitating conditions. Not to mention the tremendous hit to our economy, which could have been largely avoided. According to Oxfam, the wealthy in America will recover from this pandemic in nine months, while it will take the poor a decade.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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Welcome to war. This is what war is. It's terrible, it's tragic, it's ugly, it stinks, it's unfair, it's sad, it's wasteful, it's hell, innocents die, and things always go wrong. You think we'd have learned that by now, but no, it's a lesson that has to be repeatedly learned, evidently. The consensus is that nobody foresaw the Afghan government and its armed forces completely capitulating so quickly as they did. Some say there should have been a contingency plan for this, but even though hindsight is 20/20, have yet to hear any rational plan that could have dealt with this situation. Shit happens, and Biden got handed a turd with Afghanistan. Instead of allowing the crap to continue, Biden made the hard, responsible decision to pull the U.S. out of another country's civil war. Fallout was inevitable, and Republicans trying to capitalize on that politically or media trying to profit from it is truly degenerate.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It's that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don't care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another five months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Personally rather be shown where wrong than proven right. Why? Because I WANT the truth. And, because I don't want to unwittingly spread misinformation or disinformation to others. Trouble is, Republican leaders and cult stopped caring about the truth, honesty, and integrity long ago, long before Toxic Trump. They KNOWINGLY spread lies if they think it will help them politically, gain them partisan advantage. They simply deny inconvenient truths and science. They eschew reality for a delusional Reich-wing cult bubble world. We are, and have been, in the era of Republican dishonesty and unreason, and it's destroying the nation they claim to love so much. Unfortunately, they refuse to see that, and some don't care, don't really love democracy, don't want to be responsible or held accountable, really prefer some form of anarchy, theocracy, or white nationalism.
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No, they didn't. It was a combined effort of people in many different states of all races, creeds, sex, and even political ideologies (conservative fed up with the GOP voted for Biden, Harris, Democratic Representatives and Senators). African-American voter turnout was extraordinary across the nation, turning out in droves to honor their patriotic duty and privilege, for which they deserve due credit, and from which effort they will duly benefit. But the African-American vote constitutes just 19% of the electorate. Support BLM, police reform, civil rights, voting rights, etc. But am also a realist, and someone who cares deeply about truth. And this country sorely needs more value placed on truth right now.
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"'Tis not, 'my country, right or wrong;' 'tis, 'my country, what is right to be kept right, what is wrong to be set right!'" -- Carl Schurz
Long before there was Amash, there was principled progressive visionary Republican Carl Schurz. German revolutionary, journalist, American statesman, abolitionist and superb orator who campaigned tirelessly in support for Lincoln, U.S. diplomat, beloved Union Army General, U.S. Senator for Missouri, helped shape a Reconstruction policy that enfranchised the freed slaves, championed civil service reform, a founder of the Republican Party in Wisconsin, founded the Liberal Republican movement, was a leader of the "Mugwump" exodus from the Republican party, denounced American imperialism in the Spanish-American War, and passionate advocate for the conservationist movement in America which he helped to create. His wife started the first kindergarten in the U.S.
At the age of 19 he was a leader of the student movement that became the spearhead of democratic revolutionary ferment in many parts of Germany. In 1849 Schurz was commissioned a lieutenant in the revolutionary army, which was finally defeated by the Prussians. Knowing he would be shot if captured, he fled the country. He later returned under a false passport to rescue a professor from Spandau prison and spirit him out of Germany in the most daring exploit of the entire revolution. Schurz came to the U.S. in 1852.
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"Peace is not a very big thing to ask for, is it?" ~ Fatima Gailani, Afghan activist and negotiator, pleading for continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan
It is when asking the Taliban, who do not seek peace or to bargain in good faith, but total domination once again. U.S. has spent 20 years and $2 trillion trying to achieve peace in Afghanistan, losing over 4000 American lives (military and civilian contractors), with tens of thousands of Americans wounded there.
"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials … have given Afghans little reason to support their government," Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the commander of U.S. forces in the country, wrote in a 2009 memorandum. "This crisis of confidence, coupled with a distinct lack of economic and educational opportunity, has created fertile ground for the insurgency."
That was 11 years ago, and little has changed since. Thought the invasion of Afghanistan by Bush was a mistake that would lead to a quagmire, and have been proven correct. Still, initially supported efforts to bring peace and stability there, along with basic human and civil-rights, because after invading felt we had an obligation to rebuild. However, while U.S. blunders there have contributed to a failure, Afghans are their own worst enemy, and no one can help them until enough of them are willing to help themselves.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, along with Reich-wing demagogues and media, who were complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance, and in spreading disinformation and misinformation. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump left office, one out of every 800 Americans had died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 410,000 fatalities, as many American casualties as all of WWII. To put it into further perspective, throughout Trump's catastrophic mishandling of a deadly global pandemic, the U.S. led the world in cases and deaths, suffering nearly 25% of each, despite having only 4.25% of global population, despite having the advantage of being the richest and most advanced nation in the world.
The memorial would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure. Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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@Feynvel ~ You're cherry-picking just one instance where the county was not "flopped," because the human error resulting from a software update not being installed was caught and corrected almost immediately, while vote counting was still ongoing, and long before any election result was certified. So, you're mischaracterizing things, trying to spin gold from straw, making mountains out of molehills, and just generally being dishonest. Or, more likely, you're just being a gullible sucker, because you wish to be willfully ignorant. Amounts to the same thing, anyway.
You're also cherry-picking just one of the examples you gave, because the other stuff is Qanon / Reich-wing utter nonsense, too. Get a clue, not a cult.
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Toxic Trump, at coronavirus press briefing 04/20/20, "We're looking at maybe "only" 50-60,000 deaths in the U.S.!" Just three days later, the toll surpassed 50,000; six days after that, it went over 61,000. On 05/04/20--a mere two weeks after Trump's delusional pronouncement--the U.S. reached 70,000 deaths. Now, because of some state and local governments opening up their economies too soon is blatant disregard of Trump administration's own guidelines, the CDC Mayday report projects new highs of 3,000 deaths and 200,000 new cases per DAY by June. That would put us at 100-150,000 deaths--just by the end of June, alone. That's acceptable, here in America? Since when?
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of crackpot conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of greed, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of plutocrats, the party of corruption, the party of anti-democracy, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their pact with the Devil.
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Freedoms can exist only up to the point they infringe upon the freedom of others. Religious tolerance can be practiced only up to the point it becomes intolerant of others. Our Constitution is a secular document, not a religious one, and it was certainly never intended to be a suicidal death pact. Getting vaccinated and following CDC guidelines brings freedom from preventable illness or injury, and a senseless premature death, but the mindless fascist Republican cult only believes in freeDUMB. Just as they don't understand or would deny the Constitution is as much about the common good as personal liberties, and that those two things are intrinsically and inextricably intertwined.
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge." ~ Ben Franklin, from Poor Richard's Almanack
Those who scorn public health guidelines during a deadly global pandemic and confuse a grievous public health issue with "essential" liberty to kill and harm themselves and their fellow citizens--as well as their nation--sorely lack both care and knowledge. They are also sorely lacking in common sense, something else about which Mr. Franklin was quite keen. Mr. Franklin was also one our nation's first scientists--yet these modern-day knuckleheads who ought know better refute science! Were he alive today, he would be rather dismayed, disgruntled, and disgusted with the fascist anti-science Republican cult, that much is crystal clear.
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Unless or until all citizens are free from hate, secure in their civil and human rights, then none of us are. This maxim extends beyond national borders, as well; it is true at all levels of human society, from local to global. So, not only is it the ethical, moral, and humanitarian standard to be achieved--and the only logical approach to human progress and development--it is also in EVERY person's own direct self-interest, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, creed, or sexual orientation.
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The number one threat to America now is from Reich-wing domestic terrorists, incited by Trump, and Reich-wing media, politicians, and demagogues. Climate change, formerly considered the greatest threat, is now number two. Russia, formerly number one before climate change replaced it, is now the third greatest threat. China is fourth. All of these threats must be aggressively confronted and addressed, but Republicans are only exacerbating the top three threats, and have no real practical solutions for dealing with the fourth.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-‘n-‘Thief, Toxic Trump, so much—although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages—as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, divisive, anti-democratic raving lunatic and his corruption, a man compromised by foreign nations, including our principle adversary, through his tremendous debt, presenting our most serious national security threat. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself, mental illness, and his upbringing, who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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How testing failures allowed coronavirus to sweep the U.S.
The Trump administration’s decision to forgo a World Health Organization test and create its own had fateful consequences, experts say.
By Joanne Kenen -- Politico -- 03/06/20
On Saturday Jan. 11 — a month and a half before the first Covid-19 case not linked to travel was diagnosed in the United States — Chinese scientists posted the genome of the mysterious new virus, and within a week virologists in Berlin had produced the first diagnostic test for the disease.
Soon after, researchers in other nations rolled out their own tests, too, sometimes with different genetic targets. By the end of February, the World Health Organization had shipped tests to nearly 60 countries.
The United States was not among them.
Why the United States declined to use the WHO test, even temporarily as a bridge until the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention could produce its own test, remains a perplexing question and the key to the Trump administration’s failure to provide enough tests to identify the coronavirus infections before they could be passed on, according to POLITICO interviews with dozens of viral-disease experts, former officials and some officials within the administration’s health agencies.
The slowness of the testing regimen — which, administration officials acknowledged this week, is still not producing enough tests to meet the national demand — was the first, and most sweeping, of many failures. So far there have been confirmed cases in at least 23 states, and at least 15 deaths, while the stock market plunged and an otherwise healthy economy braced for a major disruption.
But neither the CDC nor the coronavirus task force chaired by Vice President Mike Pence would say who made the decision to forgo the WHO test and instead begin a protracted process of producing an American test, one that got delayed by manufacturing problems, possible lab contamination and logistical delays.
“Please provide an explanation for why the Covid-19 diagnostic test approved by the World Health Organization was not used,” Sen. Patty Murray, the ranking Democrat on the Senate health committee, who represents the hard-hit state of Washington, asked in a 3½-page letter on the testing fiasco to Pence, Health Secretary Alex Azar, CDC director Robert Redfield, and Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn.
So far, none has been provided.
“We developed a test very rapidly after China produced the [genetic] sequence. We are in the process of validating that and that’s the test we’re going to be using,” said the CDC’s Stephen Redd, a 30-year veteran of the agency, at a recent briefing, even as members of the presidential task force acknowledged that the pace of testing had lagged.
Azar, who initially led the White House response and has now been sidelined by Pence, also has kept defending the testing regime.
“We’ve actually been progressing with this on par with our peer countries,” he told reporters recently.
* * *
The government’s incapacity to conduct widespread testing slowed diagnoses, creating chains of infection. It also deprived epidemiologists of a map that could have told them how far and how fast the virus was traveling and where they should concentrate efforts to slow it down.
But there were additional problems with the administration’s approach to testing, according to experts and former officials. From the start, the White House focused on containment, trusting that a limited ban on travel to and from China could somehow force a fast-moving virus to stop cold when it hit the Chinese border. But, while containment might have helped buy the U.S. some time, without aggressive domestic surveillance through testing, it was an incomplete strategy.
“They needed and still need to be searching for where the cases are, instead of trusting that limited travel bans were keeping out a virus that was probably already on the march,” said former FDA Commissioner David Kessler.
That wasn’t how the president viewed it.
“China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus,” Trump tweeted on Jan. 24. “The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American People, I want to thank President Xi!”
But once the CDC finally began its national testing regime, it faltered in almost every way imaginable.
The initial tests didn’t work, and officials are probing whether there was possible contamination. The protocol for who could be tested was restricted to people already known to have been exposed to the virus or who had been in China, even as the epidemic raced to multiple countries like Japan, South Korea, Italy and Iran.
Decisions about testing are usually made by scientists, but Democrats have accused the White House of putting politics above expertise — and lacking a coherent response.
“We are staring down a potential pandemic,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said recently. “We have a crisis of coronavirus, and President Trump has no plan, no urgency, no understanding of the facts or how to coordinate a response.”
The failures weren’t by any means the CDC’s alone. The FDA did not immediately trigger a regulatory workaround enabling qualified medical centers to roll out tests that they had designed themselves — tests that are now starting to become more widely available.
And the mistakes were not just in testing.
Trump repeatedly boasted of airport screening and travel restrictions — which Azar and other administration leaders touted as aggressive and historic in their scope — but experts told POLITICO that those measures that were far too little, too late, and too focused on China.
“I closed them down very early, against the advice of almost everybody, and we’ve been given rave reviews,” Trump proclaimed to a Fox News audience at a televised town hall this week.
But after the virus started spreading and cases popped up outside China, the U.S. policy did not immediately change.
Other failures appear to have been related to a lack of preparation within agencies that spanned administrations but certainly continued through the first three years of Trump’s tenure.
Masks and gowns were in short supply despite years of talk about bulking up federal emergency stockpiles — without Congress appropriating enough money. A whistleblower has alleged HHS staff were inadequately protected when greeting U.S. evacuees returning from Wuhan, China. The CDC has had trouble wrangling passenger information from airlines to contact people who may have been exposed on flights, administration officials said. And health officials are trying to figure out how to handle a second “floating petri dish” in the Pacific, another cruise ship contagion with elderly passengers at high risk. With some passengers already sick, test kits were delivered by helicopter.
James Lawler, a global-health expert at the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Global Center for Health Security, where some coronavirus evacuees are being treated and the possible course of the epidemic is being modeled, said the government’s failures have been so extensive that when asked what went out more about the cookies we use. wrong, he parried, “What went right?”
Airport passenger screening has gotten less scrutiny than testing, but it appears to be lagging, too. Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf told House lawmakers that Customs and Border Protection and medical staff had screened more than 50,000 passengers on flights from China and Iran who were funneled through 11 airports. But the screening, which involved measures such as testing people for elevated body temperatures, may have detected only one in three infected travelers arriving from overseas, Harvard School of Public Health communicable disease expert Marc Lipsitch told a news briefing this week.
“I think you could have certainly hundreds, if not more, cases around the United States by this point,” he said.
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/06/coronavirus-testing-failure-123166
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Republican cult morons rail against the very "elite" they keep voting for, who give tax cuts to the rich and have created the greatest income inequality and wealth disparity in American history.
Why? They are driven by the divisive fear and bigotry programmed into them 24/7 by the Reich-wing media and propaganda owned or funded by the plutocracy. It's absolutely Orwellian, and it began around 1984 in America. What is witnessed now is just the rotten results from the poisoned tree bearing fruition. It's the disease killing America that existed long before COVID-19, and which is likely to persist long after.
Republican cult going to believe what the Republican cult wants to believe, whatever the truth, whatever proof, whatever anybody says. "Healing" the country means deprogramming the 30-40% of Americans deep in cultdom. That needs to be recognized, acknowledged, and acted upon if we truly wish to revive the patient, America, and restore it to glory.
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Tucker Carlson and Faux News: mainstreaming American fascism and deadly lies, killing America and Americans purely for profit.
FAUX News is happy to push Russian propaganda for Putin and disinformation for plutocrats and fascists, but the truth is verboten on Reich-wing media! Sad, pathetic, disgusting and dangerous.
America's enemies don't need to spread disinformation, doubt, discord, and division to weaken America, kill Americans--Republican politicians, Reich-wing demagogues, Faux News, OAN, Newsmax, Breitbart and the rest of the Reich-wing media do that so effectively for them, already. More Americans need to realize that the GOP has abdicated it's duty as loyal opposition, and that its prioritization of party over country and welcoming embrace of violent radical Reich-wing extremists diminishes both our government and our national security, endangering ALL Americans, as well as weakening and endangering America itself.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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@Mon.M0TIVATION ~ And hacksaw blades are made for cutting metal, including steel up to 1/2" thick. Unlike hacksaw blades used years ago which were made of low alloy steel and therefore brittle and prone to breakage, modern hacksaw blades for cutting through metal are bimetal in composition and more flexible, and a 14tpi bimetal blade can cut through steel quite quickly----in less than half a minute with a manual hacksaw. An 18tpi bimetal blade only adds a few seconds to accomplishing the same task. Of course, it is possible to cut through steel thicker than 1/2" with a hacksaw, but that takes a bit more time and effort. However, the new sections of Trump's wall are often breached with a portable Sawzall reciprocating saw power tool. And, as demonstrated by rock climbers, the "impenetrable barrier" can be scaled and breached in as little as thirteen seconds.
Trump's wall only provides the illusion of security, and is a huge waste of our taxpayer dollars. Humanitarian organizations that put out water for immigrants have attested that the wall has not decreased the flow of immigrants; that they are still finding ways through, and they are still filling water stations along the border at the same rate as previous.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian nationalism religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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Because humans have neglected to take aggressive action to curb our hydrocarbon usage and emissions, have refused to take climate change seriously, now what we are witnessing is a snowball effect, where the problem is exacerbated by fires burning in the Amazon, in Greece, in the western U.S. and Canada, raising temperatures and adding more CO2 and other greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. As the frozen tundra thaws, methane gases are being released, and as water bodies warm, methane hydrates formerly trapped at the bottom rise into the air, releasing even more methane gas. As more and more surface ice is lost on land and in the ocean, less sunlight is reflected back into space, causing more heat gain. Humans have set into motion a self-perpetuating loop; a cycle which we may well be powerless to stop, and which will destroy life on Earth as it has existed for millions of years.
What we are witnessing and experiencing is only just the beginning of the reckoning for human stupidity, greed, apathy, and short-sightedness. Pretty soon, with so many suffering, empathy will be in short supply. I fear what is to come for the human race, for our children, for their children, and all who follow after, and the sorrow I feel for them and our planet, for all that will be lost, overwhelms. Because this didn't have to happen. We knew decades ago that we were creating our own apocalypse, and took no more than token measures to stop it. And humans continue to dawdle, fiddling while the planet burns.
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Trump excluded the Afghan government from peace negotiations with the Taliban, legitimizing the Taliban by making a separate peace deal with them and delegitimizing the government we worked so long and hard at so much cost to build and support, while releasing 5,000 Taliban prisoners and agreeing to withdraw all U.S. forces by May 1, 2021, guaranteeing failure. Moreover, Trump eviscerated the refugee program for Afghan and Iraqi allies visa programs, creating a huge backlog over several years. A federal judge even ruled Trump's delaying of those visas illegal. Furthermore, Trump abandoned are Kurdish allies in Syria and Iraq. Trump and Pompeo could hardly have screwed up our foreign policy any worse, and the damage they did will take decades to repair. But the Republican cult morons are too stupid to know and too stupid to care; they'll just deny and try to shift blame, as usual.
Liz Cheney's right----it didn't have to happen this way: her father, Dick Cheney, and George Bush were responsible for the deterioration of affairs in Afghanistan by diverting troops and resources to conduct an illegal invasion of Iraq on the false premise of WMD and Iraq harboring terrorists. The situation in Afghanistan never recovered from that fatal mistake by Cheney and Bush; it allowed the Taliban to regroup and come back bigger and stronger than ever. Cheney and Bush's illegal war in Iraq also resulted in the emergence of ISIS.
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--Instead of striving to bring out the best in people, Toxic Trump reveled in bringing out the very worst.
--Instead of uniting the country, Toxic Trump sought to divide us.
--Instead of abiding by and honoring our Constitution and the rule of law, Toxic Trump held them in disdain, disregarded them, and degraded them.
--Instead of strengthening democracy and our cherished institutions, Toxic Trump worked to diminish and destroy them.
--Instead of insuring a peaceful transfer power after losing the election, Toxic Trump kept insisting against all evidence that he won, and incited a terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol.
--Instead of confronting a serious threat to Americans with a deadly global pandemic, Toxic Trump lied to the American people about it, ignored it, and refused to take any responsibility for his gross homicidal criminal negligence that resulted in over 400,000 lives in just ten months--as many casualties as all of WWII.
--Instead of creating jobs, Toxic Trump was the first President since the Great Depression to preside over a net loss of jobs over his tenure.
--Instead of lowering the national deficit, Toxic Trump increased it from 19.2 trillion to 27 trillion.
--Instead of raising our standing and security in the world, Toxic Trump lowered and weakened it.
--Instead of draining the swamp, Toxic Trump turned it into a noxious overflowing Republican sewer.
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Democrats: Put the least among us first to make us all strong. Religious or not, keep faith (superstition) and government (reality) separate, the former personal and private, the latter public and transparent.
Republicans: Put themselves first, prey upon the weak, hypocritical posers cowardly hiding behind their plastic Jeebus and the polyester flag, while they diminish, degrade, and destroy us with their ignorance, malevolence, arrogance, and avarice.
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Worst economic downturn in American history, catastrophically botched COVID-19 pandemic response with over 160,000 senseless American deaths. TWENTY straight weeks of over ONE MILLION new unemployment claims. Deaths projected to double by the end of year due to most corrupt, incompetent, racist, and ignorant President in U.S. history. A treasonous President that compromised himself with Russia, who refuses to hold the U.S. principle foreign adversary accountable for its attacks on America, who won't even speak out against Russian bounties on U.S. soldiers. Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy: "Toxic Trump is doing a helluva job!" Rabid right-wing cult media is DESTROYING America!
What's really confusing America is Newsmax, Faux News, and all the other rabid right-wing media outlets propagating and spreading disinformation. Without the supporting cast of willing supplicant proto-fascist right-wing media exploiting and profiting from them, the lies and distortions of Toxic Trump and Republicans would hold very little power, and could not persist.
Anyone really all that surprised that the CEO of Newsmax, Chris Ruddy, is a dishonest partisan hack with no character or integrity whatsoever? If so, that's only because you've never seen Newsmax.
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Merrick Garland: "Trump and Congressional Republicans screwed me out of a seat on the Supreme Court...that's why now as AG I can't prosecute them for the many crimes they've committed!"
Merrick Garland’s House Testimony Demonstrated the Failure of His Hyper-Cautious Approach to His Job
Despite Garland’s many efforts to not appear political by declining to investigate Trump and his cronies for possible crimes and by using DOJ resources to actively protect Trump from civil liability, Republicans are still portraying him as the most political attorney general in history.
The other weakness of Garland’s timid approach was on full view during his opening statement and responses to Democratic members of Congress. “The essence of the rule of law is that like cases are treated alike. That there not be one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans; one rule for friends, another for foes,” Garland stated grandly. But by declining to investigate Trump and his associates, Garland is enabling further attacks on our democracy. (While proving inequity by putting Republicans above the law.)
Crucially, the two parties are not the same. Garland’s standard sets up a false equivalency between the Democratic Party and a political party whose national leader, Donald Trump, incited and celebrated a violent assault on our nation’s Capitol to overthrow the results of a free and fair election and who continues to portray the insurrection as a glorious “protest.” To that end, in the middle of the attorney general’s testimony, Trump issued a statement highlighting Garland’s feebleness at failing to even investigate the organizers and leaders of the Jan. 6 events, declaring “the insurrection took place on November 3, Election Day. January 6 was the Protest!”
Garland’s efforts to depoliticize the DOJ have proved to be an abdication of his responsibility to protect the rule of law. Take just a few examples: Garland’s failure to reconsider the obstruction of justice case against the former president, his deferral of an investigation of possible financial crimes by Trump and his organization to local prosecutors in New York City and Westchester, his use of the DOJ to protect Trump from defamation allegations, and his deferral of a soliciting of voter fraud felony probe in Georgia to local prosecutors there. By abdicating his responsibility, Garland is also opening the door for Trump to commit these possibly criminal abuses all over again, this time with the full support of the Republican Party, and maybe ultimately return to power.
--Mark Stern
"Try as he may, Merrick Garland cannot perform boring independence fast enough to outrun GOP claims that he’s a wild-eyed, violent socialist. And while the GOP currently exists only to cast everything you thought you believed into doubt, the real endgame is vigilantism. The endgame is to ensure that people mistrust government, election systems, school boards, (teachers, health care officials) the media, and the justice system enough to lend a hand in their destruction."
--Dahlia Lithwick
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth and justice--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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Toxic Trump toady Ma Brix: "American people. American people. American people. American people. American people. Does it bother me that 55,000 American people have needlessly died because of Trump's negligence, ignorance, and incompetence; that states are not following OUR CDC and Federal directives and guidelines, guaranteeing the deaths of many more thousands of Americans; that the President's public speculation about ingesting disinfectants is both grossly irresponsible and highly dangerous? No. What bothers me is that they are still in the news cycle! American people. American people. American people. American people. American people."
Don't let the soft-spoken granny act fool you--Ma Brix is far better at disseminating the Trump propaganda than even SmellyAnne Con-her-way. Anyone notice how she keeps blinking like crazy--only when asked questions holding the Trump administration accountable for its horrific bungling of its pathetic pandemic response? Like blinking can block out the truth, or something. Can't close the ears, so keep closing the eyes. Big trouble is, she's blocking out the American people from getting the whole truth! And, she's completely trashing her hard-earned reputation, destroying her credibility, along with the public's confidence in her ability and objectivity. She's not so smart as she thinks she is. She isn't just failing the American people, she's failing herself!
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GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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Deny, denigrate, distract, degrade, deflect, divide, disparage, dissemble, diminish, deceive, dehumanize, devolve, destroy = deranged, debased, dishonest, depraved, dysfunctional, destructive, disgusting, dupliticious, deplorable, demented, derelict, degenerate, dumb! That's the dirty doggone deal about the Republican cult. Nothing's changed except the slimy slugs slithered forth from under their rock, in a sick symbiosis enabling their enabler, Racist and Rapist-in-Chief Trump. It's not rally around the flag; it's rally around their hate!
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump accountable for his many FEDERAL crimes, or are they going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a President is a King and above the law?
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Republicans are willing to gain and hold power at any cost...even if the price is our democracy!
Farmer wakes up one morning, goes outside to milk his cows, and discovers his entire herd is missing! So, he then walks over nest door to where the Republican cult lives, notices them grinding a whole bunch of beef into hamburger, and asks them, "Did you see what happened to all my cows?"
Republican cult: "Yeah, they jumped over the moon."
Farmer: "Do you have any actual evidence of that?"
Republican cult: "No, because they landed on the dark side, and you can't see them over there. But we're conducting a bunch of investigations and fraudits, and we're confident evidence will soon emerge to prove it!"
Farmer: "You know, that sounds like a load of manure!"
Republican cult: "Well, that's what we all choose to believe!"
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Ignorant Republicans, Governors and Mayors:
DO YOU UNDERSTAND???
A virus can't think. But you can.
The real war isn't against this virus--it's against our own IGNORANCE and HUBRIS!
Restarting an economy REQUIRES first protecting public health in the midst of a deadly global pandemic. That's just plain, old-fashioned, common sense, fools! States, localities, and CITIZENS not fully on board with recommended protocols, guidelines--acting hastily and rashly in willful disregard of medical experts, the science, and the data--are PROLONGING isolation measures for EVERYONE, only DELAYING economic recovery in the U.S., while you are disabling and KILLING even more Americans.
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"As many as 70,000 Americans could be confirmed as infected with coronavirus by the end of next week, marking a “pretty dramatic” increase in the number of confirmed cases, the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, told his employees in an agency-wide conference call on 03/20/20."
Except 03/21/20 saw a 33% jump in U.S. cases, from 18,000 to over 24,000. If continuing at 33% every 24 hours, the number of confirmed cases is trending much higher than just 70,000 by 03/27/20. Suspect confirmed cases will be double that. Bear in mind, states hardest hit are not testing many people, saving the tests for those most in need. So the actual number of infected Americans is going to be far higher than just what limited testing of the population has so far confirmed. Don't think this fact is being given enough attention. More important than the number of cases confirmed is the number contracting the disease and not getting tested, spreading the disease, in many cases unknowingly. Hospital projections are for about 100 MILLION Americans to become infected, with about 500,000 dead from covid-19.
(Update 5: Friday, 03/27/20, confirmed U.S. cases 105,000--which is 50% over NIH high-end estimate; deaths 1,700 by end of day. The perspective for cases is significantly skewed low and thus highly misleading, however, as just 0.17% of U.S. population has been tested to date.)
03/29/20 -- 143,000 confirmed cases; 2,450 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
03/30/20 -- 165,000 confirmed cases; 3,250 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
03/31/20 -- 190,000 confirmed cases; 4,200 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
04/01/20 -- 217,000 confirmed cases; 5,150 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
04/02/20 -- 246,000 confirmed cases; 6,050 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/03/20 -- 278,000 confirmed cases; 7,150 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/04/20 -- 312,000 confirmed cases; 9,400 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/05/20 -- 338,000 confirmed cases; 9,700 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/06/20 -- 369,000 confirmed cases; 11,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/07/20 -- 400,000 confirmed cases; 13,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. Figures indicate a Covid-19 fatality rate for TESTED Americans at 3.25%.
04/08/20 -- 432,000 confirmed cases; 15,900 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S.
04/09/20 -- 466,000 confirmed cases; 16,700 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S.
04/10/20 -- 502,000 confirmed cases; 18,800 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S.
04/11/20 -- 530,000 confirmed cases; 20,500 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S.
04/12/20 -- 558,000 confirmed cases; 22,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S. With just 4.25% of the world's population, the U.S. has 30% of the COVID-19 infections and 20% of the COVID-19 deaths. So far, the U.S. has the very WORST response of ANY nation, something formerly inconceivable, and inexcusable that it could now be allowed to happen here.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of crackpot conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of greed, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of plutocrats, the party of corruption, the party of anti-democracy, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their pact with the Devil.
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GOP cult: “Democracy is great…only so long as we can subvert it with lies, cheating, a multitude of Jim Crow voter suppression laws, egregious gerrymandering, obstruction, coups, election interference, election fraud, sedition, insurrection and terrorism to gain power and maintain our corrupt, plutocratic, minority fascist rule!”
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Toxic Trump: "I'm the BEST, just absolutely CRUSHING the competition, with over TWO POINT THREE MILLION coronavirus cases and over 120--one-hundred and twenty!!!--THOUSAND deaths! They ALL got eighty-sixed, 'cause nobody else even comes close! With a third of the world's cases and a quarter of deaths--can you even imagine how truly great, how awesome, that achievement is, with only just FOUR PERCENT of the world's population to work with? Believe it or not, I accomplished in only FIVE WEEKS what it took the Vietnam War a whole TWELVE YEARS to do! PLUS, we're not even counting ALL the COVID-19 cases and deaths here in the U.S.! Those other weaklings and losers don't stand a chance, because we're going to keep right on winning--as long as I'm in charge! Now, vacation's over; time to get back to work on increasing those numbers, people! Let's keep America great, get rid of all the excess baggage! As wartime President, I am commanding all CIVILIANS to senselessly sacrifice their lives for my arrogance, stupidity, vanity, malevolence, and greed!"
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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Have never watched your videos before, and probably never will again, because found this video on the Covid-19 lab theory rather sketchy in a number of respects, sensationalistic, not very objective, and NOT quality journalism. Ironic how you are relying on reputable journalistic sources, while simultaneously trashing them. Ironic, also, how you build up the reputation of the "bat lady" and choose to believe some of her statements, but then denigrate her reputation and words where it doesn't fit the pet theory you are pushing. Things are conflated, facts are omitted, and things are misrepresented in this video.
No, we didn't have all the information back in February 2020 to lend the lab leak theory much credence, which is why it was regarded by epidemiologists as a fringe theory, and reported by reputable media as such. The science changes as new data becomes available. This piece comes across as largely self-promotion and exploitation of this issue, as you surely must realize that those looking to blame China for the virus for political reasons in the U.S. will ignore your disclaimers, while touting only those parts you have disingenuously emphasized. Because we should listen to Tom Cotton, a Republican politician in D.C. with a vested interest in deflecting away from Trump's gross incompetence and negligence in his mishandling of Covid-19, costing the U.S. an excess of a half-million senseless deaths and untold suffering, someone who has an extensive history of climate change denial, and who is in the back pocket of the big polluters?
Because comedian Jon Stewart is an expert on coronaviruses, right? Why no interviews with actual leading epidemiologists, who still hold a broad consensus that the origin of Covid-19 is most likely natural (not just the scientist you singled out whose reputation you smear to fit your theory)? It's obvious that the reason is because your interest is not in actually finding out the truth about the question you pose, but in pushing an unproven theory that you can exploit for your own personal profit.
As someone who stays informed, using a wide variety of reputable MSM sources, never felt that ANY theory was completely ruled out, and personally continue to keep an open mind. Furthermore, I do think that China's lack of transparency deserves condemnation, and would support punitive measures to coerce openness and cooperation in finding the origins of Covid-19. For those desiring a far more objective perspective on this without all the self-promotion, disingenuousness, and hoopla, NY Times just recently published an excellent article covering this same topic:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/14/world/asia/china-covid-wuhan-lab-leak.html
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Problem is that the masking strategy doesn't work very well unless everyone is wearing masks. Just recently, a teacher in California took off her mask only long enough to read a short story to the class. Turned out she had Covid-19, and she passed it to every child in the first two rows, causing them all to be quarantined and miss in-person classes. With this new Delta variant, masking, social distancing, and adequate ventilation in schools is even more important than ever, whether vaccinated or not. Vaccination is still the most important, the best layer of protection, because those vaccinated are less likely to contract and spread the disease, and because they are less likely to get severely sick, filling up hospitals and ICU beds, and less likely to die.
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Let's just call January 6 what it actually was -- a Republican smash and grab, an act of violent larceny against democracy and our government, sedition employing domestic terrorism right out in open sight. It was just one of Trump's failed attempts to achieve an autogolpe.
"Without accountability, an attempted autogolpe and insurrection is just practice."
"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ― Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
So, why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. Because our democracy, our institutions, and our very security are seriously endangered. And because rule of law and justice for all really does matter.
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Setting aside the sleazy immoral Reich-wing grifters at the top -- people like Trump, Congressional Republicans, Reich-wing demagogues and media -- the rank-and-file of the GOP has become a fascist cult. To be clear, Trump did not create the cult, it existed before him. He merely served as a unifying figure they chose to rally around and worship as their fool's gold god. Trump appealed to their basest nature and told them what they wanted to hear. Now, those Reich-wing grifters may have cultivated their cult to exploit for their own greed, power and vanity, but at least to some extent the Republican cult in turn seeks to exploit the GOP for their own various misguided purposes. They CHOOSE to be willfully ignorant, to believe or espouse the lies, because as a political calculus they shortsightedly see it as expedient to their ends.
What must also be taken into consideration are the characteristics of a cult. Why do people join a cult? Why do they choose to remain in a cult? No need to go into detail; the answers are largely common knowledge or easily researched. But it should be pointed out that in a complex world, the simplistic and rigid beliefs embraced by cults can be very alluring, no matter how fantastical and removed from reality. It should also be acknowledged that the Republican cult is not a monolithic entity, but an amalgamation of sects, including White supremacists, Christian nationalists, libertarians, sovereign nationals, anarchists, tax resistors, Qanon and other extremist fringe groups. Of course, not every Republican is an extremist, a fascist, or untethered from reality. But this latter more benign group is nevertheless part of the fascist Republican cult, complicit in their support of the whole, whether through their silent acquiescence and votes or willing assistance.
It's a very dangerous feedback loop, a vicious circle, one that as it sinks further into depravity its threat correspondingly rises, for as the Republican cult has over time been becoming increasingly more radicalized, we witness the election of more radical politicians to represent them, more radicalized Reich-wing media and demagogues to feed them propaganda. While some Republicans are leaving the GOP and some others are speaking out and trying to save their party, they constitute a weak minority, unfortunately.
In a normal, sane world, the Republican cult would have ended or been marginalized after the Mueller Report, after Trump's Ukraine shakedown and impeachment, after Trump's horrendous handling of a deadly global pandemic, after his election defeat, or after January 6th and his second impeachment. But that hasn't happened. Instead, the Republican cult continues to become increasingly more radicalized and extreme. As President Biden says, "We are in a battle for the soul of this nation." And that battle is far from over.
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GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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GOP cult is NOT the party of law and order, NOT the party of the Constitution and patriots, NOT the party of "values," NOT the party of "Christianity,"_* NOT the party of fiscal responsibility, NOT the party of clean government, NOT the party of freedom. It's the party of terrorism, lawlessness, corruption, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry, misogyny, Big Lies, unmitigated greed, gross hypocrisy, socialized taxpayer payouts for plutocrats, sedition, traitors, and tyranny.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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@brianfosbrook3455 ~ Since you asked, Doc, we'll lay out a just a partial list for you:
--Instead of striving to bring out the best in people, Toxic Trump reveled in bringing out the very worst.
--Instead of uniting the country, Toxic Trump sought to divide us.
--Instead of abiding by and honoring our Constitution and the rule of law, Toxic Trump held them in disdain, disregarded them, and degraded them, running the most corrupt administration in U.S. history..
--Instead of strengthening democracy and our cherished institutions, Toxic Trump worked to diminish and destroy them, inciting a terrorist insurrection against his own government, attempting a coup to steal an election.
--Instead of insuring a peaceful transfer power after losing the election, Toxic Trump kept insisting against all evidence that he won, continuously repeating the Big Lie that resulted in the terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol.
--Instead of confronting a serious threat to Americans with a deadly global pandemic, Toxic Trump lied to the American people about it, ignored it, and refused to take any responsibility for his gross homicidal criminal negligence that resulted in one out of every 800 Americans dying from COVID-19--over 400,000 lives in just ten months, as many casualties as all of WWII.
--Instead of confronting the ever-increasing existential crisis from climate change and its harmful effects, Toxic Trump gutted regulations, exacerbating the problem and poisoning citizens.
--Instead of creating jobs, Toxic Trump was the first President since the Great Depression to preside over a net loss of jobs over his tenure.
--Instead of lowering the national deficit, Toxic Trump increased it from 19.2 trillion to 27 trillion.
--Instead of building bridges, humane immigration reform, and infrastructure, Toxic Trump built walls, cages, and concentration camps, separated children from mothers, allowed American infrastructure to decline and deteriorate, rejected economic opportunity.
--Instead of raising our standing and security in the world, Toxic Trump lowered and weakened it.
--Instead of draining the swamp, Toxic Trump turned it into a noxious overflowing Republican sewer.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, John Eastman and all other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed? If Garland doesn't stand up for the rule of law, justice and democracy, this nation is soon doomed.
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
18 U.S.C. §2383 -- Rebellion or insurrection
Whoever incites, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof … shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.
18 U.S.C. §2384 -- Seditious conspiracy
If two or more persons … in any place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof, … they shall each be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.
18 U.S.C. §2385 -- Advocating overthrow of Government
Whoever knowingly or willfully advocates, abets, advises, or teaches the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying the government of the United States or the government of any State … by force or violence, ... they shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.
18 U.S. Code § 2331 -- Domestic Terrorism (Supplemental penalty of up to 17 years imprisonment)
(5) the term “domestic terrorism” means activities that—
(A) involve acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State;
(B) appear to be intended—
(i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population;
(ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or
(iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and
(C) occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States
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Got two American dead and more Americans dying from COVID-19, and who knows how many infected because this administration can't get its act together, still can't provide the requisite testing kits to keep the American people safe, still spreading extremely dangerous disinformation, dismissing a very real threat to public health as a "hoax."
But all that's important to Trump and his ilk are getting laughs with vituperative, vindictive partisan demagoguery at their annual gala of gluttony CPAC conference--sticking it to the other side to assuage insecurities, so these losers can claim to be "winning." Pathetic, sickening, shocking, enraging, and highly alarming. BTW, the Presidency shouldn't be a stand-up comedian routine. We got a bad joke played upon us, instead of a real President. Big trouble is, Republicans just don't have what it takes to admit their mistakes--prefer to be yellow weasels bringing the whole nation down.
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Dr. "Babbling" Birx is laying bricks, lying and dissembling! Says she trusts churches and churchgoers to make it safe, not go to church if sick--knowing asymptomatic people don't know they're sick, and can't be detected! Then, there's the fact that many religious people gather at religious shrines and places of worship hoping to be "healed" when sick. Moreover, she knows "Pastor" Tony Spelling in Louisiana was packing his megachurch during the middle of a severe outbreak, busing them in from a 50-mile radius; she knows all about the devastating spread in South Korea from religious services, she knows about the super-spreader event at the church in Oregon defying state lockdown orders. Dr. Birx KNOWS the U.S. lacks the requisite testing capabilities to reopen safely. Dr. Birx KNOWS how Toxic Trump has ignorantly politicized a global pandemic, sent conflicting messages to the public. Dr. Birx KNOWS a good proportion of Americans are NOT following basic CDC guidelines; NOT wearing masks, NOT social distancing. And she knows without detailed specific CDC federal guidelines, we got chaos, sickness, and MORE senseless deaths. Birx needs to have her medical license revoked. She can be the next SmellyAnne Con-Her-Way, that's what she wants.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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@mogamadgreyson143 ~ To a large extent, I agree with you. However, Biden's only been in office one month, still doesn't have a full cabinet confirmed, is still formulating a comprehensive foreign policy plan, and inherited troops on the ground who are being attacked. As a practical matter, and as a matter of protecting our brave men and women serving in uniform to protect us, we can't allow such attacks to happen with impunity. Much as we'd all like our sons and daughters, our brothers and sisters, our cousins and friends to come home, if the U.S. abandons the Middle East or some of these other zones of conflict, we leava a vacuum that will be quickly filled by our enemies, to our own detriment, and to potentially greater loss of American lives in the future. There are no easy answers, much as we may all wish otherwise.
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We got Big Brag Daddy Baghdad Bob broadcasting direct from Washington, D.C. daily, with Toxic Trump and a revolving cast of his sycophantic minions! Happy talk, disinformation, empty promises, idle threats, vicious smears, bogus pandemic models, dog whistles, continuous crackpot conspiracies--they got it all, and more!
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Trump Has Sabotaged America’s Coronavirus Response
by Laura Garrett
In 2018, the Trump administration fired the government’s entire pandemic response chain of command, including the White House management infrastructure. In numerous phone calls and emails with key agencies across the U.S. government, the only consistent response I encountered was distressed confusion.
....
White House efforts included reducing $15 billion in national health spending and cutting the global disease-fighting operational budgets of the CDC, NSC, DHS, and HHS. And the government’s $30 million Complex Crises Fund was eliminated.
In May 2018, Trump ordered the NSC’s entire global health security unit shut down, calling for reassignment of Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer and dissolution of his team inside the agency. The month before, then-White House National Security Advisor John Bolton pressured Ziemer’s DHS counterpart, Tom Bossert, to resign along with his team. Neither the NSC nor DHS epidemic teams have been replaced. The global health section of the CDC was so drastically cut in 2018 that much of its staff was laid off and the number of countries it was working in was reduced from 49 to merely 10. Meanwhile, throughout 2018, the U.S. Agency for International Development and its director, Mark Green, came repeatedly under fire from both the White House and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. And though Congress has so far managed to block Trump administration plans to cut the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps by 40 percent, the disease-fighting cadres have steadily eroded as retiring officers go unreplaced.
Public health advocates have been ringing alarm bells to no avail.
Ronald Klain, who directed U.S. efforts on Ebola, has been warning for two years that the United States was in grave danger should a pandemic emerge. In 2017 and 2018, the philanthropist billionaire Bill Gates met repeatedly with Bolton and his predecessor, H.R. McMaster, warning that ongoing cuts to the global health disease infrastructure would render the United States vulnerable to, as he put it, the “significant probability of a large and lethal modern-day pandemic occurring in our lifetimes.” And an independent, bipartisan panel formed by the Center for Strategic and International Studies concluded that lack of preparedness was so acute in the Trump administration that the “United States must either pay now and gain protection and security or wait for the next epidemic and pay a much greater price in human and economic costs.”
https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/31/coronavirus-china-trump-united-states-public-health-emergency-response/
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Traitor Trump was less than five minutes away, all he had to do to stop the carnage on January 6th was go down there and say, "Alright, children, that's our hallowed halls of Congress, not some playhouse for you to piss and shit all over, terrorizing Congressional members, their staffs, and the Vice President and his family! And stop beating up policemen! That's not nice, at all! You come out of there right NOW! You're all getting a time out!"
And you know what? They would have listened to him, because the Republican cult are brainwashed sheep who made Trump their fool's gold God and worship him.
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The following UNPRECEDENTED statement from ALL members of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff issued will hopefully finally knock some sense into the very thick skulls of the Republican cult. Top military officials prefer to stay out of anything tinged with politics. FOR EVEN ONE to say something after the Republican terrorist insurrection against the U.S. Capitol would be noteworthy and rare enough. For all eight Joint Chiefs to speak out together demonstrates just how PERILOUS they deem this moment to be, indicative of just how very much a CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER to the nation's security posed by the Traitor-'n-Thief:
“The violent riot in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021 was a direct assault on the U.S. Congress the Capitol building, and our Constitutional process. We witnessed actions inside the Capitol building that were inconsistent with the rule of law. The rights of freedom of speech and assembly do not give anyone the right to resort to violence, sedition and insurrection.
As Service Members, we must embody the values and ideals of the Nation. We support and defend the Constitution. Any act to disrupt the Constitutional process is not only against our traditions, values, and oath; it is against the law.
President-elect Joe Biden will be inaugurated and will become our 46th Commander in Chief.”
General Mark A. Milley, U.S. Army, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
General John E. Hyten, U.S. Air Force, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
General James C. McConville, U.S. Army, Chief of Staff of the Army
General David H. Berger, U.S. Marine Corps, Commandant of the Marine Corps
Admiral Michael M. Gilday, U.S. Navy, Chief of Naval Operations
General Charles Q. Brown Jr., U.S. Air Force, Chief of Staff of the Air Force
General John W. Raymond, U.S. Space Force, Chief of Space Operations
General Daniel R. Hokanson, U.S. Army, Chief of the National Guard Bureau
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Trump’s Dangerously Effective Coronavirus Propaganda
The president’s effort to play down the pandemic is being amplified by a coalition of partisan media, digital propagandists, and White House officials.
McKay Coppins
March 11, 2020
From the moment the coronavirus reached the United States, President Donald Trump has seemed determined to construct an alternate reality around the outbreak. In the information universe he has formed, COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, is no worse than the seasonal flu; criticism of his response to it is a “hoax”; and media coverage of the virus is part of a political conspiracy to destroy his presidency.
As with so much of the president’s messaging, this narrative began with tossed-off tweets and impromptu public statements. But in recent days, as U.S. health officials have raised growing concerns about the outbreak, Trump’s efforts to play down the pandemic have been amplified by the same multi-platform propaganda apparatus he’s relying on for reelection in November. From the White House communications office to the MAGA meme warriors of Instagram, from the prime-time partisans on Fox News to the Trump campaign’s Facebook feed, the overarching message has been the same: Pay no attention to the fake-news fearmongering about the coronavirus. It’s all political hype. Things are going great.
Fact-checkers and scientists have scrambled to correct the misinformation coming out of the White House. (No, the virus has not been “contained” in America; no, testing is not available to anybody who wants it; no, people shouldn’t go to work if they’re sick.) But Trump’s message seems to have resonated with his base: A Quinnipiac University poll released this week found that just 35 percent of Republicans are concerned about the virus, compared with 68 percent of Democrats.
The administration’s response to the outbreak has drawn some comparisons to that of the autocratic regimes in China and Iran, where information about the virus was tightly controlled to the detriment of the local populations. But what Trump has actually shown is that he doesn’t need to silence the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or censor the press to undermine politically inconvenient information about a public-health crisis—he can simply use his presidential bullhorn to drown it out.
Scholars who study modern disinformation tactics have identified this approach as “censorship through noise.” (Steve Bannon, the former White House strategist, has described the strategy in blunter terms: “Flood the zone with shit.”) As I reported in my recent feature on the Trump campaign, the purpose of this sort of propaganda blizzard is not to inspire conviction in a certain set of facts; it’s to bombard people with so many contradictory claims, conspiracy theories, what-abouts, and distortions that they simply throw up their hands in confusion and exhaustion.
Spend some time wading through the coronavirus content that’s spreading through the MAGA ecosystem, and it’s easy to see the strategy at work.
Trump supporters have been warned incessantly not to trust mainstream journalistic coverage of the issue. When the market tanked earlier this week, the president blamed it on “fake news.” When White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham appeared on Fox & Friends, she condemned the media for using the virus “as a tool to politicize things and to scare people.”
Meanwhile, Trump’s right-wing media allies are working to minimize the perceived dangers of the coronavirus. “Put it in perspective,” Sean Hannity told his Fox News audience this week. “Twenty-six people were shot in Chicago alone over the weekend. I doubt you heard about it. You notice there’s no widespread hysteria about violence in Chicago. And this has now gone on for years and years and years. By the way, Democratic-run cities, we see a lot of that.” The sentiment was echoed by Tomi Lahren, a Fox Nation host, who invoked California’s homelessness problem to deflect attention from the outbreak: “Call me crazy, but I am far more concerned with stepping on a used heroin needle than I am getting the coronavirus, but maybe that’s just me.”
A key strain of the president’s narrative is that concerns about the coronavirus are being weaponized by bad-faith actors—a notion that has spawned a broad range of conspiracy theories. On Fox Business, Trish Regan accused Trump’s enemies of trying to “create mass hysteria to encourage a market sell-off” that would harm his reelection prospects: “This is impeachment all over again,” she declared. Rush Limbaugh has mused that the president is the target of “virus terrorism.” And on Facebook and Twitter, a meme has begun circulating among Trump fans that darkly suggests a new disease is introduced every election year to influence politics.
Pro-Trump social-media stars have ridiculed people who are afraid of the coronavirus, casting them as ridiculous, or perhaps unmasculine. (“Stop being a baby and go to the gym,” one well-known troll recently wrote beneath a selfie emphasizing his biceps. “Obesity is the real pandemic.”) At the same time, many Republicans are seizing on the outbreak to build support for restrictionist immigration policies and a trade war with China. “We need the Wall more than ever!” Trump tweeted this week.
To the president and his allies, it doesn’t really matter that all these narrative threads don’t perfectly cohere. Muddying the waters is the name of the game, and it’s a strategy that’s carried Trump through numerous political battles over the years.
But sowing strategic doubt about the facts of a global pandemic is fundamentally different from doing it with, say, an impeachment hearing. The dangers are more tangible and immediate to voters, regardless of whether they support Trump. The stakes are higher. And in a crass, political sense, the long-term effectiveness of the effort is limited. Hundreds of new coronavirus cases are being confirmed every day in the U.S. Public events are being canceled, schools are shutting down, containment zones are being implemented by governors. As daily life is disrupted for more and more Americans, Trump’s alternate reality is bound to implode.
Some on the right seem to understand this. Prominent conservative writers such as Ross Douthat and Michael Brendan Dougherty have been covering the outbreak with a sense of urgency. This week, National Review published an editorial criticizing the president’s lackluster response to the virus. Perhaps most notably, Tucker Carlson broke with his prime-time Fox News colleagues this week with a withering monologue that seemed to address Trump without ever saying his name.
“In a crisis, it’s more important than ever to be calm,” Carlson said. “But staying calm is not the same as remaining complacent. It does not mean assuring people that everything will be fine. We don’t know that. Instead, it’s better to tell the truth. That is always the surest sign of strength.”
Will Trump, who has taken cues from Carlson’s show in the past, get the message—or will it be drowned out by the din of the noise machine he helped create?
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/03/trump-coronavirus-threat/607825/
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Republican cult morons rail against the very "elite" they keep voting for, who give tax cuts to the rich and have created the greatest income inequality and wealth disparity in American history.
Why? They are driven by the divisive fear and bigotry programmed into them 24/7 by the Reich-wing media and propaganda owned or funded by the plutocracy. It's absolutely Orwellian, and it began around 1984 in America. What is witnessed now is just the rotten results from the poisoned tree bearing fruition. It's the disease killing America that existed long before COVID-19, and which is likely to persist long after.
Republican cult going to believe what the Republican cult wants to believe, whatever the truth, whatever proof, whatever anybody says. "Healing" the country means deprogramming the 30-40% of Americans deep in cultdom. That needs to be recognized, acknowledged, and acted upon if we truly wish to revive the patient, America, and restore it to glory.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, along with Reich-wing demagogues and media, who were complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance, and in spreading disinformation and misinformation. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump left office, one out of every 800 Americans had died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 410,000 fatalities, as many American casualties as all of WWII. To put it into further perspective, throughout Trump's catastrophic mishandling of a deadly global pandemic, the U.S. led the world in cases and deaths, suffering nearly 25% of each, despite having only 4.25% of global population, despite having the advantage of being the richest and most advanced nation in the world.
The memorial would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure. Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again." ― Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney
More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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Because humans have neglected to take aggressive action to curb our hydrocarbon usage and emissions, have refused to take climate change seriously, now what we are witnessing is a snowball effect, where the problem is exacerbated by fires burning in the Amazon, in Greece, in the western U.S. and Canada, raising temperatures and adding more CO2 and other greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. As the frozen tundra thaws, methane gases are being released, and as water bodies warm, methane hydrates formerly trapped at the bottom rise into the air, releasing even more methane gas. As more and more surface ice is lost on land and in the ocean, less sunlight is reflected back into space, causing more heat gain. Humans have set into motion a self-perpetuating loop; a cycle which we may well be powerless to stop, and which will destroy life on Earth as it has existed for millions of years.
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@woodchipgardens9084 ~ Yes, YOU really do need to study volcanoes AND anthropological global warming, Doc! That way, you won't go around parading your ignorance, making a fool of yourself. And that isn't to insult you, I am merely being frank with you, because that's exactly what is happening when you regurgitate fallacious talking points from Republicans and the fossil fuel industries intended to sow doubt and denialism about climate change. Perhaps you don't care about demonstrating yourself to be an ignorant fool, don't care about demonstrating a lack of integrity. If so, then you have bigger problems than I can help you with. From NASA:
Volcanic eruptions are often discussed in relation to climate change because they release CO2 (and other gases) into our atmosphere. However, human contributions to the carbon cycle are more than 100 times those from all the volcanoes in the world - combined.
In comparison, while volcanic eruptions do cause an increase in atmospheric CO2, human activities emit a Mount St. Helens-sized eruption of CO2 every 2.5 hours and a Mount Pinatubo-sized eruption of CO2 twice daily.
The largest possible eruptions come from super volcanoes like Yellowstone or Mount Toba (which erupt very rarely, about every 100,000 to 200,000 years or more), but the total annual CO2 emissions from human activities is like one or more Yellowstone-sized super eruptions going off every year.
Essentially, CO2 emissions from human activities dwarf those of volcanoes.
Climate scientists bring up volcanic eruptions to better understand and explain short periods of cooling in our planet’s past. Every few decades or so, there is a volcanic eruption (e.g., Mount Pinatubo, El Chichón) that throws out a tremendous number of particles and other gases. These will effectively shield us enough from the Sun to lead to a short-lived global cooling period. The particles and gases typically dissipate after about 1 to 2 years, but the effect is nearly global.
Comparatively speaking, greenhouse gas warming coming from human activities (primarily driven by the human burning of fossil fuels) will endure for millennia, even longer than nuclear waste.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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'Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America' by Kathleen Belew (Harvard University Press, 2018)
The movement “brought together members of the Klan, militias, radical tax resisters, white separatists, neo-Nazis, and proponents of white theologies such as Christian Identity, Odinism, and Dualism” (ix). What was it about the movement that brought these ideologies together?
The promise of violence — rather, the promise that members would get to inflict violence on other people. Belew writes that as the white power movement matured, it became more violent, and “[as] violence came to the fore of the movement, distinctions among white power factions melted away” (60). Belew calls this process “violent community formation” (34). Yet as a social movement, Belew makes a distinction between the white power movement’s “revolutionary violence” and the Ku Klux Klan’s “vigilante violence.”
Vigilante violence “served to constitute, shore up, and enforce systemic power” (106). Given that the U.S. government has a long history of “defending vigilante violence by refusing to enforce the law” (99), law enforcement inaction and vigilante violence may be understood together as a case of one hand washing the other. Revolutionary violence, however, sought to overthrow the state. It is the white power movement’s goal of overthrowing the federal government that sets it apart in the history of white supremacy in the U.S.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, along with Reich-wing demagogues and media, who were complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance, and in spreading disinformation and misinformation. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump left office, one out of every 800 Americans had died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 410,000 fatalities, as many American casualties as all of WWII. To put it into further perspective, throughout Trump's catastrophic mishandling of a deadly global pandemic, the U.S. led the world in cases and deaths, suffering nearly 25% of each, despite having only 4.25% of global population, despite having the advantage of being the richest and most advanced nation in the world.
The memorial would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure. Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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The U.S. was beset by denial and dysfunction as the coronavirus raged
Yasmeen Abutaleb, Josh Dawsey, Ellen Nakashima and Greg Miller -- Washington Post -- 04/05/20
Thirty-three times Toxic Trump minimized, denied, and downplayed this pandemic.
By the time Donald Trump proclaimed himself a wartime president — and the coronavirus the enemy — the United States was already on course to see more of its people die than in the wars of Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq combined. The United States will likely go down as the country that was supposedly best prepared to fight a pandemic but ended up catastrophically overmatched by the novel coronavirus, sustaining heavier casualties than any other nation.
It did not have to happen this way. Though not perfectly prepared, the United States had more expertise, resources, plans and epidemiological experience than dozens of countries that ultimately fared far better in fending off the virus.
The failure has echoes of the period leading up to 9/11: Warnings were sounded, including at the highest levels of government, but the president was deaf to them until the enemy had already struck.
The Trump administration received its first formal notification of the outbreak of the coronavirus in China on Jan. 3. Within days, U.S. spy agencies were signaling the seriousness of the threat to Trump by including a warning about the coronavirus — the first of many — in the President’s Daily Brief.
And yet, it took 70 days from that initial notification for Trump to treat the coronavirus not as a distant threat or harmless flu strain well under control, but as a lethal force that had outflanked America’s defenses and was poised to kill tens of thousands of citizens. That more-than-two-month stretch now stands as critical time that was squandered.
Trump’s baseless assertions in those weeks, including his claim that it would all just “miraculously” go away, sowed significant public confusion and contradicted the urgent messages of public health experts.
It may never be known how many thousands of deaths, or millions of infections, might have been prevented with a response that was more coherent, urgent and effective. But even now, there are many indications that the administration’s handling of the crisis had potentially devastating consequences.
Even the president’s base has begun to confront this reality. In mid-March, as Trump was rebranding himself a wartime president and belatedly urging the public to help slow the spread of the virus, Republican leaders were poring over grim polling data that suggested Trump was lulling his followers into a false sense of security in the face of a lethal threat.
The poll showed that far more Republicans than Democrats were being influenced by Trump’s dismissive depictions of the virus and the comparably scornful coverage on Fox News and other conservative networks. As a result, Republicans were in distressingly large numbers refusing to change travel plans, follow “social distancing” guidelines, stock up on supplies or otherwise take the coronavirus threat seriously.
“Denial is not likely to be a successful strategy for survival,” GOP pollster Neil Newhouse concluded in a document that was shared with GOP leaders on Capitol Hill and discussed widely at the White House. Trump’s most ardent supporters, it said, were “putting themselves and their loved ones in danger.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/the-us-was-beset-by-denial-and-dysfunction-as-the-coronavirus-raged/ar-BB12akzb?ocid=spartanntp
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Republican Sen. Tim Scott is like having a 1943 German Jew train conductor extolling to passengers the comforts of Auschwitz. Kentucky AG Daniel Cameron who, like Tim Scott, found time to be a supporting guest speaker at this year's RNC to renominate racist, fascist Toxic Trump--rather than obtaining justice for Breonna Taylor--is no different. Rep. Will Hurd--a former U.S. CIA intelligence officer, no less--didn't impeach racist, fascist Toxic Trump despite overwhelming evidence of his crimes in the Mueller Report and Ukraine shakedown detailing the Traitor-'n-Thief's attempts to use foreign interference to win elections, compromising himself with our principle foreign adversary, grievously endangering our democracy and national security.
What the HELL is wrong with these people, these so-called leaders who are supposed to be public servants; have they no shame, no character, no integrity, no decency, nor even any sense of self-preservation whatsoever? Do they really think their supporting, aiding and abetting a racist and fascist President makes them somehow immune from the inevitable consequences of the hate being promoted against them? Are they really that lost in tribalistic partisanship, the Republican cult, blind ideology, and greed for corrupt power and fame that they would behave thus?!? Maybe someone can explain how this isn't selling their own brothers and sisters down the river, because it is simply unconscionable and incomprehensible.
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Should have been a nationwide lockdown March 1, with US population isolating as much as possible. The lack of testing necessitated it, but Trump administration had another major malfunction in leadership, which will directly senselessly cause the suffering and deaths of many more Americans who could have been spared. (First posted weeks ago; new study estimates 83% percent could have been saved if March 1 lockdown. Instead, in the absence of any rational coordinated national pandemic response due to Trump's criminal negligence, we now have states ignorantly reopening despite rising infection rates, in defiance of medicine, science, and common sense--despite over 120,000 dead in just four months from COVID-19. South Korea never had a lockdown, had their first confirmed case the same day as the U.S., but suffered less than 300 COVID-19 deaths due to mask-wearing, social distancing, testing, and contact tracing. Had the U.S. had a similar plan to South Korea, we would have had only around 1500 deaths. Another study has found that had the U.S. followed Taiwan's example, which allowed only SEVEN deaths, U.S. deaths would have been limited to only one-hundred. Instead of 100, we have over 100,000. That's simply just not acceptable.)
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It’s that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don’t care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn’t want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it’s more than hope—those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another five months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn’t really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
“The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.”
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump’s hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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A "tornado shelter" in the candle factory that didn't really offer much shelter, sadly resulting in many senseless deaths. No U.S. tornado is known to have killed more than 80 people outside the core tornado season from March to June. If more than 80 deaths recorded, this Mayfield, KY tornado will become among the 25 most deadly in U.S. history, despite occurring outside the core tornado season in December. At least two F5/EF5 tornadoes are on the record books for December: one in Vicksburg, Mississippi on Dec. 5, 1953, that killed 38 (the deadliest December tornado on record up to this year), and one on Dec. 18, 1957, that struck Sunfield, Illinois, as part of the state’s most severe outbreak on record so late in the year.
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Merrick Garland: "Trump and Congressional Republicans screwed me out of a seat on the Supreme Court...that's why now as AG I can't prosecute them for the many crimes they've committed!"
Merrick Garland’s House Testimony Demonstrated the Failure of His Hyper-Cautious Approach to His Job
Despite Garland’s many efforts to not appear political by declining to investigate Trump and his cronies for possible crimes and by using DOJ resources to actively protect Trump from civil liability, Republicans are still portraying him as the most political attorney general in history.
The other weakness of Garland’s timid approach was on full view during his opening statement and responses to Democratic members of Congress. “The essence of the rule of law is that like cases are treated alike. That there not be one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans; one rule for friends, another for foes,” Garland stated grandly. But by declining to investigate Trump and his associates, Garland is enabling further attacks on our democracy. (While proving inequity by putting Republicans above the law.)
Crucially, the two parties are not the same. Garland’s standard sets up a false equivalency between the Democratic Party and a political party whose national leader, Donald Trump, incited and celebrated a violent assault on our nation’s Capitol to overthrow the results of a free and fair election and who continues to portray the insurrection as a glorious “protest.” To that end, in the middle of the attorney general’s testimony, Trump issued a statement highlighting Garland’s feebleness at failing to even investigate the organizers and leaders of the Jan. 6 events, declaring “the insurrection took place on November 3, Election Day. January 6 was the Protest!”
Garland’s efforts to depoliticize the DOJ have proved to be an abdication of his responsibility to protect the rule of law. Take just a few examples: Garland’s failure to reconsider the obstruction of justice case against the former president, his deferral of an investigation of possible financial crimes by Trump and his organization to local prosecutors in New York City and Westchester, his use of the DOJ to protect Trump from defamation allegations, and his deferral of a soliciting of voter fraud felony probe in Georgia to local prosecutors there. By abdicating his responsibility, Garland is also opening the door for Trump to commit these possibly criminal abuses all over again, this time with the full support of the Republican Party, and maybe ultimately return to power.
--Mark Stern
"Try as he may, Merrick Garland cannot perform boring independence fast enough to outrun GOP claims that he’s a wild-eyed, violent socialist. And while the GOP currently exists only to cast everything you thought you believed into doubt, the real endgame is vigilantism. The endgame is to ensure that people mistrust government, election systems, school boards, (teachers, health care officials) the media, and the justice system enough to lend a hand in their destruction."
--Dahlia Lithwick
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Got two American dead and more Americans dying from COVID-19, and who knows how many infected because this administration can't get its act together, still can't provide the requisite testing kits to keep the American people safe, still spreading extremely dangerous disinformation, dismissing a very real threat to public health as a "hoax."
But all that's important to Trump and his ilk are getting laughs with vituperative, vindictive partisan demagoguery at their annual gala of gluttony CPAC conference--sticking it to the other side to assuage insecurities, so these losers can claim to be "winning." Pathetic, sickening, shocking, enraging, and highly alarming. BTW, the Presidency shouldn't be a stand-up comedian routine. We got a bad joke played upon us, instead of a real President. Big trouble is, Republicans just don't have what it takes to admit their mistakes--prefer to be yellow weasels bringing the whole nation down.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance.
In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump left office, one out of every 800 Americans had died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 400,000 fatalities, as many American casualties as WWII. It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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This is what Gosar is inciting, what he KNOWS he is deliberately inciting:
Floyd Roseberry is a Republican registered voter from North Carolina. Roseberry posted several videos on a now-deleted Facebook page, demanding to speak with President Joe Biden. During a long Facebook live video, Roseberry said, “the revolution is on” and that he would “die for this land.” He said Democrats should resign. Videos posted to Facebook before the page was taken down appear to show Roseberry at the Nov. 14 rally attended by thousands of Trump supporters to protest what they claimed was a stolen election. A video appears to have been shot by Roseberry as he marches with a crowd of hundreds carrying US flags and Trump flags and shouting “stop the robbery.” Roseberry’s ex-wife, Crystal Roseberry, said she had seen images of the man in the confrontation on Capitol Hill and confirmed to The Associated Press that she was her ex-husband. She said that she had never known he had explosives, but that he was an avid firearms collector. Roseberry ranted about Biden on Facebook. “It’s almost time…take an extra pair of civilians clothes for our heroes… who can carry arms in… BIDEN YOUR FIRED…NO ISN’T A OPTION…FLEE OUR LAND,” he wrote four days ago before parking near the Capitol in a truck he claimed was filled with explosives. "I love this land. We got a few options here Joe. You shoot me, two and half blocks are going with me. And then you’re talking about a revolution. The Revolution is on,” he said in one Facebook Live video. “My trench coat will be here Friday… I’m excited,” he wrote with a typo the day before, showing a flag and cowboy hat on his pickup dashboard. Roseberry ranted about Facebook, comparing the platform to a “lying Democratic politician.” He criticized Greta Thunberg. The New York Times quoted a law enforcement official as saying he was making “anti-government statements” on Facebook.
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@dorianbashaw5102 ~ Congress passes bills, the President can only sign or veto them. There has been no bill passed by Congress in regards to punishing China for human rights violations. The initiative Biden took has broad bipartisan support, and it may be mostly symbolic, but it is more than just words. The reaction of the Chinese government (and proliferation of CCP propagandist trolls here) proves that. Any measure that would have a significant detrimental economic effect upon China would also have a corresponding detrimental effect upon the U.S. economy, as was seen with Trump's tariffs, which were paid for mostly by U.S. consumers, U.S. taxpayers, and U.S. farmers----not corporate interests.
It would be nice if there was a simple solution, we could just snap our fingers and China would behave. But that's not the reality. Hence, a measured response, steady pressure, and an incremental approach is appropriate. But you're just a Reich-wing troll with a new YouTube account who cares more about your party than your country, so the truth of the matter means nothing to you, anyway.
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@roseroses7576 ~ Pulling our diplomatic section from the Olympic games in China isn't just words, it's action. So, you're just flat-out lying about that.
China is building 43 coal-powered electic plants and 18 coal-powered blast furnaces this year, which is a far cry from building "hundreds." Another flat-out lie from you. China and four other countries, India, Indonesia, Japan and Vietnam, account for more than 80% of the coal power stations planned across the world. While China accounts for the most new coal-powered plants planned, China is also a renewable energy leader, accounting for about 50% of the world’s growth in renewable energy capacity in 2020.
Biden met with allies this year to discuss actions against China's "dirty steel" made with coal. And Biden and his administration have hardly been silent in criticizing China on a number of fronts. So, you're lying about that, too.
Thing was, you did not offer solutions, only cynicism. Now you suggest we "isolate" China. Just how do you propose the U.S. do that, without causing a war? Sanctions are a possibility, but there are sure to be ramifications. Trump's tariffs were a disaster, mostly paid for by U.S. farmers, U.S. taxpayers, U.S. consumers, and the American economy, not China. And China retaliated against the U.S. with its own tariffs. Trump wound up backing down to obtain a "phase one" trade deal with China that was full of empty promises, because his tariffs were hurting the economy.
So, the big picture is much more complicated than your simplistic narrative would have it. You criticize Biden, who hasn't even been in office a year, with unrealistic expectations, while you have no criticism of Republicans, who have been pushing coal energy while blocking clean air and green energy legislation for years. Trump had four years to rein in China, and accomplished nothing; China only grew stronger, while he made the U.S. weaker. While China was spending trillions on infrastructure to empower their economy, Trump only talked about it and never even managed to put together any infrastructure bill, much less pass it. And when Biden and Democrats did get a comprehensive infrastructure bill put together and passed (in less than a year), very few Republicans were willing to vote for it in a bipartisan manner, and the ones who did are now being vilified by the majority of Republicans who voted against it.
All of which demonstrates you are nothing more than a Reich-wing partisan hack, a Tokyo Rose for fascist Republicans.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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Toxic Trump doesn't care about dead Americans...wants to see them stinking, stacking up in the streets, trailers, and morgues as a tribute to his greatness! In every national emergency, FEMA disburses funds for funerals for the deaths. Despite more American deaths in NINE WEEKS from COVID-19 than in all TWELVE YEARS of the Vietnam War, despite urgent pleas from citizens, mayors, and governors for Trump to give the necessary order to FEMA, despite the dire situation faced by families of the dearly departed and overflowing morgues, despite the public safety issue, Toxic Trump STILL refuses to give the order. Just no dignity and decency for our American dead in Trump's America. First Toxic Trump kills them with his ignorance, incompetence, and ineptness--then he leaves those he killed out to rot.
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"As many as 70,000 Americans could be confirmed as infected with coronavirus by the end of next week, marking a “pretty dramatic” increase in the number of confirmed cases, the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, told his employees in an agency-wide conference call on 03/20/20."
Except 03/21/20 saw a 33% jump in U.S. cases, from 18,000 to over 24,000. If continuing at 33% every 24 hours, the number of confirmed cases is trending much higher than just 70,000 by 03/27/20. Suspect confirmed cases will be double that. Bear in mind, states hardest hit are not testing many people, saving the tests for those most in need. So the actual number of infected Americans is going to be far higher than just what limited testing of the population has so far confirmed. Don't think this fact is being given enough attention. More important than the number of cases confirmed is the number contracting the disease and not getting tested, spreading the disease, in many cases unknowingly. Hospital projections are for about 100 MILLION Americans to become infected, with about 500,000 dead from covid-19.
(Update 5: Friday, 03/27/20, confirmed U.S. cases 105,000--which is 50% over NIH high-end estimate; deaths 1,700 by end of day. The perspective for cases is significantly skewed low and thus highly misleading, however, as just 0.17% of U.S. population has been tested to date.)
03/29/20 -- 143,000 confirmed cases; 2,450 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
03/30/20 -- 165,000 confirmed cases; 3,250 deaths.
03/31/20 -- 190,000 confirmed cases; 4,200 deaths.
04/01/20 -- 217,000 confirmed cases; 5,150 deaths.
04/02/20 -- 246,000 confirmed cases; 6,050 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/03/20 -- 278,000 confirmed cases; 7,150 deaths.
04/04/20 -- 312,000 confirmed cases; 9,400 deaths.
04/05/20 -- 338,000 confirmed cases; 9,700 deaths.
04/06/20 -- 369,000 confirmed cases; 11,000 deaths.
04/07/20 -- 400,000 confirmed cases; 13,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. Figures indicate a Covid-19 fatality rate for TESTED Americans at 3.25%.
04/08/20 -- 432,000 confirmed cases; 15,900 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S.
04/09/20 -- 466,000 confirmed cases; 16,700 deaths.
04/10/20 -- 502,000 confirmed cases; 18,800 deaths.
04/11/20 -- 530,000 confirmed cases; 20,500 deaths.
04/12/20 -- 558,000 confirmed cases; 22,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S. With just 4.25% of the world's population, the U.S. has 30% of the COVID-19 infections and 20% of the COVID-19 deaths. So far, the U.S. has the very WORST response of ANY nation, something formerly inconceivable, and inexcusable that it could now be allowed to happen here. In the U.S., we have 1.5 million seniors in 15,000 nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Despite forming only 0.45% of the U.S. population, they make up almost 10% of deaths, primarily because our federal government is not doing enough to protect them. Reported that many hospitals are no longer accepting COVID-19 patients from nursing homes, preferring they die there, instead. Our seniors, who helped build, grow and make America great, are being sacrificed, solely to ignorance.
04/13/20 -- 583,000 confirmed cases; 24,000 deaths
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GOP cult is NOT the party of law and order, NOT the party of the Constitution and patriots, NOT the party of "values," NOT the party of fiscal responsibility, NOT the party of clean government, NOT the party of freedom. It's the party of terrorism, lawlessness, corruption, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry, misogyny, Big Lies, socialized taxpayer payouts for plutocrats, sedition, traitors, and tyranny.
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Rep. Cheney gave a powerful and defiant speech speaking truth to the dysfunctional Republican party to which she belongs, which has abdicated its duty to be LOYAL opposition----except for one thing. Republicans did not end communism in the former USSR or cause its dissolution. A consistent foreign policy by both Democratic and Republican leaders in the Executive Branch and Congress (and our NATO allies, as well) over decades played a role, but it was the work and decisions of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev that were the decisive factor and which deserve most credit. He instituted policies of glasnost and perestroika, changed Soviet law to allow other parties to compete against the Communist Party, motivated because he saw clearly that Russia was dysfunctional, its costly imperialism, political and economic structure moribund and detrimental to Russia's progress. For his courage and actions, for speaking the truth to the Russian people, Gorbachev paid a much higher price politically than is Liz Cheney currently, who is displaying the same kind of courage as he did.
Gorbachev received the Nobel Peace prize in 1990 for all that he did for Russia and ending the Cold War, and it is wrong for Cheney to falsely attribute all credit to her Republican party for the results largely due to his independent decisions, engaging in history revisionism for the benefit of her political party. Isn't that exactly why the GOP----and Liz Cheney----find themselves in their present predicament in the first place? So, it is heavily ironic that Cheney does not extend the same due for his bravery and patriotism in telling the truth to the Russian people that she is exhibiting telling the truth about the 2020 election to the American people. It is also heavily ironic that the credit she is falsely attributing to the Republican party for the USSR becoming more democratic comes at a time when the Republican party is corroding democracy and actively working to make America less democratic.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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"As many as 70,000 Americans could be confirmed as infected with coronavirus by the end of next week, marking a “pretty dramatic” increase in the number of confirmed cases, the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, told his employees in an agency-wide conference call on 03/20/20."
Except 03/21/20 saw a 33% jump in U.S. cases, from 18,000 to over 24,000. If continuing at 33% every 24 hours, the number of confirmed cases is trending much higher than just 70,000 by 03/27/20. Suspect confirmed cases will be double that. Bear in mind, states hardest hit are not testing many people, saving the tests for those most in need. So the actual number of infected Americans is going to be far higher than just what limited testing of the population has so far confirmed. Don't think this fact is being given enough attention. More important than the number of cases confirmed is the number contracting the disease and not getting tested, spreading the disease, in many cases unknowingly. Hospital projections are for about 100 MILLION Americans to become infected, with about 500,000 dead from covid-19.
(Update 5: Friday, 03/27/20, confirmed U.S. cases 105,000--which is 50% over NIH high-end estimate; deaths 1,700 by end of day. The perspective for cases is significantly skewed low and thus highly misleading, however, as just 0.17% of U.S. population has been tested to date.)
03/29/20 -- 143,000 confirmed cases; 2,450 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
03/30/20 -- 165,000 confirmed cases; 3,250 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
03/31/20 -- 190,000 confirmed cases; 4,200 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
04/01/20 -- 217,000 confirmed cases; 5,150 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
04/02/20 -- 246,000 confirmed cases; 6,050 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/03/20 -- 278,000 confirmed cases; 7,150 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/04/20 -- 312,000 confirmed cases; 9,400 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/05/20 -- 338,000 confirmed cases; 9,700 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/06/20 -- 369,000 confirmed cases; 11,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast would soon come to consume them.
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@graciasthanks4771 ~ Somewhat agree, but this comment isn't judging or condemning the superintendent, it merely asserts a widespread agreement on the ridiculousness of the sentiment expressed by the superintendent, a fact which you, yourself, concede. The comment is more about the incongruity of the law with the racism inherent in Texas education when it comes to teaching about past and present racism in America. Mandating opposing viewpoints, but then banning teaching of CRT, which isn't even taught in primary or secondary schools anywhere in the U.S., anyway? Mandating opposing viewpoints, but then selectively editing out or whitewashing historical racism and discouraging teaching about racism? Of course, there are other Republican states and school districts that are guilty of the same thing happening in Texas. At any rate, your reply here is misplaced, and would better have been posted as a general comment to the video, or perhaps to some of the other comments.
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@graciasthanks4771 ~ No argument. Just pointing out the facts, which you have not been able to refute. Wasn't "upset" by your reply to this comment, either. And why would I think you "require my agreement?" Did other people "require your agreement?" Were you "upset" by what other people said? Were you looking to "argue" with your reply? None of what you're saying makes any sense.
I had already stated that I was sympathetic to the view you had originally expressed, but it appeared that you had miscomprehended the comment, much as you have miscomprehended my replies, thereafter becoming overly defensive and now provoking a passive-aggressive reaction from you. Why? Just because you can't admit that maybe your reply was misdirected, that you had made a simple mistake in that regard, much as you had allowed for with the superintendent? Don't you realize admitting your mistake or having an adequate explanation for it actually would have reflected well upon you, and failing to do either reflects poorly upon you? Now, you may say that you don't care what people think, but if that were really true, you would have admitted your mistake.
Personally, I'd rather be shown where wrong than proven right. So, if you can show me where I'm wrong about you misdirecting your reply to this comment, that would be great, and well appreciated. Otherwise, I'm not asking for any apology or confirmation, you need not respond; but I do hope this could be a positive learning experience for you.
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@mimked ~ You're just dutifully regurgitating fallacious propaganda from Reich-wing media, crap willfully swallowed whole by Republican cult morons like you, Doc!
HB 3979 was signed on June 15 by Governor Abbott, and it dictates how Texas teachers can speak on current events and our national history of racism. The law goes into effect September, 1, 2021, and it includes a list of documents that must be taught to students in Texas. The law amended existing teaching requirements; school curriculum very much is legislated by Texas and other state governments, so you don't know what the hell you're talking about.
What Texas HB 3979 and SB3 did was drop certain existing requirements from already existing law because of the big bogus CRT culture war Republicans drummed up, as well as mandating that different perspectives be taught. That includes eliminating a requirement that students be taught the “history of white supremacy, including but not limited to the institution of slavery, the eugenics movement, and the Ku Klux Klan, and the ways in which it is morally wrong.” The cut is among some two dozen curriculum requirements dropped from the new measure, along with studying Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, the works of United Farm Workers leader Cesar Chavez, Susan B. Anthony’s writings about the women’s suffragist movement, and Native American history.
And how could a teacher possibly discuss slavery, the Holocaust, or the mass shootings at the Walmart in El Paso or at the Sutherland Springs church without giving deference to any one perspective? What is the opposing perspective? Mass shootings of innocent people good? Genocide good? Slavery good? The KKK, white supremacy, and racism good? These Texas laws are stupid, designed to score political points with racists, constrain teachers, and promote a fairy tale view of American that breeds ignorance among students about American history and civics.
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@mimked ~ Your own research that involved Reich-wing media. The insults were no different than your own insults; if you don't like it, don't dish it out. Having checked about a dozen reputable MSM sources on this, they all reported correctly that the law removed a number of requirements, citing several, not just the KKK one. Several had links to the bills themselves. Nowhere did I find any that said they had "banned" teaching those things.
You complain about the comment being wrong, while you got numerous things wrong. You claimed they were proposals in a bill that opponents struck down. No, the Republican bill consisted of Republican proposals to remove existing requirements and was passed by Republicans. You claimed the Republican argument was that the school curriculum shouldn't be mandated by the Texas legislature. No, the Texas legislature definitely does mandate school curriculum, and the "argument," or more correctly, impetus, was really the bogus Republican culture war about CRT, which is not even taught in primary and secondary schools, but in a few college law schools.
No, the news didn't "report it as specifically protecting the KKK," as you asserted. But you don't have to be a genius to figure out that white supremacist groups and neo-Nazis surely are very pleased that requirements to teach that the Holocaust and the KKK are immoral have been removed by the Texas Republican legislature. While it wasn't an outright ban, the comment got it more right than you in condemning the measure.
Please give us some examples of other alternative perspective to white supremacy and the Holocaust being immoral that would be acceptable to teach to children. Would be interested to hear them, but I don't think you could come up with any. My point stands about the law being stupid, shackling teachers, and fostering ignorance about American history and civics. What Texas Republican lawmakers did was essentially politicizing our children's education for their own political gain. That's just wrong.
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@graciasthanks4771 ~ Which I had already addressed this. The "context" is the whole of the comment, no parsing just part of one sentence, which doesn't even suggest how you chose to interpret it. You yourself conceded as much that it was ridiculous. You said it was "a terrible example" and "an invalid example." Should we then be allowed to jump to the erroneous conclusion and misinterpret your words to mean that you are being judgmental and condemning the superintendent, as you did with the person who wrote the comment? That would be ridiculous, just as you are being ridiculous in jumping to such an unwarranted conclusion about the comment.
My point still stands that your reply was misdirected, and it was because you deliberately chose to read into something what no reasonable person would assume from the word "ridiculous," which isn't even referring to the superintendent, but to the "terrible example" and "invalid example" in the sentiment expressed. Maybe it was just a mistake, like the mistake you have made, but the superintendent did express the sentiment, and it WAS ridiculous. That's just a fact, not judgment or condemnation of the superintendent, as you chose to misinterpret it.
The sum of our discussion has been you repeatedly bringing up extraneous irrelevant matters, and me continuously trying to steer it back to the central point of your apparent miscomprehension causing your reply to be misplaced. It's actually rather ironic, because whether you realize it or not, your initial reply to the comment constitutes passing a hasty and wrongful judgment upon another. Instead of asking the commenter for clarification, you made an erroneous assumption that rushed to judgment.
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@graciasthanks4771 ~ You're trying to twist things, being deliberately obtuse and intellectually dishonest, while once again trying to introduce extraneous, irrelevant matters. However, you just proved my point about the irony here in you wrongly accusing another person of the very thing of which you yourself are guilty, which is hypocritical and an application of projectionism.
You're asking people to suspend judgment of the superintendent despite what he said that we all clearly heard with our own ears, which was a ridiculous sentiment to express----"a terrible example," and "an invalid example," in your own words. You distorted the obvious meaning of the commenter's words to read something into it that is NOT evident at all. You yourself judged the words of the superintendent to be "terrible," which is a far harsher word than "ridiculous." Yet, you didn't suspend judgment of the commenter, instead making an unwarranted assumption based upon your misinterpretation of what was said, then rushing to the assuredly erroneous judgment based upon that misinterpretation that the commenter was condemning the person rather than the person's words----without ever seeking any clarification from the commenter.
Well, the irrefutable facts are that the proposition put forward, the sentiment expressed, the example given by the superintendent----however its put----IS ridiculous. "Sentiment" is just another word for view, idea, or opinion. The proposition put forth as an example by the superintendent expresses a "terrible" view of the Holocaust which is "ridiculous." Judging a person's words is not the same as judging the person; a distinction you are apparently incapable of making.
Here's the thing: in the example given, the superintendent expressed the idea that alternative perspectives should be offered for the Holocaust, and you are essentially denying that proposition is ridiculous. So, if the commenter had stated instead that the idea was "terrible," as you yourself did, then you would have been just fine with it? Your arguments defy logic and reason.
Yes, we SHOULD be able to all agree that the idea expressed in the example given by the superintendent is terrible and preposterous (synonym with ludicrous, ridiculous). Yes, you were wrong not to take at face value and comprehend the critique in the comment is of the superintendent's words, not the person, instead assigning it the latter, more nefarious meaning, an interpretation by you that is simply unsupported by the handful of words you reference.
You speak of nitpicking, but it is actually you who nitpicked part of one sentence upon a false premise, while ignoring the larger thrust of the comment, which was actually a critique of the video not devoting more attention to other things affected detrimentally by the Texas law. THAT was the context of the comment, NOT pillorying the superintendent. Conversely, I have NOT ignored the thrust of your initial reply, with which I otherwise stated already am largely in agreement, excepting its misplacement. There are many comments and replies throughout this video where your initial reply would have been appropriate, and I would not have taken any issue with it, your reply would have been upvoted. Here, it was inappropriate, uncalled for.
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@graciasthanks4771 ~ Now you're just fabricating things. My point of disagreement has remained exactly the same, for exactly the same reasons. You're also projecting again, because it is you who has been guilty of deflecting throughout our discussion, brining up extraneous, irrelevant matters that had nothing to do with my point of contention.
Notably, this most recent reply of yours offers absolutely nothing to refute any of my arguments. You can't even answer simple questions, like how is "terrible" any different than "ridiculous" to describe the words spoken. You can't explain your failure to differentiate between criticism of a person's words rather than criticism of the person, or why we can't all agree that what was said was both terrible and ridiculous.
Unlike you, I have no problem admitting a simple mistake. I confused the superintendent issuing the apology with a top administrator, Gina Peddy, the Executive Director of Curriculum and Instruction, who had made the disgraceful, despicable statement. Here is the exact quote of what she said:
Gina Peddy: "Make sure that if you have a book on the Holocaust, that you have one that has opposing, that has different perspectives."
Which begs the question of why the Superintendent of the District had to apologize for her. Why no public apology or letters sent to parents apologizing from her immediately afterward? Why are you willing to give Peddy the benefit of a doubt, but not the person writing this comment over a perfectly innocuous phrase?
Furthermore, this incident occurred just four days after a teacher was reprimanded for teaching a book about anti-racism. Teachers who were present when this incident occurred are speaking out on camera with their identities disguised because they fear reprisal from the school district. The superintendent said that books would not be banned from schools, and when asked about it, they said, "That's a lie, that's a flat-out lie!" They also said that, "If this district doesn't regain their trust, they will soon lose some of its best educators." If Peddy supposedly smoothed everything over with the teachers, then why do they remain concerned and outraged by her statement?
The following statement from one of the teachers involved is no different than this commenter calling the statement ridiculous:
"It's almost like a joke, what would an opposing view of the Holocaust be?" a teacher at Carroll Independent School District in Southlake, Texas, where the comment was made. The teacher did not want to be identified for fear of retribution.
"It was the anti-Semitic, systematic murder of 6 million Jews and there is no legitimate 'opposing' perspective to that," said Joel Schwitzer, regional director of the American Jewish Committee, Dallas.
"When I listened to the audio, what I heard was an administrator who is desperately trying to figure out how to operate in this environment without clear direction as to what qualifies as a controversial subject," he added. "This law will have a chilling effect on schools, administrators and teachers and that's what we are seeing here."
The Carroll ISD teacher who spoke said fear, ignorance and racism are the driving forces behind the push to control how certain historical events are taught in classrooms.
"We're not being asked to have opposing views on colonization, we're not being asked to have opposing views on Christopher Columbus Day or Thanksgiving," the teacher said.
"We're being asked to have opposing views on only certain things and that's where the problem lies, really."
When asked what things teachers are being asked to have opposing views on, the teacher responded: "Civil Rights Movement, Holocaust, the Civil War, slavery, women's rights."
The debate has even put educators' lives at risk, the teacher added.
"Teachers are actively getting threats if they're speaking out at this point, to destroy their lives, to come for their license, to go after their families," the teacher said. "We're beginning to feel like children of divorce, like we have these two sides fighting and we're becoming collateral damage."
Clay Robison, spokesman for the Texas State Teachers Association, said he was angered but not surprised about the comments made in the Carroll ISD training session.
He noted that while the law does not specifically deal with books in teachers' classrooms or specifically require a teacher to give equal weight to perspectives that deny the Holocaust, he said the law has enough ambiguity to "encourage that kind of reaction."
Some parents are also worried about how HB3979 will impact their children's education and communities.
"It's very sad, the situation that we're in right now," said Russell Maryland, a Southlake resident and father of three children who attended schools in the city.
"The world is changing. The city is changing. And unfortunately you have a set of people in this town that are fearful of the change. And what do the fearful do? Instill fear."
Maryland, a former Dallas Cowboys defensive lineman, has spent the last three years working with other parents to develop a diversity curriculum for the city's schools.
"It's happening, it's happening here in our community as a warning to everybody out there," Maryland said. "If you don't stand up right now, then that ignorance is coming to a town close to you."
As for "opposing" views to the Holocaust, Anti-Defamation League vice president Oren Segal said that it's plain antisemitism.
"The idea that opposing views of the Holocaust would in someway sound legitimate to anybody is a sign of the time perhaps," Segal said. "It's antisemitism, it's Holocaust denial, and it's the thing that animates extremists. There are no two sides to this issue, there are no two sides to the Holocaust."
I raised these other related pieces up to demonstrate how ridiculous you are being. You refuse to see the forest for the trees. You're going to chide the commenter just because you misinterpreted her words to mean more than what they actually said, at the expense of serious discussion about the bigger picture, the REAL problem here, which is what the comment was really about. That may not have been the issue with your reply that I was pressing, but it is nonetheless a bigger issue I have with your reply.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It's that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don't care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another five months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It’s that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don’t care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn’t want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it’s more than hope—those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another three months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn’t really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
“The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.”
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump’s hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of crackpot conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of greed, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of plutocrats, the party of corruption, the party of anti-democracy, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their pact with the Devil.
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#defundCBPandICE Appears Toxic Trump is turning CBP into Nazi SS Stormtroopers. Here's the thing, though: CBP personnel aren't military, can quit anytime. Short of that, they can refuse the assignments, citing conscientious objection, in a bid to save their job. If the Traitor-'n'-Thief President Nero was using me to terrorize and brutalize my fellow citizens, would first refuse the assignment. If they threatened to terminate employment, would quit. Would also be organizing my fellow CBP coworkers to join together in protesting and taking action against such unethical and immoral (and possibly even illegal) assignment. All of these CBP and other Federal law enforcement allowing themselves to be used against the civilian population by Toxic Trump are willing participants in his bid to foment destruction, discord and divisiveness -- if not outright civil war -- among Americans. No doubt, many of these are volunteers for the dirty work--the very worst of the worst CBP has to offer, which is really quite horrifying. #defundCBPandICE
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Donald Trump, at White House press conference on 04/07/20:
And we’re going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO. We’re going to put a very powerful hold on it, and we’re going to see.
Trump later at that same press conference:
Q: Thanks. A quick follow-up on that. So is the time to freeze funding to the WHO during a pandemic of this magnitude?
THE PRESIDENT: No, maybe not. I mean, I’m not saying I’m going to do it, but we’re going to look at it.
Q: You did say that you’re going to —
THE PRESIDENT: We give a tremendous —
Q: You said you’d put a hold on it.
THE PRESIDENT: No, I didn’t.
Toxic Trump, one week later, on 04/14/20: "I'm withholding WHO funding!"
WHO held a important meeting on COVID-19 vaccines at the beginning of May, with all nations attending...except no U.S. medical and scientific representatives sent by the Trump Administration, without any explanation. The absence particularly stunning in light that U.S. has half of world's cases and a quarter of the deaths, although possessing just 5% of the global population.
ME, US, the world: WTF?? Why in HELL is that raving lunatic STILL in charge during this major pandemic health crisis?!? Hasn't he KILLED enough Americans, ALREADY?!?
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“I'm not scared of the Maos and the Stalins and the Hitlers.
I'm scared of the thousands or millions of people that hallucinate them to be "authority", and so do their bidding, and pay for their empires, and carry out their orders.
I don't care if there's one looney with a stupid moustache. He's not a threat if the people do not believe in "authority".” ― Larken Rose
Setting aside the sleazy immoral Reich-wing grifters at the top -- people like Trump, Congressional Republicans, Reich-wing demagogues and media -- the rank-and-file of the GOP has become a fascist, nihilistic cult. To be clear, Trump did not create the cult, it existed before him. He merely served as a unifying figure they chose to rally around and worship as their fool's gold god. Trump appealed to their basest nature and told them what they wanted to hear. Now, those Reich-wing grifters may have cultivated their cult to exploit for their own greed, power and vanity, but at least to some extent the Republican cult in turn seeks to exploit the GOP for their own various misguided purposes. They CHOOSE to be willfully ignorant, to believe or espouse the lies, because as a political calculus they shortsightedly see it as expedient to their ends.
What must also be taken into consideration are the characteristics of a cult. Why do people join a cult? Why do they choose to remain in a cult? No need to go into detail; the answers are largely common knowledge or easily researched. But it should be pointed out that in a complex world, the simplistic and rigid beliefs embraced by cults can be very alluring, no matter how fantastical and removed from reality. It should also be acknowledged that the Republican cult is not a monolithic entity, but an amalgamation of sects, including White supremacists, Christian nationalists, libertarians, sovereign nationals, anarchists, tax resistors, Qanon and other extremist fringe groups. Of course, not every Republican is an extremist, a fascist, or untethered from reality. But this latter more benign group is nevertheless part of the fascist Republican cult, complicit in their support of the whole, whether through their silent acquiescence and votes or willing assistance.
It's a very dangerous feedback loop, a vicious circle, one that as it sinks further into depravity its threat correspondingly rises, for as the Republican cult has over time been becoming increasingly more radicalized, we witness the election of more radical politicians to represent them, more radicalized Reich-wing media and demagogues to feed them propaganda. While some Republicans are leaving the GOP and some others are speaking out and trying to save their party, they constitute a weak minority, unfortunately.
In a normal, sane world, the Republican cult would have ended or been marginalized after the Mueller Report, after Trump's Ukraine shakedown and impeachment, after Trump's horrendous handling of a deadly global pandemic, after his election defeat, or after January 6th and his second impeachment. But that hasn't happened. Instead, the Republican cult continues to become increasingly more radicalized and extreme. As President Biden says, "We are in a battle for the soul of this nation." And that battle is far from over.
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Elmer Fudd's always trying to convince me he just wants unity.
What he really means is that he wants to eat me.
Unity and compromise is a two-way street that only works if both parties operate in good faith. Republicans have a long history of failing to do that--or even try. Recent history since Biden won the election shows no indication of them changing their divisive, destructive words, attitudes, and acts. Tyrant Trump incited a terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol to overthrow an election, endangering his VP and members of Congress, sat by and gleefully reveled in watching it happen for hours, ignoring desperate pleas for help, and only a very few Republican are willing to speak out, impeach him, convict him, and prevent him from holding public office again? That's not loyal opposition; that's a dangerous political cult.
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What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil. They are either actively or silently complicit in fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorist violence, Reich-wing insurrection, and Reich-wing undermining of our democracy and Constitution.
It's crystal clear that Trump, Boebert, Greene, Gosar and other Republicans like them are fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorism. The GOP has become radicalized to such an extent that it has essentially become a fascist terrorist organization, with members that fantasize and promote violence against their fellow Americans. While those Republican elected officials must be condemned and sanctioned, they are only a symptom of the disease poisoning a third of America, the most visible part of the cancer infecting our nation.
The GOP has been mainstreaming radicalization of their voter base for decades, ALLOWING Reich-wing media and Reich-wing demagogues to take over the party, to the point it has become a fascist, nihilistic cult. Because just as now, Republican politicians and their plutocratic masters have always seen it as the ends justifying whatever means to win power. Remember the Republican Tea Party? This catastrophe with the GOP didn't start with Trump, who just exploited what the Republicans had already built.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle for graft and to grift their voters and us taxpayers. You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and disturbing. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian nationalism religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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Get big money out of politics, and get corrupt politicians like Manchin and Sinema sucking up to the corporate trough voted out.
• A summer sting operation by Greenpeace had an Exxon Mobil lobbyist reveal that he met with Manchin weekly to try to persuade him to weaken Biden’s climate agenda (and he’s not the only rich guy who gets Manchin regularly on the line). Manchin has received more donations than any other Senator from oil, gas, and coal industry.
• An August piece in Harper’s noted that the West Virginia Democratic Party, which the senator played no small role in gutting, remains entirely under Manchin’s influence and control. It also mentions how Manchin leveraged his influence within the Senate to get plush government appointments for people close to him, including his wife.
• A September report from Type Investigations and the Intercept revealed that Manchin is currently invested in multiple coal companies that are run by his son, and that, even though the elder Manchin’s investments are in a blind trust, he has personally made $4.5 million from them during the time he has spent in the Senate (11 years to date).
• This is likely the Manch’s last term. In this remaining time, he seems to be simply looking out for his sources of wealth, including the ones that come from his son’s coal incinerators. It wouldn’t be the first time a Manchin family member used conflicts of interest to their advantage. Joe’s wife, Gayle, previously served as head of the West Virginia Board of Education and used her position to try to require the state’s schools to purchase EpiPens. EpiPens are manufactured by the Big Pharma juggernaut Mylan, whose former CEO was Heather Bresch—Manchin’s daughter, who stepped down after it was revealed she helped fix the prices of EpiPens in collusion with Pfizer. Family helping family: It’s a highly lucrative graft.
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The hypocrisy involved isn't the worst part of Trump's golfing during the height of this deadly global pandemic striking the nation. Besides, the problem in the first place was a Republican cult that seizes on any morsel of divisive partisanship--no matter how false or fanciful--to slander and smear their opponents in their poison politics of personal destruction. Trump's attacks on his predecessor wouldn't be so noteworthy now if they hadn't reached the intended receptive audience back then; the root problem is GOP hypocrisy, which Toxic Trump merely exploits to his own corrupt ends.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain critical to its survival.
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Instead of embracing the reverence for nature and sustainability practiced by the America's indigenous peoples, we have entered into a death pact with capitalism, consumerism, greed, and selfishness, largely forced upon the common person by large businesses and the wealthy, who continue exploiting us for the own short-sighted, immediate benefit. We bear some responsibility for that, too. For taking part, for allowing it to happen, and for allowing it to continue as long as it has. Until enough of us average citizens wake up and become active in changing how our cultures and societies operate, the downward spiral of our environment will continue leading us into a dead-end death trap. Capitalism and consumerism can serve a purpose. However, they should be viewed and utilized as just one tool at our disposal in our toolbox, and not overly relied upon, like a hammer used for every job, which does more destruction than good.
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@safeeffective385 ~ Except I do know people who have died from Covid-19, Doc, and they thought much the same as you do. One died before vaccines were available, and one was determined not to take the vaccine. Another one who refused to take it was sick enough to end up on a ventilator for almost three weeks, and it was touch-and-go. All of them were unfortunately unduly influenced by Trump and Republicans politicizing a deadly global pandemic and chose to trust unreputable sources for their medical information rather than listen to sound medical advice, common sense, and reason.
The lady who recovered had health conditions making her more vulnerable, but the two men that passed were older but not elderly and were fairly healthy with no comorbidities. You see, Covid-19 is not just an opportunistic killer, it's also a random killer. But the one who survived has a completely different perspective on Covid-19 and the idiots peddling Covid-19 misinformation and disinformation, and now has been vaccinated and follows CDC guidelines to keep herself and others safe.
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@safeeffective385 ~ No, I'm a truthful person, unlike you, Doc. Dishonest people like you tend to think everyone else is dishonest too but, fortunately, they are not. Nor was I referring to what is happening in countries in the rest of the world, most of whom are faring better than the U.S. against Covid-19, I was referring to how Trump and Republicans politicized Covid-19 and unduly influenced Americans to make poor health care decisions right here in America, specifically to the three victims of Covid-19 aforementioned to which I am, or was, acquainted.
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@safeeffective385 ~ More Covid-19 disinformation from you, Doc! You seem bound and determined, on a mission, really, to sicken, injure, and kill as many Americans as you can. This time, it's a bald-faced lie about Whoopi Goldberg going to the ICU. Here's the actual facts:
On Wednesday, Whoopi Goldberg said she had already begun to distance herself over the holiday break after she was exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID-19. When Goldberg later got tested in anticipation of returning to "The View," she said she was told, "You're not coming back. ... You have corona."
Since then, she's been isolating herself in the bedroom of her "very nice house" with her family members, all of whom "have been hiding in their rooms." As of Wednesday, Goldberg was the only person in her household who was still positive for COVID-19. To pass the time in isolation, Goldberg has been "listening to a lot of books," "slowly opening Christmas presents" in her room and "eating some really nice food." Provided she tests negative, she said she aims to make a full return to "The View" by next week. And Behar said she was told Goldberg would be back Monday. "I don't know how much more proof people need," Goldberg said. "If you can get vaccinated ... do yourself a favor." "I don't want to be in the house," she added. "I don't want to be quarantining in place. But this is what's best for the many, not just what's best for the few."
On Wednesday, Whoopi Goldberg said she had already begun to distance herself over the holiday break after she was exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID-19. When Goldberg later got tested in anticipation of returning to "The View," she said she was told, "You're not coming back. ... You have corona."
Since then, she's been isolating herself in the bedroom of her "very nice house" with her family members, all of whom "have been hiding in their rooms." As of Wednesday, Goldberg was the only person in her household who was still positive for COVID-19. To pass the time in isolation, Goldberg has been "listening to a lot of books," "slowly opening Christmas presents" in her room and "eating some really nice food." Provided she tests negative, she said she aims to make a full return to "The View" by next week. And Behar said she was told Goldberg would be back Monday. "I don't know how much more proof people need," Goldberg said. "If you can get vaccinated ... do yourself a favor." "I don't want to be in the house," she added. "I don't want to be quarantining in place. But this is what's best for the many, not just what's best for the few."
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@brian2440 ~ Your lack of morality and humanity is rather appalling, Doc, and you have it backwards on monetary costs, which would be much greater without following CDC guidelines. Over 830,000 Americans dead from Covid-19, and without mitigation efforts and vaccines that number would be much, much higher. What price does one place on a human life? You place no value on it here.
Mitigation efforts and vaccines are much cheaper than the medical costs would be if those things were not done. Your flawed equation ignores that a global pandemic is going to be costly, regardless. With your prescription, more workers would be lost to sickness and death, hospitals and medical staffed would be overwhelmed to the point where people that might have been saved instead die, and more people would be averse to going out in an even more dangerous environment to support businesses, wreaking more harm on our economy, not less.
And you're spreading Covid-19 misinformation. Vaccines are incredibly safe, while complications from them are extremely rare. Those who have more recently been fully vaccinated or who have gotten the booster are less like to contract and transmit Covid-19. And they are far less likely to get seriously ill, hospitalized, injured or die from Coivd-19. There are as yet no definitive studies showing the length of efficacy for boosters. At any rate, vaccine efficacy can be variable and dependent upon an individual's health and medical conditions. Also, the emergence of new variants is a factor affecting vaccine efficacy.
Bottom line is we have an imperfect situation that requires imperfect solutions. We are forced to do the best we can with the tools available to us. It benefits all of us to work together, rowing in the same direction instead of working against each other. But the alternative of doing nothing as you suggest would be disastrous.
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@quillowd.9752 ~ First of all, you're talking about different diseases involving different pathogens and trying to compare that to a rapidly mutating coronavirus.
Secondly, none of the vaccines you listed are 100% effective. Smallpox vaccine has a 95% efficacy rate, which is the same as the Covid-19 mRNA vaccines. Polio vaccines are 90% effective after two doses, and 99% effective after fully vaccinated with three or four shots, depending upon type of vaccine given. It should also be noted that both smallpox and polio have been essentially eradicated in most nations because of extensive vaccination present in the community conferring herd immunity. Hence, breakthrough infections among vaccinated are rare and those unable to get vaccinated are protected.
Rabies vaccines are only given to people at high risk or after exposure. Because polio is 99.9% fatal, a high rate of efficacy is vitally essential. But even rabies vaccines are not 100%. Pre-infection vaccination requires three periodic shots, and immunity can wane over time, possibly requiring addition post-infection vaccination if exposed. Post infection vaccination only works if administered soon after infected.
Third, you're being intellectually dishonest, ignoring the points and arguments presented. You're trying to make perfect the enemy of the good. Because even if Covid-19 vaccines aren't perfect, they are on an order of magnitude far, far better than not getting vaccinated. Your argument is not only supremely stupid, but it's dangerous.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-‘n-‘Thief, Toxic Trump, so much—although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages—as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption, a man compromised by foreign nations, including our principle adversary, through his tremendous debt, presenting our most serious national security threat. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself, mental illness, and his upbringing, who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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~ Bad Vibration, Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
What location revitalization?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil. They are either actively or silently complicit in fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorist violence, Reich-wing insurrection, and Reich-wing undermining of our democracy and Constitution.
The GOP has been mainstreaming radicalization of their voter base for decades, ALLOWING Reich-wing media and Reich-wing demagogues to take over the party, to the point it has become a fascist, nihilistic cult. Because just as now, Republican politicians and their plutocratic masters have always seen it as the ends justifying whatever means to win power. Remember the Republican Tea Party? This catastrophe with the GOP didn't start with Trump, who just exploited what the Republicans had already built.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle for graft and to grift their voters and us taxpayers. You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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@calhensley820 ~ Well, to be honest, some of the atrocities (by people left and right) derive as a result of, and from a backlash against, Toxic Trump and Republican lies. Such as their lie about being no problem with systemic racism in this country. Still, far more atrocities are being committed every single day by Republicans refusing to wear a mask and social distance, due almost solely to Republican politicization of a public health issue, and to a critical lack of Republican leadership. They are killing far more people, doing far more damage to businesses and our economy, causing far more suffering. Furthermore, Republican lies denying systemic racism enable the atrocities we all witness happening by law enforcement and our justice system.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of crackpot conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of greed, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of plutocrats, the party of corruption, the party of anti-democracy, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their pact with the Devil.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of hate, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of corruption, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law?
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"As many as 70,000 Americans could be confirmed as infected with coronavirus by the end of next week, marking a “pretty dramatic” increase in the number of confirmed cases, the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, told his employees in an agency-wide conference call on 03/20/20."
Except 03/21/20 saw a 33% jump in U.S. cases, from 18,000 to over 24,000. If continuing at 33% every 24 hours, the number of confirmed cases is trending much higher than just 70,000 by 03/27/20. Suspect confirmed cases will be double that. Bear in mind, states hardest hit are not testing many people, saving the tests for those most in need. So the actual number of infected Americans is going to be far higher than just what limited testing of the population has so far confirmed. Don't think this fact is being given enough attention. More important than the number of cases confirmed is the number contracting the disease and not getting tested, spreading the disease, in many cases unknowingly. Hospital projections are for about 100 MILLION Americans to become infected, with about 500,000 dead from covid-19.
(Update 1: Confirmed U.S. cases doubled in two days, from 18,000 to 36,000 by 03/22/20, with about 350 deaths. Which is on track for the suspected 150,000 by Friday--not 70,000 predicted by NIH.)
(Update 2: Confirmed U.S. cases over 55,000 Tuesday, 03/24/20, with over 700 deaths. Note: States hardest hits had begun limiting testing to medical staff and hospital patients to save medical PPE. So, while test kits have become more widely available, and lab processing has started expanding in volume and capacity, actual testing is sorely lagging, thus continuing to grossly undercount and misrepresent the number of Americans infected. We should be able to figure out rough estimated numbers, and those are the realistic numbers we should be using to warn the public, not the dangerous illusion being presented, which can prevent people from taking this seriously enough, costing more lives!)
(Update 3: Confirmed U.S. cases about 70,000 on Wednesday, 03/25/20, with over 1050 deaths. That 50% increase of total U.S. covid-19 fatalities in just one day becomes a most alarming trend as the accumulated sum continues growing. The rising trend with confirmed cases is also of particular concern, given the critical lack of testing of the general population indicating a much, much larger total hidden. NOTE: Data obtained from John Hopkins website end of 03/25/20 are slightly higher figures than published news reports.)
(Update 4: U.S. now has the MOST confirmed cases in the world, with 86,000 on 03/26/20, surpassing both Italy and China. Death tolls in numerous U.S. COUNTIES are now HIGHER than the totals of many nations. U.S. fatalities now at 1,300 according to John Hopkins final updated totals for the day.)
(Update 5: Friday, 03/27/20, confirmed U.S. cases 105,000; deaths 1,700 by end of day. The perspective for cases is significantly skewed low and thus highly misleading, however, as just 0.17% of U.S. population has been tested to date.)
03/29/20 -- 143,000 confirmed cases; 2,450 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
03/30/20 -- 165,000 confirmed cases; 3,250 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
03/31/20 -- 190,000 confirmed cases; 4,200 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
― Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
Trump and Republicans are like Jack and his band of boys in 'Lord of the Flies.' Ralph, Simon, Piggy and the other group of boys represent the rest of us. Just as Jack and his band turned savage, killing and cannibalizing their fellow students on the deserted island they landed upon, Trump and Republicans have also turned savage, rejecting responsibility, reason, civility, morality, and science, killing their fellow Americans and cannibalizing our government. Except there will be no adults arriving to save those of us trying to do the right thing, like in the classic tale. We are the adults, and it is strictly up to us to save ourselves and this country from the fascistic, nihilistic impulses of Trump and Republicans.
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Congressional Republicans just proved--once again--they are unwilling to operate in good faith, first in the House, now in the Senate, unwilling to even pass a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate the January 6 insurrection! How many times does Lucy have to pull the football out at the last minute before Charlie Brown Manchin and Silly Sinema finally wise up? New voting rights protections sorely needed in the wake of new Republican Jim Crow legislation nationwide, a badly needed infrastructure and jobs bill, and numerous other pieces of critical legislation the Democrats want to pass don't stand a chance if the filibuster is allowed to stand. If Republicans are going to abuse the filibuster, then it's time to LOSE THE FILIBUSTER!!!
As Republicans continue relitigating the 2020 election in Arizona, Georgia, and other states based upon a Big Lie they pushed, and after Republicans relitigated Benghazi for years with TEN partisan investigations, Moscow McConnell doesn't want a bipartisan commission to investigate an insurrection against the nation's Capitol because it would be "relitigating?" Nevermind the heights of hypocrisy reached here; that's an insult to the intelligence of the American people, and a gross dereliction of duty by Republicans.
Naturally, Republicans don't want their ties to terrorists and the insurrection exposed, nor does McCarthy want to be forced to testify about his damning phone call to Traitor Trump on January 6th.
While it would be better to have a bipartisan commission with both sides operating in good faith to get to the truth, Republicans have demonstrated themselves to be incapable of operating in good faith. Given that they amply proved that by voting against the January 6 commission, it will actually be for the better, because a House select committee investigating January 6 won't be blocked by Republicans from subpoenaing witnesses, or bogged down with Republican obstructionism, obfuscations, deflections, and irrelevancies.
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Great to see good 'ol Torture Yoo put under the bright lights and given a little taste of his own medicine! However, as Torture Yoo proves, torture victims will say anything to make the torture stop, making it useless for intelligence gathering, good only for perverted gratification, used by sadistic, ignorant brutes like Trump, Cheney, and Torture Yoo!
It's "Torture" Yoo! Never forget--this is the clown that wrote specious opinions at OLC to provide legal cover for Dubya's torture regime! Still pissed Princeton took him on as a professor afterward, giving him a plush, prestigious job, a position he still holds, lending credibility when he deserves to be thoroughly discredited! Still pissed at Obama for not investigating torture, too--leaving the door open for another joker like Trump to torture.
Torture Yoo is a weasel. Always has been, so this is really nothing new for those who knew. Typical Republican.
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What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil. They are either actively or silently complicit in fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorist violence, Reich-wing insurrection, and Reich-wing undermining of our democracy and Constitution.
It's crystal clear that Trump, Boebert, Greene, Gosar and other Republicans like them are fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorism. The GOP has become radicalized to such an extent that it has essentially become a fascist terrorist organization, with members that fantasize and promote violence against their fellow Americans. While those Republican elected officials must be condemned and sanctioned, they are only a symptom of the disease poisoning a third of America, the most visible part of the cancer infecting our nation.
The GOP has been mainstreaming radicalization of their voter base for decades, ALLOWING Reich-wing media and Reich-wing demagogues to take over the party, to the point it has become a fascist, nihilistic cult. Because just as now, Republican politicians and their plutocratic masters have always seen it as the ends justifying whatever means to win power. Remember the Republican Tea Party? This catastrophe with the GOP didn't start with Trump, who just exploited what the Republicans had already built.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle for graft and to grift their voters and us taxpayers. You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It’s that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes have to KNOW at some level he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don’t care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn’t want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it’s more than hope—those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another two months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn’t really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
“The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.”
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump’s hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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@bestproto5117 ~ Your figures are vastly inflated, but for the first time since Republicans on SCOTUS enabled unlimited dark money with their partisan and corrupt Citizens United decision, Democrats received more dark money than Republicans in 2020. Which was undoubtedly due solely to Trump being the worst President in American history.
However, despite dark money presently favoring Democrats, they have passed legislation eliminating dark money, as well as legislation aimed at campaign finance reform. It is McConnell and Republicans blocking such legislation from becoming law. Unlike Republicans, Democrats never wanted dark money or unlimited campaign finance spending to allow elite plutocrats to unduly influence our elections, they have been--and remain--in constant opposition. Those are the facts.
By the way, non-partisan OpenSecrets.org does a much better job of tracking dark money than does the FEC, and does a much better job of distinguishing the bad actors from the good, as well as telling the whole story. If you really care about this issue, if you really care about your country more than your political party, you may want to check them out sometime.
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Republicans are willing to gain and hold power at any cost...even if the price is our democracy!
Farmer wakes up one morning, goes outside to milk his cows, and discovers his entire herd is missing! So, he then walks over nest door to where the Republican cult lives, notices them grinding a whole bunch of beef into hamburger, and asks them, "Did you see what happened to all my cows?"
Republican cult: "Yeah, they jumped over the moon."
Farmer: "Do you have any actual evidence of that?"
Republican cult: "No, because they landed on the dark side, and you can't see them over there. But we're conducting a bunch of investigations and fraudits, and we're confident evidence will soon emerge to prove it!"
Farmer: "You know, that sounds like a load of manure!"
Republican cult: "Well, that's what we all choose to believe!"
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What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil. They are either actively or silently complicit in fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorist violence, Reich-wing insurrection, and Reich-wing undermining of our democracy and Constitution.
It's crystal clear that Trump, Boebert, Greene, Gosar and other Republicans like them are fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorism. The GOP has become radicalized to such an extent that it has essentially become a fascist terrorist organization, with members that fantasize and promote violence against their fellow Americans. While those Republican elected officials must be condemned and sanctioned, they are only a symptom of the disease poisoning a third of America, the most visible part of the cancer infecting our nation.
The GOP has been mainstreaming radicalization of their voter base for decades, ALLOWING Reich-wing media and Reich-wing demagogues to take over the party, to the point it has become a fascist, nihilistic cult. Because just as now, Republican politicians and their plutocratic masters have always seen it as the ends justifying whatever means to win power. Remember the Republican Tea Party? This catastrophe with the GOP didn't start with Trump, who just exploited what the Republicans had already built.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle for graft and to grift their voters and us taxpayers. You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian nationalism religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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Elmer Fudd's always trying to convince me he just wants unity.
What he really means is that he wants to eat me.
When the truth is divisive, then there can be no unity. Unity and compromise is a two-way street that only works if both parties operate in good faith. Republicans have a long history of failing to do that--or even trying. Recent history since Biden won the election shows no indication of them changing their divisive, destructive words, attitudes, obstruction and other acts. Tyrant Trump incited a terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol to overthrow an election, endangering his VP and members of Congress, sat by and gleefully reveled in watching it happen for hours, ignoring desperate pleas for help from Congressional Republicans forced to flee for their lives, and only a very few Republicans were willing to speak out, impeach him, convict him, and prevent him from holding public office again? Republicans wouldn't even agree to a bipartisan January 6 commission formulated upon a plan in which all their demands were met. That's not loyal opposition--that's a dangerous terrorist political cult of fascists.
Trump and Republicans are like Jack and his band of boys in 'Lord of the Flies.' Ralph, Simon, Piggy and the other group of boys represent the rest of us. Just as Jack and his band turned savage, killing and cannibalizing their fellow students on the deserted island they landed upon, Trump and Republicans have also turned savage, rejecting responsibility, reason, civility, morality, and science, killing their fellow Americans and cannibalizing our government. Except there will be no adults arriving to save those of us trying to do the right thing, like in the classic tale. It is strictly up to us to save ourselves and this country from the fascistic, nihilistic impulses of Trump and Republicans.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or "the Wall") is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle's name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called "leaders" in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 -- than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to--and a barrier against--our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It's design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge--and help teach--people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see...if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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I ran the White House pandemic office. Trump closed it.
Beth Cameron -- 03/13/20 -- Washington Post
Beth Cameron is vice president for global biological policy and programs at the Nuclear Threat Initiative. She previously served as the senior director for global health security and biodefense on the White House National Security Council.
When President Trump took office in 2017, the White House’s National Security Council Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense survived the transition intact. Its mission was the same as when I was asked to lead the office, established after the Ebola epidemic of 2014: to do everything possible within the vast powers and resources of the U.S. government to prepare for the next disease outbreak and prevent it from becoming an epidemic or pandemic.
One year later, I was mystified when the White House dissolved the office, leaving the country less prepared for pandemics like covid-19.
The U.S. government’s slow and inadequate response to the new coronavirus underscores the need for organized, accountable leadership to prepare for and respond to pandemic threats.
In a health security crisis, speed is essential. When this new coronavirus emerged, there was no clear White House-led structure to oversee our response, and we lost valuable time. Yes, we have capable and committed global and national disease-prevention and management organizations, as well as state and local health departments, all working overtime now. But even in prepared cities like Seattle, health systems are struggling to test patients and keep pace with growing caseloads. The specter of rapid community transmission and exponential growth is real and daunting. The job of a White House pandemics office would have been to get ahead: to accelerate the response, empower experts, anticipate failures, and act quickly and transparently to solve problems.
It’s impossible to assess the full impact of the 2018 decision to disband the White House office responsible for this work. Biological experts do remain in the White House and in our government. But it is clear that eliminating the office has contributed to the federal government’s sluggish domestic response. What’s especially concerning about the absence of this office today is that it was originally set up because a previous epidemic made the need for it quite clear.
The U.S. government worked hard to fight the 2014 Ebola epidemic. Unlike Central Africa, Ebola was not a usual occurrence in West Africa; the necessary elements of community trust and public health decision-making weren’t in place to detect and stop it. Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone were blind spots for disease surveillance. The cost was thousands of lives, billions of dollars and years of economic recovery for countries already torn by decades of war.
So in 2016, after the formidable U.S.-led Ebola response, the Obama White House established the global health security office at the National Security Council and asked me to lead the team. We were to prepare for and, if possible, prevent the next outbreak from becoming an epidemic or pandemic.
Our team reported to a senior-level response coordinator on the National Security staff who could rally the government at the highest levels, as well as to the national security adviser and the homeland security adviser. This high-level domestic and global reporting structure wasn’t an accident. It was a recognition that epidemics know no borders and that a serious, fast response is crucial. Our job was to be the smoke alarm — keeping watch to get ahead of emergencies, sounding a warning at the earliest sign of fire — all with the goal of avoiding a six-alarm blaze.
We partnered with federal departments and agencies as they monitored evolving outbreaks, triggering alarms for decision-makers when those outbreaks began to take on unusual or worrisome characteristics. Shortly before Trump took office, we were watching many health security threats, including a rising number of cases in China of H7N9 influenza, a deadly strain with high mortality but low transmissibility between people. Earlier, we had been tracking a large outbreak of yellow fever in Angola that threatened to sap the limited global supply of that vaccine, affecting the local population, international travelers, deployed citizens and troops. We were focused on naturally occurring diseases and potential bioterrorism — any and every biological threat that could cause a major global health and security emergency.
My office was also tasked with preparing — at home and around the world — for the next health emergency, no matter its origin. In 2014, even before the first cases of Ebola came to light in Guinea, the Obama administration launched the Global Health Security Agenda, which now includes more than 60 countries, to accelerate epidemic preparedness. That effort, bolstered by $1 billion from the U.S. government in an emergency spending bill to fight Ebola, led to major gains in global capability to combat the Ebola outbreak and prepare for the next pandemic, which turned out to be covid-19. We began building, measuring and tracking capacities each country had, such as the strength of their national laboratory systems and their abilities to detect and report disease, stand up emergency operation centers, build an epidemiology workforce and maintain safe and secure practices. We spurred the use of transparent, measurable assessments of progress, and we leveraged our diplomacy with other countries to finance and fill gaps. At the same time, we strengthened international biosurveillance networks to help alert us to future potential pandemics.
Another critical task came in early 2017, when we began transitioning pandemic preparedness to the incoming Trump administration. As a civil servant and the head of the directorate, I remained at the White House for several months after the transition. I attended senior-level meetings and directly briefed the homeland security adviser and the national security adviser. After I left the White House that March, pandemic preparedness remained on the agenda; my office remained intact under the leadership of my well-respected successor, Rear Adm. Tim Ziemer; and the national security adviser was tracking H7N9 and other emerging threats.
It’s unclear whether the decision to disband the directorate, which was made in May 2018, after John Bolton became national security adviser, was a tactical move to downgrade the issue or whether it was part of the White House’s interest in simplifying and shrinking the National Security Council staff. Either way, it left an unclear structure and strategy for coordinating pandemic preparedness and response. Experts outside government and on Capitol Hill called for the office’s reinstatement at the time.
Its absence now is all too evident. In his remarks Wednesday night, the president talked about travel bans and the resilience of the U.S. economy but made little specific mention of the public health crisis unfolding across America — exactly the kind of detail a dedicated NSC pandemics infrastructure would have pushed to address. A directorate within the White House would have been responsible for coordinating the efforts of multiple federal agencies to make sure the government was backstopping testing capacity, devising approaches to manufacture and avoid shortages of personal protective equipment, strengthening U.S. lab capacity to process covid-19 tests, and expanding the health-care workforce.
The office would galvanize resources to coordinate a robust and seamless domestic and global response. It would identify needs among state and local officials, and advise and facilitate regular, focused communication from federal health and scientific experts to provide states and the public with fact-based tools to minimize the virus’s spread. The White House is uniquely positioned to take into account broader U.S. and global security considerations associated with health emergencies, including their impact on deployed citizens, troops and regional economies, as well as peace and stability. A White House office would have been able to elevate urgent issues fast, so they didn’t linger or devolve to inaction, as with covid-19 testing in the United States. It would be in charge of sharing information and coordinating our public health and humanitarian response with partners and allies. And it would work now to prepare the United States and the world for the next pandemic, including by developing incentives for global leaders and governments to rapidly finance and fill identified gaps.
Pandemics, like weapons of mass destruction and climate change, are transnational threats with potentially existential consequences. No single department or agency can be responsible for handling them. Pandemic threats may not arise every year, but the White House should constantly prepare for them. We can’t afford for federal decision-makers to waste time relearning old lessons when they should be innovating and acting.
Covid-19 wasn’t preventable, but it was predictable. Hopefully, its impact can still be limited. But it is well past time for the U.S. government to show the leadership required for an effective domestic and global response. We need to start sprinting. Come April and May, no one will wish the United States had done less.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/i-ran-the-white-house-pandemic-office-trump-closed-it/ar-BB1192Xy
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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Unbelievable! This volcano is fixing to blow! First, it's Rosenstein playing the rat abandoning the sinking pirate ship, then Barr self-destructs, meanwhile Ms. Conway decides to very publicly and quite defiantly break the law, not only once, but twice on successive days, trampling all over the Hatch Act on sacred White House grounds. WOW!!! Does she really think Barr can protect her? When's Trump's coronation? Or are they all moving into the Trump Moscow Hotel? Keeping the passports handy? This is like the game Clue, except all the suspects are clueless.
Q: Is Kellyanne Conway trying to get fired or keep her job when she breaks the law on successive days, pissing all over the Hatch Act on White House grounds?
A: Nope, just another Trump sycophant trying to fit in, that's all.
Lindsey Graham, Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Cover-up Kommittee (SICK)
Trump's all-star defense team: Barr, Rosenstein, Conway, Huckabee-Sanders, Putin, Satan, and Congressional Republicans. Sad.
No worries--just wait until they meet our top prosecutor, St. Peter! It's OVER!!!
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“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, or QaBomb, they're all part and parcel of the current Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian nationalism religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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@810wasaninsidejob9
***NEW CDC UPDATE***
TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome)
Fortunately, the disease and contagion has confined itself solely to the two Trump supporter sects, Trumputin and Trumpturd. All others possess natural immunity. Expecting some casualties from this disease among the cult following Trump demise, but the general population is safe, the nation should survive, albeit with a stain upon it.
Any remaining Trumpezoids should be rendered mostly harmless, although the possibility exists of continued recurring cross-contamination. Treatment is simple and relatively painless. Trumpezoids must be kept from spoon-fed Russian government/Republican propaganda for an extended period, until returning back to normal.
Yes, Doc, it seems the ugly stain will remain upon the nation. But the cure was always there. Republicans are choking to death from their own propaganda, having copiously binge gorged until they became sick, and a sickness upon society. No Grecian legend foretold this tale (well, OK, maybe the greedy need and obsession with power part), but a lesson shouldn't have been required. Only common sense.
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Unfortuantely, given the Court balance, there's plenty more in the wheelhouse for corrupt, activist, partisan hack Republican jokers on the Court than just raping women's Constitutionally protected reproductive health rights! They're also about rigging elections for Republicans and corrupting our government (Bush v Gore, Citizens United, gutting the Voting Rights Act), anti-labor/worker, stripping federal powers, enhancing state powers, anti-regulatory, and whatever else comes along they think they can get away with that serves their bankrupt ideology, political agenda, corruption, and Reich-wing plutocrat elite masters. They manipulate important cases through the shadow docket, which lacks transparency, and by declining them a hearing, keeping their nefarious deeds on the downlow. They have also expedited 15 cases they wanted to decide that hadn’t been yet heard by an appeals court since 2018. From 2004 through 2017, zero such petitions were granted.
More important matters ahead, expect more irrational, activist, extremist and partisan hack decisions from these Reich-wing racist, misogynist jokers that have no sound basis in existing law, precedent, or the Constitution, which they interpret arbitrarily and capriciously at whim wherever suited to their evil ends, turning back progress and harming the nation while delegitimizing themselves and the Court.
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Trump and Republicans perversions of truth, democracy, justice, law, and common decency are despicable, sickening, and infuriating. It's not just one thing, either. It's everything, all the time, that something shady is going on with these sleazebags--a non-stop corruption circus! But the Big Top act is way, way over the top, and we're going to have to bring a cease to this crazy conundrum, constrain their contemptible carnival criminal cruise.
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regurgitation
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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You heard it here, folks...Trump hates himself! Publicly confesses his problems...that he's "a negative force, not a positive force." And, if you look at what he said, "he hurts the people of this great country." Furthermore, he acknowledges, "he should actually focus on his job, it would be a lot better if he did that he could straighten out some of the problems he has, and probably some of the problems he's caused." (Trump, answering questions, June 4. 2019)
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Demented Trumpettes feeling dejected at Toxic Trump not getting reelected, so objected. Rather get detected, infected, inspected, injected, and disinfected--instead of getting rejected from their genuflected Republican cult! This time, it isn't the Kool-Aid; it's the Clorox, Lysol, Oxycodone, Oleander, and Hydroxychloroquine cocktails...
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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***MEDIA FAIL*** -- PUBLIC: "Do witnesses have to comply with Congress' subpoenas?"
MEDIA: "No and yes. Depends on the timeline and our whimsy. Depends on if it's the House or the Senate, because House subpoenas are essentially meaningless; we make no distinctions between Holder and Nixon, between legitimate exercises of executive privilege and those being transparently done to cover-up and obstruct criminal acts in plain sight--Presidents can just ignore them at will as they please, when they please, for whatever they please, since it doesn't matter with House subpoenas for the most important thing, impeachment. Forget all about having any future Congressional Oversight, that's now a thing of the past, because going forward now, it's just a constant parade of Executive legal skullduggery playing games in the Courts. We won't explain to you, the American people, precisely what mechanism is going to compel witnesses to appear for subpoenas in the Senate if they won't for the House, given how the enforcement mechanism remains unchanged, leaving us no explanation to give you, the public.
Moreover, we have our top legal expert here--really, really smart we hear--but she isn't going to cite or explain any case law or the relevant legal statutes in the Constitution guiding impeachment witnesses. Most critically, our renowned expert won't explain how the House determines whether to proceed with any impeachment if it can't find out through the needed witnesses who disregard their subpoenas if there exists any justification for impeachment, because there is no answer to that one; it pretty much effectively guarantees no more impeachments of any sitting President. Nor does our legal expert bother explaining the basics, like how subpoenaed witnesses who do eventually feel compelled to testify may choose to take the Fifth, or explain how Chief Justice Roberts may be forced to make ongoing rulings on matters of Executive privilege during the trial phase. Finally, our top legal expert won't explain how every impeachment is different, a process where many of the procedural rules employed are variable, and subject to change, with very limited Judicial precedent guiding it."
You swung, Chris, and you totally MISSED the real point--a slow-pitch served up right over the plate--by a mile. What difference whether House or Senate if A.G. Barr still doesn't enforce those subpoenas, continues selective enforcement of the law towards nefarious end? Executive Branch takes Senate to court, like it has House, tying everything up in the courts until the next election? Judicial Branch tells U.S. Marshalls to lock up witnesses and Trump? That should have been the discussion, in conjunction with the fact that none of this would be happening without Congressional Republicans complicit in gang-banging Lady Justice. That is what the public needs to know, how grave this situation really is. You made a puny effort, but your legal expert came up short, critically failing to confirm that this business with Trump and his lawless administration is not at all government business as usual. Not an endorsement or associated in any way with them, but your competitors at MSNBC do a much better job of informing their viewers on the legal and governmental issues at stake, and their implications.
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Trump and Republicans are like Jack and his band of boys in 'Lord of the Flies' who went native and turned barbaric. Ralph, Simon, Piggy and the other group of boys represent the rest of us who value civilization and order. Just as Jack and his band turned savage, killing and cannibalizing their fellow students on the deserted island they landed upon, Trump and Republicans, manically obsessed with power, money and vanity, have also turned savage, rejecting responsibility, reason, civility, morality, and science, killing their fellow Americans and cannibalizing our government. Except there will be no adults arriving to save those of us trying to do the right thing, like in the classic tale. We are the adults, and it is strictly up to us to save ourselves and this country from the fascistic, nihilistic impulses of Trump and Republicans.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
― Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a serious threat to our very security.
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again." ― Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney
More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They have essentially become a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and disturbing. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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@Chris-xe2hb - You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It's that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don't care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another five months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, along with Reich-wing demagogues and media, who were complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance, and in spreading disinformation and misinformation. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump left office, one out of every 800 Americans had died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 410,000 fatalities, as many American casualties as all of WWII. To put it into further perspective, throughout Trump's catastrophic mishandling of a deadly global pandemic, the U.S. led the world in cases and deaths, suffering nearly 25% of each, despite having only 4.25% of global population, despite having the advantage of being the richest and most advanced nation in the world.
The memorial would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure. Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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"Without accountability, an attempted autogolpe or insurrection is just practice."
"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ― Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, along with Reich-wing demagogues and media, who were complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance, and in spreading disinformation and misinformation. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump left office, one out of every 800 Americans had died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 410,000 fatalities, as many American casualties as all of WWII. To put it into further perspective, throughout Trump's catastrophic mishandling of a deadly global pandemic, the U.S. led the world in cases and deaths, suffering nearly 25% of each, despite having only 4.25% of global population, despite having the advantage of being the richest and most advanced nation in the world.
The memorial would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure. Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth and justice--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian nationalism religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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Because humans have neglected to take aggressive action to curb our hydrocarbon usage and emissions, have refused to take climate change seriously, now what we are witnessing is a snowball effect, where the problem is exacerbated by fires burning in the Amazon, in Greece, in the western U.S. and Canada, raising temperatures and adding more CO2 and other greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. As the frozen tundra thaws, methane gases are being released, and as water bodies warm, methane hydrates formerly trapped at the bottom rise into the air, releasing even more methane gas. As more and more surface ice is lost on land and in the ocean, less sunlight is reflected back into space, causing more heat gain. Humans have set into motion a self-perpetuating loop; a cycle which we may well be powerless to stop, and which will destroy life on Earth as it has existed for millions of years.
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@emkli5619 ~ My sister-in-law is Polish and would very much disagree with you. As would her husband, my brother, who speaks fluent Hungarian, Bulgarian, Czeck, Russian, Polish, and German, and has studied and traveled extensively throughout Eastern Europe. As would Encyclopedia Brittanica and many other experts:
By accepting Catholicism in 1000 CE, the Hungarians joined the Christianized nations of the West, but they still remained on the borderlands of that civilization. This made them eager to prove themselves and also defensive about lagging behind Western developments elsewhere. Their geographical position often forced them to fight various Eastern invaders, and, as a result, they viewed themselves as defenders of Western Christianity. In that role, they felt that the West owed them something, and when, in times of crisis, special treatment was not forthcoming (e.g., Trianon in 1920), they judged the West as ungrateful.
Again, would agree that European nations generally tend to be more liberal on the whole. But what is generally true does not make something always true, or true in all respects. There is significant support in some European nations for political groups with far-right ideologies. I may not agree with them, but they should not be ignored or overlooked when making comparisons with the U.S.
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Toxic Trump: "I'm the BEST, just absolutely CRUSHING the competition, with over TWO POINT FIVE MILLION coronavirus cases and over 123--one-hundred and twenty-three!!!--THOUSAND deaths! Easy as 1-2-3! They ALL got eighty-sixed, 'cause nobody else even comes close! With a QUARTER of the world's cases AND deaths--can you even imagine how truly great, how awesome, that achievement is, with only just FOUR PERCENT of the world's population to work with? Believe it or not, I accomplished in only FIVE WEEKS what it took the Vietnam War a whole TWELVE YEARS to do! Not done with the fun--and not to be outdone--I then doubled down on the death toll from Vietnam in just FOUR MONTHS! PLUS, we're not even counting ALL the COVID-19 cases and deaths here in the U.S.! And, with only SEVEN PERCENT of the U.S. population already infected, we're just getting started with all the sickness and death; there's PLENTY more to come! Those other weaklings and losers don't stand a chance, because we're going to keep right on winning--as long as I'm in charge! Now, vacation's over; time to get back to work on increasing those numbers, people! Let's keep America great, get rid of all the excess baggage! As wartime President, I am commanding all CIVILIANS to senselessly sacrifice their lives for my arrogance, stupidity, vanity, malevolence, and greed!"
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Welcome to war. This is what war is. It's terrible, it's tragic, it's ugly, it stinks, it's unfair, it's sad, it's wasteful, it's hell, innocents die, and things always go wrong. You think we'd have learned that by now, but no, it's a lesson that has to be repeatedly learned, evidently. The consensus is that nobody foresaw the Afghan government and its armed forces completely capitulating so quickly as they did. Some say there should have been a contingency plan for this, but even though hindsight is 20/20, have yet to hear any rational plan that could have dealt with this situation. Shit happens, and Biden got handed a turd with Afghanistan. Instead of allowing the crap to continue, Biden made the hard, responsible decision to pull the U.S. out of another country's civil war. Fallout was inevitable, and Republicans trying to capitalize on that politically or media trying to profit from it is truly degenerate.
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If you're not very sophisticated, know little about the Constitution and impeachment, and didn't listen objectively to the other three expert witnesses on Constitutional law, then you might come away with the wrong idea that Professor Turley was credible. You do realize that Turley's whole testimony ADVOCATES impeachment, simply asking for more witnesses, which Democrats very much want to have testify, but refuse to let Trump run out the clock in the courts with baseless legal appeals blocking evidentiary materials and their testimony?
Professor Turley disgraced himself and his employer, Georgetown University, getting taken to the mat repeatedly and completely outclassed by three experts from other universities. While clearly knowledgeable about Constitutional law and history, Professor Turley failed to present any rational academic argument against impeachment, choosing instead to turn a blind eye to high crimes, unprecedented total obstruction of Congress oversight and impeachment powers, this President's penchant for perversions and abuses of power, and dire national security concerns...while making false allegations, engaging in false equivalencies, projecting undue bias and playing coy. Although much value and greatly appreciate opposing perspectives, Professor Turley's performance was an act of bad faith and intellectual dishonesty, demonstrating a critical lack of integrity, of which Georgetown University, its students, and its alumni should all be ashamed, as it reflects very poorly on them and their fine institution. This was a fool willingly made a Republican cult tool, and the motivation appears more self-interst than altruistic--at a time when all sane, loyal hands are crucially required on deck.
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Deny, denigrate, distract, degrade, deflect, divide, disparage, dissemble, diminish, deceive, devolve, destroy = deranged, debased, dishonest, depraved, dysfunctional, destructive, disgusting, dupliticious, deplorable, demented, derelict, degenerate, dumb! That's the dirty doggone deal about the Republican cult. Nothing's changed except the slimy slugs slithered forth from under their rock, in a sick symbiosis enabling their enabler, Racist and Rapist-in-Chief Trump. It's not rally around the flag; it's rally around their hate!
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Republicans are willing to gain and hold power at any cost...even if the price is our democracy!
Farmer wakes up one morning, goes outside to milk his cows, and discovers his entire herd is missing! So, he then walks over nest door to where the Republican cult lives, notices them grinding a whole bunch of beef into hamburger, and asks them, "Did you see what happened to all my cows?"
Republican cult: "Yeah, they jumped over the moon."
Farmer: "Do you have any actual evidence of that?"
Republican cult: "No, because they landed on the dark side, and you can't see them over there. But we're conducting a bunch of investigations and fraudits, and we're confident evidence will soon emerge to prove it!"
Farmer: "You know, that sounds like a load of manure!"
Republican cult: "Well, that's what we all choose to believe!"
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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@keeperathome1970 ~Except you were flipped into working for Satan, Doc! Everyone knows Russian bots and Trumpette Republican cult dupe morons got no soul, anyway! Y'all just get used, abused, and tossed aside like yesterday's trash, pawns of Satan's minions. Won't be any redemption for you--that we can guarantee! That's what y'all should find REALLY scary! Russian bots got no brain of their own, don't care nothing about no God, but Trumpettes got free will, make their own choice to seek out and support evil, do the Devil's work for him. Pointless praying for bots, but we DO pray for the Trumpettes, for Trump, and, yes, even for Putin! Unfortunately, the Trumpettes would rather listen to those preying UPON them than to those praying FOR their souls. That's the tragedy. However, there is hope for Trumpettes! No need to wait for your last day or any 'last days' to finally arrive--just to find your Savior again! Then, it will be too late for you! #moreRussiasanctions #killFacebook #dumpFauxNews
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Republicans can't handle reality, would rather traffic and believe in lies. The GOP is a fascist, nihilistic cult that would destroy democracy and America if given sufficient opportunity. And THAT, folks, is your reality check.
What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil. They are either actively or silently complicit in fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorist violence, Reich-wing insurrection, and Reich-wing undermining of our democracy and Constitution.
It's crystal clear that Trump, Boebert, Greene, Gosar and other Republicans like them are fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorism. The GOP has become radicalized to such an extent that it has essentially become a fascist terrorist organization, with members that fantasize and promote violence against their fellow Americans. While those Republican elected officials must be condemned and sanctioned, they are only a symptom of the disease poisoning a third of America, the most visible part of the cancer infecting our nation.
The GOP has been mainstreaming radicalization of their voter base for decades, ALLOWING Reich-wing media and Reich-wing demagogues to take over the party, to the point it has become a fascist, nihilistic cult. Because just as now, Republican politicians and their plutocratic masters have always seen it as the ends justifying whatever means to win power. Remember the Republican Tea Party? This catastrophe with the GOP didn't start with Trump, who just exploited what Republicans had already built.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle for graft and to grift their voters and us taxpayers. You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It's that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don't care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another five months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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Millions of Americans are starving, millions about to go homeless, tens of thousands of small businesses are going under, states are going under, millions of jobs lost, still lacking PPE and testing capability for COVID-19, millions of dollars need to be disbursed for vaccine distribution and vaccinations. And Congressional Republican could care less; would rather play politics, adjourn the Senate a day early and go home instead of providing desperately needed relief to the American people. So disgusted, sick, and fed-up with the Republican cult. They need to be held accountable for all this suffering and misery. Tell you one thing--not going to willingly patronize ANY Republican business anymore. If enough of us boycott them, maybe thinking about their wallets will prod them into thinking more about their fellow Americans.
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Donald Trump, at White House press conference on 04/07/20:
And we’re going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO. We’re going to put a very powerful hold on it, and we’re going to see.
Trump later at that same press conference:
Q: Thanks. A quick follow-up on that. So is the time to freeze funding to the WHO during a pandemic of this magnitude?
THE PRESIDENT: No, maybe not. I mean, I’m not saying I’m going to do it, but we’re going to look at it.
Q: You did say that you’re going to —
THE PRESIDENT: We give a tremendous —
Q: You said you’d put a hold on it.
THE PRESIDENT: No, I didn’t.
Toxic Trump, one week later, on 04/14/20: "I'm withholding WHO funding!"
ME, US, the world: WTF?? Why in HELL is that raving lunatic STILL in charge during this major pandemic health crisis?!? Hasn't he KILLED enough AMERICANS, already?!?
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Use 'em, abuse 'em, and lose 'em is Trump's MO, but Republicans aren't the smartest bunch. Even as Toxic Trump is laughing at all the gullible suckers he's grifting money from, Republicans keep paying homage and donations to him, anyway. The Republican sheep have already been fleeced, but they're sticking around to get slaughtered; muttons gluttons for punishment.
"America First" really meant grifter Toxic Trump first, last, and everything in between. Republican cult are the suckers and losers. He lied to them, they believed him, then he threw his supporters overboard to save himself.
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TRUM_PLANNED_EMIC!
Given plenty of advance warnings about COVID-19, Toxic Trump chose not to heed the sound advice provided. We could have been Taiwan, with a comparative 100 deaths in the U.S.; or South Korea, with a comparative 1500 deaths here, after adjusted for population size. Taiwan had just seven deaths; South Korea less than 300. We got over 160,000 deaths already, with the count still rapidly rising, while we remain, still, firmly mired in the first wave of the disease. Even worse, after six months, we STILL lack the adequate testing and rational national response so desperately needed to contain the disease.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of crackpot conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of greed, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of plutocrats, the party of corruption, the party of anti-democracy, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their pact with the Devil.
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Confronted with a conundrum contrary or conflicting, the Republican cult instinct for self-preservation induces a cease of circulation to the cranium, causing confusion, chaos, crisis, corruption, and criminality! Cult for cult, con for con, convolution after convolution, cockamamie concocted crackpot conspiracy after cockamamie concocted crackpot conspiracy, cover-up after cover-up, the GOP is alone, in a league all its own!
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Get big money out of politics, and get corrupt politicians like Manchin and Sinema sucking up to the corporate trough voted out.
• A summer sting operation by Greenpeace had an Exxon Mobil lobbyist reveal that he met with Manchin weekly to try to persuade him to weaken Biden’s climate agenda (and he’s not the only rich guy who gets Manchin regularly on the line). Manchin has received more donations than any other Senator from oil, gas, and coal industry.
• An August piece in Harper’s noted that the West Virginia Democratic Party, which the senator played no small role in gutting, remains entirely under Manchin’s influence and control. It also mentions how Manchin leveraged his influence within the Senate to get plush government appointments for people close to him, including his wife.
• A September report from Type Investigations and the Intercept revealed that Manchin is currently invested in multiple coal companies that are run by his son, and that, even though the elder Manchin’s investments are in a blind trust, he has personally made $4.5 million from them during the time he has spent in the Senate (11 years to date).
• This is likely the Manch’s last term. In this remaining time, he seems to be simply looking out for his sources of wealth, including the ones that come from his son’s coal incinerators. It wouldn’t be the first time a Manchin family member used conflicts of interest to their advantage. Joe’s wife, Gayle, previously served as head of the West Virginia Board of Education and used her position to try to require the state’s schools to purchase EpiPens. EpiPens are manufactured by the Big Pharma juggernaut Mylan, whose former CEO was Heather Bresch—Manchin’s daughter, who stepped down after it was revealed she helped fix the prices of EpiPens in collusion with Pfizer. Family helping family: It’s a highly lucrative graft.
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America's enemies don't need to spread disinformation, doubt, discord, and division to weaken America, kill Americans--Republican politicians, Reich-wing demagogues, Faux News, OAN, Newsmax, Breitbart and the rest of the Reich-wing media do that so effectively for them, already. More Americans need to realize that the GOP has abdicated it's duty as loyal opposition, and that its prioritization of party over country and welcoming embrace of violent radical Reich-wing extremists diminishes both our government and our national security, endangering ALL Americans, as well as weakening and endangering America itself.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law?
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What we are witnessing and feeling is an ongoing train wreck, from the vantage point of the passengers. The lunatic conductor of the LOCO-motive, Toxic Trump, knew the end-of-the-line was coming, yet kept increasing acceleration, anyway. He's still trying to pump the gas, even with the train off the track! We on the HELL bound train, now, Lucifer's demented and depraved minion absolutely determined, dedicated, DEVOTED to getting us all there on time!
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Hypocritical Republican cult whines about cancel culture...
--while making death threats against those disagreeing with them
--while censuring any Republican leaders daring to speak the truth about January 6.
--while conducting a terrorist attack against the nation's Capitol in insurrection, viciously beating police, intent on killing lawmakers and the Republican VP, attempting a coup to overthrow the results of a free and fair election...just because their candidate lost.
--while trying to cancel out the votes of millions of Democrats and minorities by objecting solely to their votes, enacting numerous voter suppression measures, and engaging in egregious gerrymandering.
--while labeling MSM "the enemy of the people."
--while censoring and moving to remove fellow Republicans of integrity who speak up for truth and decency, and against GOP lies, terrorism, and crackpot conspiracy theories.
--while Reich-wing media turns off comments yet rants against "censorship."
--while Faux News fires its news editor for truthfully reporting that Arizona had been called for Biden.
--while trying to run a Biden campaign bus off the road.
--while Rep. Marjorie Greene prevents press from covering town hall meetings where nobody wore a mask.
--after seriously injuring over 140 police officers in the Republican cult's seditious terrorist attack of insurrection against the nation's Capitol, Republican cult terrorists threaten to call the cops on reporters trying to get their side of the story.
--after canceling out millions of American's jobs under George W. Bush's recession and the largest loss of jobs since the great Depression under Toxic Trump due to his gross incompetence, lies, and willful criminal negligence in responding to a global pandemic.
--while canceling out the lives of hundreds of thousands of their fellow Americans by spreading lies about COVID-19, politicizing a deadly pandemic, and refusing to follow common sense health guidelines.
--while threatening to cancel baseball's anti-trust exemption for exercising their right to free speech
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That great big dysfunctional Donald Trump family intersection in limbo land, where arrogance, ignorance, privilege, ignominy, vapid, heartless, dumb, insecurity, stupidity, desultory, idiocy, hubris, vanity, pompous, venality, avarice, psychosis, unscrupulous, vituperative, entitlement, banality, brutality, vice and vile all meet together to form a black hole sucking humanity out of the world.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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Trump Has Sabotaged America’s Coronavirus Response
In 2018, the Trump administration fired the government’s entire pandemic response chain of command, including the White House management infrastructure. In numerous phone calls and emails with key agencies across the U.S. government, the only consistent response I encountered was distressed confusion.
White House efforts included reducing $15 billion in national health spending and cutting the global disease-fighting operational budgets of the CDC, NSC, DHS, and HHS. And the government’s $30 million Complex Crises Fund was eliminated.
In May 2018, Trump ordered the NSC’s entire global health security unit shut down, calling for reassignment of Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer and dissolution of his team inside the agency. The month before, then-White House National Security Advisor John Bolton pressured Ziemer’s DHS counterpart, Tom Bossert, to resign along with his team. Neither the NSC nor DHS epidemic teams have been replaced. The global health section of the CDC was so drastically cut in 2018 that much of its staff was laid off and the number of countries it was working in was reduced from 49 to merely 10. Meanwhile, throughout 2018, the U.S. Agency for International Development and its director, Mark Green, came repeatedly under fire from both the White House and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. And though Congress has so far managed to block Trump administration plans to cut the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps by 40 percent, the disease-fighting cadres have steadily eroded as retiring officers go unreplaced.
Public health advocates have been ringing alarm bells to no avail.
Ronald Klain, who directed U.S. efforts on Ebola, has been warning for two years that the United States was in grave danger should a pandemic emerge. In 2017 and 2018, the philanthropist billionaire Bill Gates met repeatedly with Bolton and his predecessor, H.R. McMaster, warning that ongoing cuts to the global health disease infrastructure would render the United States vulnerable to, as he put it, the “significant probability of a large and lethal modern-day pandemic occurring in our lifetimes.” And an independent, bipartisan panel formed by the Center for Strategic and International Studies concluded that lack of preparedness was so acute in the Trump administration that the “United States must either pay now and gain protection and security or wait for the next epidemic and pay a much greater price in human and economic costs.”
https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/31/coronavirus-china-trump-united-states-public-health-emergency-response/
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@mygtr2021 ~ I sense someone who has blinded themselves to the current political landscape, trafficking in false equivalence and simpleton explanations of our political system. People who are unknowledgeable and apathetic about politics do that because it makes them feel superior and above the fray, not realizing that it only demonstrates their ignorance and insecurity. Doesn't it seem strange that one side, the GOP, has abandoned the principle of democracy and loyal opposition, opting for lies, gaslighting, nihilism, and fascism?
The infrastructure bill does have bipartisan support, only because McConnell didn't want Democrats to abolish the filibuster, to throw a wrench in Democratic party unity (Manchin and Sinema), to divert attention away from the January 6 House Select Committee, and to have at least one accomplishment they could run on. The reconciliation bill should have bipartisan support, because its provisions enjoy support from a vast majority of Americans, Democrats, Republicans and Independents alike. But Republican politicians are opposing it because that would give Democrats a "win," nevermind that it is Americans and America that would be the real winner.
Elmer Fudd's always trying to convince me he just wants unity.
What he really means is that he wants to eat me.
When the truth is divisive, then there can be no unity. Unity and compromise is a two-way street that only works if both parties operate in good faith. Republicans have a long history of failing to do that--or even trying. Recent history since Biden won the election shows no indication of them changing their divisive, destructive words, attitudes, obstruction and other acts. Tyrant Trump incited a terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol to overthrow an election, endangering his VP and members of Congress, sat by and gleefully reveled in watching it happen for hours, ignoring desperate pleas for help from Congressional Republicans forced to flee for their lives, and only a very few Republican were willing to speak out, impeach him, convict him, and prevent him from holding public office again? Republicans wouldn't even agree to a bipartisan January 6 commission formulated upon a plan in which all there demands were met. That's not loyal opposition--that's a dangerous terrorist political cult of fascists.
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@Edemce1 ~ Texas Republicans can't even keep the electricity on in their own state, Doc, Texans freezing to death while their Reich-wing politicians start bogus culture wars that benefit nobody but themselves! Turn off the Reich-wing media, maybe you'll return to reality and gain a fresh perspective.
Trump had the three most precipitous drops in the stock market----more than any in the Great Depression----wiping out trillions in public wealth, lost more jobs than Hoover in the Great Depression, and was directly responsible for the senseless deaths of over a half-million Americans.
Meanwhile, stock market is hitting record highs under Biden, more and more jobs are being added to the economy under his watch, he's repairing the damage done to our relationships with foreign allies by Trump, and he is bringing a deadly global pandemic under control. Historians rank Trump in the bottom three of all American Presidents, some of them as the very worst, while Biden is doing a remarkable job fixing the big mess Trump left him, and will no doubt receive high marks from historians.
Am I happy with where the country is at? No, because Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing politicians and Christian nationalist leaders continue stoking divisiveness and fanning the flames of fascism. But that isn't Biden's or Democrat's fault, not something that they want or can easily fix. Those Republicans allowing themselves to be exploited and misled by unscrupulous Reich-wing grifters and Christian charlatans need to take personal responsibility for the damage they are doing to America in acting as a mindless partisan cult, start putting country before party.
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@mygtr2021 ~ Actually, Doc, you initiated our dialogue by insulting me with insinuations, accusing me of too much party loyalty. Your reply was directed to me, no one else. Very divisive of you to begin the dialogue that way (you started our dialogue, not me, remember?) Seems you like to dish it out, but can't take a dose of your own medicine. And it seems it was YOU who got your little feelings hurt and melted like a snowflake. So, you make a pathetic attempt to project and conclude your reply with the passive aggressive platitude "Have a nice life," pretending once again to be above the fray, when you're quite obviously up to your neck in it and fooling no one but yourself. Don't insult my intelligence, and I won't insult yours.
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@mygtr2021 ~ It's clear that you don't know anything about me, Doc, and like to rush to hasty judgments. I see that you need to twist things, trying to coverup that it was YOU who initiated the dishing out, then chose to get offended when receiving identical treatment in return. I see that you have no cogent or coherent response to any of my replies, other than to get offended. I see you making pointed criticisms of Democrats, but not Republicans. I see you miscomprehending the meaning of my comment, erroneously taking it to mean favoring a one-party system. I see you don't understand that when one party is misbehaving badly, the answer is not to blame both parties, but to punish the one misbehaving, so that it will be forced to see the error of its ways and change, that we may have a viable two-party system consisting of LOYAL opposition. I see you are incapable of making a competent, objective assessment of the wide chasm currently existing between the two parties. I see you saying what you are against, but not what you stand for, nor offering any rational, practical solutions. What that all amounts to, I see, is a level of intellectual dishonesty.
You're right about one thing, and that's the power lies with the people. The current SCOTUS makeup does not reflect the will of the majority of Americans. Neither does the representative mix in the Senate and House, due to Republican gerrymandering and voter suppression efforts. Our Presidential choice does not always reflect the will of the majority of the American people, due to an antiquated, undemocratic Electoral College. You seem to be forgetting or ignoring that it is we the people who elected the politicians, it is we the people who are at fault if we don't like the ones we have, and it is we the people who have the ability to elect different ones.
“Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a President and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country.” ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt
“Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.” ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
Democrats, Independents, others: WTF?!?
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America's enemies don't need to spread disinformation, doubt, discord, and division to weaken America, kill Americans--Republican politicians, Reich-wing demagogues, Faux News, OAN, Newsmax, Breitbart and the rest of the Reich-wing media do that so effectively for them, already. More Americans need to realize that the GOP has abdicated it's duty as loyal opposition, and that its prioritization of party over country and welcoming embrace of violent radical Reich-wing extremists diminishes both our government and our national security, endangering ALL Americans, as well as weakening and endangering America itself.
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TRUM_PLANNED_EMIC!
Given plenty of advance warnings about COVID-19, Toxic Trump chose not to heed the sound advice provided. We could have been Taiwan, with a comparative 100 deaths in the U.S.; or South Korea, with a comparative 1500 deaths here, after adjusted for population size. Taiwan had just seven deaths; South Korea less than 300. We got over 135,000 deaths already, with the count still rapidly rising, while we remain, still, firmly mired in the first wave of the disease. Even worse, after six months, we STILL lack the adequate testing and rational national response to contain the disease.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It's that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don't care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another five months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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There has never been a graceful exit for the losing side in any war.
Truth is, our hasty withdrawal from Vietnam was even worse if you look at the numbers and the whole picture. Only 7,000 were evacuated from Vietnam during the fall of Saigon, with many more left behind, including two dead American soldiers----the last to die in the Vietnam War----left behind in a hospital and not returned until a year later by the Vietnamese. That evacuation occurred under hostile NVA and Vietcong fire. Since August 14, over 28,000 have already been evacuated from Afghanistan despite the complete capitulation of the Afghan government and Afghan Army, with no hostile fire upon American troops by the Taliban so far. 33,000 have been evacuated since July. Moreover, the January 27, 1973 peace agreement signed by the Americans with the North Vietnamese ended all direct U.S. military involvement in Vietnam, and provided sixty days for troop removal. Just as with Afghanistan, all troops were removed. However, it was over two years later, on April 30, 1975, when the fall of Saigon occurred. So, the U.S. had nearly two-and-a-half years to evacuate everyone else before the fall of the South Vietnamese government and armed forces, instead of just the two weeks like in Afghanistan so far.
The other thing in stark contrast between Vietnam and Afghanistan is that no Democrats----including Carter, who was running against Ford for President----tried to use the situation for political gain like Republicans are so desperately and depravedly doing now. That, despite the fact that it was the previous Trump administration which bears the brunt of the blame for the current situation.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Let's face it; this American fall towards fascism didn't just happen overnight. Since before the '70s Republicans have engaged in dog whistles and pursued a racist agenda, hidden behind various facades. Reagan helped Goldwater using dog-whistles; Nixon was infamous for his use of them. Roger Ailes micromanaged Nixon's appearances, and stoked racial fears and resentments. Reagan employed them getting elected governor of California. Lee Atwater, who greatly admired Nixon's 'Southern strategy,' worked on Reagan's Presidential campaign, teaming up with Ailes. A year after Reagan's victory, Atwater gave what was then an anonymous interview, and perhaps lulled by the anonymity, he offered an unusually candid response to a question about Reagan, the Southern strategy, and the drive to attract the Wallace voters:
"You start out in 1954 by saying, "N------, N------, N-------." By 1968 you can't say "N-------," that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states' rights and all that stuff. You're getting so abstract now, you're talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you're talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is, blacks get hurt worse than whites. And subconsciously maybe that is part of it. I'm not saying that. But I'm saying that if it is getting that abstract, and that coded, that we are doing away with the racial problem one way or the other. You follow me; because obviously sitting around saying, "We want to cut taxes and we want to cut this," is much more abstract than even the busing thing, and a hell of a lot more abstract than "N------, N------." So anyway you look at it, race is coming on the back burner."
Humiliated and stunned by Nixon's forced resignation, Republicans anointed Reagan their hero, and have long insisted on regarding him as such, despite his repeated use of racial dog-whistles and his mediocre record. In 1980, Reagan characterized food stamp recipients as, "That strapping young buck in front of you at the checkout buying T-bone steak, while you wait in line to buy hamburger," and kicked off his campaign outside Philadelphia, Mississippi--notorious for the KKK lynching of four volunteer civil rights workers just 16 years earlier--by delivering the promise that, "I believe in state's rights!" Reagan returned in 1984 to another cheering crowd, this time endorsing the neo-Confederate slogan, "The South shall rise again!"
Lee Atwater went on to work with Roger Ailes on George H.W. Bush's Presidential campaign, which shamelessly stoked racial fear through the infamous Willie Horton political ad and other means. Roger Ailes would go on to head Fox News for Rupert Murdoch, until numerous allegations of sexual harassment and improprieties, along with related lawsuits against Fox, forced his removal. Ailes was a polarizing influence, who has been called the most destructive force in American politics in 50 years.
Conservative plutocrats and the GOP created the beast over decades with round-the-clock propaganda, but were swallowed whole by their own mutated creations of daily outrage, white grievance politics, and phony populism; first by the Tea Party, then by Trump. Unable to go back, and clearly having no way forward, they remain planted in their own muck and mire, trapped by the cult of their own making. The pundits and conservatives rejecting Trump are trying to salvage their party, but any person of principle and sense ought to know enough to defect the rotten machine.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, along with Reich-wing demagogues and media, who were complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance, and in spreading disinformation and misinformation. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump left office, one out of every 800 Americans had died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 410,000 fatalities, as many American casualties as all of WWII. To put it into further perspective, throughout Trump's catastrophic mishandling of a deadly global pandemic, the U.S. led the world in cases and deaths, suffering nearly 25% of each, despite having only 4.25% of global population, despite having the advantage of being the richest and most advanced nation in the world.
The memorial would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure. Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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Sounds like Moscow on the line again, calling impeachment a coup, now! OMG, stop the presses, man the trenches, lock the wives and kids in the closet--Republicans are following Putin's marching orders!!!
1) Putin is playing U.S. population, gaming elections.
2) Trump is playing U.S. population, gaming elections.
3) Republicans are playing U.S. population, gaming elections.
4) Republicans are willfully and knowingly spreading Putin's debunked propaganda in aid of both their own and Russia's aforementioned efforts.
5) Republicans are willfully and knowingly protecting a President that has compromised himself with our chief foreign adversary, Russia, despite clear and overwhelming evidence of criminality of the highest order threatening our elections, democracy, and national security.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian nationalism religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast would soon come to consume them.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-‘n-‘Thief, Toxic Trump, so much—although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages—as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, homophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, divisive, anti-democratic raving lunatic and his corruption, a man compromised by foreign nations, including our principle adversary, through his tremendous debt. Between that, his catastrophic, irresponsible handling of COVID-19, and his incitement of anti-democratic violent Reich-wing groups, Trump has made himself America's #1 most serious national security threat. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself, mental illness, and his upbringing, who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, John Eastman and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed? If Garland doesn't stand up for justice and democracy, this nation is soon doomed.
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-‘n-‘Thief, Toxic Trump, so much—although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages—as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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Freedoms can exist only up to the point they infringe upon the freedom of others. Religious tolerance can be practiced only up to the point it becomes intolerant of others. Our Constitution is a secular document, not a religious one, and it was certainly never intended to be a suicidal death pact. Getting vaccinated and following CDC guidelines brings freedom from preventable illness or injury, and a senseless premature death, but the mindless fascist Republican cult only believes in freeDUMB. Just as they don't understand or would deny the Constitution is as much about the common good as personal liberties, and that those two things are intrinsically and inextricably intertwined.
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge." ~ Ben Franklin, from Poor Richard's Almanack
Those who scorn public health guidelines during a deadly global pandemic and confuse a grievous public health issue with "essential" liberty to kill and harm themselves and their fellow citizens--as well as their nation--sorely lack both care and knowledge. They are also sorely lacking in common sense, something else about which Mr. Franklin was quite keen. Mr. Franklin was also one our nation's first scientists--yet these modern-day knuckleheads who ought know better refute science! Were he alive today, he would be rather dismayed, disgruntled, and disgusted with the fascist anti-science Republican cult, that much is crystal clear.
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Republican cult morons rail against the very "elite" they keep voting for, who give tax cuts to the rich and have created the greatest income inequality and wealth disparity in American history.
Why? They are driven by the divisive fear and bigotry programmed into them 24/7 by the Reich-wing media and propaganda owned or funded by the plutocracy. It's absolutely Orwellian, and it began around 1984 in America. What is witnessed now is just the rotten results from the poisoned tree bearing fruition. It's the disease killing America that existed long before COVID-19, and which is likely to persist long after.
Republican cult going to believe what the Republican cult wants to believe, whatever the truth, whatever proof, whatever anybody says. "Healing" the country means deprogramming the 30-40% of American electorate deep in cultdom. That needs to be recognized, acknowledged, and acted upon if we truly wish to revive the patient, America, and restore it to glory.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian nationalism religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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Elmer Fudd's always trying to convince me he just wants unity.
What he really means is that he wants to eat me.
Unity and compromise is a two-way street that only works if both parties operate in good faith. Republicans have a long history of failing to do that--or even try. Recent history since Biden won the election shows no indication of them changing their divisive, destructive words, attitudes, and acts. Tyrant Trump incited a terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol to overthrow an election, endangering his VP and members of Congress, sat by and gleefully reveled in watching it happen for hours, ignoring desperate pleas for help, and only a very few Republican are willing to speak out, impeach him, convict him, and prevent him from holding public office again? That's not loyal opposition; that's a dangerous terrorist political cult of fascists.
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The Case Against Donald Trump
The president of the United States poses a threat to our collective existence. The choice voters face is spectacularly obvious.
OCTOBER 22, 2020 — Jeffrey Goldberg, on behalf of the editors of The Atlantic
In 1973, a United States Air Force officer, Major Harold Hering, asked a question that the Air Force did not want asked. Hering, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, was then in training to become a Minuteman-missile crewman. The question he asked one of his instructors was this: “How can I know that an order I receive to launch my missiles came from a sane president?”
The writer Ron Rosenbaum would later call this the “forbidden question.” Missile officers are allowed to ask certain sorts of questions—about the various fail-safe systems built to prevent the accidental launching of nuclear weapons, for instance. But the Air Force would not answer Hering’s question, and it moved to discharge him after determining that officers responsible for launching nuclear weapons did not “need to know” the answer. “I have to say I feel I do have a need to know because I am a human being,” Hering said in response.
Hering’s question was taboo because the national defense strategy of the United States is built on the unstated assumption that the American people will not allow a lunatic to become president. If that assumption is wrong, then no procedural, legal, or technological mechanisms exist that are able to fully protect the human race from such a lunatic. Hering discovered a catastrophic flaw in U.S. nuclear doctrine, and for this he was driven from the Air Force.
In most matters related to the governance and defense of the United States, the president is constrained by competing branches of government and by an intricate web of laws and customs. Only in one crucial area does the president resemble, in the words of the former missile officer and scholar Bruce Blair, an absolute monarch—his control of nuclear weapons. Richard Nixon, who was president when Major Hering asked his question, was reported to have told members of Congress at a White House dinner party, “I could leave this room and in 25 minutes, 70 million people would be dead.” This was an alarming but accurate statement.
When contemplating their ballots, Americans should ask which candidate in a presidential contest is better equipped to guide the United States through a national-security crisis without triggering a nuclear exchange, and which candidate is better equipped to interpret—within five or seven minutes—the ambiguous, complicated, and contradictory signals that could suggest an imminent nuclear attack. These are certainly not questions that large numbers of voters asked themselves in 2016, when a transparently unqualified candidate for president won the support of 63 million Americans.
At the time, Donald Trump had not yet served in public office, so concerns about his ability to protect the United States from harm were hypothetical, though grounded in his long and terrible record as a human being. As The Atlantic stated in its October 2016 endorsement of his opponent, Hillary Clinton, Trump “traffics in conspiracy theories and racist invective; he is appallingly sexist; he is erratic, secretive, and xenophobic; he expresses admiration for authoritarian rulers, and evinces authoritarian tendencies himself … He is an enemy of fact-based discourse; he is ignorant of, and indifferent to, the Constitution; he appears not to read.”
What we have learned since we published that editorial is that we understated our case. Donald Trump is the worst president this country has seen since Andrew Johnson, or perhaps James Buchanan, or perhaps ever. Trump has brought our country low; he has divided our people; he has pitted race against race; he has corrupted our democracy; he has shown contempt for American ideals; he has made cruelty a sacrament; he has provided comfort to propagators of hate; he has abandoned America’s allies; he has aligned himself with dictators; he has encouraged terrorism and mob violence; he has undermined the agencies and departments of government; he has despoiled the environment; he has opposed free speech; he has lied frenetically and evangelized for conspiracism; he has stolen children from their parents; he has made himself an advocate of a hostile foreign power; and he has failed to protect America from a ravaging virus. Trump is not responsible for all of the 220,000 COVID-19-related deaths in America. But through his avarice and ignorance and negligence and titanic incompetence, he has allowed tens of thousands of Americans to suffer and die, many alone, all needlessly. With each passing day, his presidency reaps more death.
But let us lay all of this aside for the moment. Let us even lay aside the extraordinary fact that Donald Trump has been credibly accused of rape. Compelling evidence suggests that his countless sins and defects are rooted in mental instability, pathological narcissism, and profound moral and cognitive impairment. Which returns us to the subject of Major Hering.
Trump’s opponent, Joe Biden, is in many ways a typically imperfect candidate, but if we judge these men on two questions alone—Who is a more trustworthy steward of America’s nuclear arsenal? Which man poses less of a threat to our collective existence?—the answer is spectacularly obvious.
The Atlantic has endorsed only three candidates in its 163-year history: Abraham Lincoln, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Hillary Clinton. The latter two endorsements had more to do with the qualities of Barry Goldwater and Donald Trump than with those of Johnson and Clinton. The same holds true in the case of Joe Biden. Biden is a man of experience, maturity, and obvious humanity, but had the Republican Party put forward a credible candidate for president, we would have felt no compulsion to state a preference. Donald Trump, however, is a clear and continuing danger to the United States, and it does not seem likely that our country would be able to emerge whole from four more years of his misrule. Two men are running for president. One is a terrible man; the other is a decent man. Vote for the decent man.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/10/atlantics-endorsement-against-donald-trump/616815/
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@nerakar6562 ~Proving my point, Doc! Impossible to have small government and be the most powerful nation on Earth. Impossible in this world to be secure without that economic and military might held by the U.S. right now. But all that economic and military might does us no good at all sitting at home on their hands. And our economy is based on a global economy; going backward means losing our dominance and economic vitality. Maybe in the future you can live in your dream world, but we currently can't afford to be isolationist. Which is why Trump is finding it much more difficult to bring our boys and girls back home than he simplistically thought. In fact, there are more troops abroad under Trump than his predecessor left him.
Impossible to have small government when you have over 300 million citizens, who all have unique needs. The vast majority of Americans are looking to expand Social Security, Medicare, not do away with these vital programs--which would take us back to the dark ages.
Impossible to have small government, when we have businesses who put profits before people and the public welfare. Without regulations and their enforcement, we return to poisoning ourselves and working as serfs for the 1%.
Proving your bigotry, as well. Just as there is an autism spectrum, there is a gender spectrum. For purposes of biology--particularly in regard to other animal life--a male and female sex is used. For human sexuality, a gender spectrum is used. That simple. Those PEOPLE not at one end of the spectrum or the other are not at fault, nor do they deserve fear, hatred, and discrimination merely because of their sexuality...maliciousness which is fabricated, forged, and fomented out of just pure, plain ignorance.
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Naturally, Republicans don't want their ties to terrorists and the insurrection exposed, nor does McCarthy want to be forced to testify about his damning phone call to Traitor Trump on January 6th.
While it would be better to have a bipartisan commission with both sides operating in good faith to get to the truth, Republicans have demonstrated themselves to be incapable of operating in good faith. So, should they vote against the January 6 commission, it will actually be for the better, because a House select committee investigating January 6 won't be blocked by Republicans from subpoenaing witnesses, or bogged down with Republican obstructionism, obfuscations, deflections, and irrelevancies.
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Farmer wakes up one morning, goes outside to milk his cows, and discovers his entire herd is missing! So, he then walks over nest door to where the Republican cult lives, notices them grinding a whole bunch of beef into hamburger, and asks them, "Did you see what happened to all my cows?"
Republican cult: "Yeah, they jumped over the moon."
Farmer: "Do you have any actual evidence of that?"
Republican cult: "No, because they landed on the dark side, and you can't see them over there. But we're conducting a bunch of investigations and fraudits, and we're confident evidence will soon emerge to prove it!"
Farmer: "You know, that sounds like a load of manure!"
Republican cult: "Well, that's what we all choose to believe!"
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Biggest Loser shreds Iran nuclear deal for no good reason, other than blind malice and pure ignorance. Feeling neglected by the Clown-in-Chief, Boo Boo Bolton mounts massive Iran operation to help boss distract the public from the Mueller Report and impending impeachment, while satisfying fetish for bloody wars. But Coward-in-Chief not want war -- cuts into golf time too much -- so whole operation called off, to tremendous relief of nation. To relieve increasing pressure, Cheater-in-Chief takes a dump on Congress, releasing 12-page turd declaring Constitution invalid. Boo Boo Barr and Republicans continue chipping away at foundation, our Constitution, and sacred institutions, simultaneously multitasking undermining both justice and American security. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court remains out to lunch, likely to distance itself from the overripe, corrupt stench permeating the White House.
Just another close call in a terrifying rollercoaster ride, with America passenger to a lunatic, narcissistic, power-drunk driver.
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GOP cult is NOT the party of law and order, NOT the party of the Constitution and patriots, NOT the party of "values," NOT the party of fiscal responsibility, NOT the party of clean government, NOT the party of freedom. It's the party of terrorism, lawlessness, corruption, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry, misogyny, Big Lies, unmitigated greed, gross hypocrisy, socialized taxpayer payouts for plutocrats, sedition, traitors, and tyranny.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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"'Tis not, 'my country, right or wrong;' 'tis, 'my country, what is right to be kept right, what is wrong to be set right!'" -- Carl Schurz
Long before there was Amash, there was principled progressive visionary Republican Carl Schurz. German revolutionary, journalist, American statesman, abolitionist and superb orator who campaigned tirelessly in support for Lincoln, U.S. diplomat, beloved Union Army General, U.S. Senator for Missouri, helped shape a Reconstruction policy that enfranchised the freed slaves, championed civil service reform, a founder of the Republican Party in Wisconsin, founded the Liberal Republican movement, was a leader of the "Mugwump" exodus from the Republican party, denounced American imperialism in the Spanish-American War, and passionate advocate for the conservationist movement in America which he helped to create. His wife started the first kindergarten in the U.S.
At the age of 19 he was a leader of the student movement that became the spearhead of democratic revolutionary ferment in many parts of Germany. In 1849 Schurz was commissioned a lieutenant in the revolutionary army, which was finally defeated by the Prussians. Knowing he would be shot if captured, he fled the country. He later returned under a false passport to rescue a professor from Spandau prison and spirit him out of Germany in the most daring exploit of the entire revolution. Schurz came to the U.S. in 1852.
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You don't get denialism without nihilism. As life-long conservative Bill Kristol astutely pointed out, the Republican party has embraced nihilism. Republicans still labeling COVID-19 a "hoax;" Republicans still refusing to wear masks or social distance after over half-a-million American fatalities from COVID-19; Congressional Republicans obstructing a COVID-19 stimulus bill certain to pass just to delay vital and urgently needed relief to Americans desperate for help; not one Congressional Republican in either chamber voting for the badly needed stimulus bill; Republican governors dropping mask mandates and all restrictions on businesses, heedless of rising case counts in their states and deadly new variants of the virus; and Republican leaders continuing to push the Big Lie that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen without evidence and in disregard of plentiful evidence and facts to the contrary, even AFTER their Big Lie incited a terrorist attack by a mindless Republican mob against the nation's Capitol in insurrection against the government, attempting to overturn a legitimate election, sieging, storming, sizing, sacking, defiling, defacing and disgracing America's citadel of, and temple to, democracy--these are all prime examples of nihilism.
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Freedoms can exist only up to the point they infringe upon the freedom of others. Religious tolerance can be practiced only up to the point it becomes intolerant of others. Our Constitution is a secular document, not a religious one, and it was certainly never intended to be a suicidal death pact. Getting vaccinated and following CDC guidelines brings freedom from preventable illness or injury, and a senseless premature death, but the mindless fascist Republican cult only believes in freeDUMB. Just as they don't understand or would deny the Constitution is as much about the common good as personal liberties, and that those two things are intrinsically and inextricably intertwined.
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge." ~ Ben Franklin, from Poor Richard's Almanack
Those who scorn public health guidelines during a deadly global pandemic and confuse a grievous public health issue with "essential" liberty to kill and harm themselves and their fellow citizens--as well as their nation--sorely lack both care and knowledge. They are also sorely lacking in common sense, something else about which Mr. Franklin was quite keen. Mr. Franklin was also one our nation's first scientists--yet these modern-day knuckleheads who ought know better refute science! Were he alive today, he would be rather dismayed, disgruntled, and disgusted with the fascist anti-science Republican cult, that much is crystal clear.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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UK conservatives: Integrity, honor, willing to hold their own accountable.
US conservatives: Spineless sycophants, immoral, hypocritical, dishonorable, corrupt, liars, deniers, gaslighting sleazebags, unwilling to hold their own accountable.
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“Don’t give me the MyPillow guy doing a song-and-dance up here on a Monday afternoon when people are dying in Queens,” Francesa said. “Get the stuff made, get the stuff where it needs to go, and get the boots on the ground! Treat this like the crisis it is!”
New York sports talk radio icon Mike Francesa, a longtime and vocal defender of Trump, delivered an on-air tirade Tuesday about the president’s leadership. Francesa seized upon Trump’s comments Monday that if the total number of coronavirus fatalities in the United States is between 100,000 and 200,000, that would count as a good job.
“How can you have a scoreboard that says 2,000 people have died and tell us, ‘It’s okay if another 198,000 die, that’s a good job,’ ” Francesa said. “How is that a good job in our country? It’s a good job if nobody else dies! Not if another 198,000 people die! So now 200,000 people are disposable?”
Jesus freak fervently praying for God to save our pillowed butts in WH presser...because he knows Trump sure as hell ain't doing it!
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(1) "Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts."
~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
(2) "You are entitled to your own views, but you are not entitled to your own facts."
~ U.S. Secretary of Defense James R. Schlesinger, December 1975 and January 1976
(3) "People are entitled to their own opinions, but not to their own facts."
~ U.S Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, 1983 Washington Post op-ed, who credited the quote to Alan Greenspan in 1984: "During the commission’s deliberations, Alan Greenspan, our chairman and former chairman of the president’s Council of Economic Advisers, imposed a simple but crucial rule: "Members were entitled to their own opinions, but not to their own facts."
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@ThisFoolishLife ~ Bad Vibration, Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization duration
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
What location revitalization?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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Andy H ~Republican cult is all about the fear; that's why they're cowards. It's what they peddle, what they traffic in, and what they carry in their pocket always. Then, they turn those fantasy fears of theirs into hate. The hate stems, grows from the fear pumped into them 24/7 by right-wing demagogues, media, politicians, and plutocrats. Stop the fear, and we can kill the hate. We can heal, be better, form a more perfect Union. But it will take time and effort.
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@olrikparlez3152 ~No offense taken, just a heads-up. Because YouTube stacks replies chronologically in one thread, without any sub-threads, as a courtesy to those addressed it is helpful to reference with some specificity that to which you reply. On longer threads, it can take a good bit of time to figure out what is being discussed to determine how to respond. Was concurrence with our reply to Andy H, or something else? So, you see the difficulty presented. YouTube comments are archaic and in long need of improvement. Not your fault, but to your benefit--and everyone's--to keep in mind.
Anyway, give us a clue, please, and let us know if you'd second the following idea, as well, while we got you on the line:
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or "the Wall") is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle's name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called "leaders" in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 -- than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to--and a barrier against--our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It's design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge--and help teach--people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see...if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that generation.
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Let's face it; this American fall towards fascism didn't just happen overnight. Since before the '70s Republicans have engaged in dog whistles and pursued a racist agenda, hidden behind various facades. Reagan helped Goldwater using dog-whistles; Nixon was infamous for his use of them. Roger Ailes micromanaged Nixon's appearances, and stoked racial fears and resentments. Reagan employed them getting elected governor of California. Lee Atwater, who greatly admired Nixon's 'Southern strategy,' worked on Reagan's Presidential campaign, teaming up with Ailes. A year after Reagan's victory, Atwater gave what was then an anonymous interview, and perhaps lulled by the anonymity, he offered an unusually candid response to a question about Reagan, the Southern strategy, and the drive to attract the Wallace voters:
"You start out in 1954 by saying, "N------, N------, N-------." By 1968 you can't say "N-------," that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states' rights and all that stuff. You're getting so abstract now, you're talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you're talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is, blacks get hurt worse than whites. And subconsciously maybe that is part of it. I'm not saying that. But I'm saying that if it is getting that abstract, and that coded, that we are doing away with the racial problem one way or the other. You follow me; because obviously sitting around saying, "We want to cut taxes and we want to cut this," is much more abstract than even the busing thing, and a hell of a lot more abstract than "N------, N------." So anyway you look at it, race is coming on the back burner."
Humiliated and stunned by Nixon's forced resignation, Republicans anointed Reagan their hero, and have long insisted on regarding him as such, despite his repeated use of racial dog-whistles and his mediocre record. In 1980, Reagan characterized food stamp recipients as, "That strapping young buck in front of you at the checkout buying T-bone steak, while you wait in line to buy hamburger," and kicked off his campaign outside Philadelphia, Mississippi--notorious for the KKK lynching of four volunteer civil rights workers just 16 years earlier--by delivering the promise that, "I believe in state's rights!" Reagan returned in 1984 to another cheering crowd, this time endorsing the neo-Confederate slogan, "The South shall rise again!"
Lee Atwater went on to work with Roger Ailes on George H.W. Bush's Presidential campaign, which shamelessly stoked racial fear through the infamous Willie Horton political ad and other means. Roger Ailes would go on to head Fox News for Rupert Murdoch, until numerous allegations of sexual harassment and improprieties, along with related lawsuits against Fox, forced his removal. Ailes was a polarizing influence, who has been called the most destructive force in American politics in 50 years.
Conservative plutocrats and the GOP created the beast over decades with round-the-clock propaganda, but were swallowed whole by their own mutated creations of daily outrage, white grievance politics, and phony populism; first by the Tea Party, then by Trump. Unable to go back, and clearly having no way forward, they remain planted in their own muck and mire, trapped by the cult of their own making. The pundits and conservatives rejecting Trump are trying to salvage their party, but any person of principle and sense ought to know enough to defect the rotten machine.
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@andrewthomas695 ~ GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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The Molotov cocktail recipe:
Mix in equal parts of mental illness, willful ignorance, fear, hate, decades of 24/7 Reich-wing disinformation, misinformation, and crackpot conspiracy programming by Republican politicians, plutocrats, media and demagogues, add supplemental divisive Russian propaganda attacking and weakening America, stir well, garnish with COVID-19, and you have the mindless Republican cult descending into fascism, committing terrorism and sedition. Then, grab a stiff drink--you'll need it.
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Trump’s Dangerously Effective Coronavirus Propaganda
The president’s effort to play down the pandemic is being amplified by a coalition of partisan media, digital propagandists, and White House officials.
McKay Coppins
March 11, 2020
From the moment the coronavirus reached the United States, President Donald Trump has seemed determined to construct an alternate reality around the outbreak. In the information universe he has formed, COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, is no worse than the seasonal flu; criticism of his response to it is a “hoax”; and media coverage of the virus is part of a political conspiracy to destroy his presidency.
As with so much of the president’s messaging, this narrative began with tossed-off tweets and impromptu public statements. But in recent days, as U.S. health officials have raised growing concerns about the outbreak, Trump’s efforts to play down the pandemic have been amplified by the same multi-platform propaganda apparatus he’s relying on for reelection in November. From the White House communications office to the MAGA meme warriors of Instagram, from the prime-time partisans on Fox News to the Trump campaign’s Facebook feed, the overarching message has been the same: Pay no attention to the fake-news fearmongering about the coronavirus. It’s all political hype. Things are going great.
Fact-checkers and scientists have scrambled to correct the misinformation coming out of the White House. (No, the virus has not been “contained” in America; no, testing is not available to anybody who wants it; no, people shouldn’t go to work if they’re sick.) But Trump’s message seems to have resonated with his base: A Quinnipiac University poll released this week found that just 35 percent of Republicans are concerned about the virus, compared with 68 percent of Democrats.
The administration’s response to the outbreak has drawn some comparisons to that of the autocratic regimes in China and Iran, where information about the virus was tightly controlled to the detriment of the local populations. But what Trump has actually shown is that he doesn’t need to silence the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or censor the press to undermine politically inconvenient information about a public-health crisis—he can simply use his presidential bullhorn to drown it out.
Scholars who study modern disinformation tactics have identified this approach as “censorship through noise.” (Steve Bannon, the former White House strategist, has described the strategy in blunter terms: “Flood the zone with shit.”) As I reported in my recent feature on the Trump campaign, the purpose of this sort of propaganda blizzard is not to inspire conviction in a certain set of facts; it’s to bombard people with so many contradictory claims, conspiracy theories, what-abouts, and distortions that they simply throw up their hands in confusion and exhaustion.
Spend some time wading through the coronavirus content that’s spreading through the MAGA ecosystem, and it’s easy to see the strategy at work.
Trump supporters have been warned incessantly not to trust mainstream journalistic coverage of the issue. When the market tanked earlier this week, the president blamed it on “fake news.” When White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham appeared on Fox & Friends, she condemned the media for using the virus “as a tool to politicize things and to scare people.”
Meanwhile, Trump’s right-wing media allies are working to minimize the perceived dangers of the coronavirus. “Put it in perspective,” Sean Hannity told his Fox News audience this week. “Twenty-six people were shot in Chicago alone over the weekend. I doubt you heard about it. You notice there’s no widespread hysteria about violence in Chicago. And this has now gone on for years and years and years. By the way, Democratic-run cities, we see a lot of that.” The sentiment was echoed by Tomi Lahren, a Fox Nation host, who invoked California’s homelessness problem to deflect attention from the outbreak: “Call me crazy, but I am far more concerned with stepping on a used heroin needle than I am getting the coronavirus, but maybe that’s just me.”
A key strain of the president’s narrative is that concerns about the coronavirus are being weaponized by bad-faith actors—a notion that has spawned a broad range of conspiracy theories. On Fox Business, Trish Regan accused Trump’s enemies of trying to “create mass hysteria to encourage a market sell-off” that would harm his reelection prospects: “This is impeachment all over again,” she declared. Rush Limbaugh has mused that the president is the target of “virus terrorism.” And on Facebook and Twitter, a meme has begun circulating among Trump fans that darkly suggests a new disease is introduced every election year to influence politics.
Pro-Trump social-media stars have ridiculed people who are afraid of the coronavirus, casting them as ridiculous, or perhaps unmasculine. (“Stop being a baby and go to the gym,” one well-known troll recently wrote beneath a selfie emphasizing his biceps. “Obesity is the real pandemic.”) At the same time, many Republicans are seizing on the outbreak to build support for restrictionist immigration policies and a trade war with China. “We need the Wall more than ever!” Trump tweeted this week.
To the president and his allies, it doesn’t really matter that all these narrative threads don’t perfectly cohere. Muddying the waters is the name of the game, and it’s a strategy that’s carried Trump through numerous political battles over the years.
But sowing strategic doubt about the facts of a global pandemic is fundamentally different from doing it with, say, an impeachment hearing. The dangers are more tangible and immediate to voters, regardless of whether they support Trump. The stakes are higher. And in a crass, political sense, the long-term effectiveness of the effort is limited. Hundreds of new coronavirus cases are being confirmed every day in the U.S. Public events are being canceled, schools are shutting down, containment zones are being implemented by governors. As daily life is disrupted for more and more Americans, Trump’s alternate reality is bound to implode.
Some on the right seem to understand this. Prominent conservative writers such as Ross Douthat and Michael Brendan Dougherty have been covering the outbreak with a sense of urgency. This week, National Review published an editorial criticizing the president’s lackluster response to the virus. Perhaps most notably, Tucker Carlson broke with his prime-time Fox News colleagues this week with a withering monologue that seemed to address Trump without ever saying his name.
“In a crisis, it’s more important than ever to be calm,” Carlson said. “But staying calm is not the same as remaining complacent. It does not mean assuring people that everything will be fine. We don’t know that. Instead, it’s better to tell the truth. That is always the surest sign of strength.”
Will Trump, who has taken cues from Carlson’s show in the past, get the message—or will it be drowned out by the din of the noise machine he helped create?
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/03/trump-coronavirus-threat/607825/
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
― Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
Trump and Republicans are like Jack and his band of boys in 'Lord of the Flies.' Ralph, Simon, Piggy and the other group of boys represent the rest of us. Just as Jack and his band turned savage, killing and cannibalizing their fellow students on the deserted island they landed upon, Trump and Republicans have also turned savage, rejecting responsibility, reason, civility, morality, and science, killing their fellow Americans and cannibalizing our government. Except there will be no adults arriving to save those of us trying to do the right thing, like in the classic tale. It is strictly up to us to save ourselves and this country from the fascistic, nihilistic impulses of Trump and Republicans.
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--Instead of striving to bring out the best in people, Toxic Trump reveled in bringing out the very worst.
--Instead of uniting the country, Toxic Trump sought to divide us.
--Instead of abiding by and honoring our Constitution and the rule of law, Toxic Trump held them in disdain, disregarded them, and degraded them, running the most corrupt administration in U.S. history..
--Instead of strengthening democracy and our cherished institutions, Toxic Trump worked to diminish and destroy them, inciting a terrorist insurrection against his own government, attempting a coup to steal an election.
--Instead of insuring a peaceful transfer power after losing the election, Toxic Trump kept insisting against all evidence that he won, continuously repeating the Big Lie that resulted in the terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol.
--Instead of confronting a serious threat to Americans with a deadly global pandemic, Toxic Trump lied to the American people about it, ignored it, and refused to take any responsibility for his gross homicidal criminal negligence that resulted in one out of every 800 Americans dying from COVID-19--over 400,000 lives in just ten months, as many casualties as all of WWII.
--Instead of confronting the ever-increasing existential crisis from climate change and its harmful effects, Toxic Trump gutted regulations, exacerbating the problem and poisoning citizens.
--Instead of creating jobs, Toxic Trump was the first President since the Great Depression to preside over a net loss of jobs over his tenure.
--Instead of lowering the national deficit, Toxic Trump increased it from 19.2 trillion to 27 trillion.
--Instead of building bridges, humane immigration reform, and infrastructure, Toxic Trump built walls, cages, and concentration camps, separated children from mothers, allowed American infrastructure to decline and deteriorate, rejected economic opportunity.
--Instead of raising our standing and security in the world, Toxic Trump lowered and weakened it.
--Instead of draining the swamp, Toxic Trump turned it into a noxious overflowing Republican sewer.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over four decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, nihilistic, hyper-partisan fascist cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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@eliquidz1427 ~ I know nine people, six of them were in car accidents, three were not, and all are fine! Does that mean merely because no one I know died or was seriously injured in a car accident that fatalities and serious injuries from such don't occur, or that people shouldn't wear seat belts?
I don't know anyone that ever went to the moon or flew in outer space, either, so those things must not have happened, according to your fuzzy math.
To this day, I don't know anyone that has died of a heart attack, or cancer. According to your fuzzy math and fuzzy logic, that means we shouldn't worry about these leading killers, and people telling us smoking tobacco and eating unhealthy can lead to those causes of death are just fear-mongering. Over the past year, COVID-19 was the leading cause of death in the U.S., the U.K., and many other nations.
Whether you realized it or not, your last sentence unwittingly ADMITTED you were engaging in fuzzy math, Doc! And if you're a Brit, why is it that you converse in the dialect of ignorant White American trailer park trash?
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@mjwp8750 ~ You may try not reading too much meaning into people's words that simply isn't there. You may also wish to work on your reading comprehension, which will help you to avoid that problem. A careful reading of my words will show you that what I am advocating is common sense and personal responsibility----not "All or Nothing," as you put it. Either you failed to comprehend, or you are being deliberately dishonest in twisting my words.
Moreover, free choice has it's limits, because at some point one's freedoms can begin infringing upon other people's freedoms. Have supported euthanasia and marijuana legalization for many decades, and there are numerous good reasons for doing so. Marijuana use has been prevalent among youth since the '60's, so that is nothing new; it's not like our youth are suddenly becoming "pot heads" because marijuana laws are relaxing in some states. Conflating euthanasia and marijuana legalization with refusing vaccinations for no good reason in the middle of a deadly global pandemic is an apples and oranges comparison, besides. America isn't the land of the free when many citizens are greatly restricted by the ignorance of a minority of others refusing to follow common sense medical guidelines. Free choice does not give one the right to endanger others with willful ignorance and negligence.
Notably, like the other gentleman here, you have no logical rebuttal to ANY of my points and arguments presented heretofore. Why is that, do you think? I already was, and presently am, at peace with myself; it is the people who are being ignorant and irresponsible about COVID-19 who will need to make peace with themselves when they eventually come to the realization they were being stupid, selfish, unpatriotic, and inconsiderate of their fellow Americans. If you're one of those people, I hope you do eventually make peace with yourself.
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@kristjanmartin9883 ~ It's a death sentence for those dying from COVID-19, Doc! The mortality rate so far is .18%, which places the survival rate FOR THOSE WHO HAVE CONTRACTED THE DISEASE SO FAR at 98.2% However, only about half the population has contracted COVID-19, so if everyone had contracted it, the mortality rate would double. Besides, over 600,000 Americans have already died from COVID-19 in just a little over a year, making it the #1 killer in the U.S. Most of those deaths were preventable, had people followed common sense CDC guidelines, and had more gotten vaccinated to date. You don't seem to care that more Americans died from COVID-19 in that short time than all the wars of the last century combined in which America was involved over the last century. Where is your soul, your humanity?
I trust my doctor. I trust all the other doctors giving the same advice on COVID-19 as my doctor. I trust the epidemiologist who are experts in communicable diseases. I trust the science. But I don't trust you, spouting ignorant nonsense about COVID-19 that helps America's enemies divide and weaken America, kill Americans! Grow a heart and get a clue, for Christ's sake!
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@uttcftptid4481 ~ Take it you meant "whole different conversation." But the supply and demand part is integral to the whole, to understanding the situation and crafting effective solutions. Pointing fingers at others while ignoring our own culpability only insures that problems will be perpetuated.
Not even Bezos and the Koch brothers should be lumped together. Bezos is giving $10 billion dollars to his non-partisan Earth Fund organization to combat climate change. Bezos is generally considered non-partisan himself, donating to both Republicans and Democrats, as has been traditionally done in American politics. Don't know the aggregate of Bezos political spending, but traditionally corporations used to only give nominal amounts to both parties, unlike now when we see some large industries, corporations, and wealthy individuals looking to tip the scales and essentially buy off politicians and political parties by pumping millions into elections and PACs. Unlike the Koch brothers, Bezos supports a corporate tax hike. The Koch brothers support only Republicans, donating large amounts that can significantly impact local, state, and national election outcomes.
Now, don't get me wrong----I'm a long-time opponent of Citizens United, a long-time advocate of getting dark money and big money out of politics. The same is true for most all Democrats and their party. More power to the people, less power to plutocrats. However, there is a distinct, appreciable difference between large corporations or wealthy individuals and drug cartels that commit all manner of violent atrocities.
There is a difference between legal campaign donations and bribery, too. We may not like how the wealthy have undue influence, but we would like it even less if it was bribery that went unreported, as with the cartels and Mexican government. Moreover, U.S. politicians don't always vote in favor of those corporations and interests that supported them----something which would be almost unthinkable for Mexican government officials on the take with the cartels to do.
But does that mean the cartels are the boss? No, because the Mexican government has the ultimate authority, and they play the cartels off against each other, picking winners and losers amongst them. Besides, if the cartels really were the boss, they wouldn't be paying bribes to government officials; they would be keeping that money for themselves. To conclude, while totally sympathetic to your position, the comparison is overly broad, and somewhat irrelevant to this discussion about immigration; let's not allow ourselves to get too far sidetracked.
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Let's be clear; Congressional Republicans have been pointing a gun at the heart of legitimate self-government for four years, now. The only exception is FORMER Republican Rep. Justin Amash, who was essentially ejected from the GOP--solely for his honesty and integrity. Even Republican Sen. Mitt Romney over his two years in Congress has only made half-steps in rejecting Trump's authoritarianism, corruption, and lawlessness, demonstrating how he, too, cares more about his ambition and raw partisan power than he does his country. And it hasn't been just Congressional Republicans; nearly the entire GOP has been complicit in aiding and abetting what is clearly the most criminal, despotic, rotten, and incompetent President and administration in U.S. history.
Which is why it is felt the only good Republican is a former Republican. The GOP no longer stands for any rational ideology. Instead, it has become a mindless political cult, based upon hate, delusions, denials, and the blind lust for power at any cost.
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What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle to grift their voters and us taxpayers.
You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she says that "Republicans don't give a shit."
Republicans have had lots and lots of practice gaslighting and revising history. Pretty soon, they're going to make the GOP disappear! They're already on the wrong side of history, yet keep edging ever closer to extinction.
GOP = Fascism The few patriots in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become fascist. Their fascism needs to be called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
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The American workplace isn't ready for an epidemic. Many Americans have no insurance, many others can ill-afford deductibles, still more can't afford to take off work when not feeling well; more than a third of jobs don't offer sick days, and even where available, they may have been already used, or employees try saving them for more serious illness--all making us extremely vulnerable to epidemics such as COVID-19. Many jobs in America involve low-paying work in the service industry, where employees are in constant contact with, and exposed to, a huge swath of the public on a daily basis. These folks typically don't get sick days or insurance benefits, and can ill-afford to miss any work because of loss of money and the threat of losing their job. Many are ill-educated, and may not pay sufficient heed to health warnings, further exacerbating the spread of the epidemic facing us all.
In plausible worst-case-scenarios given the pattern of the outbreak thus far, the country could experience acute shortages not just in ventilators but also health workers to operate them and care for patients; hospital beds; and masks and other protective equipment. Trump administration facing increasing criticism for not using these many weeks after learning of COVID-19 to prepare increased hospital capacity, stockpile medications, obtain adequate amounts of respirators and other equipment that will be vitally needed in the U.S.
“Even during mild flu pandemics, most of our I.C.U.s are filled to the brim with severely ill patients on mechanical ventilation,” said Dr. Eric Toner, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and an expert on health care preparedness. “I hope and pray Covid-19 turns out to be a moderate pandemic, but if not, we’re in serious trouble,” he said.
With his administration under fire for its handling of the outbreak, President Trump shamelessly sought to falsely transfer blame to his predecessor, President Obama, confusing a policy proposal for better oversight over diagnostic tests--which was never adopted. Public Health Laboratories Association, and even Senate Republicans, refute Trump's lie.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of conspiracy theories, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of corruption, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their deal with the Devil.
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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"Peace is not a very big thing to ask for, is it?" ~ Fatima Gailani, Afghan activist and negotiator, pleading for continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan
It is when asking the Taliban, who do not seek peace or to bargain in good faith, but total domination once again. U.S. has spent 20 years and $2 trillion trying to achieve peace in Afghanistan, losing over 4000 American lives (military and civilian contractors), with tens of thousands of Americans wounded there.
"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials … have given Afghans little reason to support their government," Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the commander of U.S. forces in the country, wrote in a 2009 memorandum. "This crisis of confidence, coupled with a distinct lack of economic and educational opportunity, has created fertile ground for the insurgency."
That was 11 years ago, and little has changed since. Thought the invasion of Afghanistan by Bush was a mistake that would lead to a quagmire, and have been proven correct. Still, initially supported efforts to bring peace and stability there, along with basic human and civil-rights, because after invading felt we had an obligation to rebuild. However, while U.S. blunders there have contributed to a failure, Afghans are their own worst enemy, and no one can help them until enough of them are willing to help themselves.
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Hope for the best, but expect the worst. Don't think they will find anyone left alive at this point, sadly. This tragedy was completely avoidable. Apparently, the 9.1 million dollars projected for repairs nearly three years ago had risen to 15 million just before the collapse. Some or even many of the owners may have leased out units in the building, and because they didn't live there, suspect they balked at paying the large sum of money needed for repair, as the lessor may have been prohibited from passing those costs along to the leasee until the lease expired and a new lease drawn up, and may have also been reluctant in any case because the higher lease costs would translate to people moving elsewhere cheaper at the end of their lease to escape paying the higher lease, while also making it harder for condo owners to find tenants for any existing or resulting vacancies. It is often common practice, or at least not unusual, for people to buy one or more condo units as business investments, then lease them out to others. So, have to wonder how many of the condos were leased out by the owners. At any rate, that fateful, misguided decision to procrastinate will have cost owners not only more money, but has also cost some owners and blameless lessees their very lives.
It is the dead who will have paid the highest price. Surviving owners and any lessees are getting help in relocating and recovering. But as a result of the owners not having the needed repairs done in a timely manner, it is ultimately taxpayers who will be footing most of the bill for this avoidable tragedy.
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America's enemies don't need to spread disinformation, doubt, discord, and division to weaken America, kill Americans--Republican politicians, Reich-wing demagogues, Faux News, OAN, Newsmax, Breitbart and the rest of the Reich-wing media do that so effectively for them, already.
More Americans need to realize that the GOP has abdicated it's duty as loyal opposition, and that its prioritization of party over country diminishes both our government and our national security, endangering ALL Americans, as well as weakening and endangering America itself.
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@oliverphippen1957 Thing about Republican cult dupes, Doc, they don't think for themselves! All they know how to do is mindlessly parrot GOP talking points!
Only place due process comes into play is in the Senate TRIAL part of the impeachment process. There is no due process during an inquiry or investigatory phase in our justice system. BTW, impeachment is not a criminal proceeding, it is no different than someone getting fired from their job. Any criminal trial, if warranted, would take place after removal from office in a court of law--which is not Congress, doofus! BIG, BIG difference, which you Republicans are about to learn the hard way!
There are sound reasons for holding these initial investigatory hearings behind closed doors. This is so other potential witnesses testimony is not tainted, for example. Or, to protect the witness, in order that the truth may come out, for another example. Moreover, most of these witnesses will be recalled at the appropriate time during later OPEN House hearings, anyway, televised to the public. Also, these witnesses can be called upon by both defense and prosecution in the open Senate trial phase. Some of the testimony involves classified materials, which portions must be held from the public. An impeachment INQUIRY is in many respect like a grand jury, which is held behind closed doors. However, while some portions may best be handled discretely for now, Democrats WANT these witnesses testifying publicly in open hearings, both to bolster the case for impeachment and to increase public awareness and support.
Nothing improper is being done in investigating Trump's alleged crimes and malfeasance. In fact, many observers believe Democrats have been too preoccupied with being fair and far too lenient and patient with this lawless administration. Personally, it seems they have struck a nice balance, using a determined, methodical approach of gathering the facts and evidence and seeing where that leads. Don't think impeachment is something that should be rushed, or rushed into; that impeachment should be reserved only for serious breaches of the public trust, and never used for partisan differences or partisan gain.
Bottom line: Republicans want to distract from Toxic Traitor Trump's crimes and gross unfitness for office by making it all about the process and the wacky Republican partisan conspiracy theories that landed Trump in this whole Ukraine fiasco of his in the first place--suckered by his own Russian/GOP propaganda! The heavy irony is just too rich which, sadly, we fear you lack the character and integrity to appreciate, if not also the mental capacity to process!
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Tessmage Tessera ~ So, instead of an honest, adult discussion of our differences on the actual issue at hand, you'd rather deflect and evade by making a puerile, baseless allegation in ad hominem and troll. As you wish. But, do you think that's progressive? Do you think that's "winning?" Then you're much more like the Republican cult than you'd care to admit.
That's unfortunate, because if wrong about the issue being discussed, I would very much like to be corrected. Personally, I'm not concerned about my ego; I'm concerned about the truth. Believe it or not, would rather be shown where wrong than proven right. I challenge others thinking on a subject so that my own thinking will be challenged. It would be nice to see a bit more maturity and honesty from you, but perhaps that is asking too much. I sincerely hope that isn't the case.
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@bazlur-Vancouver ~ Facts are funny things, sometimes:
Tanden endorsed Democrats' 2019 "Medicare for America" universal health care bill, which aimed to implement a 1% tax per 4.2 grams of caloric sweetener in sugary drinks like Coca-Cola.
"Health care is a fundamental human right, not a privilege. It’s exciting to see this proposal, which guarantees universal coverage, in the Congress," Tanden, who currently serves as president and CEO of the left-leaning Center for American Progress, said in a statement at the time.
She continued: "At the core of Medicare for America are three critical principles: universal coverage, patient choice, and lower costs. This bold, affordable approach is overdue in America. We applaud the progressive leaders today for introducing this landmark bill."
The Center for American Progress Health Policy Team also published a 2018 plan to guarantee universal health care in the U.S. that included a 50% increase in federal taxes on cigarette packs and a 1% tax per ounce of sugared drinks.
*
Of course, we'll never find out now, but suspect that Bernie would have voted to confirm Tanden, despite past differences between the two. Why? Because after a hotly contested primary race with Biden that he lost, Sanders nevertheless threw his full support behind Biden. Tanden was Biden's choice to fill this cabinet position, Sanders knows she was well qualified, and well understands the importance of providing President Biden the people heading his Cabinet with which he chooses to work, thereby acceding to his wishes. As reported in the Huffington Post:
"[Sanders] also questioned Tanden about the think tank’s reliance on corporate donations, while strongly suggesting that he is nonetheless supportive of Tanden’s nomination."
At any rate, the stumbling block to Tanden's nomination wasn't ever Sen. Sanders; it was Republicans and spineless Democrats like Sen. Manchin. In a Senate split 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats, all it took was one Democrat to oppose her nomination, and Sen. Manchin had already announced his opposition days ago. So why does everyone want to pretend it was Sen. Sanders who was the decisive factor? Why can't some Democrats just face the truth of the matter, lay blame where blame is deserved?
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Tessmage Tessera ~ That's disappointing; you're still in defensiveness and attack mode, still evading and deflecting, refusing to engage in discussion of the actual issue at hand. This time, you're using a strawman argument, which is another logical fallacy. Another word for fallacy is falsehood. Falsehoods are dishonest, and engaging in logical fallacies is intellectually dishonest.
Unlike what you have displayed thus far, because I'm honest, forthright, and have nothing to hide, I'll entertain your request. First of all, you're making a presumption without merit. Nothing I've said should warrant any assumption that I did NOT vote for Bernie in any primary. To the contrary, it was stated that I love Bernie. In fact, I did vote for Bernie in the primary in 2016. For various reasons, I chose Elizabeth Warren over Bernie in 2020. Does that not pass your purity test, or somehow make me any less a progressive? If so, why and how? Are you ready yet to quit trolling, display some maturity and honesty, and discuss the actual subject of this news video and thread (which isn't me)?
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Toxic Trump, at coronavirus press briefing 04/20/20, "We're looking at maybe "only" 50-60,000 deaths in the U.S.!" Just three days later, the toll surpassed 50,000; six days after that, it went over 61,000. On 05/04/20--a mere two weeks after Trump's delusional pronouncement--the U.S. reached 70,000 deaths. Less than a week later, on 05/10/20, the toll went over 80,000 American deaths. Because of many state and local governments opening up their economies too soon is blatant disregard of Trump administration's own guidelines, the CDC Mayday report projects new highs of 3,000 deaths and 200,000 new cases per DAY by June. That would put us at 100-150,000 deaths--just by the end of June, alone. That's acceptable, here in America? Since when?
New CDC projection on 05/15/20 of over 100,000 COVID-19 deaths by end of May. However, CDC projections have consistently undercounted cases and deaths, and this latest projection likewise appears to once again underestimate the deadly results of the U.S. sore lacking of national leadership in combating a deadly global pandemic. Fear COVID-19 deaths by the end of June will in actuality reach 150,000 - 200,000, nearly doubling in one month.
04/22/20 saw a new worst of nearly 2,700 COVID-19 deaths in a single day, topping the nearly 2,400 Americans lost on 04/14/20. Trump's claim was simply more of his wishful thinking, lies, and bogus claims. Clueless, disinterested, deranged, disengaged, and detached from reality are not the qualities you want in a leader during a major global pandemic crisis. That's a lethal combination that has already cost more American lives in just eight weeks than the Vietnam War in its entire twelve-year span.
It's like rowing or paddling upstream, or into a stiff wind--if you ease-up too much or stop, you will only have to paddle twice as hard to make up all the previous hard-earned progress that was quickly lost. Failing to maintain isolation and other measures for sufficient time to stop the spread of COVID-19 transmission will cost U.S. more in time, effort, money, and LIVES. Reopening and relaxing measures too early in defiance of the science and data is the ultimate in colossal ignorance, greed, ruthlessness, and arrogance.
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WTF?!? 03/16/20, and many people exposed to or possibly sick with COVID-19 still can't get tested! Monday, 03/09/20, we had state governors speaking into the camera, desperately BEGGING the CDC on live TV to approve private labs and automated testing for COVID-19! While three months later the U.S. is still struggling to get enough test kits distributed! Problem is, the test kits samples need to be processed in the lab for results, and processing capacity at the CDC is extremely limited and far too slow. Even in conjunction with all U.S. state and private labs, processing capacity of test kit samples would be grossly insufficient for the vigorous survey of the American public vitally needed. Which is why it is CRITICALLY imperative these other private facilities IMMEDIATELY be brought online by the CDC. WTF is WRONG with this TRUMP ADMINISTRATION?!? Their incompetence is KILLING us!
WHO test kits are the model developed by Germany, a NATO ally, which were also available. The key point that needs hammering home: Trump administration could have--should have--obtained test kits and conducted diagnostic and protective testing on the U.S. population a couple of months ago! Especially once problems developed with the CDC test kits sent out. It was a no-brainer! Trump's gross incompetence is costing American lives. That simple.
Sick people across US being denied coronavirus test
NY Times - 03/12/20
Many who fear they have the virus have faced one roadblock after another as they try to get tested, according to interviews with dozens of people across the country.
Some have been rejected because they had no symptoms, even though they had been in proximity to someone who tested positive. Others were told no because they had not traveled to a hot spot abroad, even though they had fevers and hacking coughs and lived in cities with growing outbreaks. Still others were told a bitter truth: There simply were not enough tests to go around.
“The system is not really geared to what we need right now, what you are asking for. That is a failing,” said Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, who leads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, in testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform on Thursday. “It is a failing. I mean, let’s admit it.”
Dr. Fauci added: “The idea of anybody getting it easily the way people in other countries are doing it, we are not set up for that. Do I think we should be? Yes. But we are not.”
In some parts of the country, demand for the tests is low. Elsewhere efforts are underway to make testing easier. States like Colorado have even instituted drive-through testing to streamline the process.
But even there, demand has far outstripped supply. By 11 a.m. at one drive-through lab in the Denver neighborhood of Lowry on Thursday, a three-hour line of cars had formed. The clinic had to stop allowing more vehicles.
The inability to test widely in the United States — which is far behind other countries in this regard — has severely hampered efforts to contain the outbreak. An early test rolled out to states by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was flawed, and delays have continued ever since. Public health experts have warned that each day people do not know whether they have the virus, they risk spreading it more widely.
Companies and public health officials cast doubt on the U.S. government’s assurances, saying in some cases that tests under development were still weeks from approval. And public health laboratories have said that their capacity to process the tests is limited. A spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services said on 03/02/20 that the labs currently could only handle 15,000 tests a day.
As the United States grapples with the novel coronavirus pandemic, President Donald Trump said on Friday that he didn’t know “anything about” a reorganization of the National Security Council that dismantled a key pandemics office nearly two years ago.
The head of that team, Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer, left suddenly after the team was disbanded in 2018 along with other members of the office; he had been tasked with how the country responds to a threat like the novel coronavirus.
When Trump was asked by the PBS NewsHour’s Yamiche Alcindor this afternoon about whether he took responsibility for the decision, the president called it a nasty question, saying it wasn’t him and gesturing to other members of his administration that were part of a group of people that make decisions.
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Conservatism--the endless, futile quest to justify greed. For many in the tribalistic partisan Republican cult, it's a blind faith in capitalism and liberty that deliberately ignores the limitations and responsibilities involved with each, often driven by ignorant anarchist impulses, which are in turn rooted in ignorance such as greed, bigotry, racism, xenophobia, and religion. They reject societal norms that places reasonable restrictions on those things in benefit of the common good.
You see the well-dressed, well-fed pandemic lock-down protestors, most driving newer, expensive vehicles. You KNOW these people are nowhere near destitute, that they got money and time to waste. Then, you think about all the African-Americans being very disproportionately affected in inner cities, who ARE suffering greatly, yet grimly continue to give selflessly on the front lines of this war against COVID-19, and abide by guidelines despite the hardships affecting low-income and poverty sectors far worse. Many of them feel FORCED to work to pay the bills, WISHING they had a non-essential job where they could receive unemployment, be on vacation at home with family, and not be put at risk in general society, where they have typically been ill-protected by their employers. They are put at greater increased risk by protestors.
You also think about ALL the other essential medical and front-line workers being put at greater increased risk by ignorant protestors--and about the suffering and deaths you KNOW will result from their ignorance. From their continued rejection of truth, reason, facts, science, and even common sense. We have to wonder at the willful ignorance, despite knowing the reasons, appalled at their irrationalism, and fearful for our nation, our families and friends, and ourselves.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Gee, didn't you know? Republicans don't care anything about protecting workers, public health, law, justice, or the environment...only about maximizing profits! That's how we got into this pickle in the first place, with 100,000 Americans dead in just three months; that's why other nations have stopped the spread, but we're STILL in the first wave, losing a 1,000 Americans daily, remember?
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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Because humans have neglected to take aggressive action to curb our hydrocarbon usage and emissions, have refused to take climate change seriously, now what we are witnessing is a snowball effect, where the problem is exacerbated by huge wildfires as seen burning in the Amazon, in Greece, in the western U.S. and Canada, in Siberia, raising temperatures and adding more CO2 and other greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. As the frozen tundra thaws, methane gases are being released, and as water bodies warm, methane hydrates formerly trapped at the bottom rise into the air, releasing even more methane gas. As more and more surface ice is lost on land and in the ocean, less sunlight is reflected back into space, causing more heat gain. Humans have set into motion a self-perpetuating loop; a cycle which we may well be powerless to stop, and which will destroy life on Earth as it has existed for millions of years.
What we are witnessing and experiencing is only just the beginning of the reckoning for human stupidity, greed, apathy, and short-sightedness. Pretty soon, with so many suffering, empathy will be in short supply. I fear what is to come for the human race, for our children, for their children, and all who follow after, and the sorrow I feel for them and our planet, for all that will be lost, overwhelms. Because this didn't have to happen. We knew decades ago that we were creating our own apocalypse, and took no more than token measures to stop it. And humans continue to dawdle, fiddling while the planet burns.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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"Peace is not a very big thing to ask for, is it?" ~ Fatima Gailani, Afghan activist and negotiator, pleading for continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan
It is when asking the Taliban, who do not seek peace or to bargain in good faith, but total domination once again. U.S. has spent 20 years and $2 trillion trying to achieve peace in Afghanistan, losing over 4000 American lives (military and civilian contractors), with tens of thousands of Americans wounded there.
"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials … have given Afghans little reason to support their government," Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the commander of U.S. forces in the country, wrote in a 2009 memorandum. "This crisis of confidence, coupled with a distinct lack of economic and educational opportunity, has created fertile ground for the insurgency."
That was 11 years ago, and little has changed since. Thought the invasion of Afghanistan by Bush was a mistake that would lead to a quagmire, and have been proven correct. Still, initially supported efforts to bring peace and stability there, along with basic human and civil-rights, because after invading felt we had an obligation to rebuild. However, while U.S. blunders there have contributed to a failure, Afghans are their own worst enemy, and no one can help them until enough of them are willing to help themselves.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and disturbing. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again." ― Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney
More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They have essentially become a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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"Peace is not a very big thing to ask for, is it?" ~ Fatima Gailani, Afghan activist and negotiator, pleading for continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan
It is when asking the Taliban, who do not seek peace or to bargain in good faith, but total domination once again. U.S. has spent 20 years and $2 trillion trying to achieve peace in Afghanistan, losing over 4000 American lives (military and civilian contractors), with tens of thousands of Americans wounded there.
"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials … have given Afghans little reason to support their government," Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the commander of U.S. forces in the country, wrote in a 2009 memorandum. "This crisis of confidence, coupled with a distinct lack of economic and educational opportunity, has created fertile ground for the insurgency."
That was 11 years ago, and little has changed since. Thought the invasion of Afghanistan by Bush was a mistake that would lead to a quagmire, and have been proven correct. Still, initially supported efforts to bring peace and stability there, along with basic human and civil-rights, because after invading felt we had an obligation to rebuild. However, while U.S. blunders there have contributed to a failure, Afghans are their own worst enemy, and no one can help them until enough of them are willing to help themselves.
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Sounds like Moscow on the line again, calling impeachment a coup, now! OMG, stop the presses, man the trenches, lock the wives and kids in the closet--Republicans are following Putin's marching orders!!!
1) Putin is playing U.S. population, gaming elections.
2) Republicans are playing U.S. population, gaming elections.
3) Republicans are willfully and knowingly spreading Putin's debunked propaganda in aid of both their own and Russia's aforementioned efforts.
4) Republicans are willfully and knowingly protecting a President that has compromised himself with our chief foreign adversary, Russia, despite clear and overwhelming evidence of criminality of the highest order threatening our elections, democracy, and national security.
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It's like rowing or paddling upstream, or into a stiff wind--if you ease-up too much or stop, you will only have to paddle twice as hard to make up all the previous hard-earned progress that was quickly lost. Failing to maintain isolation and other measures for sufficient time to stop the spread of COVID-19 transmission will cost U.S. more in time, effort, money, and LIVES. Reopening and relaxing measures too early in defiance of the science and data is the ultimate in colossal ignorance, greed, ruthlessness, and arrogance.
We have a segment of Republican cult willfully ignorant, who malevolently seek to sabotage containment efforts. But many do not grasp how important it is that we treat ourselves and everyone else as being infected.
This is because people know that is very unlikely, especially outside dense urban areas, where incidence rates are low. Because of the delay in onset of the disease and asymptomatic carriers, COVID-19 is a stealth killer that uses Americans against each other as its foot soldiers, transporting it, keeping the disease and its train of transmission alive. This is further complicated because people cannot see a virus, see it attacking, see it spreading, until it is too late. For many of us, seeing is believing, and people are incapable or reluctant to make that leap of logic required to keep them and everyone safe--even with the massive public education efforts.
Of course, the problem becomes greatly exacerbated when the President refuses to wear a mask, and his administration works against itself in fighting this deadly global pandemic, sending conflicting messages to the public. Toxic Trump, his administration, and all the Republicans who have aided and abetted him, are directly responsible in our view for the senseless deaths of tens and thousands of Americans. The dead are the worst of it, but there is also the tremendous needless suffering and economic loss accompanying their wanton criminal negligence.
No national testing, no rational national coordinated pandemic response. Republican governors reopening too quickly in defiance of CDC guidelines are only following the President's lead. Democratic governors in many states likewise being adversely pressured by Toxic Trump's pandemic disinformation and Republican opposition to requisite lockdowns. Problem starts at the top. Don't fault even the worst Republican governors as much as this President. The President needed to take the lead, take the hit for the hard decisions--not put all the weight on governors as he as.
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Bush v. Gore, Citizens United, Chief Jester Roberts smiling and nodding along while presiding over sham Senate impeachment trial, Assassination Goon B.S. Barr butchering the law, slaughtering justice, politicizing and weaponizing the DOJ. It's why we lost all respect for the Supreme Court, the law, and the justice system in this country. Congratulations, Republicans, on turning our nation into a banana Republic, making America an object lesson to the world on how to destroy democracy!
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GOP cult: “Democracy is great…only so long as we can subvert it with lies, cheating, a multitude of Jim Crow voter suppression laws, egregious gerrymandering, obstruction, coups, election interference, sedition, and terrorism to gain power and maintain our corrupt, plutocratic, minority fascist rule!”
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U.S. hospitals brace for ‘tremendous strain’ from new virus
Mar 13, 2020
U.S. hospitals are setting up circus-like triage tents, calling doctors out of retirement, guarding their supplies of face masks and making plans to cancel elective surgery as they brace for an expected onslaught of coronavirus patients.
Depending on how bad the crisis gets, the sick could find themselves waiting on stretchers in emergency room hallways for hospital beds to open up, or could be required to share rooms with others infected. Some doctors fear hospitals could become so overwhelmed that they could be forced to ration medical care.
“This is going to be a fairly tremendous strain on our health system,” warned Dr. William Jaquis, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians.
The United States is still facing an active flu season, and many hospitals are already running at capacity caring for those patients. The new virus will only add to that burden, said Dr. Bruce Ribner an infectious-disease specialist at Emory University’s medical school.
Government health authorities are taking emergency steps to waive certain laws and regulations to help hospitals deal with the crisis. Hospitals, too, are getting ready.
To keep suspected coronavirus patients from mingling with others in the ER, the Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, Maine, set up a tent in the parking lot where people with respiratory symptoms are diverted for testing. Lexington Medical Center in West Columbia, South Carolina, did the same outside its emergency room.
In Seattle, hit by the nation’s biggest cluster of coronavirus deaths, most of them at a suburban nursing home, UW Medicine set up drive-thru testing in a hospital parking garage and has screened hundreds of staff members, faculty and trainees, with nurses reaching through car windows and using swabs to collect specimens from people’s nostrils . Drive-thru testing is expected to be offered to patients as soon as Monday.
This week, the American Hospital Association, American Medical Association and American Nurses Association asked for a presidential emergency declaration that would allow doctors and nurses to work across state lines and would waive certain rules to free up hospital beds. Similar declarations were issued during Hurricane Katrina and the swine flu outbreak.
On Friday, President Donald Trump responded by issuing an emergency declaration and said he was giving the U.S. health secretary authority to waive federal regulations and laws to give doctors and hospitals “flexibility” in treating patients.
Trump also announced a government partnership with major businesses to set up drive-thru testing centers and a website to help people who think they might have the virus. Those testing locations could include parking lots at Walmart, Target, Walgreens and other major chains.
The American Medical Association praised the action. In a statement, Dr. Patrice Harris, AMA’s president, said the emergency declaration is needed to help ensure that the U.S. health care system “has sufficient resources to properly respond to the ongoing outbreak, prevent further spread of illness and keep our communities safe.”
How bad U.S. hospitals will be hit is unclear, in part because mistakes on the part of the government in ramping up widespread testing for the virus have left public health officials uncertain as to how many people are infected.
Officially, the number of cases in the U.S. was put at around 1,300 Friday, with at least 41 deaths. But by some estimates, at least 14,000 people might be infected.
Experts fear that when the problems with testing are resolved, a flood of patients will hit the nation’s emergency rooms. But large-scale testing will also give health authorities a clearer picture of the outbreak, enabling them to allocate resources where they are needed.
“What’s most important now is that we get the testing done,” said Richard Pollack, president of the American Hospital Association.
In hard-hit Italy, doctors have been forced to make agonizing decisions about which critically ill patients receive care. Doctors fear that could happen in the United States, too.
“Studies predict that a moderate outbreak could result in 200,000 patients needing intensive care,” said Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency medicine specialist at George Washington University. “The U.S. only has 100,000 intensive care beds, and most are already occupied. If tens of thousands become sick at once, people will simply not receive the care that they need.”
That would affect not only coronavirus patients but also trauma victims and people suffering heart attacks or strokes, Wen said.
In Wuhan, China, where the outbreak originated in late December, patients died because they couldn’t access care. “We are at risk of that happening in the U.S., too,” Wen said.
Seattle-area scientists are working to estimate how soon infections will overwhelm hospital beds there. Under the worst-case scenario, the number of active infections will exceed the number of beds by a large margin in the next two weeks, the Institute for Disease Modeling in Bellevue, Washington, said in a report this week.
For most people, the virus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. Most people recover from the virus in a matter of weeks, as has happened in mainland China.
Reacting to reports of dwindling supplies of respirator masks, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted relaxed recommendations this week for protective gear and said looser-fitting surgical masks are OK for doctors and nurses to wear when treating patients who may be sick from the coronavirus.
In another change, the CDC said coronavirus patients can be cared for in single-patient rooms with the door closed and do not need to be placed in specialized airborne-infection isolation rooms.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/u-s-hospitals-brace-for-tremendous-strain-from-new-virus
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Welcome to war. This is what war is. It's terrible, it's tragic, it's ugly, it stinks, it's unfair, it's sad, it's wasteful, it's hell, innocents die, and things always go wrong. You think we'd have learned that by now, but no, it's a lesson that has to be repeatedly learned, evidently. The consensus is that nobody foresaw the Afghan government and its armed forces completely capitulating so quickly as they did. Some say there should have been a contingency plan for this, but even though hindsight is 20/20, have yet to hear any rational plan that could have dealt with this situation. Shit happens, and Biden got handed a turd with Afghanistan. Instead of allowing the crap to continue, Biden made the hard, responsible decision to pull the U.S. out of another country's civil war. Fallout was inevitable, and Republicans trying to capitalize on that politically or media trying to profit from it is truly degenerate.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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@steventheologo ~ Enjoy racing, motorcycles, boating, but those things will just change, not go away. Hard to imagine for some, I know, but ask yourself if you'd rather use today's game consoles, or the old ones with the cartridges having a high fail rate and requiring high maintenance. Nobody serious about video gaming wants to go back to the bad old days. And, so, it will be no different for the internal combustion engine.
Another example: Don't miss having to change out points and condensers constantly on my vehicle, even though enjoy working on cars. Greatly prefer the ease of maintenance and much greater reliability of newer vehicles. The only obstacle for people will be their own bias. Sure, there will always be the old geezer waxing nostalgic for the "good old days," because of fond memories, but those memories are tainted with a rosy glow that can blind them from seeing how things are actually better.
Personally think we're losing some sensibilities from the past; regret how we've become a throw-away society, for instance. Suspect out of necessity some of those things will return. But can guarantee the future won't regret the passing of the internal combustion engine.
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What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil. They are either actively or silently complicit in fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorist violence, Reich-wing insurrection, and Reich-wing undermining of our democracy and Constitution.
It's crystal clear that Trump, Boebert, Greene, Gosar and other Republicans like them are fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorism. The GOP has become radicalized to such an extent that it has essentially become a fascist terrorist organization, with members that fantasize and promote violence against their fellow Americans. While those Republican elected officials must be condemned and sanctioned, they are only a symptom of the disease poisoning a third of America, the most visible part of the cancer infecting our nation.
The GOP has been mainstreaming radicalization of their voter base for decades, ALLOWING Reich-wing media and Reich-wing demagogues to take over the party, to the point it has become a fascist, nihilistic cult. Because just as now, Republican politicians and their plutocratic masters have always seen it as the ends justifying whatever means to win power. Remember the Republican Tea Party? This catastrophe with the GOP didn't start with Trump, who just exploited what the Republicans had already built.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle for graft and to grift their voters and us taxpayers. You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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It's like rowing or paddling upstream, or into a stiff wind--if you ease-up too much or stop, you will only have to paddle twice as hard to make up all the previous hard-earned progress that was quickly lost. Failing to maintain isolation and other measures for sufficient time to stop the spread of COVID-19 transmission will cost U.S. more in time, effort, money, and LIVES. Reopening and relaxing measures too early in defiance of the science and data is the ultimate in colossal ignorance, greed, ruthlessness, and arrogance.
We have a segment of Republican cult willfully ignorant, who malevolently seek to sabotage containment efforts. But many do not grasp how important it is that we treat ourselves and everyone else as being infected.
This is because people know that is very unlikely, especially outside dense urban areas, where incidence rates are low. Because of the delay in onset of the disease and asymptomatic carriers, COVID-19 is a stealth killer that uses Americans against each other as its foot soldiers, transporting it, keeping the disease and its train of transmission alive. This is further complicated because people cannot see a virus, see it attacking, see it spreading, until it is too late. For many of us, seeing is believing, and people are incapable or reluctant to make that leap of logic required to keep them and everyone safe--even with the massive public education efforts.
Of course, the problem becomes greatly exacerbated when the President refuses to wear a mask, and his administration works against itself in fighting this deadly global pandemic, sending conflicting messages to the public. Toxic Trump, his administration, and all the Republicans who have aided and abetted him, are directly responsible in our view for the senseless deaths of tens and thousands of Americans. The dead are the worst of it, but there is also the tremendous needless suffering and economic loss accompanying their wanton criminal negligence.
No national testing, no rational national coordinated pandemic response. Republican governors reopening too quickly in defiance of CDC guidelines are only following the President's lead. Democratic governors in many states likewise being adversely pressured by Toxic Trump's pandemic disinformation and Republican opposition to requisite lockdowns. Problem starts at the top. Don't fault even the worst Republican governors as much as this President. The President needed to take the lead, take the hit for the hard decisions--not put all the weight on governors as he as.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law?
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“I'm not scared of the Maos and the Stalins and the Hitlers.
I'm scared of the thousands or millions of people that hallucinate them to be "authority", and so do their bidding, and pay for their empires, and carry out their orders.
I don't care if there's one looney with a stupid moustache. He's not a threat if the people do not believe in "authority".” ― Larken Rose
Setting aside the sleazy immoral Reich-wing grifters at the top -- people like Trump, Congressional Republicans, Reich-wing demagogues and media -- the rank-and-file of the GOP has become a fascist, nihilistic cult. To be clear, Trump did not create the cult, it existed before him. He merely served as a unifying figure they chose to rally around and worship as their fool's gold god. Trump appealed to their basest nature and told them what they wanted to hear. Now, those Reich-wing grifters may have cultivated their cult to exploit for their own greed, power and vanity, but at least to some extent the Republican cult in turn seeks to exploit the GOP for their own various misguided purposes. They CHOOSE to be willfully ignorant, to believe or espouse the lies, because as a political calculus they shortsightedly see it as expedient to their ends.
What must also be taken into consideration are the characteristics of a cult. Why do people join a cult? Why do they choose to remain in a cult? No need to go into detail; the answers are largely common knowledge or easily researched. But it should be pointed out that in a complex world, the simplistic and rigid beliefs embraced by cults can be very alluring, no matter how fantastical and removed from reality. It should also be acknowledged that the Republican cult is not a monolithic entity, but an amalgamation of sects, including White supremacists, Christian nationalists, libertarians, sovereign nationals, anarchists, tax resistors, Qanon and other extremist fringe groups. Of course, not every Republican is an extremist, a fascist, or untethered from reality. But this latter more benign group is nevertheless part of the fascist Republican cult, complicit in their support of the whole, whether through their silent acquiescence and votes or willing assistance.
It's a very dangerous feedback loop, a vicious circle, one that as it sinks further into depravity its threat correspondingly rises, for as the Republican cult has over time been becoming increasingly more radicalized, we witness the election of more radical politicians to represent them, more radicalized Reich-wing media and demagogues to feed them propaganda. While some Republicans are leaving the GOP and some others are speaking out and trying to save their party, they constitute a weak minority, unfortunately.
In a normal, sane world, the Republican cult would have ended or been marginalized after the Mueller Report, after Trump's Ukraine shakedown and impeachment, after Trump's horrendous handling of a deadly global pandemic, after his election defeat, or after January 6th and his second impeachment. But that hasn't happened. Instead, the Republican cult continues to become increasingly more radicalized and extreme. As President Biden says, "We are in a battle for the soul of this nation." And that battle is far from over.
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Get big money out of politics, and get corrupt politicians like Manchin and Sinema sucking up to the corporate trough voted out.
• A summer sting operation by Greenpeace had an Exxon Mobil lobbyist reveal that he met with Manchin weekly to try to persuade him to weaken Biden’s climate agenda (and he’s not the only rich guy who gets Manchin regularly on the line).
• An August piece in Harper’s noted that the West Virginia Democratic Party, which the senator played no small role in gutting, remains entirely under Manchin’s influence and control. It also mentions how Manchin leveraged his influence within the Senate to get plush government appointments for people close to him, including his wife.
• A September report from Type Investigations and the Intercept revealed that Manchin is currently invested in multiple coal companies that are run by his son, and that, even though the elder Manchin’s investments are in a blind trust, he has personally made $4.5 million from them during the time he has spent in the Senate (11 years to date).
• This is likely the Manch’s last term. In this remaining time, he seems to be simply looking out for his sources of wealth, including the ones that come from his son’s coal incinerators. It wouldn’t be the first time a Manchin family member used conflicts of interest to their advantage. Joe’s wife, Gayle, previously served as head of the West Virginia Board of Education and used her position to try to require the state’s schools to purchase EpiPens. EpiPens are manufactured by the Big Pharma juggernaut Mylan, whose former CEO was Heather Bresch—Manchin’s daughter, who stepped down after it was revealed she helped fix the prices of EpiPens in collusion with Pfizer. Family helping family: It’s a highly lucrative graft.
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@Guida Mopazan Rabinowitz Where's my proof? You, Doc!
***NEW CDC UPDATE***
TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome)
Fortunately, the disease and contagion has confined itself solely to the two Trump supporter sects, Trumputin and Trumpturd. All others possess natural immunity. Expecting some casualties from this disease among the cult following Trump demise, but the general population is safe, the nation should survive, albeit with a stain upon it.
Any remaining Trumpezoids should be rendered mostly harmless, although the possibility exists of continued recurring cross-contamination. Treatment is simple and relatively painless. Trumpezoids must be kept from spoon-fed Russian government/Republican propaganda for an extended period, until returning back to normal.
Yes, Doc, it seems the ugly stain will remain upon the nation. But the cure was always there. Republicans are choking to death from their own propaganda, having copiously binge gorged until they became sick, and a sickness upon society. No Grecian legend foretold this tale (well, OK, maybe the lust for power, narcissism, abandonment of reason, obsession with wealth, vanity, hubris, and doomed ending parts), but a lesson shouldn't have been required. Only common sense.
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Bush v. Gore, Citizens United, Chief Jester Roberts smiling and nodding along while presiding over sham Senate impeachment trial, Assassination Goon B.S. Barr butchering the law, slaughtering justice, politicizing and weaponizing the DOJ. It's why we lost all respect for the Supreme Court, the law, and the justice system in this country. Congratulations, Republicans, on turning our nation into a banana Republic, making America an object lesson to the world on how to destroy democracy!
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It's like rowing or paddling upstream, or into a stiff wind--if you ease-up too much or stop, you will only have to paddle twice as hard to make up all the previous hard-earned progress that was quickly lost. Failing to maintain isolation and other measures for sufficient time to stop the spread of COVID-19 transmission will cost U.S. more in time, effort, money, and LIVES. Reopening and relaxing measures too early in defiance of the science and data is the ultimate in colossal ignorance, greed, ruthlessness, and arrogance.
We have a segment of Republican cult willfully ignorant, who malevolently seek to sabotage containment efforts. But many do not grasp how important it is that we treat ourselves and everyone else as being infected.
This is because people know that is very unlikely, especially outside dense urban areas, where incidence rates are low. Because of the delay in onset of the disease and asymptomatic carriers, COVID-19 is a stealth killer that uses Americans against each other as its foot soldiers, transporting it, keeping the disease and its train of transmission alive. This is further complicated because people cannot see a virus, see it attacking, see it spreading, until it is too late. For many of us, seeing is believing, and people are incapable or reluctant to make that leap of logic required to keep them and everyone safe--even with the massive public education efforts.
Of course, the problem becomes greatly exacerbated when the President refuses to wear a mask, and his administration works against itself in fighting this deadly global pandemic, sending conflicting messages to the public. Toxic Trump, his administration, and all the Republicans who have aided and abetted him, are directly responsible in our view for the senseless deaths of tens and thousands of Americans. The dead are the worst of it, but there is also the tremendous needless suffering and economic loss accompanying their wanton criminal negligence.
No national testing, no rational national coordinated pandemic response. Republican governors reopening too quickly in defiance of CDC guidelines are only following the President's lead. Democratic governors in many states likewise being adversely pressured by Toxic Trump's pandemic disinformation and Republican opposition to requisite lockdowns. Problem starts at the top. Don't fault even the worst Republican governors as much as this President. The President needed to take the lead, take the hit for the hard decisions--not put all the weight on governors as he as.
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Worst economic downturn in American history, catastrophically botched COVID-19 pandemic response with over 160,000 senseless American deaths. TWENTY straight weeks of over ONE MILLION new unemployment claims. Deaths projected to double by the end of year due to most corrupt, incompetent, racist, and ignorant President in U.S. history. A treasonous President that compromised himself with Russia, who refuses to hold the U.S. principle foreign adversary accountable for its attacks on America, who won't even speak out against Russian bounties on U.S. soldiers. Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy: "Toxic Trump is doing a helluva job!" Rabid right-wing cult media is DESTROYING America!
What's really confusing America is Newsmax, Faux News, and all the other rabid right-wing media outlets propagating and spreading disinformation. Without the supporting cast of willing supplicant proto-fascist right-wing media exploiting and profiting from them, the lies and distortions of Toxic Trump and Republicans would hold very little power, and could not persist.
Anyone really all that surprised that the CEO of Newsmax, Chris Ruddy, is a dishonest partisan hack with no character or integrity whatsoever? If so, that's only because you've never seen Newsmax.
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Two Americans already dead at the time, with more Americans dying from COVID-19, and who knows how many infected or sick because this administration can't get its act together, still can't provide the requisite testing kits to keep the American people safe, still spreading extremely dangerous disinformation, dismissing a very real threat to public health as a "hoax."
But all that's important to Trump and his ilk are getting laughs with vituperative, vindictive partisan demagoguery at their annual gala of gluttony CPAC conference--sticking it to the other side to assuage insecurities, so these losers can claim to be "winning." Pathetic, sickening, shocking, enraging, and highly alarming. BTW, the Presidency shouldn't be a stand-up comedian routine. We got a bad joke played upon us, instead of a real President. Big trouble is, Republicans just don't have what it takes to admit their mistakes--prefer to be yellow weasels bringing the whole nation down.
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@Crystalgate ~ If you engage in the logical fallacies of fabricated false equivalence and contrived Whataboutism while ignoring the realities of Reich-wing white supremacist's canonization of Babbitt and Rittenhouse, what does that make you, Doc?
And if not a fascist Republican, and you don't think either Rittenhouse or Babbitt are heroes, why did you feel triggered to reply to my comment and the need to defend those who are making them out to be heroes? Why then the first name basis for Rittenhouse and Babbitt by you, but full names given for the others you mentioned? Why no frank acknowledgement of the Reich-wing cognitive dissonance and double standard in play illustrated in my comment? Why did you instead dishonestly try to rationalize, deflect and attack using Whataboutism?
Do you object to those on the right demonizing ALL those on the left as communists and socialists? Will you educate the Reich-wing troll in this thread with the new YouTube account only two weeks old posing as some kind of Finnish reporter that anti-fascists are opposed to fascism, that citizens from American and other Western nations fighting against the Axis in WWII were anti-fascists, and that a racial justice movement is antithetical to, and cannot be equated with, fascism? Or, is your criticism confined to only those whose political ideology you do not share, and you're simply just another Republican hypocrite?
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@Crystalgate ~ Yeah, you definitely engaged in a contrived false equivalence, and your denials won't change that. Which Democrats in Congress are competing to offer Blake or any of those others internships, like Republicans are with Rittenhouse? There is no widespread movement among Democrats to lionize any of those people. People like George Floyd and Jacob Blake (not "Jakob" as you misspelled it) are regarded as tragic victims of systemic and institutionalized racism, not heroes like MLK or Rosa Parks. Those shot by Rittenhouse are likewise generally regarded on the left as tragic victims rather than heroes. The discrepancy in degree and scale between the two sides with your contrived false equivalence constitutes a wide chasm in comparison.
Would have been no confusion using their last names, either. Nor would there have been any confusion using the last names of the other people. It seems to have been an interesting and telling choice on your part. I could more readily accept your explanation if you had not shown yourself to be intellectually dishonest.
Notably, you can't defend your use of Whataboutism, you can't straight out acknowledge one side is wrong without trying to bring both sides into it to rationalize and deflect, you can't defend your apparent hypocrisy, and you can't admit that white supremacy, or more broadly, the white power movement, is a cancer in the Republican party, which is increasingly becoming more and more fascistic and nihilistic. You would do well to study the original fascist "America First" movement of the 1920's and 30's, marking the similarities to the present day "America First" movement under Trump, who remains the titular head of the Republican party.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
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Understand what you 'meant.' Haven't been religious for decades, but anyone raised Catholic like Pelosi knows you are taught to pray just as much--if not more--for your enemies. It's all about forgiveness, just as is taught that Jesus forgave us sinners. May not be religious anymore, but still have tremendous respect for those religious believers truly selfless and non-materialistic, who genuinely try to emulate the peaceful teachings of Jesus, or Mohammad, or Buddha, etc. to give to society, not take what they can, while they can, whenever they can. Pelosi was spot-on about Trump not understanding about prayer because he's not religious. But it also reveals he was never religious, and never any kind of moral person. It isn't necessary to be religious to know that forgiveness is good for the soul, and that hatred and resentments are poisonous to one's outlook, mental health, and functionality in society.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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@avigrett1484 ~ As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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Republicans: "I pledge allegiance to the lies of Trump, and to the racism, bigotry, crimes, corruption, crackpot conspiracies, delusions, violence, and ignorance for which he stands, one dysfunctional lunatic fascist cult under Trump, a nation forever divided, with plutocracy, autocracy and injustice for all."
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"We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Unknown source, a derivative of similar quotes by William Butler Yeats, Bertrand Russell, and Charles Bukowski
Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
~ How Fascism Works, The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(Reference also Father Charles E. Coughlin and Henry Ford in regards to the first America First movement.)
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
Malcolm Nance: We Are In A Neo-Fascist Era In American Politics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_RxUAe2zeM
Political Analyst Tells Joy Reid: Forget Trumpism, IT’s Neo-Fascism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IgNp84JA4A
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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06/27/20 -- (Incomplete) 2,583,000+ confirmed cases; 128,000+ deaths.
06/26/20 -- 2,553,000 confirmed cases; 127,600 deaths.
06/25/20 -- 2,505,000 confirmed cases; 126,800 deaths.
06/24/20 -- 2,463,000 confirmed cases; 124,300 deaths.
06/23/20 -- 2,424,000 confirmed cases; 123,500 deaths.
06/22/20 -- 2,388,000 confirmed cases; 122,600 deaths.
06/21/20 -- 2,357,000 confirmed cases; 122,200 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
06/20/20 -- 2,331,000 confirmed cases; 122,000 deaths.
06/19/20 -- 2,297,000 confirmed cases; 121,400 deaths.
06/18/20 -- 2,264,000 confirmed cases; 120,700 deaths.
06/17/20 -- 2,235,000 confirmed cases; 119,900 deaths.
06/16/20 -- 2,199,000 confirmed cases; 118,800 deaths.
06/15/20 -- 2,182,000 confirmed cases; 118,200 deaths.
06/14/20 -- 2,162,000 confirmed cases; 117,800 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
06/13/20 -- 2,139,000 confirmed cases; 117,500 deaths. Latest projection has 200,000 Americans dead from COVID-19 before October.
06/12/20 -- 2,117,000 confirmed cases; 116,800 deaths.
06/11/20 -- 2,090,000 confirmed cases; 116,000 deaths.
06/10/20 -- 2,066,000 confirmed cases; 115,100 deaths.
06/09/20 -- 2,046,000 confirmed cases; 114,100 deaths.
06/08/20 -- 2,026,000 confirmed cases; 113,000 deaths.
06/07/20 -- 2,007,000 confirmed cases; 112,500 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
06/06/20 -- 1,976,000 confirmed cases; 111,900 deaths.
06/05/20 -- 1,949,000 confirmed cases; 111,000 deaths.
06/04/20 -- 1,924,000 confirmed cases; 110,100 deaths.
06/03/20 -- 1,902,000 confirmed cases; 109,100 deaths.
06/02/20 -- 1,881,000 confirmed cases; 108,000 deaths.
06/01/20 -- 1,860,000 confirmed cases; 107,000 deaths.
05/31/20 -- 1,837,000 confirmed cases; 106,200 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/30/20 -- 1,817,000 confirmed cases; 105,600 deaths.
05/29/20 -- 1,793,000 confirmed cases; 104,500 deaths.
05/28/20 -- 1,768,000 confirmed cases; 103,300 deaths.
05/27/20 -- 1,746,000 confirmed cases; 102,100 deaths.
05/26/20 -- 1,725,000 confirmed cases; 100,600 deaths.
05/25/20 -- 1,706,000 confirmed cases; 99,800 deaths.
05/24/20 -- 1,686,000 confirmed cases; 99,300 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/23/20 -- 1,667,000 confirmed cases; 98,700 deaths.
05/22/20 -- 1,645,000 confirmed cases; 97,600 deaths.
05/21/20 -- 1,621,000 confirmed cases; 96,400 deaths.
05/20/20 -- 1,593,000 confirmed cases; 94,900 deaths.
05/19/20 -- 1,571,000 confirmed cases; 93,500 deaths.
05/18/20 -- 1,550,000 confirmed cases; 92,000 deaths.
05/17/20 -- 1,528,000 confirmed cases; 91,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/16/20 -- 1,497,000 confirmed cases; 89,400 deaths.
05/15/20 -- 1,473,000 confirmed cases; 88,200 deaths.
05/14/20 -- 1,448,000 confirmed cases; 86,500 deaths.
05/13/20 -- 1,421,000 confirmed cases; 84,800 deaths.
05/12/20 -- 1,400,000 confirmed cases; 83,000 deaths.
05/11/20 -- 1,379,000 confirmed cases; 81,500 deaths.
05/10/20 -- 1,364,000 confirmed cases; 80,600 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/09/20 -- 1,344,000 confirmed cases; 79,700 deaths.
05/08/20 -- 1,318,000 confirmed cases; 78,200 deaths.
05/07/20 -- 1,289,000 confirmed cases; 76,500 deaths.
05/06/20 -- 1,260,000 confirmed cases; 74,500 deaths.
05/05/20 -- 1,233,000 confirmed cases; 72,000 deaths.
05/04/20 -- 1,208,000 confirmed cases; 69,600 deaths. CDC projects cases increasing to 200,000 per day with deaths rising to 3,000 per day by June because of states, localities and people not following guidelines and reopening their economies too soon.
05/03/20 -- 1,184,000 confirmed cases; 68,300 deaths. Every 44 seconds, another American dies from COVID-19. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/02/20 -- 1,158,000 confirmed cases; 67,000 deaths.
05/01/20 -- 1,129,000 confirmed cases; 65,500 deaths.
04/30/20 -- 1,094,000 confirmed cases; 63,600 deaths. The U.S. accounts for over a third of the world's cases, and over a quarter of COVID-19 deaths--despite possessing only 5% of the world's population. Yet--even now--we still lack the adequate testing capabilities that are critically needed to safely reopen the economy, and remain sorely lacking the necessary rational national leadership so vital to saving American lives and livelihoods.
04/29/20 -- 1,064,000 confirmed cases; 61,500 deaths. The U.S. now has as many COVID-19 deaths in just NINE WEEKS as there was for all TWELVE YEARS of the Vietnam War.
04/28/20 -- 1,034,000 confirmed cases; 59,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/27/20 -- 1,009,000 confirmed cases; 56,500 deaths.
04/24/20 -- 927,000 confirmed cases; 52,400 deaths.
04/23/20 -- 890,000 confirmed cases; 50,400 deaths.
04/22/20 -- 853,000 confirmed cases; 47,800 deaths (+2,674*)
04/21/20 -- 825,000 confirmed cases; 45,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/20/20 -- 788,000 confirmed cases; 43,200 deaths.
04/17/20 -- 702,000 confirmed cases; 37,000 deaths.
04/16/20 -- 671,000 confirmed cases; 33,100 deaths. Less COVID-19 testing performed this week than last, despite desperate need to ramp up volume to reopen economy.
04/15/20 -- 640,000 confirmed cases; 30,800 deaths. The United States recorded its first coronavirus fatality on Feb. 29. It took 38 days to reach 10,000 deaths and just nine more days to go from 10,000 fatalities to 30,000. An increase in fatalities over the last 48 hours was expected, but was also due to new CDC policy, starting on 04/14, to include probable COVID-19 deaths...finally.
04/14/20 -- 609,000 confirmed cases; 26,600 deaths (+2,364 - *New worst daily death toll)
04/13/20 -- 583,000 confirmed cases; 24,200 deaths
04/12/20 -- 558,000 confirmed cases; 22,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S. With just 4.25% of the world's population, the U.S. has 30% of the COVID-19 infections and 20% of the COVID-19 deaths. So far, the U.S. has the very WORST response of ANY nation, something formerly inconceivable, and inexcusable that it could now be allowed to happen here. In the U.S., we have 1.5 million seniors in 15,000 nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Despite forming only 0.45% of the U.S. population, they make up almost 10% of deaths, primarily because our federal government is not doing enough to protect them. Reported that many hospitals are no longer accepting COVID-19 patients from nursing homes, preferring they die there, instead. Our seniors, who helped build, grow and make America great, are being sacrificed, solely to ignorance.
04/11/20 -- 530,000 confirmed cases; 20,500 deaths.
04/08/20 -- 432,000 confirmed cases; 15,900 deaths.
04/07/20 -- 400,000 confirmed cases; 13,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. Figures indicate a Covid-19 fatality rate for TESTED Americans at 3.25%.
04/06/20 -- 369,000 confirmed cases; 11,000 deaths.
04/02/20 -- 246,000 confirmed cases; 6,050 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/01/20 -- 217,000 confirmed cases; 5,150 deaths.
03/31/20 -- 190,000 confirmed cases; 4,200 deaths.
03/29/20 -- 143,000 confirmed cases; 2,450 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
(Update 5: Friday, 03/27/20, confirmed U.S. cases 105,000--which is 50% over NIH high-end estimate; deaths 1,700 by end of day. The perspective for cases is significantly skewed low and thus highly misleading, however, as just 0.17% of U.S. population has been tested to date.)
"As many as 70,000 Americans could be confirmed as infected with coronavirus by the end of next week, marking a “pretty dramatic” increase in the number of confirmed cases," the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, told his employees in an agency-wide conference call on 03/20/20.
Except 03/21/20 saw a 33% jump in U.S. cases, from 18,000 to over 24,000. If continuing at 33% every 24 hours, the number of confirmed cases is trending much higher than just 70,000 by 03/27/20. Suspect confirmed cases will be double that. Bear in mind, states hardest hit are not testing many people, saving the tests for those most in need. So the actual number of infected Americans is going to be far higher than just what limited testing of the population has so far confirmed. Don't think this fact is being given enough attention. More important than the number of cases confirmed is the number contracting the disease and not getting tested, spreading the disease, in many cases unknowingly. Hospital projections are for about 100 MILLION Americans to become infected, with about 500,000 dead from covid-19.
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~ Bad Vibration, Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Sick fascination, no reservation
Brutalization, victimization
Race relation identification
Saud assassination operation
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Abomination seeks domination
Militirization provocation
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, no resignation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
What location revitalization?
Cessation media manipulation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Magnification of inspiration
Cooperation, collaboration
Restoration results in elation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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Get so exasperated and perturbed when people uninformed about our government, issues, and political parties try to equate the two respective sides as both being bad or hopelessly corrupt. That couldn't be more wrong, and that attitude is what leads to dysfunctional Republicans getting elected. While have watched the Democratic party grow, mature, and improve over the past 60 years, have likewise observed the decline of the GOP--particularly over the past four decades--to the point where is has now essentially become a corrupt, mindless fascist cult of radical reactionaries. It is a Republican cult that knowingly places lies before truths, personal and political interests over the best interests of the nation--and can thus no longer be realistically regarded as loyal opposition. The GOP no longer stands for conservatism or any actual ideology, unless "owning the libs" is to be considered a political ideology. If so, it would be a bankrupt ideology, for Republicans have bankrupted their political party, willfully sacrificing character, integrity, principles, ethics, morals, and honor in their blind quest to win at any cost. Like all bankrupt ideologies and soul sacrifices, the GOP's descent into greed, corruption and lunacy only guarantees that Republicans must ultimately lose and fail.
However, there is still much damage that they can do to Americans and America; as already witnessed, Republicans are willing to also sacrifice both Americans and America in order to gain and retain power. Which is why the critical need to correctly identify the Republican political party as not operating in good faith, as the political party abdicating its responsibility to be loyal opposition. In America, we get the government we deserve, because we elect our leaders. We have a fairly good system of government, but it is only as good as the people elected to serve in it. Ultimately, it is up to American voters to better inform themselves, make wiser choices, retaining good Democrats, removing Republican bad actors so they can be replaced with other good leaders. But those people ignorantly lumping politicians together as "all the same" and helplessly throwing their hands up in the air are not any solution but, rather, a big part of the problem, counterproductive to the simple fix available to all voters.
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"We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
~ How Fascism Works, The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(Reference also Father Charles E. Coughlin and Henry Ford in regards to the first America First movement.)
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
Malcolm Nance: We Are In A Neo-Fascist Era In American Politics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_RxUAe2zeM
Political Analyst Tells Joy Reid: Forget Trumpism, IT’s Neo-Fascism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IgNp84JA4A
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@patrickrkruger ~ Ruling otherwise would have gone against precedent, opening the door to preventing schools from mandating vaccines for schoolchildren, preventing colleges from mandating the meningitis vaccine for students. Barrett has been on the bench less than a year, and she isn't stupid. She wasn't about to put herself out on a limb by going against precedent and two lower court decisions on this. See also my reply above to this comment.
The practice of Constitutional interpretivism has typically been used by conservative judges and justices to achieve their desired partisan and ideological ends through a very narrow reading of the Constitution. And when or where in conflict with those conservative aims, the practice is abandoned on the basis of various flimsy justifications that don't stand up to close scrutiny, displaying the hypocrisy at work. Moreover, how people interpret the Constitution and our founder's intent varies quite widely----just as it does with religious texts like the Christian Bible.
There are five basic sources that have guided interpretation of the Constitution: (1) the text and structure of the Constitution, (2) intentions of those who drafted, voted to propose, or voted to ratify the provision in question, (3) prior precedents (usually judicial), (4) the social, political, and economic consequences of alternative interpretations, and (5) natural law.
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The Case Against Donald Trump
The president of the United States poses a threat to our collective existence. The choice voters face is spectacularly obvious.
OCTOBER 22, 2020 — Jeffrey Goldberg, on behalf of the editors of The Atlantic
In 1973, a United States Air Force officer, Major Harold Hering, asked a question that the Air Force did not want asked. Hering, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, was then in training to become a Minuteman-missile crewman. The question he asked one of his instructors was this: “How can I know that an order I receive to launch my missiles came from a sane president?”
The writer Ron Rosenbaum would later call this the “forbidden question.” Missile officers are allowed to ask certain sorts of questions—about the various fail-safe systems built to prevent the accidental launching of nuclear weapons, for instance. But the Air Force would not answer Hering’s question, and it moved to discharge him after determining that officers responsible for launching nuclear weapons did not “need to know” the answer. “I have to say I feel I do have a need to know because I am a human being,” Hering said in response.
Hering’s question was taboo because the national defense strategy of the United States is built on the unstated assumption that the American people will not allow a lunatic to become president. If that assumption is wrong, then no procedural, legal, or technological mechanisms exist that are able to fully protect the human race from such a lunatic. Hering discovered a catastrophic flaw in U.S. nuclear doctrine, and for this he was driven from the Air Force.
In most matters related to the governance and defense of the United States, the president is constrained by competing branches of government and by an intricate web of laws and customs. Only in one crucial area does the president resemble, in the words of the former missile officer and scholar Bruce Blair, an absolute monarch—his control of nuclear weapons. Richard Nixon, who was president when Major Hering asked his question, was reported to have told members of Congress at a White House dinner party, “I could leave this room and in 25 minutes, 70 million people would be dead.” This was an alarming but accurate statement.
When contemplating their ballots, Americans should ask which candidate in a presidential contest is better equipped to guide the United States through a national-security crisis without triggering a nuclear exchange, and which candidate is better equipped to interpret—within five or seven minutes—the ambiguous, complicated, and contradictory signals that could suggest an imminent nuclear attack. These are certainly not questions that large numbers of voters asked themselves in 2016, when a transparently unqualified candidate for president won the support of 63 million Americans.
At the time, Donald Trump had not yet served in public office, so concerns about his ability to protect the United States from harm were hypothetical, though grounded in his long and terrible record as a human being. As The Atlantic stated in its October 2016 endorsement of his opponent, Hillary Clinton, Trump “traffics in conspiracy theories and racist invective; he is appallingly sexist; he is erratic, secretive, and xenophobic; he expresses admiration for authoritarian rulers, and evinces authoritarian tendencies himself … He is an enemy of fact-based discourse; he is ignorant of, and indifferent to, the Constitution; he appears not to read.”
What we have learned since we published that editorial is that we understated our case. Donald Trump is the worst president this country has seen since Andrew Johnson, or perhaps James Buchanan, or perhaps ever. Trump has brought our country low; he has divided our people; he has pitted race against race; he has corrupted our democracy; he has shown contempt for American ideals; he has made cruelty a sacrament; he has provided comfort to propagators of hate; he has abandoned America’s allies; he has aligned himself with dictators; he has encouraged terrorism and mob violence; he has undermined the agencies and departments of government; he has despoiled the environment; he has opposed free speech; he has lied frenetically and evangelized for conspiracism; he has stolen children from their parents; he has made himself an advocate of a hostile foreign power; and he has failed to protect America from a ravaging virus. Trump is not responsible for all of the 220,000 COVID-19-related deaths in America. But through his avarice and ignorance and negligence and titanic incompetence, he has allowed tens of thousands of Americans to suffer and die, many alone, all needlessly. With each passing day, his presidency reaps more death.
But let us lay all of this aside for the moment. Let us even lay aside the extraordinary fact that Donald Trump has been credibly accused of rape. Compelling evidence suggests that his countless sins and defects are rooted in mental instability, pathological narcissism, and profound moral and cognitive impairment. Which returns us to the subject of Major Hering.
Trump’s opponent, Joe Biden, is in many ways a typically imperfect candidate, but if we judge these men on two questions alone—Who is a more trustworthy steward of America’s nuclear arsenal? Which man poses less of a threat to our collective existence?—the answer is spectacularly obvious.
The Atlantic has endorsed only three candidates in its 163-year history: Abraham Lincoln, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Hillary Clinton. The latter two endorsements had more to do with the qualities of Barry Goldwater and Donald Trump than with those of Johnson and Clinton. The same holds true in the case of Joe Biden. Biden is a man of experience, maturity, and obvious humanity, but had the Republican Party put forward a credible candidate for president, we would have felt no compulsion to state a preference. Donald Trump, however, is a clear and continuing danger to the United States, and it does not seem likely that our country would be able to emerge whole from four more years of his misrule. Two men are running for president. One is a terrible man; the other is a decent man. Vote for the decent man.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/10/atlantics-endorsement-against-donald-trump/616815/
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The Molotov cocktail recipe:
Mix in equal parts of mental illness, lies, willful ignorance, fear, hate, greed, decades of 24/7 Reich-wing disinformation, misinformation, and crackpot conspiracy programming by Republican politicians, plutocrats, media and demagogues, add supplemental divisive Russian propaganda attacking and weakening America, stir well, garnish with COVID-19, and you have the mindless Republican cult descending into fascism, committing terrorism and sedition. Then, grab a stiff drink--you'll need it.
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Republicans are willing to gain and hold power at any cost...even if the price is our democracy!
Farmer wakes up one morning, goes outside to milk his cows, and discovers his entire herd is missing! So, he then walks over nest door to where the Republican cult lives, notices them grinding a whole bunch of beef into hamburger, and asks them, "Did you see what happened to all my cows?"
Republican cult: "Yeah, they jumped over the moon."
Farmer: "Do you have any actual evidence of that?"
Republican cult: "No, because they landed on the dark side, and you can't see them over there. But we're conducting a bunch of investigations and fraudits, and we're confident evidence will soon emerge to prove it!"
Farmer: "You know, that sounds like a load of manure!"
Republican cult: "Well, that's what we all choose to believe!"
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
~ "Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts."
~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is receiving such high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating.
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Greg King ~ As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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Tessmage Tessera ~ As stated, this isn't Ohio State. Sorry if you misunderstood. The point being that we don't want martyrs, regardless. One person already shot, presumably by Capitol police, but victim and shooter unknown at this time. Victim was removed and taken to hospital by EMT. Do think that strong measures need to be taken to reassert control of this situation, can't believe it is taking so long to retake the Capitol of the United States from a lawless, mindless mob, or that they have been allowed to take control of the building in the first place in an attempted coup. Shocking, appalling, disgusting, sickening.
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Tessmage Tessera ~ Please, no strawman arguments and twisting of words. Believe me, I'm as angry and upset as you. As was stated, strong measures need to be taken. As was also stated, there is a need to avoid making martyrs. Would like to see this all as peacefully resolved as possible, but also as quickly as possible. It's a delicate balance, one that we (should) expect of law enforcement everyday, and also in our foreign policy.
The problem is a lack of manpower for law enforcement, which is being resolved. National Guard from surrounding states are being rushed in, and police have been moving inside the capitol from tunnels, both to secure Capitol personnel and to begin retaking the building. As also stated, don't understand why appropriate personnel wasn't already in place to prevent this mob from getting out of control in the first place. If you hadn't heard yet, they've already discovered on unexploded IED INSIDE the Capitol.
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Well, a strawman is an argument that is propped up and then easily knocked down, and regardless of levity, that would seem to qualify. But, nevermind about that. Don't think you have fully appreciated how much we are on the same page. Here are two excerpts from previous replies here which, in fact, DO provide a realistic point of view:
"But how could this have not been prepared for and prevented? A spectacular breakdown by Capitol police and Homeland Security. This was an insurrection incited by Toxic Trump and Republican so-called "leaders." This attack against our Capitol is an unpardonable, vile affront to our Constitution and democracy.
"
"Do think that strong measures need to be taken to reassert control of this situation, can't believe it is taking so long to retake the Capitol of the United States from a lawless, mindless mob, or that they have been allowed to take control of the building in the first place in an attempted coup. Shocking, appalling, disgusting, sickening."
By the way, now reported that two IED's found and disarmed in the Capitol--along with another at the RNC. This coup attempt has to be regarded as domestic terrorism and sedition, instigated by the Traitor-'n-Thief and some Congressional Republicans. Trump needs to be impeached or the 25th Amendment invoked so that he can be removed immediately, and House members involved should be revoked, as well.
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White House Economists Warned in 2019 a Pandemic Could Devastate America
Jim Tankersley -- NY Times -- 03/31/20
WASHINGTON — White House economists published a study last September that warned a pandemic disease could kill a half million Americans and devastate the economy.
It went unheeded inside the administration.
In late February and early March, as the coronavirus pandemic began to spread from China to the rest of the world, President Trump’s top economic advisers played down the threat the virus posed to the U.S. economy and public health.
“I don’t think corona is as big a threat as people make it out to be,” the acting chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, Tomas Philipson, told reporters during a Feb. 18 briefing, on the same day that more than a dozen American cruise ship passengers who had contracted the virus were evacuated home. Public health threats did not typically hurt the economy, Mr. Philipson said. He suggested the virus would not be nearly as bad as a normal flu season.
The 2019 study warned otherwise — specifically urging Americans not to conflate the risks of a typical flu and a pandemic. The existence of that warning undermines administration officials’ contentions in recent weeks that no one could have seen the virus damaging the economy as it has. The study was requested by the National Security Council, according to two people familiar with the matter.
One of the authors of the study, who has since left the White House, now says it would make sense for the administration to effectively shut down most economic activity for two to eight months to slow the virus.
The coronavirus has spread rapidly through the United States and its economy, killing more than 3,000 Americans and plunging the country into what economists roundly predict will be a deep recession. A mounting number of governors and local officials have effectively shut down large amounts of economic activity and ordered people to stay in their homes in most situations, in hopes of slowing the spread and relieving pressure on hospitals.
Administration officials on Tuesday released public health models that have driven those decisions, including projections of when infection rates might peak nationally and in local areas. Government officials estimated Tuesday that the deadly pathogen could kill between 100,000 and 240,000 Americans.
As officials debate when they might begin to reopen the shuttered sectors of the country, it is unclear how the White House is tallying the potential benefits and costs — in dollar figures and human lives — of competing timetables for action.
Asked by Fox News on Sunday about the economic impact and whether the United States was in recession, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin declined to say. “Are we going to have reduced economic activity this quarter? Absolutely,” he said. “I think next quarter, a lot depends on how quickly the curve of the medical situation works.”
The director of the National Economic Council, Larry Kudlow, told ABC News on Sunday that “it could be four weeks, it could be eight weeks” before economic activity resumes. “I say that hopefully,” he said, “and I say that prayerfully.”
Outside economists have been pumping out analyses on the optimal length of a shutdown almost daily. One that has been shared with officials inside the White House comes from Anna Scherbina, an author of the 2019 study who is now an economist at Brandeis University and the American Enterprise Institute.
It seeks to determine the optimal length of a national suppression of economic activity, which Ms. Scherbina does not define precisely in the paper. In an interview, she said it would encompass school closures, shutting down many businesses and the sort of stay-at-home orders that many, but not all, states have imposed.
“What it entails is something as drastic as you can get,” Ms. Scherbina said. In the United States right now, she added, “we don’t have it everywhere.”
Ms. Scherbina’s paper evaluates the trade-offs involved in slowing the economy to fight the spread of the virus by, as the paper puts it, “balancing its incremental benefits against the enormous costs the suppression policy imposes on the U.S. economy.”
In a best-case scenario, Ms. Scherbina concludes, a national suppression of economic activity to flatten the infection curve must last at least seven weeks. In a worst case, where the shutdown proves less effective at slowing the rate of new infections, it would be economically optimal to keep the economy shuttered for nearly eight months.
Suppression efforts inflict considerable damage on the economy, reducing activity by about $36 billion per week, the study estimates. Ms. Scherbina said the optimal durations would remain largely unchanged even if the weekly damage was twice that high.
But the efforts would save nearly two million lives when compared with a scenario in which the government did nothing to suppress the economy and the spread of the virus, Ms. Scherbina estimates, because doing nothing would impose a $13 trillion cost to the economy — equal to about two-thirds of the amount of economic activity that the United States was projected to generate this year before the virus struck.
Ms. Scherbina based her estimates on the models she built when she was a senior economist at the Council of Economic Advisers and the lead author of the September paper, “Mitigating the Impact of Pandemic Influenza Through Vaccine Innovation,” which warned of potentially catastrophic death tolls and economic damage from a pandemic flu in the United States.
“I accumulated all this knowledge, and then coronavirus came up,” Ms. Scherbina said in a telephone interview. “So I thought, I should put it to use.”
The 2019 White House study called for new federal efforts to speed up the time it takes to develop and deploy new vaccines. It did not specifically predict the emergence of the coronavirus — instead, it modeled what would happen if the United States was hit with a pandemic influenza akin to the 1918 Spanish flu or the so-called swine flu of 2009. It projected deaths and economic losses depending on how contagious and deadly the virus turned out to be.
At even the highest rates it modeled, the pandemic flu in the exercise was still less contagious and less deadly than epidemiologists now say the coronavirus could be in the United States. The White House study estimated that a pandemic flu could kill up to half a million Americans and inflict as much as $3.8 trillion in damage on the economy. Those estimates did not account for any economic loss incurred by “healthy people avoiding work out of fear they will be infected by co-workers.”
The study’s top-end damage estimate would have been even larger than $3.8 trillion, Ms. Scherbina said, but the final version of the paper was changed inside the Council of Economic Advisers to discount the economic value assigned to the lives of older Americans. It assigned a value of $12.3 million per life for Americans between the ages of 18 and 49, compared with $5.3 million for those 65 and over.
Council officials said on Tuesday that Mr. Philipson was not available for an interview. He gave no indication this year that the study and its predictions had influenced administration officials in their early response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Mr. Philipson, whose academic specialty is health economics, was the acting head of the council when the September report was published. He told reporters in late February that the administration was taking a “wait and see” approach before it began any analysis of possible damage to the economy from the virus.
“If you look at the resilience of the economy to a public health threat,” he said, “certainly we have much bigger threats than the coronavirus.” He went on to recite the number of deaths each year from a typical flu strain.
The study published the previous fall had warned against such a comparison. “People may conflate the high expected costs of pandemic flu with the far more common, lower-cost seasonal flu,” the study said. “It is not surprising that people might underappreciate the economic and health risks posed by pandemic flu and not invest in ways to reduce these risks.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/white-house-economists-warned-in-2019-a-pandemic-could-devastate-america/ar-BB11YWHC
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@aaronweiser5421 What, me worry? You must be thinking of that MAD magazine mascot, Doc! Humpty-Trumpty fell off his wall, now he's CRACKED completely! Traitor, felon, rapist, child-abuser, grifter, charlatan, clown...next item on the Trump resume is prison inmate! Orange garb to go with the phony hair, fake tan, and Mueller investigation oranges. Things are looking up, Doc (or, as they like to say, LOCK HIM UP)!
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, or QaBomb, they're all part and parcel of the current Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian nationalism religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law?
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Ignorant Republicans, Governors and Mayors:
DO YOU UNDERSTAND???
A virus can't think. But you can.
The real war isn't against this virus--it's against our own IGNORANCE and HUBRIS!
Restarting an economy REQUIRES first protecting public health in the midst of a deadly global pandemic. That's just plain, old-fashioned, common sense, fools! States, localities, and CITIZENS not fully on board with recommended protocols, guidelines--acting hastily and rashly in willful disregard of medical experts, the science, and the data--are PROLONGING isolation measures for EVERYONE, only DELAYING economic recovery in the U.S., while you are disabling and KILLING even more Americans.
Colorado bought hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 tests from South Korea, hiding it from the Toxic Trump administration, lest they steal it! While exercising far more prudence than many Republican governors, Colorado's governor is still jumping the gun, asking for trouble, putting health and lives unnecessarily at risk. Isn't Gov. Polis to blame so much, here, when it is really the lack of national leadership at fault.
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It's crystal clear that Trump, Boebert, Greene, Gosar and other Republicans like them are fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorism. The GOP has become radicalized to such an extent that it has essentially become a fascist terrorist organization, with members that fantasize and promote violence against their fellow Americans. While those Republican elected officials must be condemned and sanctioned, they are only a symptom of the disease poisoning a third of America, the most visible part of the cancer infecting our nation.
What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil. They are either actively or silently complicit in fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorist violence, Reich-wing insurrection, and Reich-wing undermining of our democracy and Constitution.
The GOP has been mainstreaming radicalization of their voter base for decades, ALLOWING Reich-wing media and Reich-wing demagogues to take over the party, to the point it has become a fascist, nihilistic cult. Because just as now, Republican politicians and their plutocratic masters have always seen it as the ends justifying whatever means to win power. Remember the Republican Tea Party? This catastrophe with the GOP didn't start with Trump, who just exploited what the Republicans had already built.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle for graft and to grift their voters and us taxpayers. You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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"As many as 70,000 Americans could be confirmed as infected with coronavirus by the end of next week, marking a “pretty dramatic” increase in the number of confirmed cases," the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, told his employees in an agency-wide conference call on 03/20/20.
Except 03/21/20 saw a 33% jump in U.S. cases, from 18,000 to over 24,000. If continuing at 33% every 24 hours, the number of confirmed cases is trending much higher than just 70,000 by 03/27/20. Suspect confirmed cases will be double that. Bear in mind, states hardest hit are not testing many people, saving the tests for those most in need. So the actual number of infected Americans is going to be far higher than just what limited testing of the population has so far confirmed. Don't think this fact is being given enough attention. More important than the number of cases confirmed is the number contracting the disease and not getting tested, spreading the disease, in many cases unknowingly. Hospital projections are for about 100 MILLION Americans to become infected, with about 500,000 dead from covid-19.
(Update 5: Friday, 03/27/20, confirmed U.S. cases 105,000--which is 50% over NIH high-end estimate; deaths 1,700 by end of day. The perspective for cases is significantly skewed low and thus highly misleading, however, as just 0.17% of U.S. population has been tested to date.)
03/29/20 -- 143,000 confirmed cases; 2,450 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
03/30/20 -- 165,000 confirmed cases; 3,250 deaths.
03/31/20 -- 190,000 confirmed cases; 4,200 deaths.
04/01/20 -- 217,000 confirmed cases; 5,150 deaths.
04/02/20 -- 246,000 confirmed cases; 6,050 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/03/20 -- 278,000 confirmed cases; 7,150 deaths.
04/04/20 -- 312,000 confirmed cases; 9,400 deaths.
04/05/20 -- 338,000 confirmed cases; 9,700 deaths.
04/06/20 -- 369,000 confirmed cases; 11,000 deaths.
04/07/20 -- 400,000 confirmed cases; 13,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. Figures indicate a Covid-19 fatality rate for TESTED Americans at 3.25%.
04/08/20 -- 432,000 confirmed cases; 15,900 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S.
04/09/20 -- 466,000 confirmed cases; 16,700 deaths.
04/10/20 -- 502,000 confirmed cases; 18,800 deaths.
04/11/20 -- 530,000 confirmed cases; 20,500 deaths.
04/12/20 -- 558,000 confirmed cases; 22,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S. With just 4.25% of the world's population, the U.S. has 30% of the COVID-19 infections and 20% of the COVID-19 deaths. So far, the U.S. has the very WORST response of ANY nation, something formerly inconceivable, and inexcusable that it could now be allowed to happen here. In the U.S., we have 1.5 million seniors in 15,000 nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Despite forming only 0.45% of the U.S. population, they make up almost 10% of deaths, primarily because our federal government is not doing enough to protect them. Reported that many hospitals are no longer accepting COVID-19 patients from nursing homes, preferring they die there, instead. Our seniors, who helped build, grow and make America great, are being sacrificed, solely to ignorance.
04/13/20 -- 583,000 confirmed cases; 24,200 deaths
04/14/20 -- 609,000 confirmed cases; 26,600 deaths (+2,364* - New worst daily death toll)
04/15/20 -- 640,000 confirmed cases; 30,800 deaths (4,200*) The United States recorded its first coronavirus fatality on Feb. 29. It took 38 days to reach 10,000 deaths and just nine more days to go from 10,000 fatalities to 30,000. An increase in fatalities over the last 48 hours was expected, but was also due to new CDC policy, starting on 04/14, to include probable COVID-19 deaths...finally.
04/16/20 -- 671,000 confirmed cases; 33,100 deaths. Less COVID-19 testing performed this week than last, despite desperate need to ramp up volume to reopen economy.
04/17/20 -- 702,000 confirmed cases; 37,000 deaths.
04/18/20 -- 735,000 confirmed cases; 39,900 deaths.
04/19/20 -- 760,000 confirmed cases; 40,700 deaths.
04/20/20 -- 788,000 confirmed cases; 42,200 deaths.
04/21/20 -- 825,000 confirmed cases; 45,300 deaths.
04/22/20 -- 853,000 confirmed cases; 47,800 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
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Merrick Garland’s House Testimony Demonstrated the Failure of His Hyper-Cautious Approach to His Job
Despite Garland’s many efforts to not appear political by declining to investigate Trump and his cronies for possible crimes and by using DOJ resources to actively protect Trump from civil liability, Republicans are still portraying him as the most political attorney general in history.
The other weakness of Garland’s timid approach was on full view during his opening statement and responses to Democratic members of Congress. “The essence of the rule of law is that like cases are treated alike. That there not be one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans; one rule for friends, another for foes,” Garland stated grandly. But by declining to investigate Trump and his associates, Garland is enabling further attacks on our democracy. (While proving inequity by putting Republicans above the law.)
Crucially, the two parties are not the same. Garland’s standard sets up a false equivalency between the Democratic Party and a political party whose national leader, Donald Trump, incited and celebrated a violent assault on our nation’s Capitol to overthrow the results of a free and fair election and who continues to portray the insurrection as a glorious “protest.” To that end, in the middle of the attorney general’s testimony, Trump issued a statement highlighting Garland’s feebleness at failing to even investigate the organizers and leaders of the Jan. 6 events, declaring “the insurrection took place on November 3, Election Day. January 6 was the Protest!”
Garland’s efforts to depoliticize the DOJ have proved to be an abdication of his responsibility to protect the rule of law. Take just a few examples: Garland’s failure to reconsider the obstruction of justice case against the former president, his deferral of an investigation of possible financial crimes by Trump and his organization to local prosecutors in New York City and Westchester, his use of the DOJ to protect Trump from defamation allegations, and his deferral of a soliciting of voter fraud felony probe in Georgia to local prosecutors there. By abdicating his responsibility, Garland is also opening the door for Trump to commit these possibly criminal abuses all over again, this time with the full support of the Republican Party, and maybe ultimately return to power.
--Mark Stern
"Try as he may, Merrick Garland cannot perform boring independence fast enough to outrun GOP claims that he’s a wild-eyed, violent socialist. And while the GOP currently exists only to cast everything you thought you believed into doubt, the real endgame is vigilantism. The endgame is to ensure that people mistrust government, election systems, school boards, (teachers, health care officials) the media, and the justice system enough to lend a hand in their destruction."
--Dahlia Lithwick
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@ShaneOmac831 ~ Trump made noises about getting us out of Afghanistan, he could have done it, but he didn't. That left the decision to Biden. Biden made the tough call, and he's already carried through on his promise.
You're arguments show you to be rather uninformed about foreign affairs, and lacking in both objectivity and appreciation of nuance. I like JFK, too, but JFK started an unjust and unnecessary war in Vietnam.
Drone strikes began under Bush, and have been used by every President since. I don't like them, either, for a number of reasons, but I don't ignore that they have killed more terrorists than innocents, while saving American lives.
Both the Afghan and Iraq invasions were begat by Bush, but it was the illegal invasion of Iraq that Bush started on a false premise of WMD. It was under Bush that the PATRIOT Act and AUMF were enacted, and it was under Obama that the Patriot Act was reformed to be less broad and overbearing. Biden is working with Democrats and others in Congress to repeal the 2001 and 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) and replace them with a “narrow and specific framework that will ensure we can protect Americans from terrorist threats while ending the forever wars.”
It's notable how you try to find fault with and place blame on Democrats, but don't ever mention any of Trump's gross malfeasance, and you downplay Bush's malfeasance.
“Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a President and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country.” ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt
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@ShaneOmac831 ~ You don't want to do your own homework, you evade points and arguments, you spew Reich-wing talking points, you gaslight Trump's malfeasance, you refuse to concede anything where shown wrong, and you twist things.
Like the Banana Cream Pie thing, which was a friendly aside posted as a PS after seeing that was one of your interests on your home page. It was not intended to go off topic, to conflate things, or to serve as any kind of diversion, all of which should have been obvious to anyone capable of critical reasoning. You make me regret mentioning it now, as you seem lost in the fog and out of touch with reality.
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@DescartesStrollsIntoAPub ~
The Fallacy (and Laziness) of Both-Sides-ism
By Anthony B. Robinson -April 5, 2020
This week I had a response from a reader in the mid-west that I want to build on for this post. This brother, whom I respect for reading my writing though we disagree with some regularity, pleaded,
“Please Tony, stop the Trump and Hannity and Right Wing bashing. The ‘shouting’ you mention . . . comes equally from both sides. As ugly as Fox News gets, MSNBC is just as ugly and noisy and lying . . . The Republican leadership is no better or no worse than the Democrats. Neither side is any cleaner than the other and, if you think so, you are only kidding yourself.”
He argued that this was a time for unity, and not a time for launching zingers at the other side. I get that, heck, I’ve written the same thing here, more or less.
But here’s where we part company. The Republicans and the Democrats are not the same. Underlying too much of contemporary reporting is a “false equivalency,” which posits that by representing “both sides” balance and objectivity are attained.
The popularized equivalent holds, “they’re (R’s and D’s) all the same.” Or “both sides (parties) are corrupt.”
As mentioned previously I’ve been reading Ezra Klein’s Why We’re Polarized. At the same time that I was pondering my reader’s response I happened to read Klein’s chapter, “The Difference Between Democrats and Republicans.”
Klein begins by talking about the scholarly team of Thomas Mann and Norm Ornstein. The two political scientists have been well-known, even famous in their world, for collaboration despite difference. Mann works for the liberal-leaning Brookings Institution. Ornstein for the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute. They have teamed up on books and regularly appeared on news shows, lending to their hosts the air of balance and fair-play. Then the duo became to feel qualms. These were expressed in their 2012 book, It’s Even Worse Than It Looks. Here’s an excerpt quoted by Klein:
“Today’s Republican Party . . . is an insurgent outlier. It has become ideologically extreme; contemptuous of the inherited social and economic policy regime; scornful of compromise; unpersuaded by conventional understandings of fact, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of it’s political opposition, all but declaring war on the government. The Democratic Party, while no paragon of civic virtue, is more ideologically centered and diverse, protective of the government’s role as it developed over the course of the last century, open to incremental changes in policy fashioned through bargaining with the Republicans and less disposed to or adept at take-no-prisoners conflict between the parties.
“This asymmetry between the parties, which journalists and scholars often brush aside or whitewash in a quest for ‘balance,’ constitutes a huge obstacle to effective governance.”
While there are individual exceptions, the Republicans as a political party have shown themselves less interested in actual governance than in throwing spanners in the works — or simply eliminating “the works,” as in the National Security Council office focused on global health and pandemics. This becomes a real problem in a crisis like the current one.
In the balance of Klein’s chapter he discusses structural factors that have kept the Democratic Party closer to accepted civic norms and established institutions (an argument borne out by Biden being their leading candidate for the nomination). Their language is restrained. But their point is clear — the two parties aren’t the same. To act as if they are is false.
The “Trumpification” of the GOP since 2016 is both a confirmation of Mann/Ornstein’s point, and a further reason to reject the “they’re all the same,” “both political parties are corrupt” argument. Today’s Trump-led Republican Party is, as my friend Tommy might put it, “a different breed of cat,” and it’s feral.
Anthony B. Robinson
Tony is a writer, teacher, speaker and ordained minister (United Church of Christ). He served as Senior Minister of Seattle’s Plymouth Congregational Church for fourteen years. His newest book is Useful Wisdom: Letters to Young (and not so young) Ministers.
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President Nero stoked racial animosities, igniting the embers, keeps feeding the flames. Lynching, murder of innocent civilians by law enforcement, followed by protests, riots, civil unrest, people hurt, property damaged--those were all inevitable with an arsonist in the Oval, even if his gross criminal negligence with COVID-19 wasn't presently so starkly highlighting the social and economic divides in this nation. You didn't see this coming, it's only because you refused to look.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law?
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, along with Reich-wing demagogues and media, who were complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance, and in spreading disinformation and misinformation. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump left office, one out of every 800 Americans had died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 410,000 fatalities, as many American casualties as all of WWII. To put it into further perspective, throughout Trump's catastrophic mishandling of a deadly global pandemic, the U.S. led the world in cases and deaths, suffering nearly 25% of each, despite having only 4.25% of global population, despite having the advantage of being the richest and most advanced nation in the world.
The memorial would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure. Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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@corianne2099 ~ If you can't see it, we can't help you, Doc. And if you can't see it, it's probably because you're in the Republican cult. Either that, or you're like the Germans who chose to look the other way when the Nazis came for the Jews. Not just me, but plenty of other very educated, smart people recognize the GOP as a cult, including non-partisan observers, and even former Republicans, although I was one of the very few calling it out even before Trump. It's not an empty slander to gain partisan advantage--a practice we detest, a practice in which Republicans have long engaged. It's just the plain, unvarnished truth. In order to fix a problem, it must first be identified and acknowledged.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic hyper-partisan Republican cult placing political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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Disgraceful Republicans did nothing but lie and obfuscate, argue about process, evade facts during entire impeachment vote debate, putting on a definitive display of intellectual dishonesty.
One example: Ukraine was ranked #120 out of 180 nations for corruption in 2018--even before this year, when yet more progress against corruption in Ukraine was made. Last time Ukraine was ranked #3 was way back in 2012. BTW, even any useful idiot can see Trump cared nothing about corruption in Ukraine, was instead corrupting Ukraine. Clearly, Congressional Republicans aren't nearly as stupid as they look and behave. Always on their digital devices, can come up with all kinds of inane, arcane irrelevant facts, yet we're supposed to believe they and their entire staff don't know how to Google a simple fact? Another example: Republicans tried to defend Trump by KNOWINGLY using debunked Russian propaganda, helping Putin working to hurt the U.S.--right on the very floor of Congress, in total disregard for their sacred Oath, the common good, and our national security!!!
With neither concern, nor care for consequence, rotten Republicans know they are desperately clutching at straws, tilting at imaginary windmills; their unscrupulous purpose to deceive the American people while maintaining an alternate universe delusional bubble for their rabidly partisan cult-created base. But there's no escaping the point--like a magnet, the bubble is a bad boil inexorably drawn and inevitably bound to burst upon confronting the hard realities it ignored, to its own perilous end.
...
Republican distraction, distortion and intellectual dishonesty at its finest! Voting districts aren't what really counts--voters do! Which is why a more accurate representation uses respective partisan populations in relation to a U.S. map. Both Representatives and Senators are elected by the number of PEOPLE voting for them, not the number of districts they win. That is why it is highly misleading purely partisan propaganda. It is used to hide the fact that Republicans actually have a smaller base, with only a shrinking minority overall supporting this corrupt President. The map shown is more relevant for pollsters and political campaigns, but deformative in displaying the current U.S. political landscape. Most people know better, but the fools like fooling themselves!
In a way, kind of like the map, because it is an excellent demonstration of Republican's dishonesty and disregard for democracy; as well as their lack of dignity, character, and integrity. Kind of like wearing the white pointy hats, except now they're openly wearing bright red ones, making the dopes and dupes even easier to spot.
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Sounds like Moscow on the line again, calling impeachment a coup, now! OMG, stop the presses, man the trenches, lock the wives and kids in the closet--Republicans are following Putin's marching orders!!!
1) Putin is playing U.S. population, gaming elections.
2) Trump is playing U.S. population, gaming elections.
3) Republicans are playing U.S. population, gaming elections.
4) Republicans are willfully and knowingly spreading Putin's debunked propaganda in aid of both their own and Russia's aforementioned efforts.
5) Republicans are willfully and knowingly protecting a President that has compromised himself with our chief foreign adversary, Russia, despite clear and overwhelming evidence of criminality of the highest order threatening our elections, democracy, and national security.
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Worst economic downturn in American history, catastrophically botched COVID-19 pandemic response with over 160,000 senseless American deaths. TWENTY straight weeks of over ONE MILLION new unemployment claims. Deaths projected to double by the end of year due to most corrupt, incompetent, racist, and ignorant President in U.S. history. A treasonous President that compromised himself with Russia, who refuses to hold the U.S. principle foreign adversary accountable for its attacks on America, who won't even speak out against Russian bounties on U.S. soldiers. Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy: "Toxic Trump is doing a helluva job!" Rabid right-wing cult media is DESTROYING America!
What's really confusing America is Newsmax, Faux News, and all the other rabid right-wing media outlets propagating and spreading disinformation. Without the supporting cast of willing supplicant proto-fascist right-wing media exploiting and profiting from them, the lies and distortions of Toxic Trump and Republicans would hold very little power, and could not persist.
Anyone really all that surprised that the CEO of Newsmax, Chris Ruddy, is a dishonest partisan hack with no character or integrity whatsoever? If so, that's only because you've never seen Newsmax.
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America's enemies don't need to spread disinformation, doubt, discord, and division to weaken America, kill Americans----because Republican politicians, Reich-wing demagogues, Faux News, OAN, Newsmax, Breitbart and the rest of the Reich-wing media do that so effectively for them, already. More Americans need to realize that the GOP has abdicated it's duty as loyal opposition, and that its prioritization of party over country and welcoming embrace of violent radical Reich-wing extremists diminishes both our government and our national security, endangering ALL Americans, as well as weakening and endangering America itself.
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“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-‘n-‘Thief, Toxic Trump, so much—although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages—as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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Why America is so vulnerable to coronavirus
Ryan Cooper
All over the world, governments are scrambling to defend their citizenry from COVID-19, the disease caused by the outbreak of novel coronavirus. So far it seems levels of success have varied; countries like Italy and Iran have struggled so far, while Vietnam and Taiwan have seemingly put forth an efficient and effective response.
The United States, where a major outbreak is clearly developing, however, is in a class by itself. America's atrociously inadequate welfare state makes it by far the most vulnerable rich country to a viral pandemic, and the vicious, right-wing ideology of the Republican Party has wrecked the government's ability to manage crises of any kind.
The national health care system is of course the most important tool for any country trying to fight off an epidemic — all citizens need to be able to get tested, receive treatment, or be quarantined if necessary. If and when a vaccine is developed, the system needs to distribute it to everyone as fast as possible. That means handing it out for free in locations across the country, and perhaps making
The American health care system fails at every one of these tasks. Nearly 30 million Americans are uninsured, and a further 44 million are underinsured — meaning they will likely hesitate to go to the doctor if they start developing COVID-19 symptoms. This problem is seriously exacerbated by the rampant predatory profiteering that infects every corner of the health care system. Indeed, responsible citizens who have gone in for tests have already started getting slammed with multi-thousand dollar bills. A father and daughter who were evacuated from China and then forcibly quarantined for several days (luckily they were not infected) went home to find $3,918 in bills.
If you are working-class person with a $10,000 deductible (not at all uncommon), going to the doctor simply because you have flu-like symptoms (which is how most cases of COVID-19 are experienced) could very easily send you into bankruptcy. If infected, millions of Americans are likely going to take their chances — and keep spreading the virus.
Indeed, U.S. health care is not only by far the worst system among rich countries, it is much worse than that of many middle-income or poorer countries when it comes to confronting a fast-moving epidemic. Distributing a vaccine is not that difficult of a task — World Health Organization workers managed it with smallpox even in desperately poor African countries in the 1970s. You just round up everyone, and give out the shot. But that will be a heavy lift indeed with a health care system geared above all to price-gouge sick people out of as much money as possible. While in theory the government could stand up a one-time free (or cheap) vaccination program, the administration has already ruled that out. "We can’t control that price because we need the private sector to invest," said HHS Secretary Alex Azar. That very likely means an eyewateringly-expensive vaccine that tens of millions can't get — we've seen what rapacious pharma companies do with insulin. (Speaking of vaccines, as Ryan Grim points out at The Intercept, Joe Biden voted against a Bernie Sanders amendment to force drug companies to provide drugs funded by public research at a reasonable price.)
It's worth pointing out again that if we had Medicare-for-all, these concerns would vanish at a stroke. People experiencing symptoms would feel free to seek medical care without worrying about breaking the bank, and a vaccine could be distributed by the government through hospitals and clinics at no cost to patients.
But there are still further problems. The United States is one of only a handful of countries (almost all of them desperately poor) with no national sick leave program, which means many workers who come down with COVID-19 will be forced to choose between starving or spreading the disease. Food service workers are especially unlikely to have sick leave from their employers, and are generally not paid well either. So-called "gig economy" companies naturally provide no sick leave either. In China, food delivery services have been critical for feeding cities under lockdown, but in America they are likely to become just another vector of infection.
Finally, there is conservative ideology. As I have written, the Trump administration — under the influence of conservative fanatics like Mick "The Knife" Mulvaney — has deliberately devastated the government's pandemic response capacity. He's cut key personnel, slashed funding, and made sure thousands more Americans have been thrown off their insurance. And while Trump is certainly the most incompetent president in American history, his style of government is not at all out of keeping with typical Republican rule. As Thomas Frank writes in his book The Wrecking Crew, for decades GOP rule has meant rampant corruption and disastrous incompetence. When a Republican is in the White House, unqualified cronies end up in charge of federal emergency management, and American cities and towns end up ruined. Even today, the Trump regime is doing its level best to kick as many people off their health insurance as possible — the Supreme Court just announced it would hear the latest Republican attempt to destroy the Affordable Care Act through judicial rule-by-decree.
The conservative movement has served like a bath of hydrofluoric acid on the quality, competence, and basic decency of American institutions. Republicans have all but posted up signs everywhere saying "epidemics welcome here." So now they are resorting to the only thing they know how to do really well — lying, concocting conspiracy theories and blaming Democrats and the media for any bad news. It does not bode well.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Republican cult are corrupt LYING hypocrites. Dirty, disgusting, deplorable, despicable, deranged, disgraceful, demented, dishonorable, depraved, disingenuous, devious, diabolical...and that's just a partial tabulation of the 'D' words describing the GOP; the complete listing of their nasty traits is far too many to enumerate.
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@amygrande1416 ~ It was phrased as a question, and your inability to answer the question in any cogent, coherent way----except to get offended, ironically----amounts to you confirming your own stupidity about this. Just saying... And, once again, you're apparently incapable of rebutting any of the points and arguments in either reply. I wish you a great day, a super year, a wonderful life...mostly, though, the wish is for you to have learned something from this discussion but, alas, that is something to which you seem resistant.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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06/30/20 -- (Incomplete) 2,728,000+ confirmed cases; 130,100+ deaths.
06/29/20 -- 2,682,000 confirmed cases; 128,800 deaths.
06/28/20 -- 2,638,000 confirmed cases; 128,400 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
06/27/20 -- 2,597,000 confirmed cases; 128,200 deaths.
06/26/20 -- 2,553,000 confirmed cases; 127,600 deaths. CDC projects TEN times as many COVID-19 cases as confirmed; approximately 25 million, or 7% of U.S. pop.
06/25/20 -- 2,505,000 confirmed cases; 126,800 deaths.
06/24/20 -- 2,463,000 confirmed cases; 124,300 deaths.
06/23/20 -- 2,424,000 confirmed cases; 123,500 deaths.
06/22/20 -- 2,388,000 confirmed cases; 122,600 deaths.
06/21/20 -- 2,357,000 confirmed cases; 122,200 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
06/20/20 -- 2,331,000 confirmed cases; 122,000 deaths.
06/19/20 -- 2,297,000 confirmed cases; 121,400 deaths.
06/18/20 -- 2,264,000 confirmed cases; 120,700 deaths.
06/17/20 -- 2,235,000 confirmed cases; 119,900 deaths.
06/16/20 -- 2,199,000 confirmed cases; 118,800 deaths.
06/15/20 -- 2,182,000 confirmed cases; 118,200 deaths.
06/14/20 -- 2,162,000 confirmed cases; 117,800 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
06/13/20 -- 2,139,000 confirmed cases; 117,500 deaths. Latest projection has 200,000 Americans dead from COVID-19 before October.
06/12/20 -- 2,117,000 confirmed cases; 116,800 deaths.
06/11/20 -- 2,090,000 confirmed cases; 116,000 deaths.
06/10/20 -- 2,066,000 confirmed cases; 115,100 deaths.
06/09/20 -- 2,046,000 confirmed cases; 114,100 deaths.
06/08/20 -- 2,026,000 confirmed cases; 113,000 deaths.
06/07/20 -- 2,007,000 confirmed cases; 112,500 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
06/06/20 -- 1,976,000 confirmed cases; 111,900 deaths.
06/05/20 -- 1,949,000 confirmed cases; 111,000 deaths.
06/04/20 -- 1,924,000 confirmed cases; 110,100 deaths.
06/03/20 -- 1,902,000 confirmed cases; 109,100 deaths.
06/02/20 -- 1,881,000 confirmed cases; 108,000 deaths.
06/01/20 -- 1,860,000 confirmed cases; 107,000 deaths.
05/31/20 -- 1,837,000 confirmed cases; 106,200 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/30/20 -- 1,817,000 confirmed cases; 105,600 deaths.
05/29/20 -- 1,793,000 confirmed cases; 104,500 deaths.
05/28/20 -- 1,768,000 confirmed cases; 103,300 deaths.
05/27/20 -- 1,746,000 confirmed cases; 102,100 deaths.
05/26/20 -- 1,725,000 confirmed cases; 100,600 deaths.
05/25/20 -- 1,706,000 confirmed cases; 99,800 deaths.
05/24/20 -- 1,686,000 confirmed cases; 99,300 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/23/20 -- 1,667,000 confirmed cases; 98,700 deaths.
05/22/20 -- 1,645,000 confirmed cases; 97,600 deaths.
05/21/20 -- 1,621,000 confirmed cases; 96,400 deaths.
05/20/20 -- 1,593,000 confirmed cases; 94,900 deaths.
05/19/20 -- 1,571,000 confirmed cases; 93,500 deaths.
05/18/20 -- 1,550,000 confirmed cases; 92,000 deaths.
05/17/20 -- 1,528,000 confirmed cases; 91,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/16/20 -- 1,497,000 confirmed cases; 89,400 deaths.
05/15/20 -- 1,473,000 confirmed cases; 88,200 deaths.
05/14/20 -- 1,448,000 confirmed cases; 86,500 deaths.
05/13/20 -- 1,421,000 confirmed cases; 84,800 deaths.
05/12/20 -- 1,400,000 confirmed cases; 83,000 deaths.
05/11/20 -- 1,379,000 confirmed cases; 81,500 deaths.
05/10/20 -- 1,364,000 confirmed cases; 80,600 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/07/20 -- 1,289,000 confirmed cases; 76,500 deaths.
05/06/20 -- 1,260,000 confirmed cases; 74,500 deaths.
05/05/20 -- 1,233,000 confirmed cases; 72,000 deaths.
05/04/20 -- 1,208,000 confirmed cases; 69,600 deaths. CDC projects cases increasing to 200,000 per day with deaths rising to 3,000 per day by June because of states, localities and people not following guidelines and reopening their economies too soon.
05/03/20 -- 1,184,000 confirmed cases; 68,300 deaths. Every 44 seconds, another American dies from COVID-19. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/02/20 -- 1,158,000 confirmed cases; 67,000 deaths.
05/01/20 -- 1,129,000 confirmed cases; 65,500 deaths.
04/30/20 -- 1,094,000 confirmed cases; 63,600 deaths. The U.S. accounts for over a third of the world's cases, and over a quarter of COVID-19 deaths--despite possessing only 5% of the world's population. Yet--even now--we still lack the adequate testing capabilities that are critically needed to safely reopen the economy, and remain sorely lacking the necessary rational national leadership so vital to saving American lives and livelihoods.
04/29/20 -- 1,064,000 confirmed cases; 61,500 deaths. The U.S. now has as many COVID-19 deaths in just NINE WEEKS as there was for all TWELVE YEARS of the Vietnam War.
04/28/20 -- 1,034,000 confirmed cases; 59,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/27/20 -- 1,009,000 confirmed cases; 56,500 deaths.
04/22/20 -- 853,000 confirmed cases; 47,800 deaths (+2,674*)
04/21/20 -- 825,000 confirmed cases; 45,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/20/20 -- 788,000 confirmed cases; 43,200 deaths.
04/16/20 -- 671,000 confirmed cases; 33,100 deaths. Less COVID-19 testing performed this week than last, despite desperate need to ramp up volume to reopen economy.
04/15/20 -- 640,000 confirmed cases; 30,800 deaths. The United States recorded its first coronavirus fatality on Feb. 29. It took 38 days to reach 10,000 deaths and just nine more days to go from 10,000 fatalities to 30,000. An increase in fatalities over the last 48 hours was expected, but was also due to new CDC policy, starting on 04/14, to include probable COVID-19 deaths...finally.
04/14/20 -- 609,000 confirmed cases; 26,600 deaths (+2,364 - *New worst daily death toll)
04/13/20 -- 583,000 confirmed cases; 24,200 deaths
04/12/20 -- 558,000 confirmed cases; 22,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S. With just 4.25% of the world's population, the U.S. has 30% of the COVID-19 infections and 20% of the COVID-19 deaths. So far, the U.S. has the very WORST response of ANY nation, something formerly inconceivable, and inexcusable that it could now be allowed to happen here. In the U.S., we have 1.5 million seniors in 15,000 nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Despite forming only 0.45% of the U.S. population, they make up almost 10% of deaths, primarily because our federal government is not doing enough to protect them. Reported that many hospitals are no longer accepting COVID-19 patients from nursing homes, preferring they die there, instead. Our seniors, who helped build, grow and make America great, are being sacrificed, solely to ignorance.
04/11/20 -- 530,000 confirmed cases; 20,500 deaths.
04/08/20 -- 432,000 confirmed cases; 15,900 deaths.
04/07/20 -- 400,000 confirmed cases; 13,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. Figures indicate a Covid-19 fatality rate for TESTED Americans at 3.25%.
04/06/20 -- 369,000 confirmed cases; 11,000 deaths.
04/02/20 -- 246,000 confirmed cases; 6,050 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/01/20 -- 217,000 confirmed cases; 5,150 deaths.
03/31/20 -- 190,000 confirmed cases; 4,200 deaths.
03/29/20 -- 143,000 confirmed cases; 2,450 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
(Update 5: Friday, 03/27/20, confirmed U.S. cases 105,000--which is 50% over NIH high-end estimate; deaths 1,700 by end of day. The perspective for cases is significantly skewed low and thus highly misleading, however, as just 0.17% of U.S. population has been tested to date.)
"As many as 70,000 Americans could be confirmed as infected with coronavirus by the end of next week, marking a “pretty dramatic” increase in the number of confirmed cases," the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, told his employees in an agency-wide conference call on 03/20/20.
Except 03/21/20 saw a 33% jump in U.S. cases, from 18,000 to over 24,000. If continuing at 33% every 24 hours, the number of confirmed cases is trending much higher than just 70,000 by 03/27/20. Suspect confirmed cases will be double that. Bear in mind, states hardest hit are not testing many people, saving the tests for those most in need. So the actual number of infected Americans is going to be far higher than just what limited testing of the population has so far confirmed. Don't think this fact is being given enough attention. More important than the number of cases confirmed is the number contracting the disease and not getting tested, spreading the disease, in many cases unknowingly. Hospital projections are for about 100 MILLION Americans to become infected, with about 500,000 dead from covid-19.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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THANK-YOU, CNN -- You are FINALLY highlighting Congressional Republican dereliction and duplicity in a very real way that the American public can grasp! It is the responsibility of ALL parties to impeach, not just Democrats! So media focus must be on problem side--not solution side--to prevent bad optics hindering impeachment process, and apply pressure where it will help impeachment process! Why this wasn't figured out prior and given priority by the media is rather puzzling, to say the least! As my pappy told me, if you got a tool you need for a job, you don't go dulling or blunting that tool! Common sense, right? More importantly, we can BE better if you DO better! Reward those fighting for truth and justice. Punish those who would lie, deflect, and obfuscate. Do not politicize issues to the detriment of all. Do not engage in double standards letting Republicans off the hook for covering-up crimes and malfeasance of the highest order.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law?
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Ignorant Republicans, Governors and Mayors:
DO YOU UNDERSTAND???
A virus can't think. But you can.
The real war isn't against this virus--it's against our own IGNORANCE and HUBRIS!
Restarting an economy REQUIRES first protecting public health in the midst of a deadly global pandemic. That's just plain, old-fashioned, common sense, fools! States, localities, and CITIZENS not fully on board with recommended protocols, guidelines--acting hastily and rashly in willful disregard of medical experts, the science, and the data--are PROLONGING isolation measures for EVERYONE, only DELAYING economic recovery in the U.S., while you are disabling and KILLING even more Americans.
Colorado bought hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 tests from South Korea, hiding it from the Toxic Trump administration, lest they steal it! While exercising far more prudence than many Republican governors, Colorado's governor is still jumping the gun, asking for trouble, putting health and lives unnecessarily at risk. Isn't Gov. Polis to blame so much, here, when it is really the lack of national leadership at fault.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It's that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don't care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another five months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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@d.rabbitwhite ~ Humans are omnivores, like many other species on this planet. But even if all humans were strict vegans, it wouldn't prevent human diseases and pandemics. For example, mosquitos can spread diseases from other animals to humans, and we aren't exploiting mosquitos. A rabid animal can bite a vegan, and that vegan could pass the disease to other humans. There are many such examples disproving your uninformed and erroneous theory. Science has not proven definitively how many human epidemics and pandemics began. Experts classify chickenpox and related scabies as pandemics, believe it originated millions of years ago in Africa, and it is humans who spread that disease amongst themselves. There are indications that COVID-19 originated from bats and originated in China, but we will probably never know precisely how it jumped from bat to human, or even if the disease actually originated there, or from outside China and was carried into that country where it first mutated to become more deadly and noticeable. Was someone chasing a bat out of their home, and got bitten? Can you see the problem with drawing such overly broad and simplistic conclusions as yours?
What should be kept in mind is that species of parasites, whether prions, viruses, bacteria, insects, or other, far outnumber species of hosts, and constantly evolve to survive and proliferate. So, even if humans completely desisted from eating and exploiting animals, such parasites would just find other ways to plague humans. Globalization and a burgeoning global human population make humans a bigger target. NOTE: I do believe that humans should rely much, much less on animals as a food source, and oppose the inhumane exploitation of animals. Also, I fully agree with your first response here.
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We got Big Brag Daddy Baghdad Bob broadcasting direct from Washington, D.C. daily, with Toxic Trump and a revolving cast of his sycophantic minions! Happy talk, disinformation, empty promises, idle threats, vicious smears, bogus pandemic models, dog whistles, continuous crackpot conspiracies--they got it all, and more!
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian nationalism religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast would soon come to consume them.
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What we are witnessing and feeling is an ongoing train wreck, from the vantage point of the passengers. The lunatic conductor of the LOCO-motive, Toxic Trump, knew the end-of-the-line was coming, yet kept increasing acceleration, anyway. He's still trying to pump the gas, even with the train off the track! We on the HELL bound train, now, Lucifer's demented and depraved minion absolutely determined, dedicated, DEVOTED to getting us all there on time!
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General was half-right--ballistic missiles don't discriminate between military structures and equipment, and military personnel. However, there is a very real possibility that Iran breathed a sigh of relief their signal sent didn't kill any Americans, widening the conflict.
We think the General wants to kill, but does that mean we can read his mind, know for sure? Do we kill the General because we think he wants to kill? I'm sure he has his reasons for killing, just like those who see their fellow countrymen killed unjustly by him have their reasons for killing him. Wonder what's is in the General's mind when he orders strikes he knows will kill civilians, as frequently our military does with drones and bombs that don't discriminate between combatant and civilian? When the U.S. kills more civilians than combatants, why isn't that terrorism? When the U.S. Commander-in-Chief threatens to obliterate another nation's cultural heritage sites and conduct wholly disproportionate military responses in violation of International Law to which the U.S. is signatory, isn't that terrorism?
So, we know the General is no mind reader, yet he wants to be judge, jury and executioner. Why? Because we got attacked in a country which told us to leave because of Trump's willful provocations; we promised we would but lied to the Iraq government? U.S. troops should have been removed in respect of Iraq sovereignty, and there would have been no threat to them in the first place. Any American casualties would have been on Trump's hands for pulling this stunt to save his sorry butt from impeachment, anyway. Any Americans get killed, the underlying blame goes to our sociopathic Traitor-in-Thief, President Nero.
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"Without accountability, an attempted autogolpe or insurrection is just practice."
"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ― Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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Republican cult morons rail against the very "elite" they keep voting for, who give tax cuts to the rich and have created the greatest income inequality and wealth disparity in American history.
Why? They are driven by the divisive fear and bigotry programmed into them 24/7 by the Reich-wing media and propaganda owned or funded by the plutocracy. It's absolutely Orwellian, and it began around 1984 in America. What is witnessed now is just the rotten results from the poisoned tree bearing fruition. It's the disease killing America that existed long before COVID-19, and which is likely to persist long after.
Republican cult going to believe what the Republican cult wants to believe, whatever the truth, whatever proof, whatever anybody says. "Healing" the country means deprogramming the 30-40% of Americans deep in cultdom. That needs to be recognized, acknowledged, and acted upon if we truly wish to revive the patient, America, and restore it to glory.
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Ignorant Republicans, Governors and Mayors:
DO YOU UNDERSTAND???
A virus can't think. But you can.
The real war isn't against this virus--it's against our own IGNORANCE and HUBRIS!
Restarting an economy REQUIRES first protecting public health in the midst of a deadly global pandemic. That's just plain, old-fashioned, common sense, fools! States, localities, and CITIZENS not fully on board with recommended protocols, guidelines--acting hastily and rashly in willful disregard of medical experts, the science, and the data--are PROLONGING isolation measures for EVERYONE, only DELAYING economic recovery in the U.S., while you are disabling and KILLING even more Americans.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It’s that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don’t care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn’t want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it’s more than hope—those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another four months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn’t really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
“The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.”
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump’s hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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GOP cult: “Democracy is great…only so long as we can subvert it with lies, cheating, a multitude of Jim Crow voter suppression laws, egregious gerrymandering, obstruction, coups, election interference, sedition, and terrorism to gain power and maintain our corrupt, plutocratic, minority fascist rule!”
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Read that book if you want to get a very distorted and hyperbolic right-wing view of identity politics:
"Feebly argued right wing rant relying on omission, obscurity and anecdote and illustrating the mind of a man locked in his own neocon bubble. To argue , for example, that we have achieved racial and sexual equality in the US and UK is simply laughable. No evidence whatsoever is presented for any of the many and depressing counterfactual propositions which litter the book.
Just one egregious example : to fail to highlight the grossly abusive bahaviour of men like Harvey Weinstein when discussing the Me Too movement shows the paucity of both serious analysis and simple humanity which characterizes this tendentious and unilluminating tome. An extreme , distorted and grossly overrated piece of neo-populist rhetoric."
One can see how such a book would appeal to misogynists, racists, xenophobes, homophobes, and the Republican cult, because they think it provides intellectual cover for their own ignorance, and partisan fodder for obtaining power for their political party, which they place before morality and country. Ironically, the madness of crowds is a very accurate description of the Republican cult, and the title of the book typifies the projectionism in which they so often engage.
As for the role of the military, it is Qanon and many Republicans sharing the belief that the military will help them overthrow the government, and it was the last Republican President who sought to use the military against civilians in unauthorized ways. Moreover, the government does have the authority to quell insurrection using the military, as we know from Shay's Rebellion, the Whiskey Rebellion, and our Civil War.
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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Got two American dead and more Americans dying from COVID-19, and who knows how many infected because this administration can't get its act together, still can't provide the requisite testing kits to keep the American people safe, still spreading extremely dangerous disinformation, dismissing a very real threat to public health as a "hoax."
But all that's important to Trump and his ilk are getting laughs with vituperative, vindictive partisan demagoguery at their annual gala of gluttony CPAC conference--sticking it to the other side to assuage insecurities, so these losers can claim to be "winning." Pathetic, sickening, shocking, enraging, and highly alarming. BTW, the Presidency shouldn't be a stand-up comedian routine. We got a bad joke played upon us, instead of a real President. Big trouble is, Republicans just don't have what it takes to admit their mistakes--prefer to be yellow weasels bringing the whole nation down.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law?
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Donald Trump, at White House press conference on 04/07/20:
And we’re going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO. We’re going to put a very powerful hold on it, and we’re going to see.
Trump later at that same press conference:
Q: Thanks. A quick follow-up on that. So is the time to freeze funding to the WHO during a pandemic of this magnitude?
THE PRESIDENT: No, maybe not. I mean, I’m not saying I’m going to do it, but we’re going to look at it.
Q: You did say that you’re going to —
THE PRESIDENT: We give a tremendous —
Q: You said you’d put a hold on it.
THE PRESIDENT: No, I didn’t.
Toxic Trump, one week later, on 04/14/20: "I'm withholding WHO funding!"
WHO held a important meeting on COVID-19 vaccines at the beginning of May, with all nations attending...except no U.S. medical and scientific representatives sent by the Trump Administration, without any explanation. The absence particularly stunning in light that U.S. has half of world's cases and a quarter of the deaths, although possessing just 5% of the global population.
ME, US, the world: WTF?? Why in HELL is that raving lunatic STILL in charge during this major pandemic health crisis?!? Hasn't he KILLED enough Americans, ALREADY?!?
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It’s that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don’t care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn’t want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it’s more than hope—those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another three months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn’t really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
“The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.”
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump’s hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
Democrats, Independents, others: WTF?!?
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Rep. Cheney gave a powerful and defiant speech speaking truth to the dysfunctional Republican party to which she belongs, which has abdicated its duty to be LOYAL opposition----except for one thing. Republicans did not end communism in the former USSR or cause its dissolution. A consistent foreign policy by both Democratic and Republican leaders in the Executive Branch and Congress over decades played a role, but it was the work and decisions of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev that were the decisive factor and which deserve most credit. He instituted policies of glasnost and perestroika, changed Soviet law to allow other parties to compete against the Communist Party, motivated because he saw clearly that Russia was dysfunctional, its political and economic structure moribund and detrimental to Russia's progress. For his courage and actions, for speaking the truth to the Russian people, Gorbachev paid a much higher price politically than is Liz Cheney currently, who is displaying the same kind of courage as he did. Gorbachev received the Nobel Peace prize in 1990 for all that he did for Russia and ending the Cold War, and it is wrong for Cheney to falsely attribute all credit to her Republican party for the results of largely due to his independent decisions, engaging in history revisionism for the benefit of her political party. Isn't that exactly why the GOP----and Liz Cheney----find themselves in their present predicament in the first place? So, it is heavily ironic that Cheney does not extend the same due for his bravery and patriotism in telling the truth to the Russian people that she is exhibiting telling the truth about the 2020 election to the American people. It is also heavily ironic that the credit she is falsely attributing to the Republican party for the USSR becoming more democratic comes at a time when the Republican party is corroding democracy and seeking to make America less democratic.
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Who'd have ever equated voting in America with survival? But that's pretty much what it has boiled down to, hasn't it? Survival of ourselves, survival of our democracy, survival of our nation, and survival of our planet. The irony is that Republicans have always tried to paint Democrats as an existential threat...but in doing so it is actually they who have become exactly that.
Democrat voters need an even greater turnout in '22 and '24, put the final fork in Trumpism! Republicans want to engage in Jim Crow voter suppression laws, voter intimidation, and egregious gerrymandering? Republicans want to engage in corruption, gaslight their corruption, coverup their corruption? Republicans want to turn a blind eye to Russian election interference and knowingly disseminate Russian propaganda for Putin? Republicans want to instigate and sanction Reich-wing domestic terrorist insurrection? Republicans want to live in delusion and denial about the major problems confronting the nation and planet? Let's just prove that's fuel for the fire, and make their fascist antidemocratic corruption backfire on them!
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
Democrats, Independents, others: WTF?!?
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Problem is not with the House, but the Senate, where Republicans can't even agree amongst themselves on any economic stimulus package for COVID-19 relief. Senate Republicans aren't even ready to come to the table, so that shouldn't--and can't--be blamed on both chambers of Congress. Regardless, support House fighting for proper pandemic response, not accepting irresponsible Republican proposals lacking support even among Republicans. House has had a comprehensive bill for economic stimulus relief for COVID-19 sitting on the Senate Leader's desk for SEVENTY-SEVEN days, now, while McConnell did nothing. Moreover, if Senate Republicans were ever to get their act together, House Leader Pelosi and Democrats could act. Until then, there is actually very little they can do.
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America is a constant work in progress. We are only as great as the sum reflection of ALL our citizens makes us at any given point in time. Those who would seek to divide us can only diminish America.
All men are flawed, and our founding fathers were no exception. A unique happenstance of time, place, and circumstance pressure-cooked a wellspring of liberal democratic ideas and ideals that has allowed this nation to flourish--despite those human flaws and impediments of the architects. Those universal ideas and ideals to which we aspire are the tools enabling us to overcome our own obstacles. We can honor Thomas Jefferson, judge him in the context of his times, but we need not idolize him. It is those ideas and ideals of him and many more before and after that are of paramount importance. While the founding fathers had great vision, they could still see only so far. It has always been up to the rest of us to continue carrying the torch, lighting the way, so that we may all continue progressing forward together. And, throughout our history, America has been fortunate to have produced a bounty of great thinkers and leaders, men and women of diverse race and ethnicity, some well-known, the vast majority long forgotten, though their ideas and ideals continue to thrive in our laws, our society, and in each of us.
America has done many great things. There are many great things about America. But is America great? The answer would have to be no. It never has been. But, what gives hope is that we have the capacity, the tools, and the potential to really achieve greatness. However, the metric being used should be happiness and security, rather than merely money and might.
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fuck google ~ The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected this pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Republican cult placing political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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Republicans: "I pledge allegiance to the lies of Trump, and to the racism, bigotry, crimes, corruption, conspiracies, delusions and ignorance for which he stands, one dysfunctional lunatic fascist cult under Trump, a nation forever divided, with plutocracy, autocracy and injustice for all."
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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The Molotov cocktail recipe:
Mix in equal parts of mental illness, willful ignorance, fear, hate, decades of 24/7 Reich-wing disinformation, misinformation, and crackpot conspiracy programming by Republican politicians, plutocrats, media and demagogues, add supplemental divisive Russian propaganda attacking and weakening America, stir well, garnish with COVID-19, and you have the mindless Republican cult descending into fascism, committing terrorism and sedition. Then, grab a stiff drink--you'll need it.
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Get big money out of politics, and get corrupt politicians like Manchin and Sinema sucking up to the corporate trough voted out.
• A summer sting operation by Greenpeace had an Exxon Mobil lobbyist reveal that he met with Manchin weekly to try to persuade him to weaken Biden’s climate agenda (and he’s not the only rich guy who gets Manchin regularly on the line). Manchin has received more donations than any other Senator from oil, gas, and coal industry.
• An August piece in Harper’s noted that the West Virginia Democratic Party, which the senator played no small role in gutting, remains entirely under Manchin’s influence and control. It also mentions how Manchin leveraged his influence within the Senate to get plush government appointments for people close to him, including his wife.
• A September report from Type Investigations and the Intercept revealed that Manchin is currently invested in multiple coal companies that are run by his son, and that, even though the elder Manchin’s investments are in a blind trust, he has personally made $4.5 million from them during the time he has spent in the Senate (11 years to date).
• This is likely the Manch’s last term. In this remaining time, he seems to be simply looking out for his sources of wealth, including the ones that come from his son’s coal incinerators. It wouldn’t be the first time a Manchin family member used conflicts of interest to their advantage. Joe’s wife, Gayle, previously served as head of the West Virginia Board of Education and used her position to try to require the state’s schools to purchase EpiPens. EpiPens are manufactured by the Big Pharma juggernaut Mylan, whose former CEO was Heather Bresch—Manchin’s daughter, who stepped down after it was revealed she helped fix the prices of EpiPens in collusion with Pfizer. Family helping family: It’s a highly lucrative graft.
• While Manchin and Sinema worked to delay and reduce the Democrats’ budget bill, they were raising campaign money from wealthy Republican donors, according to a Sludge review of campaign finance data from Code for Democracy. For many of these donors, their contributions to Manchin or Sinema this year have been only their first or second donations to any Democrats in recent election cycles.
• Twenty years ago, when Kyrsten Sinema was a Green Party activist running for the Phoenix City Council, she likened the practice of raising campaign cash to “bribery.” Now that she's a U.S. senator, she no longer seems to have such qualms. So far this year, she's raised nearly $750,000 in donations from the pharmaceutical and medical sector (plus more from the financial sector) at a time when the Arizona Democrat was using her power in a narrowly divided Senate to force President Joe Biden to scale down his spending agenda. Her actions are closely aligned with the priorities of donors who have much at stake in how Biden's initiatives turn out.
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"Without accountability, an attempted autogolpe or insurrection is just practice."
"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
― Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a serious threat to our very security.
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again." ― Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney
More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They have essentially become a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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@UCzVg7IDjJn1XhhSU0FQDEUw ~ All you're doing is engaging in Whataboutism and false moral equivalence, regurgitating the same Reich-wing talking points being spewed out by Reich-wing media, demagogues, and politicians, trying to defend the hate, sedition, and terrorism of the Republican cult mob, Doc.
Notably, you dishonestly don't provide any context for any of the quotes you present. Rick Wilson is not a Democrat, he's a Republican, trying to retake the party back from the lunatic fringe you defend. Nicole Wallace was a Republican, before quitting in disgust with their lies and divisiveness.
American intelligence services have repeatedly reiterated a very high threat to national security from Republican Reich-wing radical extremists, while continually confirming that the threat from far-left groups remains very low.
The BLM protests consisted of Republicans, Democrats, Independents and all manner of people from throughout the political spectrum. 93% of the protests were peaceful. The outbreaks of violence and vandalism were roundly condemned by BLM leaders, Democrats, victim's families, and myself. Not only was the violence and destruction wrong, they were self-defeating, counterproductive to ending racial injustice.
The BLM movement is not based upon the Big Lie of a "stolen" election, but upon the very real problem of racial injustice that has existed for centuries. It does not advocate for any political ideology or party, but for equality and justice. Everyone should oppose racial injustice, regardless of their politics, and the BLM movement does not identify itself with any political party. "July 17, 2020 · Expressing support for the "Black Lives Matter" movement isn't political or partisan, an independent federal agency has said in an opinion addressing questions from federal employees."
Republican cult morons like you trying to conflate BLM violence with Democrats is both wrong and dishonest. The initial vandalism breaking store windows in Minneapolis was found to be a radical Reich-wing extremist, while much of the burning and looting has been attributed to opportunistic criminals. It's also just another GOP Big Lie, used previously for political gain, being used now to escape responsibility and accountability for their own violence, killing, sedition, and terrorism by Republicans carrying Trump flags, wearing neo-Nazi and white supremacist apparel.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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@ericwood3709 ~ Been around long enough to watch Republicans turn politics into a dirty game, and get rewarded for it. People that don't bother trying to learn and understand that history contribute to the problem, by not voting, or not voting out those responsible. Just blaming all the politicians, or all media, or both political parties--all that does is plays right into the hands of Republicans, exacerbating and allowing the problems to continue. To fix a problem, you first have to diagnose it correctly. Failing to do so invariably only makes the problem worse.
Regardless, we should have the expectation and understanding that honest criticism (a certain amount of negativity) from opposing parties is an essential part of the political process that benefits the public by helping to keep the politicians and parties accountable.
Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic hyper-partisan Republican cult placing political party over truth, reason, and country.
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@jcllings <----- Thanks to this Putin sock-puppet, we now know for sure "Davy Roger" is a Russian bot! Since the Russian bot can't dispute its past comment history on YouTube giving away their deceit, uses sock puppet to project and confuse--classic Russian move. Thanks for confirming our suspicion! Russian fleas caught in the spider's web! Gotta love it! Got two for the price of one!
Besides, for those not already well familiar with our comments, our profile shows we've been on YouTube long before any Russian or other foreign agents began spreading disinformation on it, trying to influence our elections. Rather pathetic attempt, but Russians, like Republicans, are generally quite crude and unintelligent, so no surprise, really. #moreRussiasanctions
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Freedoms can exist only up to the point they infringe upon the freedom of others. Religious tolerance can be practiced only up to the point it becomes intolerant of others. Our Constitution is a secular document, not a religious one, and it was certainly never intended to be a suicidal death pact. Getting vaccinated and following CDC guidelines brings freedom from preventable illness or injury, and a senseless premature death, but the mindless fascist Republican cult only believes in freeDUMB. Just as they don't understand or would deny the Constitution is as much about the common good as personal liberties, and that those two things are intrinsically and inextricably intertwined.
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge." ~ Ben Franklin, from Poor Richard's Almanack
Those who scorn public health guidelines during a deadly global pandemic and confuse a grievous public health issue with "essential" liberty to kill and harm themselves and their fellow citizens--as well as their nation--sorely lack both care and knowledge. They are also sorely lacking in common sense, something else about which Mr. Franklin was quite keen. Mr. Franklin was also one our nation's first scientists--yet these modern-day knuckleheads who ought know better refute science! Were he alive today, he would be rather dismayed, disgruntled, and disgusted with the fascist anti-science Republican cult, that much is crystal clear.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or "the Wall") is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle's name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called "leaders" in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 -- than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to--and a barrier against--our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It's design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge--and help teach--people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see...if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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News anchor: "In just ONE month, we got over 800,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in America with OVER 40,000 deaths because of Trump shirking responsibility, refusing to take a global pandemic seriously, prepare, and defend our nation! Now, that lunatic has turned pandemic press briefings into macabre Dear Leader campaign rallies where he belittles and berates any and all who question him! Can you tell us just WTF the situation is at the moment in the White House?"
White House correspondent: "Situation unchanged--still hopeless. Completely, totally FUBAR, as usual. Don't expect any help or change from this dystopian, dysfunctional Branch..."
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Freedoms can exist only up to the point they infringe upon the freedom of others. Religious tolerance can be practiced only up to the point it becomes intolerant of others. Our Constitution is a secular document, not a religious one, and it was certainly never intended to be a suicidal death pact. Getting vaccinated and following CDC guidelines brings freedom from preventable illness or injury, and a senseless premature death, but the mindless fascist Republican cult only believes in freeDUMB. Just as they don't understand or would deny the Constitution is as much about the common good as personal liberties, and that those two things are intrinsically and inextricably intertwined.
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge." ~ Ben Franklin, from Poor Richard's Almanack
Those who scorn public health guidelines during a deadly global pandemic and confuse a grievous public health issue with "essential" liberty to kill and harm themselves and their fellow citizens--as well as their nation--sorely lack both care and knowledge. They are also sorely lacking in common sense, something else about which Mr. Franklin was quite keen. Mr. Franklin was also one our nation's first scientists--yet these modern-day knuckleheads who ought know better refute science! Were he alive today, he would be rather dismayed, disgruntled, and disgusted with the fascist anti-science Republican cult, that much is crystal clear.
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With Toxic Trump and his administration, we can't even count on the CDC to protect the public, anymore! CDC allowing our nation meat plants to continue being breeding grounds for new COVID-19 cases, utterly failing to protect the workers in these factories, to protect their families and loved ones they come into contact with, to protect their communities in which they live, and to protect our nation as a whole.
Finally, on May 15, Trump issued the long-awaited CDC guidelines he had been withholding--unfortunately, they guidelines were censored and stripped down by Toxic Trump. Instead of detailed, specific instructions needed for businesses to open, workers to be safe, and the public to have confidence, all we got was vague generalities and waffle words that are not only useless, but dangerous.
How can the U.S. stop this deadly pandemic when the public can't trust this administration, and now not even the CDC?!? When CDC policies are exacerbating the spread of the pandemic they're charged with controlling?!? CDC already so royally screwed up big on COVID-19 testing that it set the U.S. back months; now, they're going to double-down on ignorance? The absence of any real national leadership is killing us, and the U.S.!
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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Trump is incapable of being reassuring. Or leading. His feeble, phony pretenses at both instead invoke distrust, disgust, alarm, and terror. When we needed a Lincoln, FDR, or JFK, Republicans choked America with a Herbert Hoover. Republican ignorance kills.
U.S. response to covid-19 pandemic should have been forward-thinking like San Francisco's response to Spanish Flu, allowing it to escape the worst ravages of that pandemic. Instead, Toxic Trump and Republicans have bungled it horribly, much like with Philadelphia's horrendous, tragic response back in 1918.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth and justice--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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It's like rowing or paddling upstream, or into a stiff wind--if you ease-up too much or stop, you will only have to paddle twice as hard to make up all the previous hard-earned progress that was quickly lost. Failing to maintain isolation and other measures for sufficient time to stop the spread of COVID-19 transmission will cost U.S. more in time, effort, money, and LIVES. Reopening and relaxing measures too early in defiance of the science and data is the ultimate in colossal ignorance, greed, ruthlessness, and arrogance.
We have a segment of Republican cult willfully ignorant, who malevolently seek to sabotage containment efforts. But many do not grasp how important it is that we treat ourselves and everyone else as being infected.
This is because people know that is very unlikely, especially outside dense urban areas, where incidence rates are low. Because of the delay in onset of the disease and asymptomatic carriers, COVID-19 is a stealth killer that uses Americans against each other as its foot soldiers, transporting it, keeping the disease and its train of transmission alive. This is further complicated because people cannot see a virus, see it attacking, see it spreading, until it is too late. For many of us, seeing is believing, and people are incapable or reluctant to make that leap of logic required to keep them and everyone safe--even with the massive public education efforts.
Of course, the problem becomes greatly exacerbated when the President refuses to wear a mask, and his administration works against itself in fighting this deadly global pandemic, sending conflicting messages to the public. Toxic Trump, his administration, and all the Republicans who have aided and abetted him, are directly responsible in our view for the senseless deaths of tens and thousands of Americans. The dead are the worst of it, but there is also the tremendous needless suffering and economic loss accompanying their wanton criminal negligence.
No national testing, no rational national coordinated pandemic response. Republican governors reopening too quickly in defiance of CDC guidelines are only following the President's lead. Democratic governors in many states likewise being adversely pressured by Toxic Trump's pandemic disinformation and Republican opposition to requisite lockdowns. Problem starts at the top. Don't fault even the worst Republican governors as much as this President. The President needed to take the lead, take the hit for the hard decisions--not put all the weight on governors as he as.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of crackpot conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of greed, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of plutocrats, the party of corruption, the party of anti-democracy, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their pact with the Devil.
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@pquumm ~ Funny thing is, I had looked at CA Health and Safety Code Article 4, and it covered a number of topics, such as mosquito abatement, but found nothing specific as relates to legal requirements for food service employees and hand washing. California law is vast, and you need to cite the actual pertinent statute, division, chapter, article, and section supporting your claim. There are over 120 divisions in the CA HSC, many containing a Chapter 4, for example. California law is also more extensive in areas than other states, so what may be true for California does not necessarily hold true for other states. Moreover, without specific enforcement provisions against employees for a particular health code violation, any such code is essentially rendered advisory and non-binding.
As someone who was the general manager of a restaurant, I do know that the Health Department and OSHA held the business itself accountable for any violations, not individual employees. And neither the health department or OSHA could force ownership or management to accompany employees into the bathroom every time to confirm they had washed their hands. That's just not the way it works.
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@pquumm ~ Which was exactly my initial point. It is the business or service which is penalized under the health codes by the government if infractions are found egregious, numerous, and/or frequent enough----not individual employees. As a manager and general manager I took all health codes very seriously (including hand washing, sanitation, and proper handling of food and chemicals), imparting their importance and need for compliance upon other employees. However, sometimes violations can occur, such as an employee not properly labeling and dating a container of food stored in the cooler, and it is quite a stretch to assert they should be regarded as criminals breaking the law.
The larger truth here is that for our society to function, and to function well, there is a great deal of trust and expectation placed every day that our fellow citizens exercise civic responsibility, both for their own good and for the greater good. In that respect, I found the analogy described in the comment to be particularly apt and useful to others gaining better understanding and appreciation for getting vaccinated.
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Standard repulsive Republican tactics. Useless and misinforming viewers. Journalists need to kill their mic. If they don't answer questions, first cut them off verbally to redirect them, and when that doesn't work, their mic gets cut. Media has the power to inform, if they choose to use it. Too often, they're cowards hiding behind misguided ethics. Here, Erin, to her credit, finally presses home the point on an obdurate and obstinate guest after nine minutes, but the balance of the time is spent on deflections and misleading Trump talking points. While respecting and appreciating that the media, CNN, and Burnett are doing a public service in getting Trump administration officials on record with their views, this could be done without the public being forced to endure the repetitive redundant mistruths and half-truths espoused by regressive racist Republicans.
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@DAndyLord ~ Since you're an outsider, you have an excuse for not knowing better, I guess. Just so you do know: BLM is a non-partisan racial justice organization composed of hundreds of independent associated groups, containing people from all across the political spectrum. It is neither "Democrat" nor "Republican," neither right nor left.
While it is true that those on the left are more sympathetic to and supportive of racial equality and justice than those on the right, Democrats, BLM leaders, and the families of the victims of racial injustice all condemned the rioting that took place at 7% of BLM protests. Nobody is denying that the riots happened, or that they were wrong. If you're unfamiliar with U.S. history, know that race riots in the wake of racial injustice have happened a number of times over the past 50 years. The systemic and institutionalized racism that still exists in America makes BLM protests both totally legitimate (not "somewhat," as you put it) and unfortunately even necessary. Without BLM protests, it is likely that there would have been no racial justice and no racial justice reforms in a number of cases.
It should be underscored that the vast majority of BLM protests, 93%, WERE peaceful. And it should be noted that the small minority of those BLM protests that turned violent and destructive victimized people on both the left and the right. The vast majority of those supporting BLM were dismayed, disgusted, and despaired by the violence and destruction that did occur -- not only was it wrong, but also counterproductive to the movement. It should also be noted that, unlike January 6, some of the violence and destruction that did occur was attributed to overly aggressive police tactics, outside agitators (the man in Minneapolis who first started breaking store windows, then spray painting "free stuff" on adjacent walls, was a White supremacist), and opportunistic criminals.
In contrast, as you yourself admit, January 6 was based upon a Big Lie. And that Big Lie is founded in good part on bogus White grievance and the racist White Power movement. There was no injustice involved, no righteous rage built up over centuries of racial injustice, no legitimate reason for protest. January 6 was about lies, fear, hate, and a raw grab for political power, an attempt to prevent the peaceful transfer of power and overturn the will of the people. Essentially, it was a seditious act of domestic terrorism, an insurrection, part of a planned and failed autogolpe. At any rate, BLM should not be conflated or confused with January 6, nor should you allow yourself to fall into the trap of Whataboutism used by Republicans to try and deflect from, rationalize, or justify January 6.
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@TheMINDL3SSGamers ~ When Reich-wing knuckleheads start denying that America is a democracy, they are declaring either their own stupidity, or their own dishonesty. It's Civics 101. A government "of the people, by the people, and for the people" is a democracy. Democracy is the foundation upon which our republic is built and upon which it rests. No democracy, no republic. It's really that simple.
For countless years, Republicans and Democrats alike have touted the claim that "America is a shining beacon of democracy to the world." So, now all of a sudden, because Republicans find themselves in the minority and are obsessed only with power, some Republicans want to reject that America is a democracy. Such denial is ludicrous on its face, and those engaging in such denial are weakening and destroying the America they claim to love.
Definition of a republic: A republic (from Latin res publica 'public affair') is a form of government in which "power is held by the people and their elected representatives". In republics, the country is considered a "public matter", not the private concern or property of the rulers. The primary positions of power within a republic are attained through democracy.
Yes, the U.S. is a democracy. A republic is merely a classification of a type of democracy. We are also considered a constitutional federal republic, a democratic republic, a social democracy, and a representative democracy. Like it or not, we are all of those things, and to deny any of those things is rather pointless, as it can't or won't change the fact.
From the website of the U.S. government:
Democracy in the United States
The United States is a representative democracy.
This means that our government is elected by citizens.
Here, citizens vote for their government officials.
These officials represent the citizens’ ideas and concerns in government.
Voting is one way to participate in our democracy.
Citizens can also contact their officials when they want to support or change a law.
Voting in an election and contacting our elected officials are two ways that
Americans can participate in their democracy.
USAFacts is a non-partisan source of unbiased data for self-service fact checking:
The US is a constitutional republic AND representative democracy.
Is the United States a democracy? Yes, the United States is a democracy, since we, the people, hold the ultimate political power. We’re not a “direct democracy,” but we are a “representative democracy.”
Does the constitution say “Democratic”?
The Constitution does not use the term “democracy.” It’s true. But John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Noah Webster, Justice James Wilson and Chief Justice John Marshall all used the word. These scholars understood representative democracy – the American variety – to be democracy all the same.
What type of government is the United States of America?
The United States of America is a type of Democracy [not a pure direct democracy, as is the classical meaning of the term, but a mixed-Republic with a representative democracy and democratic spirit]. The United States is a Constitutional Federal Republic (a federation of states with a Representative Democracy).
FactMyth.com:
The United States of America is a Democracy. FACT
The United States of America is a type of Democracy (not a pure direct democracy, as is the classical meaning of the term, but a mixed-Republic; many democratic elements and a democratic spirit). FACT
Is the United States of America a Democracy or a Republic?
The United States is both a Republic and a Democracy. FACT
Specifically, the United States is a Constitutional Federal Republic with a strong Democratic tradition and many democratic elements, especially on a local level. Despite the democratic elements and traditions, the U.S. is not however a “Direct Democracy“ (where people vote on laws directly).
The United States is Both a Republic and a Democracy (i.e. a “Democratic Republic” or “Mixed Republic”) FACT
One way to phrase this is the United States of America is a “democratic republic” or a “representative republic” (a “representative democracy,” in a Republic).
People may argue between the semantics of terms, but in all cases, we are talking about a mixed Republic “where some decisions (often local) are made by direct democratic processes, while others (often federal) are made by democratically elected representatives.
When the Founders Created a Republic, they Created a Mixed-Republic With Democratic Features FACT
America’s founders purposefully created a mixed-Republic with democratic features to ensure a lawful popular government.
In simple terms, they wanted to avoid monarchy, and they wanted to avoid pure direct democracy and mob rule, so they went with a mixed system. The only real argument had by the founders was surrounding the specifics of how it would be mixed.
With the above in mind, the constitution is both democratic and republican by design (which speaks to why the major parties are Democrats and Republicans).
One more important note here, and that is that the system has become a bit more democratic over time due to Amendments that expanded voting rights and held more representative positions subject to vote (the constitution can be amended… which itself is rather democratic)!
When people say, “America is a Republic” they are essentially referring to the system in general (a type of lawful popular government, with checks and balances, and some form of representative democracy).
When people say, “America is not a democracy” they generally mean “it isn’t a pure direct democracy (where people vote on and create laws directly).”
Likewise, when people say, “America is a democracy” they are denoting the democratic elements within the republican system.
The bottom line here is: The United States of America is a Republic with a Representative Democracy (a type of Democracy, but not a Pure Direct Democracy). Therefore, while technically a republic, it isn’t incorrect to refer to the U.S. as a democracy (or more specifically as a representative democracy) in most contexts.
Thus, the U.S. has a mixed-Democracy in a mixed-Republic (technically “a Democratic Republic")… which is essentially why the major parties are called Democrats and Republicans and why Jefferson’s Party was the Democratic-Republicans. Consider, the U.S. is also federalist, which is why the early factions called themselves federalists and anti-federalists.
Thus, while we can’t describe the United States’ overarching system as a “Pure Direct Democracy,” we can’t claim “that it is not a Democracy” either.
We can instead just say: United States of America has a “mixed democratic and republican government,” which is what the term Republic essentially implies in the first place.
In other words, the United States is a Republic in the classical sense (which means it is democratic).
Although the U.S. system has become more democratic over time, both our Democratic and Republican nature can be confirmed by the works of the founders and the founding documents. The key here is understanding that the term Republic implies aspects of Democracy. Consider, a Republic can be defined as, “a system in which citizens vote for representatives to represent them,” and democracy can be defined as, “government by the people, who either vote and make laws directly or through elected representatives.” As so long as we note that the United States’s overarching system is not a “Pure Direct Democracy” in the classical sense, we can say that the terms Republic and Democracy are otherwise not mutually exclusive.
The trick isn’t just knowing the U.S. is a Republic, it is knowing what type of a Republic it is, why our founders chose this style of democratically minded Republic, and understanding the Democratic nature of Republicanism in general.
"If there have been those who doubted whether a confederated [which is a way to express a federation of states] representative democracy were a government competent to the wise and orderly management of the common concerns of a mighty nation, those doubts have been dispelled.” – John Quincy Adams Inaugural address 1825
There are a few ways to describe the United States in terms of its power source and structure in modern and classical terms, and some descriptors like Representative Democracy and Republic have overlapping meaning.
All that said, we can generally call the mixing of forms like Democracy and Aristocracy within a Republic, a “Mixed-Republic”.
Then, from there, we can add details like “a mixed-Republic with a strong Democratic tradition”, or “a Constitutional mixed-Republic with a Representative Democracy”, or “Democratic in that we elect officials, and Republican in that they create and vote on Federal law and the citizens don’t vote on federal law directly”.
One could call this form a “Democratic Republic”, although other countries that use that term tend not to be very democratic or republican (and thus it makes using that term, “prickly”).
The takeaway is that it isn’t wrong to call America a Republic, and it isn’t wrong to call it a Democracy, but it is wrong to use those terms to insinuate that the structure is “not Democratic” or “not Republican.”
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@TheMINDL3SSGamers ~ No, it is you and other Reich-wing knuckleheads trying to play semantic games. Just more typical deceitful Republican projectionism from you, Doc!
Two things can be true at once, and so it is that we are both a democracy and a republic. To recognize that we are both a representative democracy and a constitutional federal republic is CORRECT. YOU are WRONG to suggest or claim that being a republic means that we are not a democracy. It is no different than you trying to ignorantly argue that an apple is not a fruit, or that a sequoia is not a tree.
In fact, our government consists of not just the federal level, but also state and local levels. At the state and local level, we not only have representative democracy, but there can be also pure, direct democracy through referendums, where voters themselves can directly create laws and pass resolutions. So, not only is it WRONG to insist our federal government is not democratic, but it is WRONG, ignorant and intellectually dishonest not to take into account the whole of government, which includes state and local governments.
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@TheMINDL3SSGamers ~ Still trying to stupidly argue that apples aren't fruit and redwoods aren't trees, Doc?
You have been proven wrong and you're simply ignoring all the points and arguments, merely spewing fallacious Reich-wing talking points. For example, our Electoral College is based upon people voting, it is a form of representative democracy. In the not-so-distant past, both Republicans and Democrats have favored abolishing the Electoral College to make it more democratic, but with Republicans increasingly finding themselves in the minority, many have descended into making the silly argument that America is not a democracy.
What you are arguing for is less power to people, more power to the elite. You are arguing for minority rule over the majority. You are the sheep, arguing for everyone to be sheep like you. Besides, the analogy you use is fatally flawed, as it is the wolves who are always in the minority, as they could not survive if in the majority, their source of nourishment would be quickly depleted, and they would starve to death. Moreover, the goal of the majority is to be a peaceful, just, humane society, not a pack of vicious predators.
~ "The only thing worse than majority rule....is minority rule." ― wily wascal
~ "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others." ― Winston Churchill
~ “Great confusion about the words democracy, aristocracy, monarchy...Democracy in my sense, where the whole power of the government in the people, whether exercised by themselves or by representatives, chosen by them either mediately or immediately and legally accountable to them...Consequence, the proposed government a representative democracy...Constitution revocable and alterable by the people. This representative democracy as far as is consistent with its genius has all the features of good government.”
― Alexander Hamilton, on the Constitution, 1788
~ “Democratical States must always feel before they can see: it is this that makes their Governments slow – but the people will be right at last.”
― George Washington, Letter to Marquis de Lafayette, July 25, 1785
~ “Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
― Thomas Jefferson, Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776
~ “When annual elections end, there slavery begins.”
― John Adams, Thoughts on Government, 1776
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@TheMINDL3SSGamers ~ So, you're STILL stupidly trying to argue apples aren't fruit and redwoods aren't trees, Doc.
Because you can't argue against the truth and wisdom of my quote and the quote by Winston Churchill, you chose to use the logical fallacy of ad hominem, which is intellectually dishonest.
Now, you just copy and pasted a fallacious Reich-wing argument stupidly arguing that America is not a democracy -- without attribution to the source, and whose points and arguments have already been refuted and debunked here by me and others. So, why should I care what you or some anonymous source you won't even identify say?
The Alexander Hamilton quote I provided shows that he did understand our republic to be a representative democracy, as did George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Noah Webster, John Quincy Adams, and countless others. What many of our founding fathers feared was the form of PURE democracy found in ancient Greece, and what they laid out in the Constitution was a form of representative democracy similar to that found in ancient Rome. In fact, the very name of the dominant political party shortly following the founding of this nation was the DEMOCRATIC-REPUBLICAN party.
You're also ignoring how our nation has progressed over the centuries, embracing democracy and becoming more democratic. The following is some indisputable early American history, quoted here from Wikipedia, but which can also be found in any decent American history book or encyclopedia.
Jacksonian democracy was a 19th-century political philosophy in the United States that expanded suffrage to most white men over the age of 21, and restructured a number of federal institutions. Originating with the seventh U.S. president, Andrew Jackson and his supporters, it became the nation's dominant political worldview for a generation. The term itself was in active use by the 1830s.
This era, called the Jacksonian Era (or Second Party System) by historians and political scientists, lasted roughly from Jackson's 1828 election as president until slavery became the dominant issue with the passage of the Kansas–Nebraska Act in 1854 and the political repercussions of the American Civil War dramatically reshaped American politics. It emerged when the long-dominant Democratic-Republican Party became factionalized around the 1824 United States presidential election.
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@TheMINDL3SSGamers ~ Completely wrong again, Doc. George Washington in his letter is very clearly referring to the democracy of the United States government, arguing for federalism in response to British restrictions and tariffs upon American goods. What he is advocating is the enactment of federal trade laws as opposed to the "the futility, indeed the absurdity, of each State’s enacting Laws for this purpose independant of one another." And Washington states how he believes those acts of the British will speed up the democratic process to accomplish what he is advocating.
Here is the relevant text of that letter, the complete paragraph, which very clearly shows Washington is talking about the U.S. being democratic:
"Great Britain, in her commercial policy is acting the same unwise part, with respect to herself, which seems to have influenced all her Councils; & thereby is defeatg her own ends: the restriction of our trade, & her heavy imposts on the staple commodities of this Country, will I conceive, immediately produce powers in Congress to regulate the Trade of the Union; which, more than probably would not have been obtained without in half a century. The mercantile interests of the whole Union are endeavouring to effect this, & will no doubt succeed; they see the necessity of a controuling power, & the futility, indeed the absurdity, of each State’s enacting Laws for this purpose independant of one another. This will be the case also, after a while, in all matters of common concern. It is to be regretted, I confess, that Democratical States must always feel before they can see: it is this that makes their Governments slow—but the people will be right at last."
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@TheMINDL3SSGamers ~ Honestly, who doesn't know that voting is democratic? Honestly, who doesn't know that a republic is in the classical sense a democracy? To argue otherwise is just pure idiocy. The quote I gave is from a letter to George Whythe in April, 1776.
Did you really think nobody would notice that you're still unable to refute any of the points and arguments, or how you're ignoring them just to regurgitate more fallacious Reich-wing talking points? If so, then you really aren't thinking.
It is worth noting that in John Adams letter to John Taylor of Caroline, Adams neglects to consider America's own bloody revolution, and the bloody White revolution which followed and negated many of the democratic advances of the French Revolution and was detrimental to the French working class and poor. Today, the excesses of both are condemned, but the French Revolution is widely regarded as a step forward in French governance, and the corresponding White Revolution as a step backwards.
It is also worth noting that John Taylor of Caroline was a founding father advocating for a more democratic America, so your letter actually serves as further proof contradicting your false Reich-wing claim that our founding fathers did not mention democracy. It's also rather ironic when considering that Taylor was a staunch Republican, whose philosophy embodied a limited, frugal, and state-dominated central authority.
The Government of France is officially called the Government of the French Republic, also known as the Fifth French Republic. France declares itself to be an "indivisible, secular, democratic, and social Republic". Like the U.S., it is a representative democracy. Like the U.S. it has an executive, legislative, and judicial branch, with checks and balances. Like the U.S., it is bound by the French Constitution, whose preamble mentions that France should follow the principles of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, as well as those of the preamble to the constitution of the Fourth Republic. This has been judged to imply that the principles laid forth in those texts have constitutional value, and that legislation infringing on those principles should be found unconstitutional. The foundational principles of the constitution include: the equality of all citizens before law, and the rejection of special class privileges such as those that existed prior to the French Revolution; presumption of innocence; freedom of speech; freedom of opinion including freedom of religion; the guarantee of property against arbitrary seizure; the accountability of government agents to the citizenry.
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, set by France's National Constituent Assembly in 1789, is a human civil rights document from the French Revolution. Inspired by Enlightenment philosophers, the Declaration was a core statement of the values of the French Revolution and had a major impact on the development of popular conceptions of individual liberty and democracy in Europe and worldwide.
The Declaration was originally drafted by the Marquis de Lafayette, in consultation with Thomas Jefferson. Influenced by the doctrine of "natural right", the rights of man are held to be universal: valid at all times and in every place. It became the basis for a nation of free individuals protected equally by the law. It is included in the beginning of the constitutions of both the Fourth French Republic (1946) and Fifth Republic (1958) and is still current.
So, it is plain to see how a republic is also democratic, and how the principles of the French Revolution which first brought democracy to France is alive and thriving in present day France.
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@TheMINDL3SSGamers ~ It's good that you at least admit that George Washington was talking about our own democracy when confronted with the inescapable truth, but what you're engaging in here with his quote is just meaningless semantics.
-al. 1. a suffix with the general sense “of the kind of, pertaining to, having the form or character of.”
When Washington refers to "democratical" and "the people will be right at last" he is quite plainly talking about the democratic nature of our government. He regrets that it makes the process slow but celebrates that the people inevitably make the right decisions. And his wise words in this regard have been repeatedly proven throughout our nation's history. What you and many on the right fail to grasp and appreciate is that our founding fathers knew that the Constitution they drafted was not the be-all and end-all, but a starting framework for just governance. Which is why our Constitution was written and passed with the provision to allow Amendments to be made to it.
Self-governance is democracy, unless we're talking about anarchy, which we are most certainly not. The rest is you rehashing past Reich-wing talking points. Nobody is denying that we are a republic. But you are trying to deny that we are also a democracy, which is just plain flat-out wrong. We are both, and more. Now, there are legitimate arguments to be made about how democratic we should want to be, and that debate has been ongoing since our nation's birth, but to try to argue that we are not a democracy is just pure ignorance.
Like I keep saying, it's no different than trying to stupidly argue that apples aren't fruit, and redwoods aren't trees. "Oh, but look, it's called an apple! Oh, and look, this person says that it's an apple, so it can't be a fruit!" Sure it is, and sure they do, but do you realize just how ludicrous those arguments are?
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@DAndyLord ~ Being Canadian does not make you anymore an expert on American politics than it makes me an expert on intricacies of Canadian politics, and I'm not far at all from our shared border, stay informed on world affairs, unlike many of my fellow citizens.
There's anti-vaxxers all over the world, in some places the problem is much worse than in the U.S. The U.S. didn't invent them, and it didn't export them. Canadians, just like Americans or most any other nation's citizens, make their own independent stupid choices. And the same goes for Canadians getting their medical information from disreputable American media, Farcebook and other dubious sources.
You engaged in Whataboutism by conflating BLM and anti-fascist groups with what happened on January 6th. This video and comment topic is about January 6th, which shouldn't be equated or conflated with anything else. So, if your little sister or young daughter gets molested, it's OK to just say that's wrong, but then change the subject and start talking about some other little girl who got molested and killed, how that was even worse? Not to suggest that BLM is worse, but how would that make you feel? What you did is classic Whataboutism. But why? Why did you feel the need to wrongly try to equate and conflate those separate things, to try to change the focus of this discussion?
And why do you keep misspelling BLM as B(exclamation mark)M? Who isn't anti-fascist, except for fascists? Now, I may disagree with the tactics of some of these anti-fascists when they decided to counter violence from neo-Nazis with violence, but do you know why the White supremacists really hate anti-fascists? That happened before the anti-fascists armed themselves to counter Reich-wing violence. It was because the anti-fascists exposed them online, and they couldn't hide under a rock anymore like the slimy slugs they are. And do you know why other Republicans hate anti-fascists? It's because Reich-wing media indoctrinated them that they are the enemy.
You make allegations, but you offer no rationale for them. You concede the Big Lie, but what half-truths are you alleging? You neglect to specify. The whole Republican platform is based largely upon lies and half-truths. No, both parties are NOT the same. They are headed in two completely different directions; one sinking ever deeper into the muck over the past four decades, and one steadily improving itself. If one doesn't have the partisan blinders on, it's quite easy to distinguish which is which. I may disagree with conservative ideology, but I have always valued and respected LOYAL opposition. Unfortunately, the GOP has abdicated that duty and responsibility. That can't be equated with BLM or anti-fascists, nor should it be conflated with them.
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@DAndyLord ~ You don't appear to have a reasonable understanding of American politics, and it is untrue that most non-Americans do. At best, you have a rudimentary understanding, and a pet narrow-minded theory about intergenerational wealth you seem eager to propagate. Certainly, many Europeans and America's neighbors to the north and south have a better understanding than many other non-Americans, but that doesn't make them experts, and they are not most non-Americans. There are even many Americans who have a poor understanding of our own government and politics. For the past decade or so, have encountered numerous Republicans believing and propagating the lie that American is not a democracy! Not to mention, the nearly two-thirds of Republicans who choose to still believe the lie that the last Presidential election was "stolen," despite all evidence to the contrary.
Not buying the excuse that you would get censored by Google for spelling the BLM acronym correctly. The Google commenting system is buggy as hell, and problems shouldn't automatically be associated with censorship. None of my posts have ever been deleted or censored for "BLM," and the name is used ubiquitously across this platform. I've had my own share of perfectly innocuous comments and replies that wouldn't post or would discover later had either been deleted or never posted -- for no apparent reason. But could often repost them later without any issue. It's also easy to test, because if it didn't post using "BLM," one could simply change it to determine if that was the problem. I guarantee you that using "BLM" is not the problem, though. You seem intelligent enough to have figured that out on your own, so am left wondering what the real reason is for the misspelling.
Anti-fascists recognize white supremacists and neo-Nazis as fascists, which they oppose. But even a number of staunch Republicans have recognized Trumpism as fascism:
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
― Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
Fascism and authoritarianism go hand in glove, and no form of fascism should be acceptable to decent folk, "velvet glove" or otherwise.
BLM is about much more than just systemic and institutionalized racism in our law enforcement and justice systems, but it is true that being unafraid of police encounters when innocent of any crime, or unafraid of excessive force being used if being apprehended for an alleged crime, is a priority. However, the number one priority listed by the BLM national organization currently is that Trump be charged for his crimes and not allowed to run again for office. Another top priority is ending white supremacy in America.
As you already know, I live in the northern part of the U.S., not in the Deep South or anywhere close. A few years back, not all that long ago, me and a Black coworker would take turns commuting to work together to save money. Not once did I ever get pulled over. However, traversing from my relatively small conservative town to another nearby somewhat larger conservative town about twenty-five minutes away in his car with him driving, we got repeatedly pulled over -- never for any valid reason. His registration and license were current, he had no criminal record, and his car was a newer model -- newer than mine -- that was perfectly road worthy and legal. This would happen with regularity almost like clockwork, varying in frequency but averaging about once every eight or ten times he drove -- sometimes involving the very same police officers. Most of the time we got some bogus excuse, but twice he was given a speeding ticket over the course of about eighteen months, even though he drove super-careful to avoid getting ticketed, and even though I (an older White person) was sitting in the car and could verify that he was not speeding. I can attest to one thing for sure; it had nothing to do with "intergenerational wealth."
While the unwarranted traffic stops by police did eventually start to decrease (but not end), there was one thing he told me that really stuck with me, and that was that he didn't mind driving, despite the police harassment, as long as I was in the car with him, because he felt reasonably safe (I had suggested just using my car and letting me drive after a number of those stops). If you talked with other Blacks in America, you would soon discover that his bad experiences with law enforcement are not the exception, but the rule. You see, it's not a Big Lie or even a half-truth. They don't have to "play" the victim -- they are the victims. And they don't want to be the victims anymore, they're sick and tired of it, which any decent human being should be able to understand and empathize with. Which is also why those of us capable of empathy do not condone the violence and destruction that accompanied a small minority of BLM protests, but we do understand the source of the anger fueling some of it, and we know better than to compare, confuse, equate, or conflate BLM protests and that legitimate, righteous anger to what happened on January 6th.
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@TheMINDL3SSGamers ~ What many of the founding fathers feared was pure, or direct, democracy. Greece and Rome were the inspiration our founding fathers used for our own government. They preferred the Roman model of representative democracy over the Grecian model of pure democracy as less chaotic, and so the Roman model is what was used as a basis. Learned people of that era often knew and studied Greek and Latin literature, and Western civilization is largely founded upon Greek and Roman philosophy. Christianity was spread throughout the Roman Empire, and the Vatican is still based in Rome.
Keep in mind, though, that many of our founding fathers were wealthy landowners and land speculators, and as first written our Constitution only allowed landowners to vote, so there was a self-serving aspect at work. It should also be remembered that people of that time were accustomed to elites running government, be they kings, queens, lords, etc., and that commoners were often ill-educated. But, as pointed out with the Jacksonian democracy era, public attitudes in America soon changed, and Americans wanted the U.S. to be more democrat, to have more say in their government. The U.S. has a strong democratic tradition, which only started with the founding fathers, but did not end there. Thus, due consideration must also be given to the evolution of our Constitution and laws that have strengthened democracy in this country through the centuries. If you just look at the founding fathers, you're missing half the picture.
For all their genius, our founding fathers were as flawed as our original Constitution. Many owned slaves, they wrote a constitution that did not allow most people any say in how they were governed; non-landowners, Blacks, Native Americans, and women were all denied the right to vote. We have long since realized that was wrong, but why do some still insist upon placing those founding fathers on a pedestal, treating them as some kind of gods, regarding them and the documents they wrote to be infallible and above scrutiny? Yes, we should respect their accomplishments and gifts they gave us; yes, we should judge them in the context of their times. But we should also realize, accept and appreciate that it is we the living who have liberty to decide how we are governed and determine our own fates, not some long dead founding fathers having the last word over us and all future generations.
Switzerland has had what is largely direct democracy for over 170 years (since 1848) and there are still a couple of cantons there that use it exclusively. Other cantons use it to varying degree. While the Swiss parliament is representative democracy, Swiss citizens vote directly on referendums and initiatives that allow them to change their constitution and laws, albeit the process typically goes through their parliament. Often such referendums and initiatives, depending upon citizen support, will prompt their parliament to act, allowing the referendum or initiative to be withdrawn after the measure is passed into law by parliament.
In some Swiss cantons, direct democracy dates back to the 14th century! But the French Revolution also played a large role in the formation of the central government and its democratic nature in Switzerland. It has worked out quite well for them, and the Swiss like it and are proud of it. Because of the Swiss government's strong direct democracy nature, political parties there are rather weak, and voters there are often able to enact wanted changes where the political parties may be at odds. Votes can be cast three weeks prior to polling day, and 90% of votes are cast either by mail or electronically through the internet. Only 10% use polling stations.
Think about it this way: You want to trust politicians and the elites more than you trust yourself and your fellow citizens. I trust myself and my fellow citizens more than politicians and the elites. And I know that the more citizens are empowered, the more responsive to citizens needs and desires politicians will be. You want to pretend it is you and your fellow citizens who are the wolves, when in actuality it is the politicians and elites who are the wolves in our society, not common citizenry, who serve as their prey.
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@TheMINDL3SSGamers ~ What I support is a more democratic government that empowers voters more. It doesn't necessarily have to be a direct democracy. No, it is not just the people I trust, or in any particular select group of people, but it is in ALL the American people collectively that I have faith. And, yes, it is possible to have a mix of both direct democracy and representative democracy. We already have that in states and localities that have referendums. Why not at the federal level, too?
I support abolishing the antiquated and undemocratic Electoral College, too. But not out of any motivation for partisan gain, that has nothing to do with it, because abolishing it would not significantly benefit either party in the long term. In fact, the Electoral College system is likely to soon favor Democrats. The reason why is that it would make every voter's vote count in every state. So, for example, Republican voters in California and New York (and there are quite a few) would have their votes actually counted in a Presidential race, unlike now under the present system. As it is now with the Electoral College, only voters in Purple swing states really count and are courted by Presidential candidates. Heavily Red states are already going to go to the Republican, heavily Blue states to the Democrat. That's not good for voters, and it doesn't make for good government. Presidential candidates should be courting every voter in every state instead of taking the vast majority for granted. That is why abolishing the Electoral College and making Presidential elections more democratic is a good thing, regardless of political affiliation.
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@TheMINDL3SSGamers ~ Of course swing states can change, and the interval is four years in between Presidential elections for that to happen. But that doesn't change the fact Presidential candidates devote nearly all of their time and money to swing states. Neither the Republican or Democratic candidates spend much resources on states already firmly in their win column or in their opponent's win column, because that would be poor strategy and a wasteful use of resources. Consequently, neither candidate spent much money or time in New York or California, despite those being the two states with the most Electoral College votes, because they were heavily Blue. So the Republican has no chance of winning them, and the Democrat has those states already wrapped up. Vice-versa for heavily Red states. It is the Purple states that are the battleground states that receive nearly all the attention in a Presidential election.
This is also in part because only two states, Nebraska and Maine, split their Electoral College votes based upon the popular vote; all the other states are winner take all. So, say 25% vote Republican in New York and California. That's a whole lot of votes that don't really count because it's winner take all. They may as well just have not voted or voted Democrat, because the Democrat won all the Electoral College votes in those states, anyway. Sure, their votes will be added to the total national popular vote, but the national popular vote total doesn't determine the winner, the Electoral College does.
Compare that to replacing the Electoral College with a straight popular vote, where all those Republican votes in those populous states would have counted and been added to the final tally, which could determine the outcome of an election. Now, their votes really do count, voters in the minority party of each state are much more likely to vote, and candidates are much more likely to campaign in all or at least most of the states, because every vote counts, even in states that are heavily Red or Blue.
Another thing about this: Presidents who lose the popular vote but win the Electoral College lose a certain amount of legitimacy, for two reasons. First, because they only won on a technicality, because of the way the system is rigged. Secondly, because they lack a popular mandate. Now, if your choice loses the popular vote but wins anyway because of the way the system is rigged, you may be happy and don't care. But you will almost certainly feel cheated and unhappy if it was the other way around, and your choice lost despite winning the popular vote. At the very least, you will tout how your choice won the popular vote. But if we look at this objectively from a non-partisan viewpoint, we should not want a President elected lacking a popular mandate or suffering a loss of perceived legitimacy. That doesn't make for good government.
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@TheMINDL3SSGamers ~ Sure, candidates are known to make brief appearances in non-battleground states and may even have a campaign office HQ in each state, but that is not where all the attention, time, money and resources are spent in a campaign. My state has been a battleground state for decades, and we're constantly bombarded with phone calls, campaign ads, and multiple extended visits during Presidential election years. But that doesn't happen or happens to far less extent in non-battleground states.
You're not getting it out about votes not counting under the Electoral College system. I'm not sure I can explain it any better than I did, but I'll try one more time. When voting in any other race besides President, be it Senator, Representative, Governor, Mayor, etc., every vote counts, win or lose, and the winner is the person with the most votes. Not so with the Electoral College. Let's just take California and the previous example of 25% of voters there being Republican, which is probably in the ballpark. Now, 25% of 22 million registered California voters equals 5.5 million Republican voters. Now, let's assume all of them voted for Trump last time. Did any of those Republican votes in California win Trump any Electoral College votes? Nope, all California's Electoral College votes were awarded to Biden, regardless of those 5.5 million that voted for Trump. So how did those 5.5 million votes actually count for anything? They actually didn't. Because if electors were awarded proportionally, then Republican voters would have at least given Trump 9 of California's 38 electors. Regardless of whether it would be enough to give Trump the win or not, California Republican votes still would have counted for something, they are at least provided the opportunity to make a difference.
But they would count if we used the popular vote instead of the Electoral College. Let's say that instead of the Electoral College we had the popular vote. Now, Trump is leading by 11 million votes and only California is left to count and will determine the winner. When the tally comes in, 16 million Californians voted for Biden, which puts Trump down by 5 million. However, now ALL the popular votes count, and the 5.5 million California Republican voters gives Trump the win, by a half-million votes. Now, unlike before under the Electoral College, the votes of those California Republicans REALLY did count, and they made all the difference.
Don't know what "minority rule" you're talking about, but under the Electoral College, the majority wins ALL the electors, and the minority is given ZERO representation, unless in Maine or Nebraska.
No, what we are talking about is representative democracy, because abolishing the Electoral College allows us to vote directly for who we want to represent us as President, just as with Senators, Governors, etc. The Electoral College is a less democratic way of doing things because it is a form of representative democracy once removed, where it is not actually the President we are voting for, but for electors who will vote for President, depending on the majority of votes in 48 states, where the minority votes are discarded from consideration, irrelevant. Why do we need electors acting as intermediaries under a system that allows no minority representation, except in Maine and Nebraska? The answer is that we don't need it. The Electoral College serves no useful purpose, it adds needless complexity and confusion to what should be a straightforward process, it marginalizes minority votes Republican and Democratic, it distorts the will of the voters, and it is less democratic.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over four decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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@christianamericandominican2470 ~ No, in fact, YOU are wrong--both about our comment, and you're also wrong about the first immigration quotas. First, nowhere does the comment assert that the Immigration Act of 1924 was the first. You need to brush up on your reading comprehension, because you're reading things into our comment that just aren't there.
Secondly, the Naturalization Act of 1790 limited naturalization to "free white persons"; it was expanded to include blacks in the 1860s and Asians only in the 1950s. This made the United States an outlier, since laws that made racial distinctions were uncommon in the world in the 18th Century. In 1875, the nation passed its first immigration law, the Page Act of 1875. The Page Act of 1875 effectively prohibited the entry of Chinese women, marking the end of open borders. The 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act would go on to ban immigration by Chinese men as well.
So, not only is your reading comprehension suspect, but your understanding of American history is sorely lacking, and your ability to properly do your own independent research is apparently non-existent.
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Deny, denigrate, distract, degrade, deflect, divide, disparage, dissemble, diminish, deceive, dehumanize, devolve, destroy = deranged, debased, dishonest, depraved, dysfunctional, destructive, disgusting, dupliticious, deplorable, demented, derelict, degenerate, dumb! That's the dirty doggone deal about the Republican cult. Nothing's changed except the slimy slugs slithered forth from under their rock, in a sick symbiosis enabling their enabler, Racist and Rapist-in-Chief Trump. It's not rally around the flag; it's rally around their hate!
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Trump Has Sabotaged America’s Coronavirus Response
by Laura Garrett
In 2018, the Trump administration fired the government’s entire pandemic response chain of command, including the White House management infrastructure. In numerous phone calls and emails with key agencies across the U.S. government, the only consistent response I encountered was distressed confusion.
....
White House efforts included reducing $15 billion in national health spending and cutting the global disease-fighting operational budgets of the CDC, NSC, DHS, and HHS. And the government’s $30 million Complex Crises Fund was eliminated.
In May 2018, Trump ordered the NSC’s entire global health security unit shut down, calling for reassignment of Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer and dissolution of his team inside the agency. The month before, then-White House National Security Advisor John Bolton pressured Ziemer’s DHS counterpart, Tom Bossert, to resign along with his team. Neither the NSC nor DHS epidemic teams have been replaced. The global health section of the CDC was so drastically cut in 2018 that much of its staff was laid off and the number of countries it was working in was reduced from 49 to merely 10. Meanwhile, throughout 2018, the U.S. Agency for International Development and its director, Mark Green, came repeatedly under fire from both the White House and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. And though Congress has so far managed to block Trump administration plans to cut the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps by 40 percent, the disease-fighting cadres have steadily eroded as retiring officers go unreplaced.
Public health advocates have been ringing alarm bells to no avail.
Ronald Klain, who directed U.S. efforts on Ebola, has been warning for two years that the United States was in grave danger should a pandemic emerge. In 2017 and 2018, the philanthropist billionaire Bill Gates met repeatedly with Bolton and his predecessor, H.R. McMaster, warning that ongoing cuts to the global health disease infrastructure would render the United States vulnerable to, as he put it, the “significant probability of a large and lethal modern-day pandemic occurring in our lifetimes.” And an independent, bipartisan panel formed by the Center for Strategic and International Studies concluded that lack of preparedness was so acute in the Trump administration that the “United States must either pay now and gain protection and security or wait for the next epidemic and pay a much greater price in human and economic costs.”
https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/31/coronavirus-china-trump-united-states-public-health-emergency-response/
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Donald Trump, at White House press conference on 04/07/20:
And we’re going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO. We’re going to put a very powerful hold on it, and we’re going to see.
Trump later at that same press conference:
Q: Thanks. A quick follow-up on that. So is the time to freeze funding to the WHO during a pandemic of this magnitude?
THE PRESIDENT: No, maybe not. I mean, I’m not saying I’m going to do it, but we’re going to look at it.
Q: You did say that you’re going to —
THE PRESIDENT: We give a tremendous —
Q: You said you’d put a hold on it.
THE PRESIDENT: No, I didn’t.
Toxic Trump, one week later, on 04/14/20: "I'm withholding WHO funding!"
WHO held a important meeting on COVID-19 vaccines at the beginning of May, with all nations attending...except, unbelievably, no U.S. medical and scientific representatives sent by the Trump Administration, without any explanation. The absence particularly stunning in light that U.S. has half of world's cases and a quarter of the deaths, although possessing just 4% of the global population. Then, on May 29, Toxic Trump announced the U.S. was completely withdrawing from the World Health Organization!
ME, US, the world: WTF?? Why in HELL is that raving lunatic STILL in charge during this major pandemic health crisis?!? Hasn't he KILLED enough Americans, ALREADY?!?
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"We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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Let's face it; this American fall towards fascism didn't just happen overnight. Since before the '70s Republicans have engaged in dog whistles and pursued a racist agenda, hidden behind various facades. Reagan helped Goldwater using dog-whistles; Nixon was infamous for his use of them. Roger Ailes micromanaged Nixon's appearances, and stoked racial fears and resentments. Reagan employed them getting elected governor of California. Lee Atwater, who greatly admired Nixon's 'Southern strategy,' worked on Reagan's Presidential campaign, teaming up with Ailes. A year after Reagan's victory, Atwater gave what was then an anonymous interview, and perhaps lulled by the anonymity, he offered an unusually candid response to a question about Reagan, the Southern strategy, and the drive to attract the Wallace voters:
"You start out in 1954 by saying, "N------, N------, N-------." By 1968 you can't say "N-------," that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states' rights and all that stuff. You're getting so abstract now, you're talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you're talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is, blacks get hurt worse than whites. And subconsciously maybe that is part of it. I'm not saying that. But I'm saying that if it is getting that abstract, and that coded, that we are doing away with the racial problem one way or the other. You follow me; because obviously sitting around saying, "We want to cut taxes and we want to cut this," is much more abstract than even the busing thing, and a hell of a lot more abstract than "N------, N------." So anyway you look at it, race is coming on the back burner."
Humiliated and stunned by Nixon's forced resignation, Republicans anointed Reagan their hero, and have long insisted on regarding him as such, despite his repeated use of racial dog-whistles and his mediocre record. In 1980, Reagan characterized food stamp recipients as, "That strapping young buck in front of you at the checkout buying T-bone steak, while you wait in line to buy hamburger," and kicked off his campaign outside Philadelphia, Mississippi--notorious for the KKK lynching of four volunteer civil rights workers just 16 years earlier--by delivering the promise that, "I believe in state's rights!" Reagan returned in 1984 to another cheering crowd, this time endorsing the neo-Confederate slogan, "The South shall rise again!"
Lee Atwater went on to work with Roger Ailes on George H.W. Bush's Presidential campaign, which shamelessly stoked racial fear through the infamous Willie Horton political ad and other means. Roger Ailes would go on to head Fox News for Rupert Murdoch, until numerous allegations of sexual harassment and improprieties, along with related lawsuits against Fox, forced his removal. Ailes was a polarizing influence, who has been called the most destructive force in American politics in 50 years.
Conservative plutocrats and the GOP created the beast over decades with round-the-clock propaganda, but were swallowed whole by their own mutated creations of daily outrage, white grievance politics, and phony populism; first by the Tea Party, then by Trump. Unable to go back, and clearly having no way forward, they remain planted in their own muck and mire, trapped by the cult of their own making. The pundits and conservatives rejecting Trump are trying to salvage their party, but any person of principle and sense ought to know enough to defect the rotten machine.
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@richardcogbill6791 ~ There are a couple of other facets to this, too. Strongly opposed to using prosecutions as a partisan cudgel to gain advantage, don't advocate that to be the motivation; but righteous indictments, prosecutions, and judgments against Trump and law-breaking Republicans would result in that being the inevitable consequence, regardless.
--It would dispel forever the Republican treasonous lie that there "was no Russian collusion."
--It would expose the gaslighting and cover-up by Republicans in office and the Trump administration, holding them at least accountable to the public, where not to prosecution.
--It would further weaken, discredit, and further diminish the Republican cult.
As already elucidated, the idea of "healing" with a recalcitrant, unrepentant, obstinate Republican cult still blinded by lust for power at any cost is a delusional hope, anyway. There are simply too few hearts and minds to be won over by a strategy of sweeping everything under the rug and just pretending all the bad stuff over the past four years just never happened. Sure, Democrats should take the high road. However, the high road isn't closing one's eyes to evil--it is fighting it, seeking truth and justice. Because that is what is truly required for all the American people who were victims of that evil and injustice to heal.
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@alisonsmith4547 ~ That's a possibility. But if that was the case, the smarter course would have been to simply refuse to comment on the matter until after the new administration enters office. No need to waffle, intentionally misleading the American people.
However, don't find it helpful to get too cute. Honesty is the best policy, and Democrats should be forthright about their commitment to truth and justice. Trump is going to abuse his pardon authority, anyway, regardless. There is more to be gained and less lost by being a champion for investigations and prosecutions where warranted, by standing on the side of the Constitution and the rule of law, by standing up for truth and justice. Think for most Democrats, that wasn't just the hope; it was the expectation.
Our Democrat officials should not betray all those things, and those who elected them. Nor should they speak of them as some pawn on a chessboard to be sacrificed for the greater good when, in fact, those things constitute the king on the chessboard, the piece that must be protected at all cost, or all is lost.
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Republican cult morons rail against the very "elite" they keep voting for, who give tax cuts to the rich and have created the greatest income inequality and wealth disparity in American history.
Why? They are driven by the divisive fear and bigotry programmed into them 24/7 by the Reich-wing media and propaganda owned or funded by the plutocracy. It's absolutely Orwellian, and it began around 1984 in America. What is witnessed now is just the rotten results from the poisoned tree bearing fruition. It's the disease killing America that existed long before COVID-19, and which is likely to persist long after.
Republican cult going to believe what the Republican cult wants to believe, whatever the truth, whatever proof, whatever anybody says. "Healing" the country means deprogramming the 30-40% of Americans deep in cultdom. That needs to be recognized, acknowledged, and acted upon if we truly wish to revive the patient, America, and restore it to glory.
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@No2AI ~***MEDIA FAIL*** -- Cuomo makes many excellent points, but we all lost. Why? Because he didn't call out Duffy's rampant projection and Whataboutism for what they were. When we start comparing one wrong thing with an opponents wrongs, we are lowering the moral threshold for everyone, creating a construct where the end game is no wrong too wrong, no evil too evil. Someone gets murdered, we know it's wrong, we don't compare to other murderers to condemn, because there is no need. We KNOW it's wrong. These forms of propaganda are used to obfuscate the facts, and their harm to society is real, as they work to lower our moral standards. Ironic, considering both Cuomo and Duffy are both well-educated Catholics certain to have been well-versed in the pitfalls of morality.
Cuomo is the son of a politician, and a smart fellow. He should know all about projectionism and Whataboutism, that they go back to Russian communist leaders in the 1920's and--more importantly--have become the most frequent forms of propaganda techniques engaged in by Republicans. Yet, he gets manipulated into making comparisons, defending past actions defending, etc., instead of calling out the B.S. on the spot, putting an end to that highly destructive nonsense poisoning our discourse, dividing us, misinforming us, weakening us, being used as a vehicle to evade and deny truth, leading us to sure ruin.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or "the Wall") is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle's name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called "leaders" in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 -- than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to--and a barrier against--our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It's design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge--and help teach--people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see...if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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The inequality in vaccine distribution between Israel and the oPt is typical, and exemplifies racist, colonizing, apartheid Israel. This is nothing less than a form of genocide Israel is committing against Palestinians, whose lands they have continually coveted and brutally militarily occupied and colonized for over FIFTY-THREE years. Even Palestinian citizens of Israel, constituting over 20% of the population, are subjected to at least 50 Israeli laws which discriminate against them. Those persecuted by the state have become the persecutors in Israel, with very few there showing any remorse or acknowledgement of the reversal and their role in it. Instead, they rationalize, make pathetic excuses, dehumanize Palestinians. Without justice and human rights for Palestinians, there can be no true, lasting peace.
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@sunshine6522 ~ People have cited the Oslo Accord, but ignore how the agreement has been rendered essentially meaningless in many respects. You're also ignoring and downplaying the fact that Israel leads the world in its vaccine rollout. You're ignoring how Israeli settlements on militarily occupied Palestinian territory, and the transfer of over 764,000 of its Jewish Israeli citizens to reside on and COLONIZE occupied Palestinian land are RACIST, IMMORAL, and ILLEGAL under International Law, yet those Israeli's are afforded vaccination, while the Palestinians living there are not.
"The Oslo Accords technically transferred responsibility for the healthcare system to the Palestinian Authority. That part is true. But the extent of Israeli control over the West Bank and Gaza has essentially denuded this responsibility of any meaning."
"Israeli control over the movement of people and goods means that patients can't cross from the West bank to East Jerusalem without Israeli permits. Medication and equipment can't pass either."
"Whatever was theoretically enshrined in the Oslo Accords is actually just a façade."
Article 56 of the Fourth Geneva Convention reads: "The Occupying Power has the duty of ensuring and maintaining, with the cooperation of national and local authorities, the medical and hospital establishments and services, public health and hygiene in the occupied territory, with particular reference to the adoption and application of the prophylactic and preventative measures necessary to combat the spread of contagious diseases and epidemics."
As stated by Saleh Higazi, Amnesty's deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, "Although you do have the Palestinian Authority that has a very limited system of governance, it does not change Israel's responsibility - according to international law."
Aside from legal obligations, there is a moral obligation for Israel as the occupying military authority to distribute vaccines to Palestinians in the oPt. Last month, 10 Israeli, Palestinian, and international human rights organizations implored Israeli authorities to provide doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to those in the Palestinian territories.
In a joint statement, they wrote: "We call on relevant international stakeholders to urge Israel to fulfill its duties and moral responsibilities to assist the Palestinian health systems and the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank."
"It's simply ethically unconscionable that a healthy 22-year-old living in a West Bank settlement will receive a vaccine, whereas an 80-year-old Palestinian with diabetes will not."
Amnesty International published a letter that argues that denying COVID-19 vaccines to Palestinians is morally negligent.
"The pandemic has exposed Israel's institutionalized discrimination and systematic abuses of human rights."
A group of 200 rabbis also signed a petition calling on the Israeli government to hasten the distribution of vaccines to the Palestinian population in the West Bank and Gaza.
One signatory, Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner, explains why the moral arguments matter: "When you start pulling out the Oslo Accords to justify something that's not moral, then that is very concerning," she said. "It is the right thing that Israel, who is the dominant military power, look after the most vulnerable in Palestinian society just like they do with the Jews there."
Even those who do not believe there is a responsibility enshrined in law recognize that there may be a moral obligation. As for not having enough vaccine doses: "Israel should have been procuring enough for the nearly 5m Palestinians that live under its control, and it specifically didn't."
You choose to take the position of a racist, apartheid state illegally colonizing Palestinian land, using a long-defunct agreement to evade any Israeli responsibility. Others like me choose to take the position of morality, the Geneva Conventions, International Law, and human rights. Who do you think history will judge kindly?
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@sunshine6522 ~ You're not being objective, Doc--you're pushing the fallacious hasbara propaganda line. Have dealt with you before in other forums, besides, and recognize you using the same sophistry and disingenuous methodology. Don't know if you remember, it's been years, but you are using the same user name, as am I. It's the only moniker have ever used, across multiple platforms, since the internet was born.
Any objective observer of this conflict knows that neither side has abided by the Oslo Accords. The Oslo Accords are essentially defunct, the stated goals not adhered to by Israel, the stated dates for compliance long past years ago. Both sides cling to portions of the agreement at their convenience, only as a practical matter, because neither side wants a one-state solution.
But that is changing, as increasingly more Palestinians realize that a de-facto one-state is what already exists, with the exception that they are denied all the rights and benefits of Israeli citizenship, are confined to apartheid bantus, subject to discriminatory Israeli law, as more and more of their land is colonized and taken from them, as Israel creates "facts on the ground" with its new and expanding settlements, an ongoing illegal Israeli project since Israel began brutal and oppressive military occupation of the oPt over 50 years ago.
A large majority of Palestinians opposed the Oslo Accords, and opposition among Palestinians has only increased as the breadth and scope of the injustice and racist inequality that the essentially imposed agreement normalized is suffered by Palestinians year after year.
At any rate, the U.N., human-rights groups--including Israeli human-rights groups--and numerous legal scholars and experts have stated that Israel has both a legal and moral duty to provide vaccine doses to Palestinians in the oPt it militarily occupies, regardless of the Oslo Accords, which do not supersede, and can not replace, the relevant provisions contained in Articles of the Geneva Convention.
Having debated you before, know that you are not interested in objectivity, only defending Israel, putting it and its moral shortcomings vis-à-vis the Palestinians in the best light, as hasbara are wont to do. As is typical, you desire to focus only on the trees, to obscure the forest. But to be properly understood the situation has to viewed in its totality. So, you will no doubt simply dismiss out of hand the following link to an article by a Jewish Israeli historian providing an objective analysis of the Oslo Accords. However, others may read it, receiving enlightenment and perspective.
Israel’s Peace Process Was Always a Road To Nowhere
BY
ILAN PAPPE
https://jacobinmag.com/2020/10/israel-peace-palestine-oslo-accords-plo
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@sunshine6522 ~ So, you're saying you're a child, now? Those who want to debate the actual issues don't lie, Doc! Nor do they try to evade the actual issues.
Let's be honest about one thing here; it's not that you don't have the time. After all, it's not as if there is any time constraint imposed in responding with comprehensive, thoughtful replies.
And it isn't as if I don't have the time, either. But why should I waste MY time with someone who is a liar, who can't, or won't, be objective, whose only objective is Israeli PR? You're like one of Toxic Trump's press secretary jokes. After four years of lies, Big Lies, disinformation, misinformation, distortions, deflections, deceptions, and lack of information coming from the past Republican administration, am so sick and tired of the crap, so fed-up with it, and so done with it.
If you actually cared about Israel, and you actually were intelligent, you would realize that lies won't help it. But the truth does.
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@sunshine6522 ~ Liars like you just going to keep lying, keep twisting the truth, keep being dishonest, keep evading responsibility for your lies. You lied about Israel being 100% in compliance and got called out for your lie...AFTER you made the claim. Burden of proof is on you to prove your claim, which you made FIRST. Since we both know it was untrue and therefore can not be proven, ipso facto, that makes YOU a LIAR.
Do you really actually think your intellectual dishonesty is a good reflection on Israel? Do you really actually think that's the way to convince me, or other people? You're doing a HELL of a hasbara job, Doc...if a big FAIL was your goal.
Funny how you got so much time for lying and denying, but you got no time to provide any proof for your bogus claim or any substantive response to all the points and arguments presented to you, Doc. Just another lie in your big bucket of lies. Truth is, you got caught out, so, in adolescent fashion, decided to be a troll pervert. That's just sick.
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@sunshine6522 ~ You're cherry-picking again, Doc, continuing to be dishonest, taking one word out of a sentence and twisting it completely out of the context used in the sentence. You're not on the side of truth. You're on the side of lies, distortions, deflections, and obfuscation. You'll continue being the fool fooling yourself, but others with any sense and objectivity see right through your slimy sophistry.
You fallaciously equate Judaism, Jewish people and the Israeli government. There are many Jews in Israel, America, and around the world whom you disrespect and who object strenuously to such fallacious assertions. So, all the Jewish rabbis, Jewish human rights groups, and Israeli Jews who honestly call out Israel's legal and moral failings vis-à-vis the Palestinians are going to just disappear because they speak up for the truth? No, nor will anyone else speaking truth. You only reveal yourself to be a racist, religious bigot, a fanatic willing to sacrifice truth and decency. The truth will survive, and so will the Jewish people, despite liars like you who disgrace the Jewish people's long and proud history of believing in truth and justice.
Again, you had time to post another long-winded reply, defending yourself, but can't defend Israel against numerous points and arguments raised. You can't take the time to defend your ludicrous lie about Israel being 100% in compliance with the Oslo accords. But you got plenty of time for telling lies and other sleazy dishonesty.
Finally, my comment was my thoughts on the video, not posted to convince anyone of anything. YOU replied to my comment, YOU have been trying to convince me that I was wrong. Well, you're failing miserably, and not because of any unwillingness on my part to consider truth, reason, facts, or logic. So why do you persist? Pride, hubris, ignorance, a sick perversion to troll?
Told you a while back that I recognized you from years ago, knew you well by not just your name, but also for your sophistry and dishonesty. Knew that hasbara cult clowns like you can't be convinced of anything. It's been fun exposing you for the weasel you are, but I'm done playing with the fly that got trapped in my web, you're just becoming a bore. So, reply as you wish; won't be wasting any more of my time responding. You can have the last word, continue to disgrace yourself and Israel with more dishonesty, as you doubtless will.
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Freedoms can exist only up to the point they infringe upon the freedom of others. Religious tolerance can be practiced only up to the point it becomes intolerant of others. Our Constitution is a secular document, not a religious one, and it was certainly never intended to be a suicidal death pact. Getting vaccinated and following CDC guidelines brings freedom from preventable illness or injury, and a senseless premature death, but the mindless fascist Republican cult only believes in freeDUMB. Just as they don't understand or would deny the Constitution is as much about the common good as personal liberties, and that those two things are intrinsically and inextricably intertwined.
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge." ~ Ben Franklin, from Poor Richard's Almanack
Those who scorn public health guidelines during a deadly global pandemic and confuse a grievous public health issue with "essential" liberty to kill and harm themselves and their fellow citizens--as well as their nation--sorely lack both care and knowledge. They are also sorely lacking in common sense, something else about which Mr. Franklin was quite keen. Mr. Franklin was also one our nation's first scientists--yet these modern-day knuckleheads who ought know better refute science! Were he alive today, he would be rather dismayed, disgruntled, and disgusted with the fascist anti-science Republican cult, that much is crystal clear.
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'Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America' by Kathleen Belew (Harvard University Press, 2018)
The movement “brought together members of the Klan, militias, radical tax resisters, white separatists, neo-Nazis, and proponents of white theologies such as Christian Identity, Odinism, and Dualism” (ix). What was it about the movement that brought these ideologies together?
The promise of violence — rather, the promise that members would get to inflict violence on other people. Belew writes that as the white power movement matured, it became more violent, and “[as] violence came to the fore of the movement, distinctions among white power factions melted away” (60). Belew calls this process “violent community formation” (34). Yet as a social movement, Belew makes a distinction between the white power movement’s “revolutionary violence” and the Ku Klux Klan’s “vigilante violence.”
Vigilante violence “served to constitute, shore up, and enforce systemic power” (106). Given that the U.S. government has a long history of “defending vigilante violence by refusing to enforce the law” (99), law enforcement inaction and vigilante violence may be understood together as a case of one hand washing the other. Revolutionary violence, however, sought to overthrow the state. It is the white power movement’s goal of overthrowing the federal government that sets it apart in the history of white supremacy in the U.S.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, along with Reich-wing demagogues and media, who were complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance, and in spreading disinformation and misinformation. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump left office, one out of every 800 Americans had died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 410,000 fatalities, as many American casualties as all of WWII. To put it into further perspective, throughout Trump's catastrophic mishandling of a deadly global pandemic, the U.S. led the world in cases and deaths, suffering nearly 25% of each, despite having only 4.25% of global population, despite having the advantage of being the richest and most advanced nation in the world.
The memorial would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure. Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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Wasn't expecting it, but Biden actually gave the best speech of the whole affair--against some really stiff competition! Next best, IMHO, Michelle, Barack, Jill, and Kamala (pre-convention). Also, surprisingly, felt this was the best Democratic Convention to date, despite (or, maybe even partly because of) being virtual. If one didn't feel the buzz and energy--check their pulse!
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Richard Hammonds ~Putin's Trumpette puppets up crap creek, without a paddle...
Trolling, trolling, trolling along, seek some brains to addle!
Want to make us think nothing is as it seem
Live in a bubble, pretend it's all a dream
You're either Russian, or you're too brainless to know Putin was the brains behind that 2016 operation, Doc! Too brainless to know that ANY politician asking for foreign help to win elections compromise themself, and compromise we American's very security and well-being! Which we can't EVER allow, ESPECIALLY when it involves the President and our principle foreign adversary--be they Republican or Democrat! Also, too brainless to know Republicans sold out America! Whichever flavor of fool are you, it's all the same Putin piss to REAL Americans!
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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Couple of decades older, and I've been saying exactly the same for the past several years. But I don't think age really matters, because even many young people are looking around at some of our fellow citizens and saying WTF?!? They, too, know that the GOP (QOP, GQP) is completely FUBAR. In a supreme bit of irony, now the Republican cult and anti-vaxxers have taken to projecting, labeling the rest of us sane citizens as having "mass delusional psychosis," after the quack Dr. Murray made the claim on Joe Rogan's podcast. Quack Dr. Mercola had previously also called those taking the vaccine delusional.
There's a good article on Salon worth reading about mass psychosis that may be helpful to understanding:
Is America Experiencing Mass Pyschosis?
Scary, is what it is. And dangerous. Because it's actually more than 20 million; it's probably two to three times that, considering 71 million voted for Traitor Trump in 2020. And while that's still a minority, it's nonetheless a quite sizable minority. It's a form of mass delusion, with a number of contributing factors, Covid-19 being just one very small part of it.
“It is not famine, not earthquakes, not microbes, not cancer, but man himself who is man’s greatest danger to man, for the simple reason that there is no adequate protection against psychic epidemics, which are infinitely more devastating than the worst of natural catastrophes.” ― Carl Jung
“People reject what they do not understand because it makes them feel small. They would rather believe in some other reality, even if it is only an illusion, so long as it makes them feel bigger.”
― Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem
“Delusions, carefully implanted, are difficult to correct. Reasoning no longer has value; for the lower, more animal type of thinking becomes deaf to any thought on a higher level. If one reasons with a totalitarian who has been impregnated with official clichés, he will sooner or later withdraw into his fortress of collective totalitarian thinking. The mass delusion that gives him his feelings of belonging, of greatness, of omnipotence, is dearer to him than his personal awareness and understanding.” ― Joost Meerloo, The Rape of a Mind
“The masses have never thirsted after truth. They turn aside from evidence that is not to their taste, preferring to deify error, if error seduce them. Whoever can supply them with illusions is easily their master; whoever attempts to destroy their illusions is always their victim.” ― Gustave Le Bon, French social psychologist, The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind
“You can't fight hatred with hatred and expect anyone to listen to you. You can only try to lessen it with humor, wit, truth and commonsense. If that doesn't work run like hell, while they throw rocks at you.”. ― Shannon L. Alder.
“For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.” ― Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast would soon come to consume them.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian nationalism religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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Trump and Republicans are like Jack and his band of boys in 'Lord of the Flies' who went native and turned barbaric. Ralph, Simon, Piggy and the other group of boys represent the rest of us who value civilization and order. Just as Jack and his band turned savage, killing and cannibalizing their fellow students on the deserted island they landed upon, Trump and Republicans, manically obsessed with power, money and vanity, have also turned savage, rejecting responsibility, reason, civility, morality, and science, killing their fellow Americans and cannibalizing our government. Except there will be no adults arriving to save those of us trying to do the right thing, like in the classic tale. We are the adults, and it is strictly up to us to save ourselves and this country from the fascistic, nihilistic impulses of Trump and Republicans.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
― Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
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GOP cult is NOT the party of law and order, NOT the party of the Constitution and patriots, NOT the party of "values," NOT the party of fiscal responsibility, NOT the party of clean government, NOT the party of freedom. It's the party of terrorism, lawlessness, corruption, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry, misogyny, big lies, socialized taxpayer payouts for plutocrats, sedition, traitors, and tyranny.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or "the Wall") is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle's name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called "leaders" in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 -- than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to--and a barrier against--our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It's design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge--and help teach--people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see...if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, along with Reich-wing demagogues and media, who were complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance, and in spreading disinformation and misinformation. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump left office, one out of every 800 Americans had died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 410,000 fatalities, as many American casualties as all of WWII. To put it into further perspective, throughout Trump's catastrophic mishandling of a deadly global pandemic, the U.S. led the world in cases and deaths, suffering nearly 25% of each, despite having only 4.25% of global population, despite having the advantage of being the richest and most advanced nation in the world.
The memorial would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure. Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, John Eastman and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
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Neville j ~ The troll you reference is just one of many sock-puppet names used by Russian bots. After a while, you notice the same ones keep popping up, over and over again. Real Reich-winger Republican cult morons don't leave their Faux News delusional bubble, otherwise they might find out things they don't want to know. In any case, they certainly wouldn't be spending all their time here. If it's sowing discord, disharmony, divisiveness, derision, denigration, and/or disinformation...it's a Russian bot, pretty much guaranteed.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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"We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
~ How Fascism Works, The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(Reference also Father Charles E. Coughlin and Henry Ford in regards to the first America First movement.)
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
Malcolm Nance: We Are In A Neo-Fascist Era In American Politics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_RxUAe2zeM
Political Analyst Tells Joy Reid: Forget Trumpism, IT’s Neo-Fascism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IgNp84JA4A
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@rekcusdoo Don't know anyone using the View as their sole news source, nor is it designed for that, so let's dispense with that nonsense, even if you managed to find a couple of people. But people do use Faux news as their sole news source, with them and us suffering for it.
Don't use or like Facebook, but the news there is basically the headlines with stories by AP, Reuters and other news outfits. Nothing all that sinister about their news, it is the "news" being posted and passed around by various right-wing groups there independently of Facebook which are the problem. Facebook is not doing enough to block such content, serving as a platform for the spread of misinformation by right-wingnuts.
In case you haven't noticed, liberals and progressives don't buy into cockamamie crackpot partisan political conspiracy theories designed solely to gain advantage on their political opponents. So, even if one manages to find that rare left-wingnut, they don't gather the following that such cretins and grifters do on the right. Pointing to a problem much bigger than just the media.
There will always be some bias present in the news, which is reflective of the bias within society. That is not the issue. It didn't--and it won't--create a cult like Faux news and the right-wing propaganda machine did to Republicans. To solve the problem, it must be recognized, and muddying the waters with false equivalencies hurts, not helps.
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
Merrick Garland’s House Testimony Demonstrated the Failure of His Hyper-Cautious Approach to His Job
Despite Garland’s many efforts to not appear political by declining to investigate Trump and his cronies for possible crimes and by using DOJ resources to actively protect Trump from civil liability, Republicans are still portraying him as the most political attorney general in history.
The other weakness of Garland’s timid approach was on full view during his opening statement and responses to Democratic members of Congress. “The essence of the rule of law is that like cases are treated alike. That there not be one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans; one rule for friends, another for foes,” Garland stated grandly. But by declining to investigate Trump and his associates, Garland is enabling further attacks on our democracy. (While proving inequity by putting Republicans above the law.)
Crucially, the two parties are not the same. Garland’s standard sets up a false equivalency between the Democratic Party and a political party whose national leader, Donald Trump, incited and celebrated a violent assault on our nation’s Capitol to overthrow the results of a free and fair election and who continues to portray the insurrection as a glorious “protest.” To that end, in the middle of the attorney general’s testimony, Trump issued a statement highlighting Garland’s feebleness at failing to even investigate the organizers and leaders of the Jan. 6 events, declaring “the insurrection took place on November 3, Election Day. January 6 was the Protest!”
Garland’s efforts to depoliticize the DOJ have proved to be an abdication of his responsibility to protect the rule of law. Take just a few examples: Garland’s failure to reconsider the obstruction of justice case against the former president, his deferral of an investigation of possible financial crimes by Trump and his organization to local prosecutors in New York City and Westchester, his use of the DOJ to protect Trump from defamation allegations, and his deferral of a soliciting of voter fraud felony probe in Georgia to local prosecutors there. By abdicating his responsibility, Garland is also opening the door for Trump to commit these possibly criminal abuses all over again, this time with the full support of the Republican Party, and maybe ultimately return to power.
--Mark Stern
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--Instead of striving to bring out the best in people, Toxic Trump reveled in bringing out the very worst.
--Instead of uniting the country, Toxic Trump sought to divide us.
--Instead of abiding by and honoring our Constitution and the rule of law, Toxic Trump held them in disdain, disregarded them, and degraded them.
--Instead of strengthening democracy and our cherished institutions, Toxic Trump worked to diminish and destroy them, inciting a terrorist insurrection against his own government, attempting a coup to steal an election.
--Instead of insuring a peaceful transfer power after losing the election, Toxic Trump kept insisting against all evidence that he won, and incited a terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol.
--Instead of confronting a serious threat to Americans with a deadly global pandemic, Toxic Trump lied to the American people about it, ignored it, and refused to take any responsibility for his gross homicidal criminal negligence that resulted in one out of every 800 Americans dying from COVID-19--over 400,000 lives in just ten months, as many casualties as all of WWII.
--Instead of confronting the increasing danger from climate change and its harmful effects, Toxic Trump gutted regulations, exacerbating the problem and poisoning citizens.
--Instead of creating jobs, Toxic Trump was the first President since the Great Depression to preside over a net loss of jobs over his tenure.
--Instead of lowering the national deficit, Toxic Trump increased it from 19.2 trillion to 27 trillion.
--Instead of building bridges, humane immigration reform, and infrastructure,, Toxic Trump built walls and cages, separated children from mothers, allowed American infrastructure to decline and deteriorate, rejected economic opportunity.
--Instead of raising our standing and security in the world, Toxic Trump lowered and weakened it.
--Instead of draining the swamp, Toxic Trump turned it into a noxious overflowing Republican sewer.
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@MeanBeanComedy ~ Funny, Doc, never seen you (or any conservative) ever speaking out against Republican cult clowns calling Democrats 'socialists,' 'communists,' 'Demonrats,' 'Satan worshipers,' 'libtards,' etc., etc. etc. Seems you have a double-standard, and we don't pay much heed to self-serving hypocrites pretending to somehow be superior.
Besides, it is YOU conflating conservatives with Qanon / Reich-wing types, not I. Why is that, do you think? If the shoe fits, wear it.
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Freedoms can exist only up to the point they infringe upon the freedom of others. Religious tolerance can be practiced only up to the point it becomes intolerant of others. Our Constitution is a secular document, not a religious one, and it was certainly never intended to be a suicidal death pact. Getting vaccinated and following CDC guidelines brings freedom from preventable illness or injury, and a senseless premature death, but the mindless fascist Republican cult only believes in freeDUMB. Just as they don't understand or would deny the Constitution is as much about the common good as personal liberties, and that those two things are intrinsically and inextricably intertwined.
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge." ~ Ben Franklin, from Poor Richard's Almanack
Those who scorn public health guidelines during a deadly global pandemic and confuse a grievous public health issue with "essential" liberty to kill and harm themselves and their fellow citizens--as well as their nation--sorely lack both care and knowledge. They are also sorely lacking in common sense, something else about which Mr. Franklin was quite keen. Mr. Franklin was also one our nation's first scientists--yet these modern-day knuckleheads who ought know better refute science! Were he alive today, he would be rather dismayed, disgruntled, and disgusted with the fascist anti-science Republican cult, that much is crystal clear.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over four decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, nihilistic, hyper-partisan fascist cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
Democrats, Independents, others: WTF?!?
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GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
Toxic Trump is the twit totally trampling Twitless and TwatBook, trying to trash US down the totalitarian toilet!
Instead of government, we got us a circus of Republican clowns burning down the tent--with everyone inside!
President Nero stoked racial animosities, igniting the embers, keeps feeding the flames. Lynching, murder of innocent civilians by law enforcement, followed by protests, riots, civil unrest, people hurt, property damaged--those were all inevitable with an arsonist in the Oval, even if his gross criminal negligence with COVID-19 wasn't presently so starkly highlighting the social and economic divides in this nation. You didn't see this coming, it's only because you refused to look.
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regurgitation
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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MEDIA FAIL -- Not quite the same as with Obama, which was based upon a lie. One deleted retweet does not a conspiracy make--sorry, media (hype for the ratings again, right?). This fracas is based upon some truth, but still wrong, but for a different reason, as well as possessing some similar evil. Harris may be half-Jamaican and half-Indian, but how she chooses to identify herself should be respected, and not questioned. The original tweet, purportedly by an African-American apparently resentful because he felt she was wrongly appropriating his heritage, just seems ignorant. If African-American, was he racist? Not so sure, probably entitled to his ignorant opinion, but white people like Don Jr. exploiting that to question her identity for political advantage is definitely racist. Another notable contrast; the birther conspiracy was based upon the illegitimacy of having a President not born in the U.S., which was demonstrably false. The attack against Harris is not questioning the legitimacy of her U.S. birth and eligibility to run for President on that basis or any other. Questioning the legitimacy of her declared ethnic identity may be wrong, but it is a far cry from questioning the legitimacy of her eligibility for President. It's one thing to question someone's character for office, it's a whole different matter to say it is illegal for them to run for that public office.
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'That's just not true.' GOP Gov. Hogan contradicts Trump claim that testing problems are fixed
Nicholas Wu, USA TODAY -- 03/31/20
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, a Republican, said Tuesday on NPR's Morning Edition that President Donald Trump was incorrect in saying coronavirus testing problems had been resolved.
"Yeah, that's just not true. I mean I know that they've taken some steps to create new tests, but they're not actually produced and distributed out to the states." Hogan said, when host Rachel Martin asked him about Trump's assertions. "No state has enough testing."
In a coronavirus task force briefing Monday, Trump said America's coronavirus testing was better "than any country in the world."
"We have done more tests, by far, than any country in the world, by far. Our testing is also better than any country in the world," Trump said on Monday.
"We have built an incredible system to the fact we have now done more tests than any other country in the world and now the technology is really booming," Trump said.
The president also said his administration "inherited a broken testing system" and have now "made it great."
The president also said over a million Americans had been tested for the coronavirus, though on a per capita basis, the country lags behind other developed countries.
Asked about testing on CNN's "New Day" on Tuesday morning, Hogan said states were "flying blind" without access to enough tests.
"Without the tests we really are flying blind, we're sort of guessing about where the outbreaks are and about what the infection rate and the hospitalization rates are," Hogan said.
As hospitals fill with coronavirus patients, protective equipment and ventilators become "as important as testing," he added.
The Maryland Republican, who also chairs the National Governors Association, said he was listening to the "smart team" in the White House like coronavirus task force leader Deborah Birx and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci who were giving accurate information.
Hogan, who issued a statewide stay-at-home order on Monday, had a grim outlook for states' pandemic preparedness.
"There's nobody in America that's prepared," he said.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/thats-just-not-true-gop-gov-hogan-contradicts-trump-claim-that-testing-problems-are-fixed/ar-BB11XUMZ
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It's not really about how YOU view or identify yourself. Gender identity and sexual orientation are not the same things. A cisgender person can be heterosexual or homosexual, bisexual or asexual. It is an adjective used to describe someone whose gender identity matches their body and the gender assigned to them at birth----in other words, someone who is not transgender, nonbinary, or intersex. You can label yourself however you want, or not at all. Cisgender is merely a means of broadly categorizing or distinguishing among the different spectrum of human biological sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation for purposes of study and discussion.
At any rate, if one identifies as heterosexual the assumption in our society would be that they are cisgender. So what? All it means is the common, traditional way of viewing heterosexuals. And if someone on the off chance wanted to confirm that by asking if you were cisgender, because that is their own sexual orientation and they wanted to clarify before developing a romantic relationship, what would you answer them? "No, I'm a transgender?" Or, would you simply affirm by saying yes? Perhaps the former if you weren't attracted to that person and had no interest in developing any romantic relationship with them, maybe, but you could also just tell them you're not interested. But chances are, nobody is going to be asking you that question, anyway. Usually people don't ask about a person's biological sex and gender identity, as might happen with sexual orientation, because it's typically obvious and taken for granted. So, your complaint is essentially much ado about nothing, finding offense where none need be taken.
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@sbabymoney3204 ~ No, I referred to biological sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation as altogether constituting a spectrum, but you chose to twist that into solely just biological sex being a spectrum. However, as much as 10% of the human population is born with one or more characteristics of the opposite sex, which isn't always outwardly physically apparent, with less than 1% born as intersex. So, yes, one could say there is also a spectrum of sorts in human biological sex.
During the Victorian era, medical authors attempted to ascertain whether or not humans could be hermaphrodites, adopting a precise biological definition to the term. From that period until the early 21st century, intersex individuals were termed true hermaphrodites if their gonadal tissue contained both testicular and ovarian tissue, or pseudohermaphrodites if their external appearance (phenotype) differed from sex expected from internal gonads. This language has fallen out of favor due to misconceptions and pejorative connotations associated with the terms, and also a shift to nomenclature based on genetics.
Intersex describes a wide variety of combinations of what are considered male and female biology. Intersex biology may include, for example, ambiguous-looking external genitalia, karyotypes that include mixed XX and XY chromosome pairs (46XX/46XY, 46XX/47XXY or 45X/XY mosaic). Clinically, medicine currently describes intersex people as having disorders of sex development, a term vigorously contested. This is particularly because of a relationship between medical terminology and medical intervention.
Intersex civil society organizations, and many human rights institutions, have criticized medical interventions designed to make intersex bodies more typically male or female.
In some cases, intersex is caused by unusual sex hormones, which may be the result of an atypical set of sex chromosomes. One possible pathophysiological explanation of intersex in humans is a parthenogenetic division of a haploid ovum into two haploid ova. Upon fertilization of the two ova by two sperm cells (one carrying an X chromosome and the other carrying a Y chromosome), the two fertilized ova are then fused together resulting in a person having dual genitalial, gonadal (ovotestes) and genetic sex. Another common cause of being intersex is the crossing over of the testis-determining factor (SRY) from the Y chromosome to the X chromosome during meiosis. The SRY is then activated in only certain areas, causing development of testes in some areas by beginning a series of events starting with the upregulation of the transcription factor (SOX9), and in other areas not being active (causing the growth of ovarian tissues). Thus, testicular and ovarian tissues will both be present in the same individual.
Your questions and replies here were indicative of being offended and making complaint, not as merely being inquisitive. You talk of feeling like you're being bullied. That's not a complaint? That's not something by which you're offended? Let's be honest, OK?
Truth is, no one is "bullying you" to call yourself cisgender. As I said before, and I'll say again, you're making much ado about nothing, and it is reminiscent of bogus Reich-wing culture wars. Personally, not being part of LBGTIQ+ community, I count myself fortunate not have to endure the jokes, smears, discrimination and hate that they do. And a key point brought up in this video is how that leads to members of that community being victimized by violence. And that's precisely what bogus Reich-wing culture wars leads to: hate, divisiveness, discrimination and violence.
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@sbabymoney3204 ~ I'm somewhat flabbergasted; you admit you were wrong, but now you're going to blame me instead for "bullying" you, just for being truthful with you? Why do you want to play the victim so much when you're clearly not?
My point was about bogus Reich-wing culture wars----not Reich-wing "shows," as you put it----so you're once again twisting things. And why your comment and replies here REMINDED me of bogus Reich-wing culture wars is because of an element often shared in common: a transfer of victimhood from the persecuted to those possessing ignorance about them and the issue, falsely cloaking themselves in victimhood.
I don't know what your politics are, and it wasn't to suggest you're Reich-wing. Actually, the hope and presumption was that you were not a hater, and there was some good faith desire on your part to understand, whatever your politics. Otherwise, I probably would have treated this differently, not been so patient, or not bothered wasting my time if I though it wouldn't make a difference. In fact, nowhere have I called you names or sought to insult you. Now, I may speak frankly, as is my habit, but the intent was certainly not to be insulting. But I will call out people when and where I think they are not being wholly honest, whether with themselves, and/or with others. For discussion to be productive, honesty with oneself and others is necessary.
You accuse me of being defensive, but I'm not LBGTIQ, and have no reason to be defensive. Nor do my responses to you warrant being construed as any kind of attack, personal or otherwise. You first took unnecessary offense at the use of the term "cisgender" and now you're taking unnecessary offense at me for trying to explain things to you, correcting some of your misconceptions. It is in reality you, in fact, who are being defensive. If you can overcome that, you will be able to see that our discussion here has indeed been fruitful, and can prove useful and helpful to both yourself and others trying to understand this issue.
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@sbabymoney3204 ~ Your comment made clear that you are not LBGTIQ, and your replies reinforced that. I mentioned just twice that I was also not LBGTIQ, both times to make a point. So when you say, "Personally, it's none of my business how you identify yourself or what your sexual preferences are," why do you not apply that same standard to yourself? Why did you feel the need to state YOUR sexual preference, i.e., that you are heterosexual? Weren't you also trying to make a point? Of course you were, just as you surely must have understood how my non-association with the LBGTIQ community was mentioned twice to make points. Moreover, mentioning it a couple of times to make a point is not quite the same as your exaggerated characterization of "keep saying." This is yet another example of you twisting things and being less than honest in our discussion here. It's also kind of hypocritical of you.
Yes, the sum of your comment and replies did constitute a complaint and, yes, it did constitute you taking offense where none need not have been taken. And, yes, you have been less than candid in our discussion, perhaps with yourself, but certainly with me. Those things are all true, and I have simply been frank with you in pointing them out. Instead of appreciating that, utilizing a little introspection, you CHOSE to get your feelings hurt and became defensive, then tried projecting your own defensiveness upon me. You CHOSE to cloak yourself in victimhood, falsely accusing me of bullying you, just as you falsely portrayed yourself as being a victim of the term "cisgender." But you're not a victim at all; you're actually the beneficiary here. Someone telling you uncomfortable truths without sugarcoating it is not the same as being insulted or belittled, and you would do well to recognize that here and in the future.
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@sbabymoney3204 ~ You can't form any cogent or coherent rebuttal to anything, so all you got is more passive-aggressive BS. No, you don't get to fabricate false accusations against people then declare yourself to be the sole arbiter of the truth of that false accusation. Not the way it works, and you're only further proving my point about trying to falsely cloak yourself in victimhood. So, according to your illogical standard, if someone accuses you of rape, that automatically makes you a rapist, simply based upon the accusation, because "the person to who it's being inflicted determines that" [sic] , right? Get real. First, you have to prove your accusation is true, something which you have utterly failed to do, because it lacks merit and any reasonable basis.
You're trying to project again, too, because you were the one "ranting" about cisgender and people trying to "bully" you, remember? Your false characterization in this regard is just more dishonesty and passive-aggressive BS from you.
If "achieving your goal" meant demonstrating yourself to be a dishonest, ignorant snowflake unable to handle legitimate criticism and facts then, indeed, you have been quite successful.
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America's enemies don't need to spread disinformation, doubt, discord, and division to weaken America, kill Americans--Republican politicians, Reich-wing demagogues, Faux News, OAN, Newsmax, Breitbart and the rest of the Reich-wing media do that so effectively for them, already. More Americans need to realize that the GOP has abdicated it's duty as loyal opposition, and that its prioritization of party over country diminishes both our government and our national security, endangering ALL Americans, as well as weakening and endangering America itself.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or "the Wall") is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle's name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called "leaders" in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. has ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 -- than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to--and a barrier against--our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It's design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge--and help teach--people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see...if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Pelosi is only responsible for appointing the House Sargent-At-Arms. Moscow McCoverup is responsible for appointing the Senate Sargent-At-Arms. As Republicans in Congress well know, neither Sargent-At-Arms is directly responsible for the overall security of Congress or the Capitol Building; their primary function serves to preserve order within their respective chamber. The responsibility for overall security falls to the Capitol Police. Besides, it was the Senate chamber that was breeched by terrorist insurrectionists----not the House chamber, so this deliberate lie blaming Pelosi by Republicans is particularly galling and illogical.
According to the U.S. Capitol Police:
"The Chief of Police is responsible for administering the Department in accordance with applicable laws and regulations, and ensuring that organizational objectives are met. The Chief reports directly to the Capitol Police Board and is assisted in the management of the Department by the Assistant Chiefs of Police and the Chief Administrative Officer. These leaders collectively are recognized as the United States Capitol Police Executive Team, the highest-level management team within the Department."
It is the Capitol police chief who is responsible for the overall security of Congress and the Capitol building, along with the Architect of the Capitol, an agency run by the President. One of the primary departments involved with security at the Architect of the Capitol:
Office of the Chief Security Officer is responsible for the maintenance, care and operation of the buildings, grounds and security enhancements of the U.S. Capitol Police and more.
The Capitol Police Board consists of the Sergeant at Arms of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper of the U.S. Senate, and the Architect of the Capitol appointed by the President. The Chief of the United States Capitol Police serves in an ex-officio non-voting capacity. The Chairmanship alternates annually between the House and Senate Sergeants at Arms. Three out of those four on the Capitol Police Board were Republican sanctioned officials. Only one was Democrat sanctioned. So, if anyone is to be blamed for security lapses on January 6, it is Republicans. Moreover, it was the Trump Republican administration which held up the National Guard from being deployed for hours after requested by Congressional leadership and the Capitol police.
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TRUM_PLANNED_EMIC!
Given plenty of advance warnings about COVID-19, Toxic Trump chose not to heed the sound advice provided. We could have been Taiwan, with a comparative 100 deaths in the U.S.; or South Korea, with a comparative 1500 deaths here, after adjusted for population size. Taiwan had just seven deaths; South Korea less than 300. We got over 150,000 deaths already, with the count still rapidly rising, while we remain, still, firmly mired in the first wave of the disease. Even worse, after six months, we STILL lack the adequate testing and rational national response to contain the disease.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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@P. Delor, Sr. ~ "The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, John Eastman and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and disturbing. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil. They are either actively or silently complicit in fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorist violence, Reich-wing insurrection, and Reich-wing undermining of our democracy and Constitution.
It's crystal clear that Trump, Boebert, Greene, Gosar and other Republicans like them are fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorism. The GOP has become radicalized to such an extent that it has essentially become a fascist terrorist organization, with members that fantasize and promote violence against their fellow Americans. While those Republican elected officials must be condemned and sanctioned, they are only a symptom of the disease poisoning a third of America, the most visible part of the cancer infecting our nation.
The GOP has been mainstreaming radicalization of their voter base for decades, ALLOWING Reich-wing media and Reich-wing demagogues to take over the party, to the point it has become a fascist, nihilistic cult. Because just as now, Republican politicians and their plutocratic masters have always seen it as the ends justifying whatever means to win power. Remember the Republican Tea Party? This catastrophe with the GOP didn't start with Trump, who just exploited what the Republicans had already built.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle for graft and to grift their voters and us taxpayers. You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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GOP is NOT the party of law and order, NOT the party of the Constitution and patriots, NOT the party of "values." It's the party of terrorism, lawlessness, corruption, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry, misogyny, big lies, sedition, and traitors.
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Unlike many others here, I don't blame Sen. Peters for the omission of the word "insurrection." I'm quite sure that it wasn't the preference of Peters and Democrats on the committee to not use the word, but rather was done at the insistence of Republicans. They----and they alone----are to blame. Peters and the rest of the Democrats rightly decided that getting out a timely report with bipartisan support on the security and intelligence failures, as well as recommendations to secure the Capitol, were more important than inclusion of the word. I am just as disappointed and disgusted about not describing the events of January 6 as an insurrection as everyone else, would agree that there is some danger in not doing so, but it was imperative to get to the bottom of this aspect of January 6, and we needed those recommendations to secure the Capitol. It was a choice of two evils, and I think Peters and the Democrats made the correct decision to get this vitally needed report produced and released. I salute Keilar for her tough questioning, and while I understand Peters is running a critically important committee that requires bipartisanship to function well and is being diplomatic to foster as much cooperation with Republicans as possible, I still wish he had been more forthright about exactly why the word insurrection wasn't used to describe the insurrection, placing blame where deservedly due.
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Conservatism as a political ideology is flawed in a number of respects. It supplied the fertile ground for the radicalization and cultdom of the GOP witnessed today, which now resembles fascism much more than true conservatism.
~ “Expect poison from the standing water.” ― William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
~ "Conservatism is the endless, futile quest to justify greed." — Unknown, evidently a derivative of this quote: "The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness." — John Kenneth Galbraith
~ “There are few genuine conservatives within the U.S. political system, and it is a sign of the intellectual corruption of the age that the honorable term 'conservatism' can be appropriated to disguise the advocacy of a powerful, lawless, aggressive and violent state, a welfare state for the rich dedicated to a lunatic form of Keynesian economic intervention that enhances state and private power while mortgaging the country's future.” ― Noam Chomsky, The Culture of Terrorism
~ "Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives." — John Stuart Mill
~ “A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned how to walk forward.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt
~ "The radical of one century is the conservative of the next. The radical invents the views. When he has worn them out, the conservative adopts them." — Mark Twain
~ “Conservatism is the blind and fear-filled worship of dead radicals.” ― Mark Twain
~ "Liberalism is trust of the people, tempered by prudence; conservatism, distrust of people, tempered by fear." — William E. Gladstone
~ “Deregulation is a transfer of power from the trodden to the treading. It is unsurprising that all conservative parties claim to hate big government.” ― George Monbiot
~ "Conservatism, though a necessary element in any stable society, is not a social program; in its paternalistic, nationalistic and power adoring tendencies it is often closer to socialism than true liberalism; and with its traditionalistic, anti-intellectual, and often mystical propensities it will never, except in short periods of disillusionment, appeal to the young and all those others who believe that some changes are desirable if this world is to become a better place." — Friedrich Hayek, p. xi (The Road to Serfdom (1944))
~ "Caution and conservatism are expected of old age; but when the young men of a nation are possessed of such a spirit, when they are afraid of the noise and strife caused by the new applications of the truth, Heaven save the land! Its funeral bell has already rung." — Henry Ward Beecher, Notes from Plymouth Pulpit (1859)
~ "We will not adopt the fantastic hypocrisy of modern conservatism which preaches the values of families and communities, while conducting a direct assault on them through reduced wages and conditions and job security." — Paul Keating, speech, February 14, 1996
~ "The Right thinks that the breakdown of the family is the source of crime and poverty, and this they very insightfully blame on the homosexuals, which would be amusing were it not so tragic. Families and 'family values' are crushed by grinding poverty, which also makes violent crime and drugs attractive alternatives to desperate young men and sends young women into prostitution. Family values are no less corrupted by the corrosive effects of individualism, consumerism, and the accumulation of wealth. Instead of shouting this from the mountain tops, the get-me-to-heaven-and-the-rest-be-damned Christianity the Christian Right preaches is itself a version of selfish spiritual capitalism aimed at netting major and eternal dividends, and it fits hand in glove with American materialism and greed.” ― John D. Caputo, What Would Jesus Deconstruct?: The Good News of Postmodernism for the Church
~ “Change is not what we expect from religious people. They tend to love the past more than the present or the future.” ― Richard Rohr, Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life
~ "They offer me neither food nor drink intellectual nor spiritual consolation... [conservatism] leads nowhere; it satisfies no ideal; it conforms to no intellectual standard, it is not safe, or calculated to preserve from the spoilers that degree of civilisation which we have already attained." — John Maynard Keynes, Collected Writings Volume IX page 296-297
~ “The conservatives are fools: They whine about the decay of traditional values, yet they enthusiastically support technological progress and economic growth. Apparently it never occurs to them that you can't make rapid, drastic changes in the technology and the economy of a society without causing rapid changes in all other aspects of the society as well, and that such rapid changes inevitably break down traditional values.” ― Theodore J. Kaczynski, Industrial Society and Its Future
~ “Social conservatism and neoconservatism have revived authoritarian conservatism, and not for the better of conservatism or American democracy. True conservatism is cautious and prudent. Authoritarianism is rash and radical. American democracy has benefited from true conservatism, but authoritarianism offers potentially serious trouble for any democracy.” ― John W. Dean, Conservatives Without Conscience
~ "Conservatism discards Prescription, shrinks from Principle, disavows Progress; having rejected all respect for antiquity, it offers no redress for the present, and makes no preparation for the future." — 1844 Coningsby, bk.2, ch.5
~ “I cannot help fearing that men may reach a point where they look on every new theory as a danger, every innovation as a toilsome trouble, every social advance as a first step toward revolution, and that they may absolutely refuse to move at all.” ― Alexis de Tocqueville
~ "If movement conservatism is less about hating the state than about fighting Godless modernism, this might explain why conservatives have always found actual or cultural wars to fight, but have never got around to shrinking or controlling the growth of government (though centrists like Eisenhower and Clinton did)." — Mark Riebling, "Conservatism Turned Upside, City Journal (October 16, 2009)
~ "The two parties which divide the state, the party of conservatism and that of Innovation, are very old, and have disputed the possession of the world ever since it was made. Now one, now the other gets the day, and still the fight renews itself as if for the first time, under new names and hot personalities ... Innovation is the salient energy; Conservatism the pause on the last movement." — Ralph Waldo Emerson, "The Conservative," lecture delivered at the Masonic Temple, Boston, Massachusetts (December 9, 1841)
~ "Conservatism makes no poetry, breathes no prayer, has no invention; it is all memory. Reform has no gratitude, no prudence, no husbandry." — Ralph Waldo Emerson, "The Conservative," lecture delivered at the Masonic Temple, Boston, Massachusetts (December 9, 1841)
~ "It may be true that the government that governs best governs least. Unfortunately, the same is also true of the government that governs worst." — Jane Auer
~ "A conservative is a man who is too cowardly to fight and too fat to run." — Elbert Hubbard
~ “In an era of stress and anxiety, when the present seems unstable and the future unlikely, the natural response is to retreat and withdraw from reality, taking recourse either in fantasies of the future or in modified visions of a half-imagined past.” ― Alan Moore, Watchmen
~ “Clinging to any form of conservatism can be dangerous. Become too conservative and you are unprepared for surprises. You cannot depend on luck. Logic is blind and often knows only its own past. Logic is good for playing chess but is often too slow for the needs of survival.” ― Frank Herbert, Chapterhouse: Dune
~ “The media are desperately afraid of being accused of bias. And that's partly because there's a whole machine out there, an organized attempt to accuse them of bias whenever they say anything that the Right doesn't like. So rather than really try to report things objectively, they settle for being even-handed, which is not the same thing. One of my lines in a column—in which a number of people thought I was insulting them personally—was that if Bush said the Earth was flat, the mainstream media would have stories with the headline: 'Shape of Earth—Views Differ.' Then they'd quote some Democrats saying that it was round.” ― Paul Krugman
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
― Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a serious threat to our very security.
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again." ― Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney
More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They have essentially become a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Elmer Fudd's always trying to convince me he just wants unity.
What he really means is that he wants to eat me.
Unity and compromise is a two-way street that only works if both parties operate in good faith. Republicans have a long history of failing to do that--or even trying. Recent history since Biden won the election shows no indication of them changing their divisive, destructive words, attitudes, obstruction and other acts. Tyrant Trump incited a terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol to overthrow an election, endangering his VP and members of Congress, sat by and gleefully reveled in watching it happen for hours, ignoring desperate pleas for help, and only a very few Republican were willing to speak out, impeach him, convict him, and prevent him from holding public office again? That's not loyal opposition--that's a dangerous terrorist political cult of fascists.
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Confronted with a conundrum contrary or conflicting, the Republican cult instinct for self-preservation induces a cease of circulation to the cranium, causing confusion, chaos, crisis, corruption, and criminality! Cult for cult, con for con, convolution after convolution, corny concocted cockamamie crackpot conspiracy after corny concocted cockamamie crackpot conspiracy, cover-up after cover-up, the GOP is alone, in a league all its own!
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Trumpturds don't care about Trump fostering hate, bigotry and racism, or Trump hypocrisy, or Americans paying billions more in Trump tariff taxes, or Trump felonies, or Trump treasonous acts, or Trump gross corruption, or Trump separating children from their parents and putting them in cages, or Trump pathological lying, or Trump dodging taxes, or Trump dividing and weakening America, or Trump being a fraud and common grifter, or Trump having no dignity, honor or decorum, or Trump co-opting religion for personal political gain, or Trump being compromised by Russia, endangering all Americans. Trumpturds don't care they are selling out their country for "winning." Proving Trumpturds don't really care anything about principles, either. Ironically, Trumpturds ignorance reason America not great.
Every word true
Maybe really think
About why that would
Ever bother you
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Despite knowing of the emergence of COVID-19 in November, and it threat to world health shortly thereafter, Trump did virtually nothing to prepare for the inevitable coming health crisis of a pandemic. Trump administration has had MONTHS to get its act together, yet public health system and hospital networks are NOT prepared for the kind of outbreaks seen in China, South Korea and Italy. We do NOT have the respirators and ventilators needed for the expected numbers. We do NOT have enough oxygen equipment and medications stockpiled. We do NOT have enough medical personnel to handle the expected numbers. We do NOT have enough medical facilities for those kinds of numbers. We do NOT yet even have the training programs in place to handle this epidemic for either health professionals or the public. There should have been a massive national mobilization by our Federal government started months ago to begin preparation of needed medical equipment, supplies, and drugs. Instead, Trump has peddled delusions and denials of the realities, wasting weeks, which will result in the senseless, unforgivable loss of more American lives due directly to his gross ignorance and incompetence.
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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@arcdecibel9986 ~ Did you really think to convince me in your long-winded rant by falsely attributing positions to me, through denigration and name calling, and by spewing fallacious Reich-wing talking points and simplistic nonsense? If so, then you really weren't thinking.
If Republicans are all about small government and staying out of people's private lives, why are they passing so many laws getting all up in women's uteruses, trying to restrict and ban their private reproductive health choices, trying to take away decisions that should be left to women and their doctors? Why are they suddenly passing so many racist voter suppression laws trying to rig elections in their favor? Republican only care about small government when it suits their agenda. Republicans only care about minority "rights" when they are in the minority, which is evidenced not only in our federal government, but in numerous states where they have majorities in the legislature, where they trample all over the so-called minority "rights" of Democratic lawmakers.
A republic (from Latin res publica 'public affair') is a form of government in which "power is held by the people and their elected representatives". In republics, the country is considered a "public matter", not the private concern or property of the rulers. The primary positions of power within a republic are attained through democracy. Yes, the U.S. is a democracy. It has a government "of the people, by the people, and for the people." It is also a constitutional federal republic, a democratic republic, a social democracy, and a representative democracy. It is all of those things.
Democracy is the foundation of our republic. Without democracy, our republic would cease to exist, as people want to have a voice in how they are governed. As our nation as grown and progressed, it has become increasingly more democratic, which is not only ethical and moral, but it has strengthened our nation. Under our original Constitution, slaves, women, Native Americans, and those not property owners were denied the right to vote. Ironically, Republicans used to take great pride in America being a democracy, as a "shining beacon of democracy" for the world to follow. Now, disgracefully, Republicans try to deny, dismiss, or diminish that we are a democracy. Why? The answer is simple and obvious. Republicans want to exert minority rule over the majority, and justify it by insisting we are not "really" a democracy, which is pure hogwash.
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Jodi Ernst is former military, but shows how she's nothing but a big coward, a disgusting disgrace to the uniform! Republicans can't even answer simple questions...because that would mean telling the truth! So they talk, and talk, and talk, and talk...stringing together empty words that say and mean absolutely nothing. Fighting for Iowa? No, she's fighting to keep her meal ticket on the GOP corruption train, that's all. Vote the Republican bums out like Ernst who dishonor their Oath of Office, the rule of law, justice, and our Constitution. Impeachment trial with NO witnesses?!? We can do better, but not with Ernst in office.
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Toxic Trump: "It's a HOAX!"
Much later: …."I got this pandemic completely under control, we're safe!"
Shortly after: …."It's not my fault! States need to take charge! I don't take ANY responsibility! It's unsafe! You need to stay home!"
Next day: ...."The cure is worse than the disease, you need to go back to work!
Next week: ...."Don't listen to me! Listen to the CDC!"
Following days: ...."USA #1 in coronavirus cases--and now we're #1 in coronavirus DEATHS! We're the BEST! Thanks to my extremely stable genius wartime leadership, only 100,000-240,000 Americans will die! We're doing a TREMENDOUS job! I still don't take ANY responsibility!"
Last week: ... "I've anointed myself All Powerful Dear Leader and will soon order all my subjects back to work despite lack of vaccine, cure, testing, PPE, medical staffing, and the sure-fire massive resurgence resulting thereof, killing tens of thousands more Americans--because this pandemic is killing my lucrative Emoluments business, and even my Soviet-style election chances!"
Now: … "Scratch that; might have to actually do stuff. My greatest-ever new half-baked plan shifts all responsibility and blame back to governors! For now. Somewhat. Maybe. We'll be letting you know, hopefully! Did I mention I've been popping hydroxychloroquine like candy, contrary to medical recommendations?"
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. Sure, some of them truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Republican cult placing political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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News anchor: "In just ONE month, we got over 800,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in America with OVER 40,000 deaths because of Trump shirking responsibility, refusing to take a global pandemic seriously, prepare, and defend our nation! Now, that lunatic has turned pandemic press briefings into macabre Dear Leader campaign rallies where he belittles and berates any and all who question him! Can you tell us just WTF the situation is at the moment in the White House?"
White House correspondent: "Situation unchanged--still hopeless. Completely, totally FUBAR, as usual. Don't expect any help or change from this dystopian, dysfunctional Branch..."
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Welcome to war. This is what war is. It's terrible, it's tragic, it's ugly, it stinks, it's unfair, it's sad, it's wasteful, it's hell, innocents die, and things always go wrong. You think we'd have learned that by now, but no, it's a lesson that has to be repeatedly learned, evidently. The consensus is that nobody foresaw the Afghan government and its armed forces completely capitulating so quickly as they did. Some say there should have been a contingency plan for this, but even though hindsight is 20/20, have yet to hear any rational plan that could have dealt with this situation. Shit happens, and Biden got handed a turd with Afghanistan. Instead of allowing the crap to continue, Biden made the hard, responsible decision to pull the U.S. out of another country's civil war. Fallout was inevitable, and Republicans trying to capitalize on that politically or media trying to profit from it is truly degenerate.
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@ГенадийПопов-ч7б - Well, isn't that quite the most amazing coincidence, Doc! We're 62, dig deeply about the fate of the planet, don't know anything about the internet, don't even get the internet out here in the remote Alaskan wilderness, never learned how to read or write, much less type, yet know enough to know that everyone knows about climate change, and that it's precipitated by excessive human-related greenhouse gas emissions! Problem is that we got idiots around the world like to play dumb, ignorantly want to be too lazy or greedy to do and support doing the right thing! Your leader in Russia and our leader in America just two prime examples. Tell you what, Doc, since you seem like an Elmer Fudd kind of guy that likes playing silly games, you can just call us up on the horn, and ask for Bugs Bunny!
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion. obstruction of justice, and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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It's like rowing or paddling upstream, or into a stiff wind--if you ease-up too much or stop, you will only have to paddle twice as hard to make up all the previous hard-earned progress that was quickly lost. Failing to maintain isolation and other measures for sufficient time to stop the spread of COVID-19 transmission will cost U.S. more in time, effort, money, and LIVES. Reopening and relaxing measures too early in defiance of the science and data is the ultimate in colossal ignorance, greed, ruthlessness, and arrogance.
We have a segment of Republican cult willfully ignorant, who malevolently seek to sabotage containment efforts. But many do not grasp how important it is that we treat ourselves and everyone else as being infected.
This is because people know that is very unlikely, especially outside dense urban areas, where incidence rates are low. Because of the delay in onset of the disease and asymptomatic carriers, COVID-19 is a stealth killer that uses Americans against each other as its foot soldiers, transporting it, keeping the disease and its train of transmission alive. This is further complicated because people cannot see a virus, see it attacking, see it spreading, until it is too late. For many of us, seeing is believing, and people are incapable or reluctant to make that leap of logic required to keep them and everyone safe--even with the massive public education efforts.
Of course, the problem becomes greatly exacerbated when the President refuses to wear a mask, and his administration works against itself in fighting this deadly global pandemic, sending conflicting messages to the public. Toxic Trump, his administration, and all the Republicans who have aided and abetted him, are directly responsible in our view for the senseless deaths of tens and thousands of Americans. The dead are the worst of it, but there is also the tremendous needless suffering and economic loss accompanying their wanton criminal negligence.
No national testing, no rational national coordinated pandemic response. Republican governors reopening too quickly in defiance of CDC guidelines are only following the President's lead. Democratic governors in many states likewise being adversely pressured by Toxic Trump's pandemic disinformation and Republican opposition to requisite lockdowns. Problem starts at the top. Don't fault even the worst Republican governors as much as this President. The President needed to take the lead, take the hit for the hard decisions--not put all the weight on governors as he as.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and disturbing. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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'IMMIGRATION FOR DUMMIES' -- by Activated Head of Fatherland Security, Kevin K. McAleenan
"So...What I did was I worked really hard with Trump administration to make draconian changes to immigration policies that creates bottlenecks, backlogs, and a HUGE increase in detention rates. So...We did this despite knowing that our lack of capabilities could only lead to greatly overcrowded facilities (concentration camps, if you prefer); poor conditions; human rights abuses against children, refugees, and migrants of color; lasting traumatic damage done to the children; vastly increased costs to the American taxpayer; the demoralization, desensitization, destabilization, depletion and destruction of our vital government workforce securing our borders and dealing with immigration. So...Just to be clear here, at the end of the day, the only goal was to extort money from Congress by torturing children and innocent people we hold hostage. Call it kidnapping if you want. So...Then we take the money and hand it over to our crony friends running the "detention centers" that they may profit from all this misery! So...You can see how our diabolical plan worked to perfection, we got our ransom money for CBP. So...That's why I'm working with my Republican cohorts in Congress to run the same scam again for ICE! So...Yes, we were experiencing difficulties achieving the profit margins anticipated with our wall street, but that open-ended venture continues to pay dividends for our money men and sycophants, as well!"
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Republican cult placing greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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Bush v. Gore, Citizens United, Shelby County v. Holder, Rucho v. Common Cause, Chief Jester Roberts smiling and nodding along while presiding over sham Senate impeachment trial, Assassination Goon B.S. Barr butchering the law, slaughtering justice, politicizing and weaponizing the DOJ. So, now, thanks to conservative Justices on SCOTUS, we have partisan Republican judges deciding elections instead of voters; a return to Jim Crow laws promoting voter suppression; unlimited dark money in elections buying off politicians; a lack of accountability enabling the Executive Branch to blackmail and coerce foreign governments into interfering in our elections, severely degrading our national security; and legalization of even the most egregious Republican gerrymandering. In essence, a deck stacked heavily in favor of corrupt, racist, anti-democratic Republican minority rule over the majority. It's why we lost all respect for these conservative Supreme Courts, the law, and the justice system in this country. Congratulations, Republicans, on turning our nation into a banana Republic, making America an object lesson to the world on how to destroy democracy!
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Trumpettes riding that river in Egypt, denial, like a super chump, paddling furiously upstream--but the turds are getting flushed out to sea, unable to withstand or overcome the riptide of truth, progress, and enlightenment!! Trumpettes keep paddling that dinghy called denial! But they're losing headway, need to pick up the pace a bit! More lies and propaganda, more slimy deceit, more cheap, phony theatrics and sleazy stunts from the Trumpettes! Faster! Faster! More! More! Must continue to keep digging that hole bigger and deeper for the GOP coffin!
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of crackpot conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of plutocrats, the party of corruption, the party of anti-democracy, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their pact with the Devil.
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Unlike many others here, I don't blame Sen. Peters for the omission of the word "insurrection." I'm quite sure that it wasn't the preference of Peters and Democrats on the committee to not use the word, but rather was done at the insistence of Republicans. They----and they alone----are to blame. Peters and the rest of the Democrats rightly decided that getting out a timely report with bipartisan support on the security and intelligence failures, as well as recommendations to secure the Capitol, were more important than inclusion of the word. I am just as disappointed and disgusted about not describing the events of January 6 as an insurrection as everyone else, would agree that there is some danger in not doing so, but it was imperative to get to the bottom of this aspect of January 6, and we needed those recommendations to secure the Capitol. It was a choice of two evils, and I think Peters and the Democrats made the correct decision to get this vitally needed report produced and released. I salute Keilar for her tough questioning, and while I understand Peters is running a critically important committee that requires bipartisanship to function well and is being diplomatic to foster as much cooperation with Republicans as possible, I still wish he had been more forthright about exactly why the word insurrection wasn't used to describe the insurrection, placing blame where deservedly due.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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@chamfefe3660 ~ Reported for disseminating COVID-19 disinformation. From Snopes:
Yan did claim that SARS-CoV-2 was made in a lab, but the suggestion is false, misleading, and based on a non-peer-reviewed report that was published in two separate studies on Sept. 14 and Oct. 8 in the preprint server Zenodo, which means that the research had not gone through rigorous editorial critically evaluated by scientific experts with an extra degree of scrutiny. Research that has not been peer-reviewed is akin to a blog — anyone can publish one online with little expertise.
Since SARS-CoV-2 was first discovered in January 2020 and subsequently declared a pandemic the following month, conspiracy theorists have peddled notions that the virus was made in a lab and intentionally released as a biological weapon despite rigorous scientific research proving otherwise. According to one expert:
“This particular conspiracy around deliberate release form a laboratory has been doing the rounds throughout the pandemic. It has been rebutted several times already. Ultimately, it could be damaging to public health if reported uncritically without looking at the wider evidence. If people are exposed to and then believe conspiracy theories, this will likely have a negative impact on efforts to keep COVID-19 cases low and thus there will be more death and illness than there needs to be,” said Dr. Michael Head, senior research fellow in global health at the University of Southampton, in a statement.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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'IMMIGRATION FOR DUMMIES' -- by Activated Head of Fatherland Security, Kevin K. McAleenan
"So...What I did was I worked really hard with Trump administration to make draconian changes to immigration policies that creates bottlenecks, backlogs, and a HUGE increase in detention rates. So...We did this despite knowing that our lack of capabilities could only lead to greatly overcrowded facilities (concentration camps, if you prefer); poor conditions; human rights abuses against children, refugees, and migrants of color; lasting traumatic damage done to the children; vastly increased costs to the American taxpayer; the demoralization, desensitization, destabilization, depletion and destruction of our vital government workforce securing our borders and dealing with immigration. So...Just to be clear here, at the end of the day, the only goal was to extort money from Congress by torturing children and innocent people we hold hostage. Call it kidnapping if you want. So...Then we take the money and hand it over to our crony friends running the "detention centers" that they may profit from all this misery! So...You can see how our diabolical plan worked to perfection, we got our ransom money for CBP. So...That's why I'm working with my Republican cohorts in Congress to run the same scam again for ICE! So...Yes, we were experiencing difficulties achieving the profit margins anticipated with our wall street, but that open-ended venture continues to pay dividends for our money men and sycophants, as well!"
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and disturbing. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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'IMMIGRATION FOR DUMMIES' -- by Activated Head of Fatherland Security, Kevin K. McAleenan
"So...What I did was I worked really hard with Trump administration to make draconian changes to immigration policies that creates bottlenecks, backlogs, and a HUGE increase in detention rates. So...We did this despite knowing that our lack of capabilities could only lead to greatly overcrowded facilities (concentration camps, if you prefer); poor conditions; human rights abuses against children, refugees, and migrants of color; lasting traumatic damage done to the children; vastly increased costs to the American taxpayer; the demoralization, desensitization, destabilization, depletion and destruction of our vital government workforce securing our borders and dealing with immigration. So...Just to be clear here, at the end of the day, the only goal was to extort money from Congress by torturing children and innocent people we hold hostage. Call it kidnapping if you want. So...Then we take the money and hand it over to our crony friends running the "detention centers" that they may profit from all this misery! So...You can see how our diabolical plan worked to perfection, we got our ransom money for CBP. So...That's why I'm working with my Republican cohorts in Congress to run the same scam again for ICE! So...Yes, we were experiencing difficulties achieving the profit margins anticipated with our wall street, but that open-ended venture continues to pay dividends for our money men and sycophants, as well!"
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You don't get denialism without nihilism. As life-long conservative Bill Kristol astutely pointed out, the Republican party has embraced nihilism. Republicans denying systemic racism; Republicans denying climate change; Republicans still labeling COVID-19 a "hoax;" Republicans refusing to wear masks or social distance after over half-a-million American fatalities from COVID-19; Congressional Republicans obstructing a COVID-19 stimulus bill certain to pass just to delay vital and urgently needed relief to Americans desperate for help; not one Congressional Republican in either chamber voting for the badly needed stimulus bill; Republican governors dropping mask mandates and all restrictions on businesses, heedless of rising case counts in their states and deadly new variants of the virus; and Republican leaders continuing to push the Big Lie that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen without evidence and in disregard of plentiful evidence and facts to the contrary, even AFTER their Big Lie incited a terrorist attack by a mindless Republican mob against the nation's Capitol in insurrection against the government, attempting to overturn a legitimate election, sieging, storming, sizing, sacking, defiling, defacing and disgracing America's citadel of, and temple to, democracy; and now Republicans attempting history revisionism, trying to sweep the January 6 insurrection under the rug, refusing to support a January 6 bipartisan commission----these are all prime examples of nihilism.
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@ericdufrane2344 ~ Actually, you're the one jumping to conclusions where no evidence exists. There is ZERO evidence that GOF research occurred at Wuhan. Their is ZERO evidence this pandemic originated from a lab leak at the Wuhan research facility. You are merely regurgitating unsubstantiated Reich-wing allegations, which are transparent attempts to scapegoat China as means to avoid accountability for Trump and Republican's own incompetence in dealing with this pandemic. Same old, same old Reich-wing deceptive practices almost since this pandemic began.
You're the one making the claims and jumping to conclusions. The burden of proof rests upon you to substantiate your conclusions. And extraordinary claims such as you are making require extraordinary proofs.
Neither the experts nor I are jumping to any hasty conclusions like you, but merely stating a likelihood based upon what IS known. It would be extraordinary for a worldwide pandemic to be caused unnaturally, given that has never happened before. Conversely, diseases, epidemics, and pandemics occurring naturally are quite commonplace. Virologists studying the genome of Covid-19 find no evidence of human manipulation, but rather indications of natural origin.
While other possibilities can't entirely be ruled out, it would be foolish at this point to think Covid-19 originated in a lab. In other words, your comment gets it exactly backwards. What would be truthful to say is that "it would be foolish to think we definitively know where or how Covid-19 originated." And, "it would be foolish to prematurely attribute the origin of Covid-19 to a less likely possibility absent abundant proofs." What your comment does is draw an unwarranted conclusion while attempting to malign others keeping an open mind by calling them "foolish" for not accepting your unwarranted, less likely conclusion. In sum, you are trying to call others foolish while proving yourself to be the fool.
The consensus among experts of a likely natural origin has been extensively reported in news media, scientific journals, and confirmed by scientists involved with researching the origination of Covid-19. Obviously, you CHOOSE to ignore information from reliable sources, instead relying upon Reich-wing propaganda from disreputable sources that you can regurgitate to further your tribal partisan politics. Which only demonstrates how you're not interested in the truth or being objective, and displays a critical lack of integrity.
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@ericdufrane2344 ~ The Hanlon's razor fallacy
Hanlon contributed the quote you use to a joke book, and you are trying to use a joke as a truism. Logic, experience, and reason tells us that just because something may sometimes be true, it doesn't necessarily follow that it is always true, or even usually true.
“There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn't true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.” ~ Soren Kierkegaard
“We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid.” ~ Benjamin Franklin
“Being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn.” ~ Benjamin Franklin
“Sometimes a man wants to be stupid if it lets him do a thing his cleverness forbids.” ~ John Steinbeck, East of Eden
“I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
“Sometimes we find ourselves walking through life blindfolded, and we try to deny that we're the ones who securely tied the knot.” ~ Jodi Picoult, Vanishing Acts
“Don't tell me what I'm doing; I don't want to know.” ~ Federico Fellini
“Because I do not wish to know,” he says. “I prefer to remain unenlightened, to better appreciate the dark.” ~ Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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TRUM_PLANNED_EMIC!
Given plenty of advance warnings about COVID-19, Toxic Trump chose not to heed the sound advice provided. We could have been Taiwan, with a comparative 100 deaths in the U.S.; or South Korea, with a comparative 1500 deaths here, after adjusted for population size. Taiwan had just seven deaths; South Korea less than 300. We got over 160,000 deaths already, with the count still rapidly rising, while we remain, still, firmly mired in the first wave of the disease. Even worse, after six months, we STILL lack the adequate testing and rational national response so desperately needed to contain the disease.
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Merrick Garland: "Trump and Congressional Republicans screwed me out of a seat on the Supreme Court...that's why now as AG I can't prosecute them for the many crimes they've committed!"
Merrick Garland’s House Testimony Demonstrated the Failure of His Hyper-Cautious Approach to His Job
Despite Garland’s many efforts to not appear political by declining to investigate Trump and his cronies for possible crimes and by using DOJ resources to actively protect Trump from civil liability, Republicans are still portraying him as the most political attorney general in history.
The other weakness of Garland’s timid approach was on full view during his opening statement and responses to Democratic members of Congress. “The essence of the rule of law is that like cases are treated alike. That there not be one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans; one rule for friends, another for foes,” Garland stated grandly. But by declining to investigate Trump and his associates, Garland is enabling further attacks on our democracy. (While proving inequity by putting Republicans above the law.)
Crucially, the two parties are not the same. Garland’s standard sets up a false equivalency between the Democratic Party and a political party whose national leader, Donald Trump, incited and celebrated a violent assault on our nation’s Capitol to overthrow the results of a free and fair election and who continues to portray the insurrection as a glorious “protest.” To that end, in the middle of the attorney general’s testimony, Trump issued a statement highlighting Garland’s feebleness at failing to even investigate the organizers and leaders of the Jan. 6 events, declaring “the insurrection took place on November 3, Election Day. January 6 was the Protest!”
Garland’s efforts to depoliticize the DOJ have proved to be an abdication of his responsibility to protect the rule of law. Take just a few examples: Garland’s failure to reconsider the obstruction of justice case against the former president, his deferral of an investigation of possible financial crimes by Trump and his organization to local prosecutors in New York City and Westchester, his use of the DOJ to protect Trump from defamation allegations, and his deferral of a soliciting of voter fraud felony probe in Georgia to local prosecutors there. By abdicating his responsibility, Garland is also opening the door for Trump to commit these possibly criminal abuses all over again, this time with the full support of the Republican Party, and maybe ultimately return to power.
--Mark Stern
"Try as he may, Merrick Garland cannot perform boring independence fast enough to outrun GOP claims that he’s a wild-eyed, violent socialist. And while the GOP currently exists only to cast everything you thought you believed into doubt, the real endgame is vigilantism. The endgame is to ensure that people mistrust government, election systems, school boards, (teachers, health care officials) the media, and the justice system enough to lend a hand in their destruction."
--Dahlia Lithwick
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Insane stuff from an insane man, that describes Traitor Trump to a "T." What it constitutes is an attempted coup and an insurrection. So, why hasn't Trump and his accomplices been arrested for those and all his other crimes, yet? Why is Merrick Garland and his DOJ failing to do their duty? If Trump is not prosecuted, it sets a terrible precedent enabling the next wannabe authoritarian President. This is no time for playing nice.
Delay, delay, delay is Traitor Trump's legal MO to keep the truth from the American people and to escape justice. Trump's claim of "Executive Privilege" is a farce and what amounts to a frivolous lawsuit and an abuse of the court system. SCOTUS should decline to hear the case, but this conservative SCOTUS is the most partisan, biased and corrupt in modern history, so they can't be trusted to do the right thing.
Expect these documents from the National Security Archives to produce even more incriminating evidence of Traitor Trump's autogolpe. Also expect the House Select Committee to pass them on to the DOJ, along with a referral for criminal charges against Trump and his accomplices. Merrick Garland MUST prosecute Trump for his many crimes, or our justice system and democracy will be destroyed.
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DJT Jan. 24, Twitter:
“China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American People, I want to thank President Xi!”
DJT Feb. 7, Twitter:
“Just had a long and very good conversation by phone with President Xi of China. He is strong, sharp and powerfully focused on leading the counterattack on the Coronavirus. He feels they are doing very well, even building hospitals in a matter of only days … Great discipline is taking place in China, as President Xi strongly leads what will be a very successful operation. We are working closely with China to help!
DJT Feb. 10, Fox Business interview:
"I think China is very, you know, professionally run in the sense that they have everything under control," Trump said. "I really believe they are going to have it under control fairly soon. You know in April, supposedly, it dies with the hotter weather. And that's a beautiful date to look forward to. But China I can tell you is working very hard."
DJT Feb. 13, Fox News interview:
“I think they've handled it professionally and I think they're extremely capable and I think President Xi is extremely capable and I hope that it's going to be resolved."
DJT Feb. 18, remarks before Air Force One departure:
“I think President Xi is working very hard. As you know, I spoke with him recently. He’s working really hard. It’s a tough problem. I think he’s going to do — look, I’ve seen them build hospitals in a short period of time. I really believe he wants to get that done, and he wants to get it done fast. Yes, I think he’s doing it very professionally.”
DJT Feb. 23, remarks before Marine One departure:
"I think President Xi is working very, very hard. I spoke to him. He's working very hard. I think he's doing a very good job. It's a big problem. But President Xi loves his country. He's working very hard to solve the problem, and he will solve the problem. OK?"
DJT Feb. 27, Coronavirus Task Force press conference:
“I spoke with President Xi. We had a great talk. He’s working very hard, I have to say. He’s working very, very hard. And if you can count on the reports coming out of China, that spread has gone down quite a bit. The infection seems to have gone down over the last two days. As opposed to getting larger, it’s actually gotten smaller.”
DJT Feb. 29, Coronavirus Task Force press conference:
“China seems to be making tremendous progress. Their numbers are way down. … I think our relationship with China is very good.'
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To those not wearing masks, social distancing, or following guidelines: Your willful ignorance does not mask your wanton disregard for human life, your appalling lack of humanity and humility, your supremely selfish inconsideration of others. Despite absolutely loathing wearing a mask, it's also the reason it's worn. The sooner we all start wearing masks, social distancing, and taking this deadly pandemic seriously, the sooner we get to take them off, the less time they'll need to be worn. Not to mention, the sooner we can go back to a normal that is more like normal, the sooner we can get our jobs back and our economy rolling, again.
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Republican cult are corrupt LYING hypocrites. Dirty, disgusting, deplorable, despicable, deranged, disgraceful, demented, dishonorable, depraved, disingenuous, devious, diabolical, duplicitous...and that's just a partial tabulation of the 'D' words describing the GOP; the complete listing of their nasty traits is far too many to enumerate.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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While mostly agree with Rep. Duetch, he has no words of defense for his fellow Democratic colleagues subjected to racist attacks here, instead throwing them under the bus, equating those he KNOWS are not anti-Semitic, and whose words have been taken out of context, with those who are known racists with a divisive agenda. He shows no indication of understanding or empathy how Palestinians and Muslims can feel the same fear of Israel and Jews he does for anti-Semitism, when people in the Israeli government, Jews, and other Islamophobic racists speak of them as animals and terrorists. Does he feel any empathy for the over 1,000,000 Palestinians Israeli Jews ethnically cleansed from Israel to create a "Jewish" nation, and how many and their descendents are still forced to live in refugee camps 70 years later because Israel denies them their natural and legal right of return to their homes and properties, which were illegally appropriated? Don't believe Jews control the world or its monetary systems, but neither is it any secret that Israeli front organizations like AIPAC unduly influence U.S. foreign policy through campaign donations and other political means. We need to talk about that, Rep. Deutch, and we need to be clear about where American interests end and Israeli interests begin. That can't--and shouldn't--be brushed under the rug as anti-Semitic.
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“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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With so few coronavirus tests, America has been flying blind into a storm
Editorial Board 03/13/20 -- Washington Post
BARELY MENTIONED in President Trump’s Oval Office address on Wednesday night was the diagnostic testing fiasco. He said only that testing capability is “expanding rapidly day by day.” He should have addressed what has become a major failure in how the United States has responded to the coronavirus pandemic, leaving the country far behind other nations in testing for and controlling infection. With so few tests, the United States has been flying blind into a storm.
Why is this such a problem? We cannot expect a vaccine or cure for covid-19 in the immediate future. But widespread diagnostic testing could help dramatically.
As Jeremy Samuel Faust, an emergency physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, wrote in a Post op-ed, this is for two reasons. First, identifying even mild cases of the infection that are now going uncounted would yield a more accurate picture of the lethality of the disease. This in turn would likely reassure the public and financial markets.
Second, Dr. Faust explained, “the discovery of mild and symptom-free cases may lower the number of serious cases over the course of the outbreak, and might even save lives.” This is partly because treatment (short of cure) can be effective, and partly because isolation of asymptomatic patients would slow the spread of infection. But those patients aren’t going to self-quarantine if they don’t know they’re sick.
South Korea’s experience supports this argument. Regulators there approved a new diagnostic test by a private company in a week’s time. South Korea is testing 20,000 people a day, and it now has drive-through testing — and the infection rates are not climbing sharply.
The United States’ record is sadly different. The initial setback was a technical fault in the diagnostic kits created and sent to state public health labs by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in February. While the CDC rushed to troubleshoot, only about a dozen state labs could test, and all other samples had to be sent to the CDC in Atlanta. Test results took days. On top of this, the agency set very restrictive criteria for who would be tested: only individuals who showed respiratory symptoms and had either recently traveled to China or come in close contact with an infected person. On Feb. 29, facing a rising case count in the United States and a lack of testing, the Food and Drug Administration abruptly changed its rules to allow “high-complexity” laboratories to use diagnostic tests they designed in-house. This began to expand testing and allow hospitals and private firms to produce them — they are now the main hope of ramping up testing — although another looming glitch is a shortage of chemicals.
Not all the testing problems in the United States are political, but it certainly did not help that Vice President Pence repeatedly over-promised the availability of tests, touting millions when only thousands have been conducted. “Anybody that needs a test gets a test,” Mr. Trump declared on March 6 at the CDC headquarters. “They’re there. They have the tests. And the tests are beautiful.” For the sake of the ill and the healthy, we hope the reality will soon catch up to that idle boast.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/opinions-with-so-few-coronavirus-tests-america-has-been-flying-blind-into-a-storm/ar-BB1172Dg
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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TRUM_PLANNED_EMIC!
Given plenty of advance warnings about COVID-19, Toxic Trump chose not to heed the sound advice provided. We could have been Taiwan, with a comparative 100 deaths in the U.S.; or South Korea, with a comparative 1500 deaths here, after adjusted for population size. Taiwan had just seven deaths; South Korea less than 300. We got over 150,000 deaths already, with the count still rapidly rising, while we remain, still, firmly mired in the first wave of the disease. Even worse, after six months, we STILL lack the adequate testing and rational national response to contain the disease.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian nationalism religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast would soon come to consume them.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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GOP cult: “Democracy is great…only so long as we can subvert it with lies, cheating, a multitude of Jim Crow voter suppression laws, egregious gerrymandering, obstruction, coups, election interference, election fraud, sedition, insurrection and terrorism to gain power and maintain our corrupt, plutocratic, minority fascist rule!”
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RECORD-SMASHING JOURNEY!!!
Republican hypocrisy reaches new heights--unseen heretofore, now traveling at Mach 666 as it disappears into a whole other dimension, the unrelenting gravitational pull inevitably sucking the very life from the Republican Party into its vortex, while poisoning and sickening the nation.
The absolute absurdity of Republican efforts to so-called "investigate the investigators" and "turn the tables" using a phony, debunked pretext -- while ignoring, denying, obfuscating, and attempting their very best to cover-up the culmination of the Mueller investigation (both its legal and security implications), dishonoring their sworn oaths to the Constitution -- launches hypocrisy to heights never before seen in this lifetime, defying belief. WOW!!! Just simply, WOW!!!
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The real evil is not one obviously sick individual, Trump. Conversely, Congressional Republicans are a group, granting no such excuse for their abandonment of reason, honor, patriotism, and integrity in covering-up Trump's crimes for their own personal benefit, when they are elected to high office to be leaders, not compliant sheep blindly led to their own slaughter--and into wantonly slaughtering justice, Constitution, and America.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
Democrats, Independents, others: WTF?!?
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'Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America' by Kathleen Belew (Harvard University Press, 2018)
The movement “brought together members of the Klan, militias, radical tax resisters, white separatists, neo-Nazis, and proponents of white theologies such as Christian Identity, Odinism, and Dualism” (ix). What was it about the movement that brought these ideologies together?
The promise of violence — rather, the promise that members would get to inflict violence on other people. Belew writes that as the white power movement matured, it became more violent, and “[as] violence came to the fore of the movement, distinctions among white power factions melted away” (60). Belew calls this process “violent community formation” (34). Yet as a social movement, Belew makes a distinction between the white power movement’s “revolutionary violence” and the Ku Klux Klan’s “vigilante violence.”
Vigilante violence “served to constitute, shore up, and enforce systemic power” (106). Given that the U.S. government has a long history of “defending vigilante violence by refusing to enforce the law” (99), law enforcement inaction and vigilante violence may be understood together as a case of one hand washing the other. Revolutionary violence, however, sought to overthrow the state. It is the white power movement’s goal of overthrowing the federal government that sets it apart in the history of white supremacy in the U.S.
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This was the worst time for this nation to lose one of its greatest public servants to ever grace its sacred chambers of Congress, when needed most! It is with deep respect and admiration, and great regret not to have known him personally, that the loss of Elijah Cummings is sorely felt. This nation suffers, already missing his unifying force, compassion, quiet patience and dignity, and honest, eloquent voice for justice. He is succeeded by some very capable Democrats in Congress, the very best and finest group of Democrats as a whole to ever represent and serve their constituents in the history of this nation, IMHO, and I'm extremely proud of all of them. May they keep his flame alive and burning bright for future generations! You will not be forgotten, Elijah!
Suspect the thing that really killed Elijah Cummings is the same thing slowly killing Robert Mueller and those rare few other sane conservatives like him, and all the rest of us fighting against a Republican cult hellbent on betrayal of everything for which America stands, that thing slowly but ever so surely killing America, too.
These are sad times in America, but for some inexplicable reason the passing away of Elijah Cummings strikes particularly hard upon the heart, in a way not thought possible. I am, however, grateful and enriched to have gained greater appreciation of him in these last months of his distinguished and accomplished life.
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Welcome to war. This is what war is. It's terrible, it's tragic, it's ugly, it stinks, it's unfair, it's sad, it's wasteful, it's hell, innocents die, and things always go wrong. You think we'd have learned that by now, but no, it's a lesson that has to be repeatedly learned, evidently. The consensus is that nobody foresaw the Afghan government and its armed forces completely capitulating so quickly as they did. Some say there should have been a contingency plan for this, but even though hindsight is 20/20, have yet to hear any rational plan that could have dealt with this situation. Shit happens, and Biden got handed a turd with Afghanistan. Instead of allowing the crap to continue, Biden made the hard, responsible decision to pull the U.S. out of another country's civil war. Fallout was inevitable, and Republicans trying to capitalize on that politically or media trying to profit from it is truly degenerate.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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Only in Trump America is a Medevac helicopter used to threaten, endanger, and intimidate U.S. citizens peacefully protesting in the middle of an urban center!
"I'm really concerned that military has been brought in and the National Guard — I think that's a really radical step," Lia Cheek, 32, told Business Insider. "Part of me feels like it's turning into a military state."
"It's a sign of who our president is — he likes to control, he likes to bully, and he's using our military and our people and our tax dollars to bully us and control us, and that's not OK," she added. "We need to keep protesting and using our voices."
A Virginia prosecutor said Monday, 06/08/20, she is investigating whether hate crimes charges are appropriate against an “admitted” Ku Klux Klan leader who authorities say revved his vehicle's engine and drove through peaceful protesters occupying a Richmond-area roadway.
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@mikecamrcplus3057 ~You got nothing that actually rebuts my comment, only Reich-wing lies, distortions, and bluster, Doc. Here's the reality:
--The eight largest single-day net drops in the Dow Jones Industrial Average occurred under Toxic Trump.
--Instead of creating jobs, Toxic Trump was the first President since the Great Depression to preside over a net loss of jobs over his tenure.
--Instead of lowering the national deficit, Toxic Trump increased it from 19.2 trillion to 27 trillion----the highest rate of increase of ANY President, ever.
--Instead of helping out the least among us, Toxic Trump widened the wealth and income disparity gap. 50% of his $1.9 trillion tax cut went to the top 5%; 65% went to the top 20%, with the top 40% benefiting next most, and the bottom 20% only receiving 1%. Moreover, his huge tax cut for big corporations and the wealthy left a legacy adding $1,000,000,000,000 a year to the federal deficit while lowering federal revenue.
--U.S. poverty level steadily rose under Reagan, steadily decreased under Clinton, steadily rose again under Bush, steadily decreased again under Obama after recovering from Bush's recession. Trump inherited a booming economy and declining poverty level from Obama, but the poverty level increased sharply during his last two years in office.
--Instead of raising our standing and security in the world, Toxic Trump lowered and weakened it.
--Instead of draining the swamp, Toxic Trump turned it into a noxious overflowing sewer of Republican corruption.
--Instead of striving to bring out the best in people, Toxic Trump reveled in bringing out the very worst.
--Instead of uniting the country, Toxic Trump sought to divide us.
--Instead of confronting a serious threat to Americans with a deadly global pandemic, Toxic Trump lied to the American people about it, ignored it, and refused to take any responsibility for his gross homicidal criminal negligence that resulted in one out of every 800 Americans dying from COVID-19--over 411,000 American lives in just ten months, as many casualties as all of WWII.
--Both China and Russia had vaccines before the U.S. Pfizer, which developed their own vaccine independently of the Trump administration, was the first vaccine approved for use in the U.S. The vaccine supplied by Moderna, the second vaccine approved for use in the U.S., was developed by a German company, BioNTech.
--Toxic Trump wore diapers due to his problem with incontinence.
--Toxic Trump spent more time on the golf course and watching TV than he spent doing his job, golfing over 300 rounds while in office, almost always at his own golf courses, where he could enrich himself at taxpayer's expense.
--Toxic Trump had trouble reading briefing reports and paying attention, so aides had to show him pictures and orally present important items, like a small child with ADHD.
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@2186kmr Here's a novel idea, one that's not so novel: Why not conduct the interview, then air the segment in pieces debunking and analyzing Smellyanne's B.S. with a panel of objective experts as they go. That way, the propaganda queens don't get to score points, guests get to air their arguments (or lack thereof), and the public actually gets informed instead of misinformed.
Media cuts out all the redundant, non-relevant B.S., stripping the response to questions to the essential, saving us the torture and wasted time. In the process, they are helping raise the conduct and standards expected of their guests to the basic minimum we expect. There are times where it is prudent for politicians to be circumspect, which is expected, but that would also presumably be recognized by the host or panel in their wisdom. Also think it proper for media to reward good behavior while discouraging bad. Expect media allow guests to sometimes expand on answers, or accept answers that lend fresh perspective, or touch briefly upon a manner of concern. The idea isn't to stifle debate in any way, but to allow cogent, coherent debate. Media needs to mediate better. Media BE better, WE be better!
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, along with Reich-wing demagogues and media, who were complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance, and in spreading disinformation and misinformation. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump left office, one out of every 800 Americans had died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 410,000 fatalities, as many American casualties as all of WWII. To put it into further perspective, throughout Trump's catastrophic mishandling of a deadly global pandemic, the U.S. led the world in cases and deaths, suffering nearly 25% of each, despite having only 4.25% of global population, despite having the advantage of being the richest and most advanced nation in the world.
The memorial would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure. Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Toxic Trump: "It's a HOAX!"
Much later: …."I got this pandemic completely under control, we're safe!"
Shortly after: …."It's not my fault! States need to take charge! I don't take ANY responsibility! It's unsafe! You need to stay home!"
Next day: ...."The cure is worse than the disease, you need to go back to work!
Next week: ...."Don't listen to me! Listen to the CDC!"
Following days: ...."USA #1 in coronavirus cases--and now we're #1 in coronavirus DEATHS! We're the BEST! Thanks to my extremely stable genius wartime leadership, only 100,000-240,000 Americans will die! We're doing a TREMENDOUS job! I still don't take ANY responsibility!"
Last week: ... "I've anointed myself All Powerful Dear Leader and will soon order all my subjects back to work despite lack of vaccine, cure, testing, PPE, medical staffing, and the sure-fire massive resurgence resulting thereof, killing tens of thousands more Americans--because this pandemic is killing my lucrative Emoluments business, and even my Soviet-style election chances!"
Now: … "Scratch that; might have to actually do stuff. My greatest-ever new half-baked plan shifts all responsibility and blame back to governors! For now. Maybe. We'll be letting you know, hopefully!"
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GOP cult is NOT the party of law and order, NOT the party of the Constitution and patriots, NOT the party of "values," NOT the party of fiscal responsibility, NOT the party of clean government, NOT the party of freedom. It's the party of terrorism, lawlessness, corruption, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry, misogyny, Big Lies, socialized taxpayer payouts for plutocrats, sedition, traitors, and tyranny.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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Andy Taylor ~ You're like the little kid crapping in the pool, tying to spoil it for everyone, just because your Putin puppet-pie pawn Toxic Trump is a loser. Your ignorant Russian bot trolling is what is irrelevant, Doc, showing off your complete lack of knowledge of even recent American history.
Fifty years? The last fifty years have seen the minority party, Republicans, have the slight edge in Presidents, the slight edge in Congress, the slight edge in governorships, and a majority Republican SCOTUS throughout. Republican SCOTUS decided Roe v. Wade 7-2, Republican SCOTUS made gay marriage and gay rights the law of the land, and Republican SCOTUS upheld Civil Rights laws. Of course, we know the Russians and their homegrown helper fascist cult morons hate America. #moreRussiasanctions
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We got Big Brag Daddy Baghdad Bob broadcasting direct from Washington, D.C. daily, with Toxic Trump and a revolving cast of his sycophantic minions! Happy talk, disinformation, empty promises, idle threats, vicious smears, bogus pandemic models, dog whistles, continuous crackpot conspiracies--they got it all, and more!
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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Get big money out of politics, and get corrupt politicians like Manchin and Sinema sucking up to the corporate trough voted out.
• A summer sting operation by Greenpeace had an Exxon Mobil lobbyist reveal that he met with Manchin weekly to try to persuade him to weaken Biden’s climate agenda (and he’s not the only rich guy who gets Manchin regularly on the line). Manchin has received more donations than any other Senator from oil, gas, and coal industry.
• An August piece in Harper’s noted that the West Virginia Democratic Party, which the senator played no small role in gutting, remains entirely under Manchin’s influence and control. It also mentions how Manchin leveraged his influence within the Senate to get plush government appointments for people close to him, including his wife.
• A September report from Type Investigations and the Intercept revealed that Manchin is currently invested in multiple coal companies that are run by his son, and that, even though the elder Manchin’s investments are in a blind trust, he has personally made $4.5 million from them during the time he has spent in the Senate (11 years to date).
• This is likely the Manch’s last term. In this remaining time, he seems to be simply looking out for his sources of wealth, including the ones that come from his son’s coal incinerators. It wouldn’t be the first time a Manchin family member used conflicts of interest to their advantage. Joe’s wife, Gayle, previously served as head of the West Virginia Board of Education and used her position to try to require the state’s schools to purchase EpiPens. EpiPens are manufactured by the Big Pharma juggernaut Mylan, whose former CEO was Heather Bresch—Manchin’s daughter, who stepped down after it was revealed she helped fix the prices of EpiPens in collusion with Pfizer. Family helping family: It’s a highly lucrative graft.
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Let's be clear; Congressional Republicans have been pointing a gun at the heart of legitimate self-government for four years, now. The only exception is FORMER Republican Rep. Justin Amash, who was essentially ejected from the GOP--solely for his honesty and integrity. Even Republican Sen. Mitt Romney over his two years in Congress has only made half-steps in rejecting Trump's authoritarianism, corruption, and lawlessness, demonstrating how he, too, cares more about his ambition and raw partisan power than he does his country. And it hasn't been just Congressional Republicans; nearly the entire GOP has been complicit in aiding and abetting what is clearly the most criminal, despotic, rotten, and incompetent President and administration in U.S. history.
Which is why it is felt the only good Republican is a former Republican. The GOP no longer stands for any rational ideology. Instead, it has become a mindless political cult, based upon hate, delusions, denials, and the blind lust for power at any cost.
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@christhaitech2363 ~ We're veruy much on the same page. The following is something have been posting in various incarnations for over three years:
The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Republican cult placing greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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Tucker Carlson and Faux News: mainstreaming American fascism and deadly lies killing Americans purely for profit.
FAUX News is happy to push Russian propaganda for Putin and disinformation for plutocrats and fascists, but the truth is verboten on Reich-wing media! Sad, pathetic, disgusting and dangerous.'
America's enemies don't need to spread disinformation, doubt, discord, and division to weaken America, kill Americans--Republican politicians, Reich-wing demagogues, Faux News, OAN, Newsmax, Breitbart and the rest of the Reich-wing media do that so effectively for them, already. More Americans need to realize that the GOP has abdicated it's duty as loyal opposition, and that its prioritization of party over country and welcoming embrace of violent radical Reich-wing extremists diminishes both our government and our national security, endangering ALL Americans, as well as weakening and endangering America itself.
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@not your cat ~ Worked in IT for years, headed the department for a major service the IT firm offered that was a significant source of that company's income. Worked as a contract analyst for a time. Which is why I know you're talking out your butt.
Contract programmers and analysts are typically paid significantly more than in-house employees. And a company receiving $10 billion dollars to develop a system for the government is going to have to hire not only a lot more employees, but will likely be forced to hire a good number of high-priced contractors, as well, to deliver the goods.
Your assertion here that "no sane PM would use proprietary code on a critical system" is just false. In fact, proprietary code is typically found not just in the system software, but also incorporated into aspects of the application software. Additionally, proprietary code may be used for cyber security purposes. In today's IT environment, a patchwork of proprietary code is the rule, not the exception. And the proprietary code itself may contain the proprietary code of others. That's because it's much less costly to license proven software than it is to reinvent the wheel over and over again, only to produce a result that may not work as satisfactorily as the proprietary software.
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@LifeWithRilla ~ And how often are these big Pentagon contracts with businesses delivered on time without exceeding budget costs? It seems that happens only very rarely. One concern of mine is that the more fingers in the pie, the more opportunity for security breaches. Another concern is that we become overly reliant on the private sector for essential needs, who are more concerned with profit than the American people.
What is the cloud, anyway, but a bunch of servers for a database, the communications network to access it (earth-orbiting satellites), and the security systems protecting both? I find it sad and lamentable that so many appear to have become cynical and forgotten that our government if of the people, by the people, and for the people, that we get the kind of government we choose. We have lost that can-do attitude that we can make the government work for us that has been inspired by the likes of FDR and Kennedy, and we are a poorer nation for it.
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@LifeWithRilla ~ What did I state that's not true at all? It's notable that you don't specify, and the question becomes, why is that? It took you took two lengthy replies to respond, throughout which you did not actually refute anything I said; all you're doing is giving your own opinion.
Just so you know, I was in IT for years, and headed a software group, so you might fool others, but you're not going to bamboozle me with talk of "50,000 software engineers," or "the real costs associated with the tech industry." Moreover, the federal government already employs many IT experts and specialists, and $10,000,000,000 could hire plenty more at competitive wages. All you're doing is proving my point about the lack of can-do attitude plaguing our society. Truth is, we lose the negativity and blind adherence to ideology, we can do anything we set our minds to doing that is in the realm of possible----and even some things that were thought impossible.
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Trumpettes riding that river in Egypt, denial, like a super chump, paddling furiously upstream--but the turds are getting flushed out to sea, unable to withstand or overcome the riptide of truth, progress, and enlightenment!! Trumpettes keep paddling that dinghy called denial! But they're losing headway, need to pick up the pace a bit! More lies and propaganda, more slimy deceit, more cheap, phony theatrics and sleazy stunts from the Trumpettes! Faster! Faster! More! More! Must continue to keep digging that hole bigger and deeper for the GOP coffin!
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Republicans are forced to run on bogus culture wars because their policies, where existent, and stances on the issues are widely unpopular. What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle to grift their voters and us taxpayers.
You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
Republicans have had lots and lots of practice gaslighting and revising history. Pretty soon, they're going to make the GOP disappear! They're already on the wrong side of history, yet keep edging ever closer to extinction.
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
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@Daniel Jacobs ~ Israel has a “duty” to vaccinate Palestinians, the Palestinian Authority said in a statement it released on Jan 10. Not doing so constitutes “racial discrimination against the Palestinian people and a denial of their right to healthcare.” Until their public statement on the matter on Jan. 10, Palestinian officials had made contradictory claims on whether or not they had asked Israel for vaccinations. However, it should be noted that Israel never planned to provide Palestinians in the oPt vaccine doses under their legal and moral obligation as the military occupying authority, ordering only enough for Israeli citizens.
In a Jan. 14 statement, The UN’s body for human rights also called on Israel to ensure swift and equitable access to the COVID-19 vaccine for the Palestinian people, in accordance with its responsibilities as an occupying power under the Geneva Convention.
Israeli lawmaker Nitzan Horowitz, leader of Israel’s Meretz party, says that vaccinating Palestinians in the oPt is, “our moral obligation.”
Israeli rights organization Rabbis for Human Rights has similarly argued that Israel has a “moral imperative” to vaccinate Palestinians, especially in Gaza.
Gerard Rockenshlaub, the head of the World Health Organization Office for the occupied Palestinian territory told TIME on Jan 13 that “unequal access to essential vaccines is hardly anywhere as visible as it is in this particular context.”
Miriam Marmur, spokesperson for the Tel Aviv-based rights group Gisha, says, "Israeli authorities citing the Oslo accords is an example of how they do so at their convenience. In reality, Israel has undermined the ability of the Palestinian Authority and also of the de-facto Hamas Authorities in Gaza to actually take full responsibilities for health as was provided for in the Oslo agreement.” U.N. human rights experts say that the Oslo Accords must be “interpreted and applied consistently with international law, and cannot derogate from its broad protections,” according to the Jan. 14 OCHA statement.
The exclusion of Palestinians from Israel’s vaccination program is “reflective of a system of apartheid,” says Dr. Mustafa Al Barghtoy, a physician and former Palestinian minister who serves on the Palestinian health committee dealing with COVID-19. The injustice is underscored by the fact that hundreds of thousands of Israeli settlers are eligible to receive the vaccine, he says, while their Palestinian neighbors are not. Meanwhile, Israel will be vaccinating prison guards, but not the Palestinian political prisoners they oversee, he adds.
Before the PA formally said Israel is responsible for vaccinating Palestinians, the WHO had informally requested Israel provide vaccinations to inoculate frontline Palestinian health workers. Israel denied that request.
With the IDF moving throughout the West Bank, and some 130,000 Palestinians working in the settlements or Israel, not making the vaccine available is “counterproductive” in terms of achieving herd immunity.
The Palestinian Authority has made efforts to import vaccines independent of Israel. Its health ministry on Jan 11 announced it had given emergency approval to Russia’s Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine for use in areas it administers under limited Palestinian self-rule; it also says it has struck a deal with AstraZeneca for vaccines it expects to receive in late February. On top of that, the first shipment of vaccines under the WHO’s COVAX program could become available as early as February.
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Whole trouble is that the U.S. still doesn't have any rational national pandemic response, nor the prerequisite adequate testing capabilities. That's why the U.S. STILL remains the epicenter of this pandemic after four months. It's why we now need the whole nation to lock down with only truly essential workers, until we bring the raging inferno down to a few small brush fires. Thing is, if EVERYONE followed the simple guidelines during lockdown, we could probably have COVID-19 under firm control with proper testing and tracing within just six weeks. Even if not everyone cooperates, we'd still have saved countless Americans, and put ourselves in a much better position to begin slowly reopening the economy. Unfortunately, because of Toxic Trump, irresponsible, corrupt Congressional Republicans, and a mindless Republican cult, we're ALL stuck in a disaster zone for the near foreseeable future.
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Had to smile learning of Toxic Trump's bullying threats against protestors. Very first thought was that little coward is quaking in his boots, filling them with piss, envisioning the guillotine! Well, there is a revolution happening, and it's certainly true that many want the head of this administration removed! Then, finding out the Coward-'n-Thief holed himself up in the White House underground bunker, hunkering down, howled with laughter! Now, after watching President Nero deploy hundreds of ACTIVE military on WHITE HOUSE grounds, then discovering they were used without warning to flash-bang, tear gas, rubber-bullet and physically shove the peaceful protesting crowd back--merely so that Toxic Trump could stage a photo op holding up a Bible in front of the church next door for his political campaign--am not feeling at all jovial, anymore.
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Toxic Trump, at coronavirus press briefing 04/20/20, "We're looking at maybe "only" 50-60,000 deaths in the U.S.!" Just three days later, the toll surpassed 50,000; six days after that, it went over 61,000. On 05/04/20--a mere two weeks after Trump's delusional pronouncement--the U.S. reached 70,000 deaths. Now, because of some state and local governments opening up their economies too soon is blatant disregard of Trump administration's own guidelines, the CDC Mayday report projects new highs of 3,000 deaths and 200,000 new cases per DAY by June. That would put us at 100-150,000 deaths--just by the end of June, alone. That's acceptable, here in America? Since when?
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle to grift their voters and us taxpayers.
You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she says that "Republicans don't give a shit."
Republicans have had lots and lots of practice gaslighting and revising history. Pretty soon, they're going to make the GOP disappear! They're already on the wrong side of history, yet keep edging ever closer to extinction.
GOP = Fascism The few patriots in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become fascist. Their fascism needs to be called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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You can't even make a cogent and cohesive argument, Doc, so how is anyone supposed to find you credible? It sounds like you've been chasing Russian and Republican illusions down far, far, too many rabbit holes, and have become lost in the dark! Come on out into the light and back to reality, where the truth is clearly evident for all that desire to see! The truth is, Trump lost, plain and simple. He lost because he was a terrible, corrupt President, the worst ever in American history. Why are those obvious truths so hard for some folks to grasp and accept? The only logical explanation is that they have become part of a dangerous cult--something which is antithetical to being a good or "true" American.
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As Trump disgraces, demeans and diminishes the Oval Office and Presidency, threatening our elections, democracy, Constitution and country, he devalues and degrades America and all Americans. Cheapening all of us and what we all hold most dear as a WHOLE, not just cheapening our sacred vessel, himself, and those that would support such deviancy. Furthermore, his immoral actions and behaviors pose a grave threat to both well-being and security of society and nation. Sadly, Republicans who've lost their self-respect lost their ability to care.
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“I'm not scared of the Maos and the Stalins and the Hitlers.
I'm scared of the thousands or millions of people that hallucinate them to be "authority", and so do their bidding, and pay for their empires, and carry out their orders.
I don't care if there's one looney with a stupid moustache. He's not a threat if the people do not believe in "authority".” ― Larken Rose
Setting aside the sleazy immoral Reich-wing grifters at the top -- people like Trump, Congressional Republicans, Reich-wing demagogues and media -- the rank-and-file of the GOP has become a fascist cult. To be clear, Trump did not create the cult, it existed before him. He merely served as a unifying figure they chose to rally around and worship as their fool's gold god. Trump appealed to their basest nature and told them what they wanted to hear. Now, those Reich-wing grifters may have cultivated their cult to exploit for their own greed, power and vanity, but at least to some extent the Republican cult in turn seeks to exploit the GOP for their own various misguided purposes. They CHOOSE to be willfully ignorant, to believe or espouse the lies, because as a political calculus they shortsightedly see it as expedient to their ends.
What must also be taken into consideration are the characteristics of a cult. Why do people join a cult? Why do they choose to remain in a cult? No need to go into detail; the answers are largely common knowledge or easily researched. But it should be pointed out that in a complex world, the simplistic and rigid beliefs embraced by cults can be very alluring, no matter how fantastical and removed from reality. It should also be acknowledged that the Republican cult is not a monolithic entity, but an amalgamation of sects, including White supremacists, Christian nationalists, libertarians, sovereign nationals, anarchists, tax resistors, Qanon and other extremist fringe groups. Of course, not every Republican is an extremist, a fascist, or untethered from reality. But this latter more benign group is nevertheless part of the fascist Republican cult, complicit in their support of the whole, whether through their silent acquiescence and votes or willing assistance.
It's a very dangerous feedback loop, a vicious circle, one that as it sinks further into depravity its threat correspondingly rises, for as the Republican cult has over time been becoming increasingly more radicalized, we witness the election of more radical politicians to represent them, more radicalized Reich-wing media and demagogues to feed them propaganda. While some Republicans are leaving the GOP and some others are speaking out and trying to save their party, they constitute a weak minority, unfortunately.
In a normal, sane world, the Republican cult would have ended or been marginalized after the Mueller Report, after Trump's Ukraine shakedown and impeachment, after Trump's horrendous handling of a deadly global pandemic, after his election defeat, or after January 6th and his second impeachment. But that hasn't happened. Instead, the Republican cult continues to become increasingly more radicalized and extreme. As President Biden says, "We are in a battle for the soul of this nation." And that battle is far from over.
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“The violent riot in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021 was a direct assault on the U.S. Congress the Capitol building, and our Constitutional process. We witnessed actions inside the Capitol building that were inconsistent with the rule of law. The rights of freedom of speech and assembly do not give anyone the right to resort to violence, sedition and insurrection.
As Service Members, we must embody the values and ideals of the Nation. We support and defend the Constitution. Any act to disrupt the Constitutional process is not only against our traditions, values, and oath; it is against the law.
President-elect Joe Biden will be inaugurated and will become our 46th Commander in Chief.”
General Mark A. Milley, U.S. Army, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
General John E. Hyten, U.S. Air Force, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
General James C. McConville, U.S. Army, Chief of Staff of the Army
General David H. Berger, U.S. Marine Corps, Commandant of the Marine Corps
Admiral Michael M. Gilday, U.S. Navy, Chief of Naval Operations
General Charles Q. Brown Jr., U.S. Air Force, Chief of Staff of the Air Force
General John W. Raymond, U.S. Space Force, Chief of Space Operations
General Daniel R. Hokanson, U.S. Army, Chief of the National Guard Bureau
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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GOP cult: “Democracy is great…only so long as we can subvert it with lies, cheating, a multitude of Jim Crow voter suppression laws, egregious gerrymandering, obstruction, coups, election interference, election fraud, sedition, insurrection and terrorism to gain power and maintain our corrupt, plutocratic, minority fascist rule!”
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of conspiracy theories, the party of hate, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of corruption, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their deal with the Devil.
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@FS-eb5ej ~ You're just a bigot trying to spread your ignorance, Doc. Ruhle has been a journalist for a decade, her reporting skills leading her to top positions at two news organizations as not just an anchor, but also managing editor and editor-at-large.
Not that her amazing success in the financial field has anything to do with this story--you're just engaging in Whataboutism--but anyone familiar with Stephanie knows that she is no shill for Wall Street. Just the opposite, in fact, as she is much more an advocate for the average working American than Wall Street or the wealthy. Ruhle's experience in her previous employment field allows her to provide astute analysis of issues in the financial markets, holding Wall St. accountable.
Besides, her excellent journalistic ability and professionalism is on full display here for all to see, anyway. She asked the right questions, presented relevant facts, was tough and persistent, yet still courteous and respectful throughout. She's one sharp cookie, and we need more news anchors of her caliber.
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“I'm not scared of the Maos and the Stalins and the Hitlers.
I'm scared of the thousands or millions of people that hallucinate them to be "authority", and so do their bidding, and pay for their empires, and carry out their orders.
I don't care if there's one looney with a stupid moustache. He's not a threat if the people do not believe in "authority".” ― Larken Rose
Setting aside the sleazy immoral Reich-wing grifters at the top -- people like Trump, Congressional Republicans, Reich-wing demagogues and media -- the rank-and-file of the GOP has become a fascist, nihilistic cult. To be clear, Trump did not create the cult, it existed before him. He merely served as a unifying figure they chose to rally around and worship as their fool's gold god. Trump appealed to their basest nature and told them what they wanted to hear. Now, those Reich-wing grifters may have cultivated their cult to exploit for their own greed, power and vanity, but at least to some extent the Republican cult in turn seeks to exploit the GOP for their own various misguided purposes. They CHOOSE to be willfully ignorant, to believe or espouse the lies, because as a political calculus they shortsightedly see it as expedient to their ends.
What must also be taken into consideration are the characteristics of a cult. Why do people join a cult? Why do they choose to remain in a cult? No need to go into detail; the answers are largely common knowledge or easily researched. But it should be pointed out that in a complex world, the simplistic and rigid beliefs embraced by cults can be very alluring, no matter how fantastical and removed from reality. It should also be acknowledged that the Republican cult is not a monolithic entity, but an amalgamation of sects, including White supremacists, Christian nationalists, libertarians, sovereign nationals, anarchists, tax resistors, Qanon and other extremist fringe groups. Of course, not every Republican is an extremist, a fascist, or untethered from reality. But this latter more benign group is nevertheless part of the fascist Republican cult, complicit in their support of the whole, whether through their silent acquiescence and votes or willing assistance.
It's a very dangerous feedback loop, a vicious circle, one that as it sinks further into depravity its threat correspondingly rises, for as the Republican cult has over time been becoming increasingly more radicalized, we witness the election of more radical politicians to represent them, more radicalized Reich-wing media and demagogues to feed them propaganda. While some Republicans are leaving the GOP and some others are speaking out and trying to save their party, they constitute a weak minority, unfortunately.
In a normal, sane world, the Republican cult would have ended or been marginalized after the Mueller Report, after Trump's Ukraine shakedown and impeachment, after Trump's horrendous handling of a deadly global pandemic, after his election defeat, or after January 6th and his second impeachment. But that hasn't happened. Instead, the Republican cult continues to become increasingly more radicalized and extreme. As President Biden says, "We are in a battle for the soul of this nation." And that battle is far from over.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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Toxic Trump: "I'm the BEST, just absolutely CRUSHING the competition, with over FOUR POINT THREE MILLION coronavirus cases and over 150 -- one-hundred and fifty!!! -- THOUSAND deaths! Easy as 1-2-3! They ALL got eighty-sixed, 'cause nobody else even comes close! With a QUARTER of the world's cases AND deaths--can you even imagine how truly great, how awesome, that achievement is, with only just FOUR PERCENT of the world's population to work with? Believe it or not, I accomplished in only FIVE WEEKS what it took the Vietnam War a whole TWELVE YEARS to do! Not done with the fun--and not to be outdone--I then doubled down on the death toll from Vietnam in just FOUR MONTHS! PLUS, we're not even counting ALL the COVID-19 cases and deaths here in the U.S.! And, with only TEN PERCENT of the U.S. population already infected, we're just getting started with all the sickness and death; there's PLENTY more to come! Those other weaklings and losers don't stand a chance, because we're going to keep right on winning--as long as I'm in charge! Now, vacation's over; time to get back to work on increasing those numbers, people! Let's keep America great, get rid of all the excess baggage! As wartime President, I am commanding all CIVILIANS to senselessly sacrifice their lives for my arrogance, stupidity, vanity, malevolence, and greed!"
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@Clyjade_of_God_and_Putin ~ What about your Whataboutism, Doc? So, when your little girl gets raped, brutally mutilated, and killed, we should just switch the subject, talk about the other little girls that happened to in the past, to justify or rationalize what happened to your innocent little girl now, instead of seeking justice for her, getting a sadistic killer off the street? Get a clue, fool tool.
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Let's be clear; Congressional Republicans have been pointing a gun at the heart of legitimate self-government for four years, now--including Sen. Ben Sasse. The only exception is FORMER Republican Rep. Justin Amash, who was essentially ejected from the GOP--solely for his honesty and integrity. Even Republican Sen. Mitt Romney over his two years in Congress has only made half-steps in rejecting Trump's authoritarianism, corruption, and lawlessness, demonstrating how he, too, cares more about his ambition and raw partisan power than he does his country. And it hasn't been just Congressional Republicans; nearly the entire GOP has been complicit in aiding and abetting what is clearly the most criminal, despotic, rotten, and incompetent President and administration in U.S. history.
Which is why it is felt the only good Republican is a former Republican. The GOP no longer stands for any rational ideology. Instead, it has become a mindless political cult, based upon hate, delusions, denials, and the blind lust for power at any cost.
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"We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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"Without accountability, an attempted autogolpe or insurrection is just practice."
"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
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If you're not very sophisticated, know little about the Constitution and impeachment, and didn't listen objectively to the other three expert witnesses on Constitutional law, then you might come away with the wrong idea that Professor Turley was credible. You do realize that Turley's whole testimony ADVOCATES impeachment, simply asking for more witnesses, which Democrats very much want to have testify, but refuse to let Trump run out the clock in the courts with baseless legal appeals blocking evidentiary materials and their testimony?
Professor Turley disgraced himself and his employer, Georgetown University, getting taken to the mat repeatedly and completely outclassed by three experts from other universities. While clearly knowledgeable about Constitutional law and history, Professor Turley failed to present any rational academic argument against impeachment, choosing instead to turn a blind eye to high crimes, unprecedented total obstruction of Congress oversight and impeachment powers, this President's penchant for perversions and abuses of power, and dire national security concerns...while making false allegations, engaging in false equivalencies, projecting undue bias and playing coy. Although much value and greatly appreciate opposing perspectives, Professor Turley's performance was an act of bad faith and intellectual dishonesty, demonstrating a critical lack of integrity, of which Georgetown University, its students, and its alumni should all be ashamed, as it reflects very poorly on them and their fine institution. This was a fool willingly made a Republican cult tool, and the motivation appears more self-interest than altruistic--at a time when all sane, loyal hands are crucially required on deck.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth and justice--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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U.S. hospitals brace for ‘tremendous strain’ from new virus
Mar 13, 2020
U.S. hospitals are setting up circus-like triage tents, calling doctors out of retirement, guarding their supplies of face masks and making plans to cancel elective surgery as they brace for an expected onslaught of coronavirus patients.
Depending on how bad the crisis gets, the sick could find themselves waiting on stretchers in emergency room hallways for hospital beds to open up, or could be required to share rooms with others infected. Some doctors fear hospitals could become so overwhelmed that they could be forced to ration medical care.
“This is going to be a fairly tremendous strain on our health system,” warned Dr. William Jaquis, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians.
The United States is still facing an active flu season, and many hospitals are already running at capacity caring for those patients. The new virus will only add to that burden, said Dr. Bruce Ribner an infectious-disease specialist at Emory University’s medical school.
Government health authorities are taking emergency steps to waive certain laws and regulations to help hospitals deal with the crisis. Hospitals, too, are getting ready.
To keep suspected coronavirus patients from mingling with others in the ER, the Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, Maine, set up a tent in the parking lot where people with respiratory symptoms are diverted for testing. Lexington Medical Center in West Columbia, South Carolina, did the same outside its emergency room.
In Seattle, hit by the nation’s biggest cluster of coronavirus deaths, most of them at a suburban nursing home, UW Medicine set up drive-thru testing in a hospital parking garage and has screened hundreds of staff members, faculty and trainees, with nurses reaching through car windows and using swabs to collect specimens from people’s nostrils . Drive-thru testing is expected to be offered to patients as soon as Monday.
This week, the American Hospital Association, American Medical Association and American Nurses Association asked for a presidential emergency declaration that would allow doctors and nurses to work across state lines and would waive certain rules to free up hospital beds. Similar declarations were issued during Hurricane Katrina and the swine flu outbreak.
On Friday, President Donald Trump responded by issuing an emergency declaration and said he was giving the U.S. health secretary authority to waive federal regulations and laws to give doctors and hospitals “flexibility” in treating patients.
Trump also announced a government partnership with major businesses to set up drive-thru testing centers and a website to help people who think they might have the virus. Those testing locations could include parking lots at Walmart, Target, Walgreens and other major chains.
The American Medical Association praised the action. In a statement, Dr. Patrice Harris, AMA’s president, said the emergency declaration is needed to help ensure that the U.S. health care system “has sufficient resources to properly respond to the ongoing outbreak, prevent further spread of illness and keep our communities safe.”
How bad U.S. hospitals will be hit is unclear, in part because mistakes on the part of the government in ramping up widespread testing for the virus have left public health officials uncertain as to how many people are infected.
Officially, the number of cases in the U.S. was put at around 1,300 Friday, with at least 41 deaths. But by some estimates, at least 14,000 people might be infected.
Experts fear that when the problems with testing are resolved, a flood of patients will hit the nation’s emergency rooms. But large-scale testing will also give health authorities a clearer picture of the outbreak, enabling them to allocate resources where they are needed.
“What’s most important now is that we get the testing done,” said Richard Pollack, president of the American Hospital Association.
In hard-hit Italy, doctors have been forced to make agonizing decisions about which critically ill patients receive care. Doctors fear that could happen in the United States, too.
“Studies predict that a moderate outbreak could result in 200,000 patients needing intensive care,” said Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency medicine specialist at George Washington University. “The U.S. only has 100,000 intensive care beds, and most are already occupied. If tens of thousands become sick at once, people will simply not receive the care that they need.”
That would affect not only coronavirus patients but also trauma victims and people suffering heart attacks or strokes, Wen said.
In Wuhan, China, where the outbreak originated in late December, patients died because they couldn’t access care. “We are at risk of that happening in the U.S., too,” Wen said.
Seattle-area scientists are working to estimate how soon infections will overwhelm hospital beds there. Under the worst-case scenario, the number of active infections will exceed the number of beds by a large margin in the next two weeks, the Institute for Disease Modeling in Bellevue, Washington, said in a report this week.
For most people, the virus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. Most people recover from the virus in a matter of weeks, as has happened in mainland China.
Reacting to reports of dwindling supplies of respirator masks, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted relaxed recommendations this week for protective gear and said looser-fitting surgical masks are OK for doctors and nurses to wear when treating patients who may be sick from the coronavirus.
In another change, the CDC said coronavirus patients can be cared for in single-patient rooms with the door closed and do not need to be placed in specialized airborne-infection isolation rooms.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/u-s-hospitals-brace-for-tremendous-strain-from-new-virus
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Reich-wing media, demagogues, and politicians peddle lies, fear, and hate, hiding behind the Bible and the flag, to rake in billions off the Republican cult rubes. It needs to be repudiated, discredited, and rejected, so that the deprogramming of the Republican cult beast they created can begin, and our country heal. Without truth, there can be no trust. And without trust, our society and nation is being slowly and surely destroyed.
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Traitor-'n-Thief Toxic Trump is a compromised Russian asset who puts his own personal interests--legal, financial, and egotistical--ahead of the national interest in both domestic and foreign policy. A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or "the Wall") is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle's name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called "leaders" in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. has ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 -- than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to--and a barrier against--our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It's design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge--and help teach--people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see...if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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Quit trying to overly dramatize this volcano, CNN! The "expert" is a student of geology merely repeating what has already been known and reported in a very thick, hard to understand accent. This volcano is like the volcanos on Hawaii or Iceland, which can be destructive, but rarely cause many fatalities because they are not that explosive and are fairly slow moving. The current eruption on La Palma has already output more magma than the previous two eruptions there but, given the subsidence of surrounding land indicating an emptying of the underground lava reservoir, activity is likely to gradually diminish and then cease within weeks. There are toxic gases emitted from the volcanic vents, toxic gases emitted from burning materials with which hot magma comes into contact, and additional toxic gases created when hot magma interacts with sea water. The Canary Islands are a product of volcanic activity over millions of years, with a number of the islands containing active volcanos, which are often dormant for a number of years between eruptions after enough pressure builds. There are also underwater volcanos in the area, which contains a shifting geological hot zone caused by tectonic activity.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law?
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There has never been a graceful exit for the losing side in any war.
Truth is, our hasty withdrawal from Vietnam was even worse if you look at the numbers and the whole picture. Only 7,000 were evacuated from Vietnam during the fall of Saigon, with many more left behind, including two dead American soldiers----the last to die in the Vietnam War----left behind in a hospital and not returned until a year later by the Vietnamese. That evacuation occurred under hostile NVA and Vietcong fire. Since August 14, over 120,000 have already been evacuated from Afghanistan despite the complete capitulation of the Afghan government and Afghan Army, with no hostile fire upon American troops by the Taliban so far. Over 125,000 have been evacuated since the end of July. Moreover, the January 27, 1973 peace agreement signed by the Americans with the North Vietnamese ended all direct U.S. military involvement in Vietnam, and provided sixty days for troop removal. Just as with Afghanistan, all troops were removed. However, it was over two years later, on April 30, 1975, when the fall of Saigon occurred. So, the U.S. had nearly two-and-a-half years to evacuate everyone else before the fall of the South Vietnamese government and armed forces, instead of just the two weeks like in Afghanistan so far.
The other thing in stark contrast between Vietnam and Afghanistan is that no Democrats----including Carter, who was running against Ford for President----tried to use the situation for political gain like Republicans are so desperately and depravedly doing now. That, despite the fact that it was the previous Trump administration which bears the brunt of the blame for the current situation.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian nationalism religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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For three years, Republicans have propped up and protected a corrupt, sociopathic narcissistic menace to society, gaslighting and covering up Traitor Trump crimes, ineptness, and incompetence. Republicans don't really care about our country; time and again, for decades now, they have put their politics and greed for power above the welfare of this nation. The destructiveness of GOP politics on American government began under Nixon, but starting with Reagan it became a Republican selling point. Conservatism won't die, but Republicanism has become a zero-sum game for losers. This incarnation of the GOP needs to die, or it will be the end of American greatness.
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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@elfadam Thanks! Very well done. One good turn deserves another, so here is our version you may also appreciate:
~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation—only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regurgitation
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump’s COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration…
Now reaching vacation destination!
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It’s that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don’t care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn’t want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it’s more than hope—those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another three months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn’t really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
“The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.”
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump’s hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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Taking the vaccination brings freedom from preventable illness or injury, and a senseless premature death, but the mindless fascist Republican cult only believes in freeDUMB. Just as they don't understand or would deny the Constitution is as much about the common good as personal liberties, and that those two things are intrinsically and inextricably intertwined.
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge." ~ Ben Franklin, from Poor Richard's Almanack
Those who scorn public health guidelines during a deadly global pandemic and confuse a grievous public health issue with "essential" liberty to kill and harm themselves and their fellow citizens--as well as their nation--sorely lack both care and knowledge. They are also sorely lacking in common sense, something else about which Mr. Franklin was quite keen. Mr. Franklin was also one our nation's first scientists--yet these modern-day knuckleheads who ought know better refute science! Were he alive today, he would be rather dismayed, disgruntled, and disgusted with the fascist anti-science Republican cult, that much is crystal clear.
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"Peace is not a very big thing to ask for, is it?" ~ Fatima Gailani, Afghan activist and negotiator, pleading for continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan
It is when asking the Taliban, who do not seek peace or to bargain in good faith, but total domination once again. U.S. has spent 20 years and $2 trillion trying to achieve peace in Afghanistan, losing over 4000 American lives (military and civilian contractors), with tens of thousands of Americans wounded there.
"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials … have given Afghans little reason to support their government," Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the commander of U.S. forces in the country, wrote in a 2009 memorandum. "This crisis of confidence, coupled with a distinct lack of economic and educational opportunity, has created fertile ground for the insurgency."
That was 11 years ago, and little has changed since. Thought the invasion of Afghanistan by Bush was a mistake that would lead to a quagmire, and have been proven correct. Still, initially supported efforts to bring peace and stability there, along with basic human and civil-rights, because after invading felt we had an obligation to rebuild. However, while U.S. blunders there have contributed to a failure, Afghans are their own worst enemy, and no one can help them until enough of them are willing to help themselves.
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The Case Against Donald Trump
The president of the United States poses a threat to our collective existence. The choice voters face is spectacularly obvious.
OCTOBER 22, 2020 — Jeffrey Goldberg, on behalf of the editors of The Atlantic
In 1973, a United States Air Force officer, Major Harold Hering, asked a question that the Air Force did not want asked. Hering, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, was then in training to become a Minuteman-missile crewman. The question he asked one of his instructors was this: “How can I know that an order I receive to launch my missiles came from a sane president?”
The writer Ron Rosenbaum would later call this the “forbidden question.” Missile officers are allowed to ask certain sorts of questions—about the various fail-safe systems built to prevent the accidental launching of nuclear weapons, for instance. But the Air Force would not answer Hering’s question, and it moved to discharge him after determining that officers responsible for launching nuclear weapons did not “need to know” the answer. “I have to say I feel I do have a need to know because I am a human being,” Hering said in response.
Hering’s question was taboo because the national defense strategy of the United States is built on the unstated assumption that the American people will not allow a lunatic to become president. If that assumption is wrong, then no procedural, legal, or technological mechanisms exist that are able to fully protect the human race from such a lunatic. Hering discovered a catastrophic flaw in U.S. nuclear doctrine, and for this he was driven from the Air Force.
In most matters related to the governance and defense of the United States, the president is constrained by competing branches of government and by an intricate web of laws and customs. Only in one crucial area does the president resemble, in the words of the former missile officer and scholar Bruce Blair, an absolute monarch—his control of nuclear weapons. Richard Nixon, who was president when Major Hering asked his question, was reported to have told members of Congress at a White House dinner party, “I could leave this room and in 25 minutes, 70 million people would be dead.” This was an alarming but accurate statement.
When contemplating their ballots, Americans should ask which candidate in a presidential contest is better equipped to guide the United States through a national-security crisis without triggering a nuclear exchange, and which candidate is better equipped to interpret—within five or seven minutes—the ambiguous, complicated, and contradictory signals that could suggest an imminent nuclear attack. These are certainly not questions that large numbers of voters asked themselves in 2016, when a transparently unqualified candidate for president won the support of 63 million Americans.
At the time, Donald Trump had not yet served in public office, so concerns about his ability to protect the United States from harm were hypothetical, though grounded in his long and terrible record as a human being. As The Atlantic stated in its October 2016 endorsement of his opponent, Hillary Clinton, Trump “traffics in conspiracy theories and racist invective; he is appallingly sexist; he is erratic, secretive, and xenophobic; he expresses admiration for authoritarian rulers, and evinces authoritarian tendencies himself … He is an enemy of fact-based discourse; he is ignorant of, and indifferent to, the Constitution; he appears not to read.”
What we have learned since we published that editorial is that we understated our case. Donald Trump is the worst president this country has seen since Andrew Johnson, or perhaps James Buchanan, or perhaps ever. Trump has brought our country low; he has divided our people; he has pitted race against race; he has corrupted our democracy; he has shown contempt for American ideals; he has made cruelty a sacrament; he has provided comfort to propagators of hate; he has abandoned America’s allies; he has aligned himself with dictators; he has encouraged terrorism and mob violence; he has undermined the agencies and departments of government; he has despoiled the environment; he has opposed free speech; he has lied frenetically and evangelized for conspiracism; he has stolen children from their parents; he has made himself an advocate of a hostile foreign power; and he has failed to protect America from a ravaging virus. Trump is not responsible for all of the 220,000 COVID-19-related deaths in America. But through his avarice and ignorance and negligence and titanic incompetence, he has allowed tens of thousands of Americans to suffer and die, many alone, all needlessly. With each passing day, his presidency reaps more death.
But let us lay all of this aside for the moment. Let us even lay aside the extraordinary fact that Donald Trump has been credibly accused of rape. Compelling evidence suggests that his countless sins and defects are rooted in mental instability, pathological narcissism, and profound moral and cognitive impairment. Which returns us to the subject of Major Hering.
Trump’s opponent, Joe Biden, is in many ways a typically imperfect candidate, but if we judge these men on two questions alone—Who is a more trustworthy steward of America’s nuclear arsenal? Which man poses less of a threat to our collective existence?—the answer is spectacularly obvious.
The Atlantic has endorsed only three candidates in its 163-year history: Abraham Lincoln, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Hillary Clinton. The latter two endorsements had more to do with the qualities of Barry Goldwater and Donald Trump than with those of Johnson and Clinton. The same holds true in the case of Joe Biden. Biden is a man of experience, maturity, and obvious humanity, but had the Republican Party put forward a credible candidate for president, we would have felt no compulsion to state a preference. Donald Trump, however, is a clear and continuing danger to the United States, and it does not seem likely that our country would be able to emerge whole from four more years of his misrule. Two men are running for president. One is a terrible man; the other is a decent man. Vote for the decent man.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/10/atlantics-endorsement-against-donald-trump/616815/
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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GOP cult is NOT the party of law and order, NOT the party of the Constitution and patriots, NOT the party of "values," NOT the party of fiscal responsibility, NOT the party of clean government, NOT the party of freedom. It's the party of terrorism, lawlessness, corruption, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry, misogyny, Big Lies, socialized taxpayer payouts for plutocrats, sedition, traitors, and tyranny.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, and politicians created a mindless Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
Democrats, Independents, others: WTF?!?
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Beginning to think that President Biden needs to declare martial law to get Covid-19 under control. It's appalling and sad that it's gotten to this point because of corrupt Republican leaders who care only about their political ambitions and nothing about their constituent's health or lives, and a bunch of anti-science morons lacking basic decency and even a modicum of common sense.
In a sane America----one where a third of the population wasn't programmed into a mindless, fascist Republican cult----we would have universal Covid-19 vaccine passports, masks and social distancing required wherever and whenever deemed necessary by public health officials, and mandatory vaccinations for all those able to receive it. Actually, in a sane America, none of that would be necessary, because everyone able would be voluntarily getting vaccinated, and everybody would be faithfully following CDC guidelines like wearing masks and socially distancing. They would be doing so because it is in there own best interest; because it is the moral and ethical thing to do to protect our fellow citizens; because we need to prevent the creation of new, more deadly variants; because it is the best way to recover the economy; because it is the best way to get things back to normal; because it is the civic, patriotic thing to do; and because it is just plain old-fashioned common sense.
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President Nero stoked racial animosities, igniting the embers, keeps feeding the flames. Lynching, murder of innocent civilians by law enforcement, followed by protests, riots, civil unrest, people hurt, property damaged--those were all inevitable with an arsonist in the Oval, even if COVID-19 wasn't presently so starkly highlighting the social and economic divides in this nation. You didn't see this coming, it's only because you refused to look.
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Donald Trump, at White House press conference on 04/07/20:
And we’re going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO. We’re going to put a very powerful hold on it, and we’re going to see.
Trump later at that same press conference:
Q: Thanks. A quick follow-up on that. So is the time to freeze funding to the WHO during a pandemic of this magnitude?
THE PRESIDENT: No, maybe not. I mean, I’m not saying I’m going to do it, but we’re going to look at it.
Q: You did say that you’re going to —
THE PRESIDENT: We give a tremendous —
Q: You said you’d put a hold on it.
THE PRESIDENT: No, I didn’t.
Toxic Trump, one week later, on 04/14/20: "I'm withholding WHO funding!"
WHO held a important meeting on COVID-19 vaccines at the beginning of May, with all nations attending...except no U.S. medical and scientific representatives sent by the Trump Administration, without any explanation.
ME, US, the world: WTF?? Why in HELL is that raving lunatic STILL in charge during this major pandemic health crisis?!? Hasn't he KILLED enough Americans, ALREADY?!?
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GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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--Instead of striving to bring out the best in people, Toxic Trump reveled in bringing out the very worst.
--Instead of uniting the country, Toxic Trump sought to divide us.
--Instead of abiding by and honoring our Constitution and the rule of law, Toxic Trump held them in disdain, disregarded them, and degraded them, running the most corrupt administration in U.S. history.
--Instead of strengthening democracy and our cherished institutions, Toxic Trump worked to diminish and destroy them, inciting a terrorist insurrection against his own government, attempting a coup to steal an election.
--Instead of insuring a peaceful transfer power after losing the election, Toxic Trump kept insisting against all evidence that he won, continuously repeating the Big Lie that resulted in the terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol.
--Instead of confronting a serious threat to Americans with a deadly global pandemic, Toxic Trump lied to the American people about it, ignored it, and refused to take any responsibility for his gross homicidal criminal negligence that resulted in one out of every 800 Americans dying from COVID-19--over 400,000 American lives in just ten months, as many casualties as all of WWII.
--Instead of confronting the ever-increasing existential crisis from climate change and its harmful effects, Toxic Trump gutted regulations and withdrew from the voluntary Paris climate accords, exacerbating the problem and poisoning citizens.
--Instead of creating jobs, Toxic Trump was the first President since the Great Depression to preside over a net loss of jobs over his tenure.
--Instead of lowering the national deficit, Toxic Trump increased it from 19.2 trillion to 27 trillion----the highest rate of increase of ANY President, ever.
--Instead of helping out the least among us, Toxic Trump widened the wealth and income disparity gap. 50% of his $1.9 trillion tax cut went to the top 5%; 65% went to the top 20%, with the top 40% benefiting next most, and the bottom 20% only receiving 1%. Moreover, his huge tax cut for big corporations and the wealthy left a legacy adding $1,000,000,000,000 a year to the federal deficit while lowering federal revenue.
--Instead of building bridges, humane immigration reform, and infrastructure, Toxic Trump built walls, cages, and concentration camps, separated children from mothers, allowed American infrastructure to decline and deteriorate, rejected economic opportunity.
--Instead of raising our standing and security in the world, Toxic Trump lowered and weakened it.
--Instead of draining the swamp, Toxic Trump turned it into a noxious overflowing sewer of Republican corruption.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of crackpot conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of greed, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of plutocrats, the party of corruption, the party of anti-democracy, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their pact with the Devil.
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Ignorant Republicans, Governors and Mayors:
DO YOU UNDERSTAND???
A virus can't think. But you can.
The real war isn't against this virus--it's against our own IGNORANCE and HUBRIS!
Restarting an economy REQUIRES first protecting public health in the midst of a deadly global pandemic. That's just plain, old-fashioned, common sense, fools! States, localities, and CITIZENS not fully on board with recommended protocols, guidelines--acting hastily and rashly in willful disregard of medical experts, the science, and the data--are PROLONGING isolation measures for EVERYONE, only DELAYING economic recovery in the U.S., while you are disabling and KILLING even more Americans.
Colorado bought hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 tests from South Korea, hiding it from the Toxic Trump administration, lest they steal it! While exercising far more prudence than many Republican governors, Colorado's governor is still jumping the gun, asking for trouble, putting health and lives unnecessarily at risk. Isn't Gov. Polis to blame so much, here, when it is really the lack of national leadership at fault.
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Worst economic downturn in American history, catastrophically botched COVID-19 pandemic response with over 160,000 senseless American deaths. TWENTY straight weeks of over ONE MILLION new unemployment claims. Deaths projected to double by the end of year due to most corrupt, incompetent, racist, and ignorant President in U.S. history. A treasonous President that compromised himself with Russia, who refuses to hold the U.S. principle foreign adversary accountable for its attacks on America, who won't even speak out against Russian bounties on U.S. soldiers. Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy: "Toxic Trump is doing a helluva job!" Rabid right-wing cult media is DESTROYING America!
What's really confusing America is Newsmax, Faux News, and all the other rabid right-wing media outlets propagating and spreading disinformation. Without the supporting cast of willing supplicant proto-fascist right-wing media exploiting and profiting from them, the lies and distortions of Toxic Trump and Republicans would hold very little power, and could not persist.
Anyone really all that surprised that the CEO of Newsmax, Chris Ruddy, is a dishonest partisan hack with no character or integrity whatsoever? If so, that's only because you've never seen Newsmax.
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Before U.S. gun manufacturers bought off the NRA and the GOP to create a bogus political issue and instill fear, mass shootings weren't a thing in America and schools were much safer. Today, over 393 MILLION guns are owned by citizens, which translates to about 120 guns for every 100 citizens. A record number, 40 MILLION, were sold in 2020 alone. However, over 2/3 of Americans do NOT own ANY firearm; less than a third of U.S. citizens own all the firearms, which amounts to a whopping third of all civilian firearms owned in the world are in the U.S. The sheer number of firearms present in the U.S. makes accidental gun injury and death, rampant gun violence, and mass shootings a certainty. Ironically, the inescapable truth is that those purchasing and owning guns, mostly for self defense, are making America less safe for everyone.
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Richard Hammonds ~~Putin's Trumpette puppets up crap creek, without a paddle...
Trolling, trolling, trolling along, seek some brains to addle!
Want to make us think nothing is as it seem
Live in a bubble, pretend it's all a dream
You're either Russian, or you're too brainless to know Putin was the brains behind that 2016 operation, Doc! Too brainless to know that ANY politician asking for foreign help to win elections compromise themselves, and compromise we American's very security and well-being! Which we can't EVER allow, ESPECIALLY when it involves the President and our principle foreign adversary--be they Republican or Democrat! Also, too brainless to know Republicans sold out America! Whichever flavor of fool are you, it's all the same Putin piss to REAL Americans!
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“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Of course, the January 6th Select Committee is going to issue an invitation to members of Congress to come forward with information about January 6th before issuing a subpoena, expecting them to honor their Oath of Office. Of course, Republicans don't care about their Oath of Office. Of course, they're going to falsely claim victimhood and allege the Commitee is a political witch hunt. Of course, they're not going to cooperate. Of course, Republicans will continue to Gaslight, Obstruct, and Project, putting personal and party interests before country. Of course, outside of a small handful of Congressional Republicans, they are not leaders, but followers in a fascist, nihilistic GOP cult. Of course, they continue to push the Big Lie, whether actively or silently complicit, fomenting domestic terrorism while undermining and degrading our democracy and republic.
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Welcome to war. This is what war is. It's terrible, it's tragic, it's ugly, it stinks, it's unfair, it's sad, it's wasteful, it's hell, innocents die, and things always go wrong. You think we'd have learned that by now, but no, it's a lesson that has to be repeatedly learned, evidently. The consensus is that nobody foresaw the Afghan government and its armed forces completely capitulating so quickly as they did. Some say there should have been a contingency plan for this, but even though hindsight is 20/20, have yet to hear any rational plan that could have dealt with this situation. Shit happens, and Biden got handed a turd with Afghanistan. Instead of allowing the crap to continue, Biden made the hard, responsible decision to pull the U.S. out of another country's civil war. Fallout was inevitable, and Republicans trying to capitalize on that politically or media trying to profit from it is truly degenerate.
It's back to the Dark Ages for Afghanistan, and back to the Taliban reign of terror for the Afghani people. But Biden bears little responsibility for what is happening now in Afghanistan; he was stuck in a Catch-22 situation with no good choices left to be made. Moreover, Biden brought the U.S. more time in extending the deadline when U.S. forces would withdraw, but the details of how everyone would be extricated are planned and executed by the military and State Dept. Because those plans that were precipitated upon the situation on the ground and supporting the Afghan government and military got upended by the sudden capitulation of the Afghan government, it caused a crisis that would likely have been otherwise largely averted. Such are the fortunes of war. So, it seems silly to blame the military or State, either. What needs to be studied and rectified is how it came to that point, rather than just trying to scapegoat onto the current U.S. President and his administration the inevitable results of two decades of bad policies, which is counterproductive and unlikely to accomplish anything.
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@j-nish3570 ~ Trump excluded the Afghan government from peace negotiations with the Taliban, legitimizing the Taliban by making a separate peace deal with them and delegitimizing the government we worked so long and hard at so much cost to build and support, while releasing 5,000 Taliban prisoners and agreeing to withdraw all U.S. forces by May 1, 2021, guaranteeing failure. Previously, in 2018, Trump had Pakistan release the current leader of the Taliban, who had been their top military leader. Moreover, Trump eviscerated the refugee program for Afghan and Iraqi allies visa programs, creating a huge backlog over four years. A federal judge even ruled Trump's delaying of those visas illegal. Furthermore, Trump abandoned are Kurdish allies in Syria and Iraq. Trump and Pompeo could hardly have screwed up our foreign policy any worse, and the damage they did will take decades to repair. But the Republican cult morons are too stupid to know and too stupid to care; they'll just deny and try to shift blame, as usual.
Liz Cheney's right----it didn't have to happen this way: her father, Dick Cheney, and George Bush were responsible for the deterioration of affairs in Afghanistan by diverting troops and resources to conduct an illegal invasion of Iraq on the false premise of WMD and Iraq harboring terrorists. The situation in Afghanistan never recovered from that fatal mistake by Cheney and Bush; it allowed the Taliban to regroup and come back bigger and stronger than ever. Cheney and Bush's illegal war in Iraq also resulted in the emergence of ISIS.
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GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Trump excluded the Afghan government from peace negotiations with the Taliban, legitimizing the Taliban by making a separate peace deal with them and delegitimizing the government we worked so long and hard at so much cost to build and support, while releasing 5,000 Taliban prisoners and agreeing to withdraw all U.S. forces by May 1, 2021, guaranteeing failure. Moreover, Trump eviscerated the refugee program for Afghan and Iraqi allies visa programs, creating a huge backlog over several years. A federal judge even ruled Trump's delaying of those visas illegal. Furthermore, Trump abandoned are Kurdish allies in Syria and Iraq. Trump and Pompeo could hardly have screwed up our foreign policy any worse, and the damage they did will take decades to repair. But the Republican cult morons are too stupid to know and too stupid to care; they'll just deny and try to shift blame, as usual.
Liz Cheney's right----it didn't have to happen this way: her father, Dick Cheney, and George Bush were responsible for the deterioration of affairs in Afghanistan by diverting troops and resources to conduct an illegal invasion of Iraq on the false premise of WMD and Iraq harboring terrorists. The situation in Afghanistan never recovered from that fatal mistake by Cheney and Bush; it allowed the Taliban to regroup and come back bigger and stronger than ever. Cheney and Bush's illegal war in Iraq also resulted in the emergence of ISIS.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast would soon come to consume them.
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@greattom12 ~ Except you're starting from a false premise, got it all wrong and exactly backwards. The real danger is in disenfranchising voters and undermining democracy. We already have free and fair elections. With a miniscule voter fraud rate of just 0.0006% you couldn't even win class president in a small one-room schoolhouse by cheating. It's just not a "thing."
The voting rights bills do not ban voter id, nor do they allow ballot harvesting or require sending mail-in ballots out to everyone. What they do is allow all of us voters fair and equal representation, prevent discrimination against minority and other class voters, help make it easier for us to vote, work to limit and make transparent big money in elections, and strengthen election security.
S. 2747 -- Freedom to Vote Act
Freedom to Vote Act bill expands voter registration (e.g., automatic and same-day registration) and voting access (e.g., vote-by-mail and early voting). It also limits removing voters from voter rolls.
Establishes Election Day as a federal holiday.
The bill declares that the right of a U.S. citizen to vote in any election for federal office shall not be denied or abridged because that individual has been convicted of a criminal offense unless, at the time of the election, such individual is serving a felony sentence.
The bill establishes certain federal criminal offenses related to voting. In particular, the bill establishes a new criminal offense for conduct (or attempted conduct) to corruptly hinder, interfere with, or prevent another person from registering to vote or helping someone register to vote.
Additionally, the bill sets forth provisions related to election security, including by requiring states to conduct post-election audits for federal elections. The bill outlines criteria for congressional redistricting and generally prohibits mid-decade redistricting.
The bill outlines criteria for congressional redistricting and generally prohibits mid-decade redistricting.
The bill addresses campaign finance, including by expanding the prohibition on campaign spending by foreign nationals, requiring additional disclosure of campaign-related fundraising and spending, requiring additional disclaimers regarding certain political advertising, and establishing an alternative campaign funding system for certain federal offices.
S. 4 -- John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act
This bill establishes new criteria for determining which states and political subdivisions must obtain preclearance before changes to voting practices may take effect. Preclearance is the process of receiving preapproval from the Department of Justice (DOJ) or the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia before making legal changes that would affect voting rights.
A state and all of its political subdivisions shall be subject to preclearance of voting practice changes for a 10-year period if
15 or more voting rights violations occurred in the state during the previous 25 years;
10 or more violations occurred during the previous 25 years, at least 1 of which was committed by the state itself; or
3 or more violations occurred during the previous 25 years and the state administers the elections.
A political subdivision as a separate unit shall also be subject to preclearance for a 10-year period if three or more voting rights violations occurred there during the previous 25 years.
States and political subdivisions that meet certain thresholds regarding minority groups must preclear covered practices before implementation, such as changes to methods of election and redistricting.
Further, states and political subdivisions must notify the public of changes to voting practices.
Next, the bill authorizes DOJ to require states or political subdivisions to provide certain documents or answers to questions for enforcing voting rights.
The bill also outlines factors courts must consider when hearing challenges to voting practices, such as the extent of any history of official voting discrimination in the state or political subdivision.
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@greattom12 ~ Your arguments are disingenuous, ill-informed and driven by partisan bias. You're deliberately ignoring that elections fraud in the U.S. States is so minute as to be inconsequential. You're trying to make this about voter ID, deliberately ignoring that the bills do not prevent states from requiring voter ID. You're deliberately ignoring the problems with state's enacting Jim Crow 2.0 voter suppression laws and engaging in egregious gerrymandering, where the politicians pick the voters, instead of the voters picking the politicians.
You're dishonestly conflating rapists and murders with the vast majority of felons who have not committed heinous crimes, while failing to give adequate consideration to the benefit of the incentive in allowing felons of all kinds who have paid their debt to society to participate through voting. In fact, a good majority of Americans do agree that felons should be allowed to vote after serving their prison terms, and there are laws allowing that in both Red and Blue states.
It is not up to "one official in the DOJ" to determine if a state's laws violate our voting rights. Those determinations are made by the Civil Rights Divisions, and states have redress through the courts if in objection. Moreover, the Civil Rights Division seeks to work with the states to prevent violations and discrimination. How is it that Congressional Republicans overwhelmingly supported these same kinds of Civil Rights legislation in the past but now block even a debate?
Some people want to turn a blind eye, be willfully ignorant, and live in denial about the racism and voter discrimination that has existed, continues to exist, and is being further perpetuated by new laws in some states, because they see it as politically advantageous to their side. But are such people really any better than those who are overtly racist? I don't think so. They are fully complicit, with no plausible deniability.
Finally, you're projecting, because the racial and voter discrimination and voter disenfranchisement being practiced by Republicans is antithetical to unity. Nor can unity exist without truth. Having witnessed over the past four decades the Republican obstructionism, exceedingly divisive rhetoric and lies, and increasing radicalization of their voters, it is very clear that Republicans are not interested in unity. And it is all too apparent that it is actually Republicans who are seeking to cheat and rig elections to gain and maintain minority rule. No amount of you trying to gaslight and project is going to hide or change those facts.
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GOP cult: “Democracy is great…only so long as we can subvert it with lies, cheating, a multitude of Jim Crow voter suppression laws, egregious gerrymandering, obstruction, coups, election interference, election fraud, sedition, insurrection and terrorism to gain power and maintain our corrupt, plutocratic, minority fascist rule!”
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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The highly-coveted Top Prize for our contestants today is an all-funeral-expenses-paid romantic getaway for two aboard the magnificent Corona Queen, taking you for an exclusive extended cruise, to a secluded stay on the exotic, remote, tropical Isle of Covid-19, where the fun is SUPER-contagious, and you will luxuriously bask in fabulous face masks and rejuvenating oxygen respirators, with the wonderful scent of disinfectant surrounding you! Sure to be a lifetime experience for some lucky few! Just remember--the couple that dies together, stays together!
BONUS SPECIAL CASES: Providing accompanying entertainment is Chief Jester Roberts and the entire Trump comedy team, featuring the Clown Commander, for laughs and coughs! There just ain't no cure, for them ocean cruise blues! Bon voyage!
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, and politicians created a mindless Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
Democrats, Independents, others: WTF?!?
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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Israel knew full well that their actions kicking Palestinians out of their homes in East Jerusalem (Palestinian territory) and attacks on the al Aqsa mosque during an Islamic holy period would invariably lead to Hamas rockets in retaliation: Israel has a long history of repeatedly provoking such attacks. Unlike Israel, which has one of the most advanced militaries in the world and a its own substantial undeclared nuclear arsenal, the Palestinians have no army, no navy, and no air force to defend themselves and their interests. It is the Palestinians who are David in this conflict; it is Israel who is Goliath. Hamas and other groups firing of rockets without adequate targeting mechanisms indiscriminately is mostly symbolic, but it is also morally wrong, constitutes terrorism, and should not be condoned. Conversely, Israel's provocations, use of disproportionate force, and other acts against Palestinians constitute a form of state terrorism, and should likewise not be condoned. Both the right-wing in Israel and the right-wing in Palestine profit from this conflict, and both are equally responsible for the carnage caused.
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Meet the new ugly face of white supremacy in America! Funny--it looks just like the old ugly face. Except this time they got their Imperial Wizard installed as Chief Jester of the Supreme Court, where he magically declared racism somehow no longer a problem in America, paving the way for thousands of new Jim Crow laws and egregious gerrymandering suppressing and disenfranchising millions of American voters. Of course, harsh realities will continue to exist irrespective of any blind eye or pretentious, capricious edicts by some Supreme Court. And Roberts' conservative SCOTUS decisions only confirm how the white supremacist problem and its perpetual "fix" on the American judicial branch and justice system has never gone away, as America continues to struggle with overcoming a racist history of colonialism, slavery, and discrimination.
"...we must recognize that one of the two political parties is routinely engaged in sabotaging free elections with voter-suppression efforts aimed at the minority voters it cannot win over at the ballot box. These anti-democratic power grabs became a GOP staple decades before Donald Trump, culminating in the actions of a George W. Bush–anointed chief justice, John Roberts, whose Supreme Court shredded the Voting Rights Act of 1965. As Roberts famously put it in his 2007 opinion for the plurality, “The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.” Since then, discrimination on the basis of race has only expanded in states like Georgia and Florida, where Black voting rights have been cavalierly undermined and trashed."
~ Frank Rich, November 9, 2020 (Written well before the rash of new Jim Crow laws now being proposed and passed by Republicans in many states.)
Chief Justice Roberts and his fellow conservative SCOTUS justices: the architects of a new era of Jim Crow in America. Need to expand SCOTUS to 15 justices, do away with the filibuster, pass a new Voting Rights Act, and let Biden appoint six new justices to bring sanity and justice back to the Supreme Court.
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Republicans can't handle reality, would rather traffic and believe in lies. The GOP is a fascist, nihilistic cult that would destroy democracy and America if given sufficient opportunity. And THAT, folks, is your reality check.
What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil. They are either actively or silently complicit in fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorist violence, Reich-wing insurrection, and Reich-wing undermining of our democracy and Constitution.
It's crystal clear that Trump, Boebert, Greene, Gosar and other Republicans like them are fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorism. The GOP has become radicalized to such an extent that it has essentially become a fascist terrorist organization, with members that fantasize and promote violence against their fellow Americans. While those Republican elected officials must be condemned and sanctioned, they are only a symptom of the disease poisoning a third of America, the most visible part of the cancer infecting our nation.
The GOP has been mainstreaming radicalization of their voter base for decades, ALLOWING Reich-wing media and Reich-wing demagogues to take over the party, to the point it has become a fascist, nihilistic cult. Because just as now, Republican politicians and their plutocratic masters have always seen it as the ends justifying whatever means to win power. Remember the Republican Tea Party? This catastrophe with the GOP didn't start with Trump, who just exploited what Republicans had already built.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle for graft and to grift their voters and us taxpayers. You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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Instead of insuring adequate testing, contact tracing, surveillance testing, medical equipment, staff, and medical supplies like PPE -- as just as critically, if not more, public adherence to pandemic guidelines like wearing masks and social distancing -- Toxic Trump and Republican leaders pushed strongly for reopening the economy too soon, against CDC guidelines, despite the grave warnings of scientists, experts, and doctors; despite common sense. Most Republican governors took the Putin puppet President's lead, not taking a deadly global pandemic seriously. We need to shutdown, again, and stay that way until we have testing and other capabilities, and we have the current raging spread back under FIRM control. Which means back to isolation for the American public. No sea cruise. No airline flight. No theme park. No barber or beauty salon. No tattoo. No school. Just stay at home. Again. All only because of criminal negligence by Republican leaders and some Americans who just had to be stupid, inconsiderate, and heartless. The whole nation suffers and mourns; the innocents punished alongside the perpetrators of this insanity.
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Great to see good 'ol Torture Yoo put under the bright lights and given a little taste of his own medicine! However, as Torture Yoo proves, torture victims will say anything to make the torture stop, making it useless for intelligence gathering, good only for perverted gratification, used by sadistic, ignorant brutes like Trump, Cheney, and Torture Yoo!
It's "Torture" Yoo! Never forget--this is the clown that wrote specious opinions at OLC to provide legal cover for Dubya's torture regime! Still pissed Princeton took him on as a professor afterward, giving him a plush, prestigious job, a position he still holds, lending credibility when he deserves to be thoroughly discredited! Still pissed at Obama for not investigating torture, too--leaving the door open for another joker like Trump to torture.
Torture Yoo is a weasel. Always has been, so this is really nothing new for those who knew. Typical Republican.
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For three years, Republicans have propped up and protected a racist, corrupt, sociopathic narcissistic menace to society, gaslighting and covering up Traitor Trump crimes, ineptness, and incompetence. Republicans don't really care about our country; time and again, for decades now, they have put their politics and greed for power above the welfare of this nation. The destructiveness of GOP politics on American government began under Nixon, but starting with Reagan it became a Republican selling point. Conservatism won't die, but Republicanism has become a zero-sum game for losers. This incarnation of the GOP needs to die, or it will be the end of American greatness.
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Gee, it's almost like the CDC is following the science and calibrating policies accordingly in the most practicable way possible. Imagine if everyone followed the CDC recommendations, how many American lives could have been saved, and could still be saved. What has been confusing is the misinformation and disinformation that came from the former Trump administration (excluding the CDC, NIH and the Surgeon General office under that regime), and from Reich-wing media and Reich-wing sites on social media. But listening to reputable media sources such as this one explaining the recommendations, the CDC, the NIH, reputable doctors, public health experts, and epidemiologists, I have not been confused at all about the best ways to protect myself, loved ones, and others from serious injury or death from Covid-19 throughout this pandemic. What I do find puzzling is the number of Americans who are anti-science and unwilling to follow common sense health recommendations, who seemingly have a death wish and a sociopathic disregard for others well-being.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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While many hospitals are on the verge of bankruptcy, remember that Trump administration promoted and facilitated needed PPE sales abroad for two months, despite urgent warnings of top officials and experts about this looming pandemic. Now, because of Toxic Trump's failure to take leadership and responsibility for a dedicated national effort against COVID-19, and lack of appropriate planning and preparation, first responders, nursing homes, medical facilities, hospitals, and states are all competing against each other, driving up prices and hindering expedient, proper distribution where direly needed--not to mention, the inflated costs driving medical institutions further into insolvency.
U.S. sent millions of face masks to China early this year, ignoring pandemic warning signs
Juliet Eilperin, Jeff Stein, Desmond Butler, and Tom Hamburger -- Washington Post -- 04/19/20
U.S. manufacturers shipped millions of dollars’ worth of face masks and other protective medical equipment to China in January and February with encouragement from the federal government, a Washington Post review of economic data and internal government documents has found. The move underscores the Trump administration’s failure to recognize and prepare for the growing pandemic threat.
In those two months, the value of protective masks and related items exported from the United States to China grew more than 1,000 percent compared with the same time last year — from $1.4 million to about $17.6 million, according to a Post analysis of customs categories which, according to research by Public Citizen, contain key PPE. Similarly, shipments of ventilators and protective garments jumped by triple digits.
“Instead of taking steps to prepare, they ignored the advice of one expert after another,” said Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Tex.). “People right now, as we speak, are dying because there have been inadequate supplies of PPE.”
On Feb. 26 — when total deaths had reached 2,770, nearly all in China — the Commerce Department published a flier titled “CS China COVID Procurement Service,” guiding American firms on how to sell “critical medical products” to China and Hong Kong through Beijing’s fast-tracked sales process. Doggett obtained the flier — from the division of the International Trade Association’s Commercial Services Office in China — and other Commerce communications.
America now faces acute and deadly shortages of proper medical equipment. A recent survey found nearly 90 percent of American mayors say they do not have enough test kits or face masks, while 85 percent say they do not have enough ventilators. The Office of the Inspector General at HHS found “severe shortages” of testing kits and personal protective equipment. Numerous hospitals and states have reported that nurses and doctors are forced to resort to makeshift gear that increases the odds of exposure.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/us-sent-millions-of-face-masks-to-china-early-this-year-ignoring-pandemic-warning-signs/ar-BB12QkxE
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At this point, it really matters not a whit which, or how many, Republicans vote for impeachment witnesses and evidence, or for conviction. ALL Congressional Republicans--be they Senator or Representative--have already demonstrated such ample disregard for truth, law, high office, Constitution, democracy, and country...that they are themselves unfit to hold any public office, and deserve immediate removal. ALL of these corrupted and morally bankrupted Congressional Republicans need to RESIGN, now! They won't, because they lack the moral fiber and minimal courage required to even do that which is plainly only right--the whole reason why America faces its current crazy conundrum in the first place.
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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We got Big Brag Daddy Baghdad Bob broadcasting direct from Washington, D.C. daily, with Toxic Trump and a revolving cast of his sycophantic minions! Happy talk, disinformation, empty promises, idle threats, vicious smears, bogus pandemic models, dog whistles, continuous crackpot conspiracies--they got it all, and more!
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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Get big money out of politics, and get corrupt politicians like Manchin and Sinema sucking up to the corporate trough voted out.
• A summer sting operation by Greenpeace had an Exxon Mobil lobbyist reveal that he met with Manchin weekly to try to persuade him to weaken Biden’s climate agenda (and he’s not the only rich guy who gets Manchin regularly on the line). Manchin has received more donations than any other Senator from oil, gas, and coal industry.
• An August piece in Harper’s noted that the West Virginia Democratic Party, which the senator played no small role in gutting, remains entirely under Manchin’s influence and control. It also mentions how Manchin leveraged his influence within the Senate to get plush government appointments for people close to him, including his wife.
• A September report from Type Investigations and the Intercept revealed that Manchin is currently invested in multiple coal companies that are run by his son, and that, even though the elder Manchin’s investments are in a blind trust, he has personally made $4.5 million from them during the time he has spent in the Senate (11 years to date).
• This is likely the Manch’s last term. In this remaining time, he seems to be simply looking out for his sources of wealth, including the ones that come from his son’s coal incinerators. It wouldn’t be the first time a Manchin family member used conflicts of interest to their advantage. Joe’s wife, Gayle, previously served as head of the West Virginia Board of Education and used her position to try to require the state’s schools to purchase EpiPens. EpiPens are manufactured by the Big Pharma juggernaut Mylan, whose former CEO was Heather Bresch—Manchin’s daughter, who stepped down after it was revealed she helped fix the prices of EpiPens in collusion with Pfizer. Family helping family: It’s a highly lucrative graft.
• While Manchin and Sinema worked to delay and reduce the Democrats’ budget bill, they were raising campaign money from wealthy Republican donors, according to a Sludge review of campaign finance data from Code for Democracy. For many of these donors, their contributions to Manchin or Sinema this year have been only their first or second donations to any Democrats in recent election cycles.
• Twenty years ago, when Kyrsten Sinema was a Green Party activist running for the Phoenix City Council, she likened the practice of raising campaign cash to “bribery.” Now that she's a U.S. senator, she no longer seems to have such qualms. So far this year, she's raised nearly $750,000 in donations from the pharmaceutical and medical sector (plus more from the financial sector) at a time when the Arizona Democrat was using her power in a narrowly divided Senate to force President Joe Biden to scale down his spending agenda. Her actions are closely aligned with the priorities of donors who have much at stake in how Biden's initiatives turn out.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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WTF?!? 03/13/20, and many people exposed to or possibly sick with COVID-19 still can't get tested! Monday, 03/09/20, we had state governors speaking into the camera, desperately BEGGING the CDC on live TV to approve private labs and automated testing for COVID-19! While three months later the U.S. is still struggling to get enough test kits distributed! Problem is, the test kits samples need to be processed in the lab for results, and processing capacity at the CDC is extremely limited and far too slow. Even in conjunction with all U.S. state and private labs, processing capacity of test kit samples would be grossly insufficient for the vigorous survey of the American public vitally needed. Which is why it is CRITICALLY imperative these other private facilities IMMEDIATELY be brought online by the CDC. WTF is WRONG with this TRUMP ADMINISTRATION?!? Their incompetence is KILLING us!
WHO test kits are the model developed by Germany, a NATO ally, which were also available. The key point that needs hammering home: Trump administration could have--should have--obtained test kits and conducted diagnostic and protective testing on the U.S. population a couple of months ago! Especially once problems developed with the CDC test kits sent out. It was a no-brainer! Trump's gross incompetence is costing American lives. That simple.
Sick people across US being denied coronavirus test
NY Times - 03/12/20
Many who fear they have the virus have faced one roadblock after another as they try to get tested, according to interviews with dozens of people across the country.
Some have been rejected because they had no symptoms, even though they had been in proximity to someone who tested positive. Others were told no because they had not traveled to a hot spot abroad, even though they had fevers and hacking coughs and lived in cities with growing outbreaks. Still others were told a bitter truth: There simply were not enough tests to go around.
“The system is not really geared to what we need right now, what you are asking for. That is a failing,” said Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, who leads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, in testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform on Thursday. “It is a failing. I mean, let’s admit it.”
Dr. Fauci added: “The idea of anybody getting it easily the way people in other countries are doing it, we are not set up for that. Do I think we should be? Yes. But we are not.”
In some parts of the country, demand for the tests is low. Elsewhere efforts are underway to make testing easier. States like Colorado have even instituted drive-through testing to streamline the process.
But even there, demand has far outstripped supply. By 11 a.m. at one drive-through lab in the Denver neighborhood of Lowry on Thursday, a three-hour line of cars had formed. The clinic had to stop allowing more vehicles.
The inability to test widely in the United States — which is far behind other countries in this regard — has severely hampered efforts to contain the outbreak. An early test rolled out to states by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was flawed, and delays have continued ever since. Public health experts have warned that each day people do not know whether they have the virus, they risk spreading it more widely.
Companies and public health officials cast doubt on the U.S. government’s assurances, saying in some cases that tests under development were still weeks from approval. And public health laboratories have said that their capacity to process the tests is limited. A spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services said on 03/02/20 that the labs currently could only handle 15,000 tests a day.
As the United States grapples with the novel coronavirus pandemic, President Donald Trump said on Friday that he didn’t know “anything about” a reorganization of the National Security Council that dismantled a key pandemics office nearly two years ago.
The head of that team, Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer, left suddenly after the team was disbanded in 2018 along with other members of the office; he had been tasked with how the country responds to a threat like the novel coronavirus.
When Trump was asked by the PBS NewsHour’s Yamiche Alcindor this afternoon about whether he took responsibility for the decision, the president called it a nasty question, saying it wasn’t him and gesturing to other members of his administration that were part of a group of people that make decisions.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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As of 02/29/20 in the U.S.A., we still don't have the testing kits we need yet; don't know exactly when they will be available from CDC or elsewhere!!! Reliable testing protocol absolutely vital to assessing and containment of COVID-19! Health experts and American public both in the dark without massive testing about which Americans, how many Americans have COVID-19--and where--so they can be isolated and treated before infecting others.
~State of Washington announes first presumptive death in U.S. from COVID-19 in King County; a 50-year-old man with health conditions. Long-term health care facility there with many sick elderly residents suspected to have outbreak of COVID-19.
~Three new cases in Oregon, one believed to be from community spread. Now two community spread in California; one in Washington, and one in Oregon state.
~Trump administration ignored and went against the advice of CDC top medical experts, brought infected patients back to the U.S. from Wuhan, China on the same plane as uninfected evacuees.
~U.S. workers WITHOUT protective gear assisted coronavirus evacuees, HHS whistleblower report states. Workers received Wuhan evacuees at two military bases in California without proper training or appropriate protective gear, alongside CDC in full hazmat attire. Whistleblower claims they were potentially exposed to COVID-19.
~First suspected community-spread case in N. California was untested for DAYS after disease contracted. CDC acknowledged Thursday that a California woman with coronavirus was made to wait days before she was tested for the disease because of the agency’s restrictive criteria about who may get tested. As a result of this case, CDC announces a whole new testing criteria is needed.
~On 02/28/20, we learned that there is a second SEPARATE COVID-19 case identified in California. Indications are that we have community spread from the unprotected government workers Trump administration sent to receive the Wuhan evacuees--once again, against the advice of medical experts.
~On 02/29/20, two new cases of COVID-19 in California and Oregon announced. Total cases in U.S. now stands at 64. Trump continues to lie about the epidemic, insisting only 15 Americans are infected.
~Trump places science-denier V.P. Pence--who also has no medical expertise--in charge of Federal response to COVID-19.
~Trump continues spreading misinformation on COVID-19, overly downplaying risk and danger, contradicting his own administration's health experts.
~DOW loses almost 1,200 in biggest single day loss EVER. Follows two previous day market losses of over 1,000--$3 TRILLION erased from American stocks in just THREE days. After seven straight days of losses, total market loss now stands at 12%, ERASING all gains made in the market under Trump over three years in just one WEEK..
~Face masks--which unless surgical-grade N95--have limited effectiveness and are impractical for extended wear. Recommended for those exhibiting any flu or cold-like symptoms; not yet recommended for those healthy at this point.
~CDC: "People should understand that their lives may be disrupted."
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@ghostnote-6 ~ Yeah, their "nervous system." Seriously, though, there was a study a while back that concluded that conservatives tended to be prewired for fear. Seems there is some truth to that; the "fight or flight" gene is strong in the Republican cult, whereas have always found those on the left to be more creative, more introspective, more inclined to critical reasoning, more idealistic, more likely to expect the best from people.
The right has traditionally pushed fear--fear of immigrants, fear of "the enemy," fear of immigrants, fear of other races and ethnicities, fear of other religions, fear of different sexual orientations, etc., etc. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the contagious disease poisoning them, harming our society and nation.
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Let's just call January 6 what it actually was -- a Republican smash and grab, an act of violent larceny against democracy and our government, sedition employing domestic terrorism right out in open sight. It was just one of Trump's failed attempts to achieve an autogolpe.
"Without accountability, an attempted autogolpe and insurrection is just practice."
"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ― Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
So, why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. Because our democracy, our institutions, and our very security is seriously endangered. And because rule of law and justice for all really does matter.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and disturbing. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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The highly-coveted Top Prize for our contestants today is an all-funeral-expenses-paid romantic getaway for two aboard the magnificent Corona Queen, taking you for an exclusive extended cruise, to a secluded stay on the exotic, remote, tropical Isle of Covid-19, where the fun is SUPER-contagious, and you will luxuriously bask in fabulous face masks and rejuvenating oxygen respirators, with the wonderful scent of disinfectant surrounding you! Sure to be a lifetime experience for some lucky few! Just remember--the couple that dies together, stays together!
BONUS: Providing accompanying entertainment is Chief Jester Roberts and the entire Trump comedy team, featuring the Clown Commander, for laughs and coughs! There just ain't no cure, for them ocean cruise blues! Bon voyage!
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast would soon come to consume them.
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Merrick Garland: "Trump and Congressional Republicans screwed me out of a seat on the Supreme Court...that's why now as AG I can't prosecute them for the many crimes they've committed!"
Merrick Garland’s House Testimony Demonstrated the Failure of His Hyper-Cautious Approach to His Job
Despite Garland’s many efforts to not appear political by declining to investigate Trump and his cronies for possible crimes and by using DOJ resources to actively protect Trump from civil liability, Republicans are still portraying him as the most political attorney general in history.
The other weakness of Garland’s timid approach was on full view during his opening statement and responses to Democratic members of Congress. “The essence of the rule of law is that like cases are treated alike. That there not be one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans; one rule for friends, another for foes,” Garland stated grandly. But by declining to investigate Trump and his associates, Garland is enabling further attacks on our democracy. (While proving inequity by putting Republicans above the law.)
Crucially, the two parties are not the same. Garland’s standard sets up a false equivalency between the Democratic Party and a political party whose national leader, Donald Trump, incited and celebrated a violent assault on our nation’s Capitol to overthrow the results of a free and fair election and who continues to portray the insurrection as a glorious “protest.” To that end, in the middle of the attorney general’s testimony, Trump issued a statement highlighting Garland’s feebleness at failing to even investigate the organizers and leaders of the Jan. 6 events, declaring “the insurrection took place on November 3, Election Day. January 6 was the Protest!”
Garland’s efforts to depoliticize the DOJ have proved to be an abdication of his responsibility to protect the rule of law. Take just a few examples: Garland’s failure to reconsider the obstruction of justice case against the former president, his deferral of an investigation of possible financial crimes by Trump and his organization to local prosecutors in New York City and Westchester, his use of the DOJ to protect Trump from defamation allegations, and his deferral of a soliciting of voter fraud felony probe in Georgia to local prosecutors there. By abdicating his responsibility, Garland is also opening the door for Trump to commit these possibly criminal abuses all over again, this time with the full support of the Republican Party, and maybe ultimately return to power.
--Mark Stern
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In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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Trump immigration policies endanger public health with coronavirus spread
Raul Reyes
As the Trump administration struggles to contain the spread of Coronavirus, its immigration policies may well exacerbate this crisis. The "public charge" rule discourages immigrants from accessing health care. The "Remain in Mexico" policy has created conditions ripe for a viral outbreak along the border. Immigration enforcement actions have sown distrust and fear in Latino communities. Taken together, these measures endanger the well-being of countless Americans.
Consider the administration's controversial "public charge" rule, which was implemented in February. It makes it harder for legal immigrants to obtain a green card if they access federal benefits for which they qualify, like Medicaid, food stamps, and housing vouchers.
In the ongoing litigation over this regulation, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) conceded that the rule could lead to "increased prevalence of communicable diseases, disenrollment from public programs, and increased use of emergency rooms as a primary care method."
Trump's "Remain in Mexico" policy is also potentially harmful to public health. Under this process, asylum-seekers are forced to wait on the Mexican side of the border while their cases are processed here. Nearly 60,000 migrants are currently waiting in Mexico, with thousands living in unsanitary, squalid conditions. As these vulnerable people await humanitarian relief, an outbreak of the virus in their shelters and camps could be devastating. Again, this would not only affect migrants: Due to its highly contagious nature, a coronavirus outbreak along the border would likely expose Border Patrol agents, U.S. troops, and aid workers to the virus too.
Within our borders, the Trump administration has created a less-than-ideal climate for battling a pandemic. The administration's aggressive immigration enforcement actions mean that millions of undocumented people are wary of any interaction with the government, which includes going to the hospital. Health advocates warn that there is a lack of information about coronavirus available in Spanish. And Trump has already demonstrated indifference to the suffering of Latinos; the administration basically ignored Puerto Rico during Hurricane Maria, and the president's response to the El Paso massacre was to stage an insensitive photo-op with a baby orphaned by the mass shooting. It's no wonder that advocacy groups are bracing for the administration to resort to more fear mongering and xenophobia about immigrants.
While any administration would be challenged by the Coronavirus outbreak, there are steps that the president can take that would mitigate its spread.
Trump could suspend the implementation of the "public charge" rule or temporarily halt immigration enforcement actions in and around hospitals and medical facilities. The administration could fund coronavirus outreach programs for Latinos. This would be especially useful as Latinos have the highest uninsured rate of any racial or ethnic group in the U.S., and are significantly affected by conditions that compromise the immune system, like asthma, diabetes, and HIV/AIDS. What the administration should not do is attempt to further politicize this crisis or use it as an excuse for closing our borders. The coronavirus does not discriminate based on immigration status and will not be stopped by a wall.
The coronavirus crisis demands a swift change in the administration's dangerous immigration policies. At stake is nothing less than the lives of immigrants, Latinos - and all Americans.
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You don't get denialism without nihilism. As life-long conservative Bill Kristol astutely pointed out, the Republican party has embraced nihilism. Republicans still labeling COVID-19 a "hoax;" Republicans still refusing to wear masks or social distance after over half-a-million American fatalities from COVID-19; Congressional Republicans obstructing a COVID-19 stimulus bill certain to pass just to delay vital and urgently needed relief to Americans desperate for help; not one Congressional Republican in either chamber voting for the badly needed stimulus bill; Republican governors dropping mask mandates and all restrictions on businesses, heedless of rising case counts in their states and deadly new variants of the virus; and Republican leaders continuing to push the Big Lie that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen without evidence and in disregard of plentiful evidence and facts to the contrary, even AFTER their Big Lie incited a terrorist attack by a mindless Republican mob against the nation's Capitol in insurrection against the government, attempting to overturn a legitimate election, sieging, storming, sizing, sacking, defiling, defacing and disgracing America's citadel of, and temple to, democracy--these are all prime examples of nihilism.
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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@universalsoldier2293 ~ The only good Republican is a former Republican, Doc! Toxic Trump has betrayed America for four years, and yet they continued to support him. GOP is complicit with and responsible for Toxic Trump, enabling, aiding, and abetting him and his actions. They put party before country, lies before truth, greed before decency. They've had a choice to leave the party, start a new party. But they haven't, they went along with the destruction to our nation.
You're the simpleton, part of the problem, if you think the problem will be solved if we all just sit around and sing Kumbaya. We got a Republican cult which existed before Toxic Toxic Trump, built up over decades by the GOP and plutocrats, which Republican politicians have cynically nourished and exploited for years. The terrorist insurrection against Congress was just the logical culmination of their labors. Wake up!
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Republicans are willing to gain and hold power at any cost...even if the price is our democracy!
Farmer wakes up one morning, goes outside to milk his cows, and discovers his entire herd is missing! So, he then walks over nest door to where the Republican cult lives, notices them grinding a whole bunch of beef into hamburger, and asks them, "Did you see what happened to all my cows?"
Republican cult: "Yeah, they jumped over the moon."
Farmer: "Do you have any actual evidence of that?"
Republican cult: "No, because they landed on the dark side, and you can't see them over there. But we're conducting a bunch of investigations and fraudits, and we're confident evidence will soon emerge to prove it!"
Farmer: "You know, that sounds like a load of manure!"
Republican cult: "Well, that's what we all choose to believe!"
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The Reich-wing has been denigrating, demonizing, and damaging government and reputable media for decades, long before Qanon put their lies and fear-mongering on steroids. Even before Qanon, one might try explaining Civics 101 to Republicans and be met with a blank stare or derision. Just to point out that this is not a new problem, but an infection that has been festering for some time, with the GOP's embrace of Qanon akin to them now applying flesh-eating bacteria to the open already infected wound.
This video reminds me why I get so exasperated and perturbed when people uninformed about our government, issues, and political parties try to equate the two respective sides as both being bad or hopelessly corrupt. That couldn't be more wrong, and that attitude is what leads to dysfunctional Republicans getting elected. While have watched the Democratic party grow, mature, and improve over the past 60 years, have likewise observed the decline of the GOP--particularly over the past four decades--to the point where is has now essentially become a corrupt, mindless fascist cult of radical reactionaries. It is a Republican cult that knowingly places lies before truths, personal and political interests over the best interests of the nation--and can thus no longer be realistically regarded as loyal opposition. The GOP no longer stands for conservatism or any actual ideology, unless "owning the libs" is to be considered a political ideology. If so, it would be a bankrupt ideology, for Republicans have bankrupted their political party, willfully sacrificing character, integrity, principles, ethics, morals, and honor in their blind quest to win at any cost. Like all bankrupt ideologies and soul sacrifices, the GOP's descent into greed, corruption and lunacy only guarantees that Republicans must ultimately lose and fail.
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'Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America' by Kathleen Belew (Harvard University Press, 2018)
The movement “brought together members of the Klan, militias, radical tax resisters, white separatists, neo-Nazis, and proponents of white theologies such as Christian Identity, Odinism, and Dualism” (ix). What was it about the movement that brought these ideologies together?
The promise of violence — rather, the promise that members would get to inflict violence on other people. Belew writes that as the white power movement matured, it became more violent, and “[as] violence came to the fore of the movement, distinctions among white power factions melted away” (60). Belew calls this process “violent community formation” (34). Yet as a social movement, Belew makes a distinction between the white power movement’s “revolutionary violence” and the Ku Klux Klan’s “vigilante violence.”
Vigilante violence “served to constitute, shore up, and enforce systemic power” (106). Given that the U.S. government has a long history of “defending vigilante violence by refusing to enforce the law” (99), law enforcement inaction and vigilante violence may be understood together as a case of one hand washing the other. Revolutionary violence, however, sought to overthrow the state. It is the white power movement’s goal of overthrowing the federal government that sets it apart in the history of white supremacy in the U.S.
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Toxic Trump: "I'm the BEST, just absolutely CRUSHING the competition, with over THREE POINT FIVE MILLION coronavirus cases and over 139 -- one-hundred and thirty-nine!!! -- THOUSAND deaths! Easy as 1-2-3! They ALL got eighty-sixed, 'cause nobody else even comes close! With a QUARTER of the world's cases AND deaths--can you even imagine how truly great, how awesome, that achievement is, with only just FOUR PERCENT of the world's population to work with? Believe it or not, I accomplished in only FIVE WEEKS what it took the Vietnam War a whole TWELVE YEARS to do! Not done with the fun--and not to be outdone--I then doubled down on the death toll from Vietnam in just FOUR MONTHS! PLUS, we're not even counting ALL the COVID-19 cases and deaths here in the U.S.! And, with only SEVEN PERCENT of the U.S. population already infected, we're just getting started with all the sickness and death; there's PLENTY more to come! Those other weaklings and losers don't stand a chance, because we're going to keep right on winning--as long as I'm in charge! Now, vacation's over; time to get back to work on increasing those numbers, people! Let's keep America great, get rid of all the excess baggage! As wartime President, I am commanding all CIVILIANS to senselessly sacrifice their lives for my arrogance, stupidity, vanity, malevolence, and greed!"
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Wasn't expecting it, but Biden actually gave the best speech of the whole affair--against some really stiff competition! Next best, IMHO, Michelle, Barack, Jill, and Kamala (pre-convention). Also, surprisingly, felt this was the best Democratic Convention to date, despite (or, maybe even partly because of) being virtual. If one didn't feel the buzz and energy--check their pulse!
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
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First, who's Guinness? Second, HEPA filters don't stop a virus, anyway--virus is too small. Third, certainly true about no guarantee of stopping people from getting infected if they go out in public spaces, especially those enclosed, where people are present--whether an airplane or the supermarket. It's about necessity, amount of risk, and risk mitigation. Would agree that we should restrict all unnecessary travel on airlines until at least pandemic is under firm control, greatly helping to keep essential workers (including airline personnel), as well as the general public, safer.
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@carolprice1389 ~Seems we also had the wrong impression. Paradoxically, the smaller the particle, the more likelier to get trapped, if the correct type of HEPA filter. This is because particles that small react differently than what we observe. They bounce off air molecules, flying zig-zag through the air, making it more likely they hit and attach to the filter fibers.
However, you are correct that no filter can trap all of the particles that small. The best HEPA filters can trap upwards of 90%, which can be dependent upon a number of factors such as use, maintenance, and environmental conditions. Some HEPA filters are not designed for, and therefore ineffective at, trapping smaller particles. Another factor is that virus and bacteria build up on HEPA filters that block them.
We do know that many people get sick from traveling aboard airline flights, whether it be the cold, or a flu, or something worse, indicating these systems are not fool-proof. Other problems outlined in our other replies, too. We don't really have the data yet to know how to fly safe, but they want to use us as human guinea pigs. No, thanks!
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@Venn922 ~ Gee, Doc, why you being so hateful and divisive, trying to project?
When the truth is divisive, then there can be no unity.
Elmer Fudd's always trying to convince me he just wants unity.
What he really means is that he wants to eat me.
Unity and compromise is a two-way street that only works if both parties operate in good faith. Republicans have a long history of failing to do that--or even trying. Recent history since Biden won the election shows no indication of them changing their divisive, destructive words, attitudes, obstruction and other acts. Tyrant Trump incited a terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol to overthrow an election, endangering his VP and members of Congress, sat by and gleefully reveled in watching it happen for hours, ignoring desperate pleas for help from Congressional Republicans forced to flee for their lives, and only a very few Republican were willing to speak out, impeach him, convict him, and prevent him from holding public office again? That's not loyal opposition--that's a dangerous terrorist political cult of fascists.
By the way, you have an unhealthy obsession with "Sphenn." Do you identify as "Sphenn?" Not that it matters any. Get a clue, not a fascist Republican cult of seditious terrorists.
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@isabellind1292 ~ VP Harris was a DA and an AG, so she knows U.S. laws, while putting the VP in charge lends authority and weight to the effort of cleaning up the mess left by Toxic Trump's horrific policies and destruction of our immigration infrastructure. Most of those coming from Central America are asylum seekers fleeing desperate situations. The idea these people are making a long, arduous, dangerous journey mostly by foot, leaving their homes where they were born and raised, the places they love, just because they're trying to scam the U.S., is really quite preposterous.
Don't think you really care about human life, Doc, be they American or other--only about regurgitating fallacious Reich-wing talking points. Or, given your rather new YouTube account opened just several months ago, you could be just another one of Putin's sock-puppet pawns. It's become rather difficult distinguishing Republican cult morons from America's enemies seeking to weaken and destroy America, which is rather sad. #moreRussiasanctions
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Bruce Lee ~ The fifth dimension is bliss...just like ignorance!
You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It’s that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don’t care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn’t want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it’s more than hope—those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another five months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn’t really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
“The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.”
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump’s hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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Bruce Lee ~The Tea Party - White Nationalist - White Supremacist - Republican cult types were reaching out to Toxic Trump since before 2008, begging him to run for President. He just played along, didn't get serious, until after his racist birther movement got called out at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner he attended, when President Obama openly mocked him, made a joke of him, humiliated him in front of the media crowd of which he so desperately sought to receive adulation. It is that further inflamed hatred which fueled him to become President, a hatred that still burns bright to this day. The same hatred which fuels his supporters, whether it stems from racism, religious bigotry, xenophobia, misogyny, or mindless divisive programmed Republican partisan tribalism.
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Bruce Lee ~ Got my absentee ballot in the mail just today! Filled it out, signed, had a witness sign, and will be dropping off personally at the clerk's office just down the street Monday! Then, we'll keep telling people we're an "undecided" voter, because we like the attention, and it's all about ME, ME, ME and moving the goal posts in the direction of our ideology!
OK, just kidding about that last part, we're not a jerk! But we will feel elated to have succeeded against Republican efforts to suppress our vote, whether through killing us with the COVID, or something equally nefarious, if somewhat less sinister! However, our work is far from done in ensuring a resounding Democrat victory ACROSS the ballot in November, so we continue to carry on with the hard part.
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~ Bad Vibration, Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Sick fascination, no reservation
Brutalization, victimization
Race relation identification
Saud assassination operation
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Abomination seeks domination
Militarization provocation
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
What location revitalization?
Cessation media manipulation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Magnification of inspiration
Cooperation, collaboration
Restoration results in elation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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Trump excluded the Afghan government from peace negotiations with the Taliban, legitimizing the Taliban by making a separate peace deal with them and delegitimizing the government we worked so long and hard at so much cost to build and support, while releasing 5,000 Taliban prisoners and agreeing to withdraw all U.S. forces by May 1, 2021, guaranteeing failure. Moreover, Trump eviscerated the refugee program for Afghan and Iraqi allies visa programs, creating a huge backlog over several years. A federal judge even ruled Trump's delaying of those visas illegal. Furthermore, Trump abandoned are Kurdish allies in Syria and Iraq. Trump and Pompeo could hardly have screwed up our foreign policy any worse, and the damage they did will take decades to repair. But the Republican cult morons are too stupid to know and too stupid to care; they'll just deny and try to shift blame, as usual.
Liz Cheney's right----it didn't have to happen this way: her father, Dick Cheney, and George Bush were responsible for the deterioration of affairs in Afghanistan by diverting troops and resources to conduct an illegal invasion of Iraq on the false premise of WMD and Iraq harboring terrorists. The situation in Afghanistan never recovered from that fatal mistake by Cheney and Bush; it allowed the Taliban to regroup and come back bigger and stronger than ever. Cheney and Bush's illegal war in Iraq also resulted in the emergence of ISIS.
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~ Bad Vibration, Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization duration
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
What location revitalization?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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@davidwilliams6966 - Why does EC have legitimate argument in 2020, or any other year, for that matter? Despite your claim of supporting abolishment, that just reeks of you seeking partisan advantage. In the first place, nobody expects it to be abolished in 2020 for this election. So, that's just a strawman. In fact, it's doubtful to occur by 2024, or even 2028. By that time, the Electoral College may well favor Democrats.
For the vast majority of Americans supporting abolishment of the EC--Democrats, Republicans, and Independents--it isn't about gaining partisan advantage for any particular election. It's about empowering us citizens, we the people! Remember them (including you)? It's about doing what is right, no different than abolishing slavery and sufferage. It's about civil rights, expanding freedom. It's about ensuring every American's vote counts, that none are disenfranchised. It is NOT about ensuring an advantage for any one party; rather, if anything, it is to prevent that, to foster a level playing field where the best ideas and candidates win--not whomsoever enjoys the momentary home field advantage, allowing fertile ground for stagnation, corruption and decline to take root and flourish.
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@davidwilliams6966 - Two paragraphs is not long-winded, it rather constituted a thoughtful rebuttal. Nor does a single admonishment make a diatribe.
In fact, it is you who shows a lack of understanding on this issue. It is you who have shown intellectual dishonesty in failing to acknowledge and respond to the many salient points and arguments that were presented to you. Sorry, but just throwing up one's hands in surrender, saying something won't happen simply because it takes three-fourths of the states to repeal an Amendment, doesn't actually address those points and arguments; that's only evasion and deflection, more intellectual dishonesty.
The 21st Amendment was repealed, slavery and sufferage also abolished. When Republicans find the shoe on the other foot, and a better informed electorate decides we've had enough of an outmoded, undemocratic Electoral College, there WILL be a repeal. If one supports abolishment, than one must be prepared to put in the effort. You, however, demonstrate little, if any, willingness to put forth such effort. Instead, you just make excuses.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of conspiracy theories, the party of hate, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of corruption, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their deal with the Devil.
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Toxic Trump: "I'm the BEST, just absolutely CRUSHING the competition, with over TWO POINT FOUR MILLION coronavirus cases and over 123--one-hundred and twenty-three!!!--THOUSAND deaths! Easy as 1-2-3! They ALL got eighty-sixed, 'cause nobody else even comes close! With a QUARTER of the world's cases AND deaths--can you even imagine how truly great, how awesome, that achievement is, with only just FOUR PERCENT of the world's population to work with? Believe it or not, I accomplished in only FIVE WEEKS what it took the Vietnam War a whole TWELVE YEARS to do! PLUS, we're not even counting ALL the COVID-19 cases and deaths here in the U.S.! Those other weaklings and losers don't stand a chance, because we're going to keep right on winning--as long as I'm in charge! Now, vacation's over; time to get back to work on increasing those numbers, people! Let's keep America great, get rid of all the excess baggage! As wartime President, I am commanding all CIVILIANS to senselessly sacrifice their lives for my arrogance, stupidity, vanity, malevolence, and greed!"
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Trump pisses on American people, calls it rain. Republican cult drinks it up! The epitome of this is Mulvaney's GOP speech laying bare the Trump administration's lie about moving USDA science offices, an illegal, costly affair which serves no purpose other than to silence science, force out faithful public servants, and fill critical government science and technology posts with obeisant know-nothing partisan hack replacements. Or, this Republican administration will leave many vacant. Clearly, this Trump travesty is bad for farmers, bad for ALL Americans, and just plain bad for America, yet we see the Republican cult dupes cheering Mulvaney on, lapping up the piss like ambrosia! All recorded for history, so all the progeny from these treasonous Republican idiots--from their kids now to all of those kid's kids and their kids in the future--are going to see just what kind of ignorant monsters they had for parents, grandparents, relatives, and ancestors. Not that Republicans seem mindful or to care. The destructiveness of GOP politics on American government began under Nixon, but starting with Reagan it became a Republican selling point. Conservatism won't die, but Republicanism has become a zero-sum game for losers.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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Republican SCOTUS, Republican politicians and Republican voters want to pretend systemic racism doesn't exist in America....so they can keep perpetuating it!
Meet the new ugly face of white supremacy in America! Funny--it looks just like the old ugly face. Except this time they got their Imperial Wizard installed as Chief Jester of the Supreme Court, where he magically declared racism somehow no longer a problem in America, paving the way for thousands of new Jim Crow laws and egregious gerrymandering suppressing and disenfranchising millions of American voters. Of course, harsh realities will continue to exist irrespective of any blind eye or pretentious, capricious edicts by some Supreme Court. And Roberts' conservative SCOTUS decisions only confirm how the white supremacist problem and its perpetual "fix" on the American judicial branch and justice system has never gone away, as America continues to struggle with overcoming a racist history of colonialism, slavery, and discrimination.
"...we must recognize that one of the two political parties is routinely engaged in sabotaging free elections with voter-suppression efforts aimed at the minority voters it cannot win over at the ballot box. These anti-democratic power grabs became a GOP staple decades before Donald Trump, culminating in the actions of a George W. Bush–anointed chief justice, John Roberts, whose Supreme Court shredded the Voting Rights Act of 1965. As Roberts famously put it in his 2007 opinion for the plurality, “The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.” Since then, discrimination on the basis of race has only expanded in states like Georgia and Florida, where Black voting rights have been cavalierly undermined and trashed." ~ Frank Rich, November 9, 2020 (Written well before the rash of new Jim Crow laws now being proposed and passed by Republicans in many states.)
Chief Justice Roberts and his fellow conservative SCOTUS justices: the architects of a new era of Jim Crow in America. Need to expand SCOTUS to 15 justices, do away with the filibuster, pass a new Voting Rights Act, and let Biden appoint six new justices to bring sanity and justice back to the Supreme Court.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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Toxic Trump: "I'm the BEST, just absolutely CRUSHING the competition, with over TWO POINT SEVEN MILLION coronavirus cases and over 130--one-hundred and thirty!!!--THOUSAND deaths! Easy as 1-2-3! They ALL got eighty-sixed, 'cause nobody else even comes close! With a QUARTER of the world's cases AND deaths--can you even imagine how truly great, how awesome, that achievement is, with only just FOUR PERCENT of the world's population to work with? Believe it or not, I accomplished in only FIVE WEEKS what it took the Vietnam War a whole TWELVE YEARS to do! Not done with the fun--and not to be outdone--I then doubled down on the death toll from Vietnam in just FOUR MONTHS! PLUS, we're not even counting ALL the COVID-19 cases and deaths here in the U.S.! And, with only SEVEN PERCENT of the U.S. population already infected, we're just getting started with all the sickness and death; there's PLENTY more to come! Those other weaklings and losers don't stand a chance, because we're going to keep right on winning--as long as I'm in charge! Now, vacation's over; time to get back to work on increasing those numbers, people! Let's keep America great, get rid of all the excess baggage! As wartime President, I am commanding all CIVILIANS to senselessly sacrifice their lives for my arrogance, stupidity, vanity, malevolence, and greed!"
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Because humans have neglected to take aggressive action to curb our hydrocarbon usage and emissions, have refused to take climate change seriously, now what we are witnessing is a snowball effect, where the problem is exacerbated by huge wildfires as seen burning in the Amazon, in Greece, in the western U.S. and Canada, in Siberia, raising temperatures and adding more CO2 and other greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. As the frozen tundra thaws, methane gases are being released, and as water bodies warm, methane hydrates formerly trapped at the bottom rise into the air, releasing even more methane gas. As more and more surface ice is lost on land and in the ocean, less sunlight is reflected back into space, causing more heat gain. Humans have set into motion a self-perpetuating loop; a cycle which we may well be powerless to stop, and which will destroy life on Earth as it has existed for millions of years.
What we are witnessing and experiencing is only just the beginning of the reckoning for human stupidity, greed, apathy, and short-sightedness. Pretty soon, with so many suffering, empathy will be in short supply. I fear what is to come for the human race, for our children, for their children, and all who follow after, and the sorrow I feel for them and our planet, for all that will be lost, overwhelms. Because this didn't have to happen. We knew decades ago that we were creating our own apocalypse, and took no more than token measures to stop it. And humans continue to dawdle, fiddling while the planet burns.
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Republicans are willing to gain and hold power at any cost...even if the price is our democracy!
Farmer wakes up one morning, goes outside to milk his cows, and discovers his entire herd is missing! So, he then walks over nest door to where the Republican cult lives, notices them grinding a whole bunch of beef into hamburger, and asks them, "Did you see what happened to all my cows?"
Republican cult: "Yeah, they jumped over the moon."
Farmer: "Do you have any actual evidence of that?"
Republican cult: "No, because they landed on the dark side, and you can't see them over there. But we're conducting a bunch of investigations and fraudits, and we're confident evidence will soon emerge to prove it!"
Farmer: "You know, that sounds like a load of manure!"
Republican cult: "Well, that's what we all choose to believe!"
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-‘n-‘Thief, Toxic Trump, so much—although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages—as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Let's just call January 6 what it actually was -- a Republican smash and grab, an act of violent larceny against democracy and sedition employing domestic terrorism right out in open sight.
"Without accountability, an attempted autogolpe and insurrection is just practice."
"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ― Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again." ― Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney
More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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#unfoxmycablebox Sorry to say, most of their revenue doesn't come from advertisers, but from the outrageous contracts they negotiate with cable providers. You really want to hit Faux News where it hurts, threaten cable TV providers that you will "drop the box" if they keep supporting and carrying Faux News. The good news is that cable TV providers have no desire to pay the outlandish sums Faux News demands, and would love to have us provide the excuse needed! There is already a non-profit organization out there pushing this, which can provide one more information if needed:
Pay for cable or satellite TV? You’re subsidizing Fox News whether you watch it or not.
Your cable or satellite TV provider pays a subscriber fee to carry Fox News. That cost is passed directly on to YOU.
Every network charges cable and satellite providers a small fee per subscriber; the one for Fox News is extraordinarily high. A typical household pays Fox News almost $2 per month—about $20 per year— via their cable or satellite provider, regardless of whether they actually watch the channel.
In 2021, a wave of big contracts between Fox News and TV providers for subscriber fees are set to expire. These contracts make up about 65% if Fox News’ subscriber fee revenue. If we want to stop paying the Fox News “tax,” now is the time to act.
Fox News makes approximately $1.8 billion per year from hidden subscriber fees–twice as much as CNN and three times as much as MSNBC.
The network's extra-high fees, which make up most of its revenue, protect Fox News from the advertisers that are quickly abandoning it.
https://unfoxmycablebox.com/
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It's that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don't care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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Elmer Fudd's always trying to convince me he just wants unity.
What he really means is that he wants to eat me.
Unity and compromise is a two-way street that only works if both parties operate in good faith. Republicans have a long history of failing to do that--or even trying. Recent history since Biden won the election shows no indication of them changing their divisive, destructive words, attitudes, obstruction and other acts. Tyrant Trump incited a terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol to overthrow an election, endangering his VP and members of Congress, sat by and gleefully reveled in watching it happen for hours, ignoring desperate pleas for help, and only a very few Republican were willing to speak out, impeach him, convict him, and prevent him from holding public office again? That's not loyal opposition--that's a dangerous terrorist political cult of fascists.
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rtorres81rc - Since your replies were not directed to us, why no apology to us you wrongly addressed, why no courtesy heads-up about your error? That's inconsiderate.
Since you got us here, why no regime change in Turkey, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Israel, U.S.? At least, the U.S. appears headed for new leadership in a few months, although fear it likely U.S. still incapable of being a fair and impartial peace broker between Palestinians and Israel, and will continue to prioritize domestic and geopolitical games over human rights and visionary solutions to true, lasting peace in the region, to which are paid primarily lip service. Why no acknowledgement of the incredible devastation caused to the people of Syria and Yemen by outside actors fomenting and fueling civil wars as proxies to their own selfish national ambitions?
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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Republicans can't handle reality, would rather traffic and believe in lies. The GOP has become a fascist, nihilistic cult that would destroy democracy and America if given sufficient opportunity. And THAT, folks, is your reality check.
What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil. They are either actively or silently complicit in fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorist violence, Reich-wing insurrection, and Reich-wing undermining of our democracy and Constitution.
It's crystal clear that Trump, Boebert, Greene, Gosar and other Republicans like them are fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorism. The GOP has become radicalized to such an extent that it has essentially become a fascist terrorist organization, with members that fantasize and promote violence against their fellow Americans. While those Republican elected officials must be condemned and sanctioned, they are only a symptom of the disease poisoning a third of America, the most visible part of the cancer infecting our nation.
The GOP has been mainstreaming radicalization of their voter base for decades, ALLOWING Reich-wing media and Reich-wing demagogues to take over the party, to the point it has become a fascist, nihilistic cult. Because just as now, Republican politicians and their plutocratic masters have always seen it as the ends justifying whatever means to win power. Remember the Republican Tea Party? This catastrophe with the GOP didn't start with Trump, who just exploited what Republicans had already built.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle for graft and to grift their voters and us taxpayers. You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A quarter of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-‘n-‘Thief, Toxic Trump, so much—although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages—as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, homophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, divisive, anti-science, anti-democratic raving lunatic and his corruption, a man compromised by foreign nations, including our principle adversary, through his tremendous debt. Between that, his catastrophic, irresponsible handling of COVID-19, and his incitement of anti-democratic violent Reich-wing groups, Trump has made himself America's #1 most serious national security threat. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself, mental illness, and his upbringing, who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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07/11/20 -- 3,356,000 confirmed cases; 137,400 deaths.
07/10/20 -- 3,292,000 confirmed cases; 136,700 deaths.
07/09/20 -- 3,220,000 confirmed cases; 136,000 deaths.
07/08/20 -- 3,159,000 confirmed cases; 134,900 deaths.
07/07/20 -- 3,097,000 confirmed cases; 133,900 deaths.
07/06/20 -- 3,041,000 confirmed cases; 133,000 deaths.
07/05/20 -- 2,984,000 confirmed cases; 132,500 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
07/04/20 -- 2,936,000 confirmed cases; 132,300 deaths.
07/03/20 -- 2,890,000 confirmed cases; 132,100 deaths.
07/02/20 -- 2,837,000 confirmed cases; 131,500 deaths.
07/01/20 -- 2,780,000 confirmed cases; 130,800 deaths.
06/30/20 -- 2,722,000 confirmed cases; 129,400 deaths. NIH predicts 100,000 cases per day soon from premature reopening and people not following CDC guidelines.
06/29/20 -- 2,682,000 confirmed cases; 128,800 deaths.
06/28/20 -- 2,638,000 confirmed cases; 128,400 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
06/27/20 -- 2,597,000 confirmed cases; 128,200 deaths.
06/26/20 -- 2,553,000 confirmed cases; 127,600 deaths. CDC projects TEN times as many COVID-19 cases as confirmed; approximately 25 million, or 7% of U.S. pop.
06/25/20 -- 2,505,000 confirmed cases; 126,800 deaths.
06/24/20 -- 2,463,000 confirmed cases; 124,300 deaths.
06/23/20 -- 2,424,000 confirmed cases; 123,500 deaths.
06/22/20 -- 2,388,000 confirmed cases; 122,600 deaths.
06/21/20 -- 2,357,000 confirmed cases; 122,200 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
06/20/20 -- 2,331,000 confirmed cases; 122,000 deaths.
06/19/20 -- 2,297,000 confirmed cases; 121,400 deaths.
06/18/20 -- 2,264,000 confirmed cases; 120,700 deaths.
06/17/20 -- 2,235,000 confirmed cases; 119,900 deaths.
06/16/20 -- 2,199,000 confirmed cases; 118,800 deaths.
06/15/20 -- 2,182,000 confirmed cases; 118,200 deaths.
06/14/20 -- 2,162,000 confirmed cases; 117,800 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
06/13/20 -- 2,139,000 confirmed cases; 117,500 deaths. Latest projection has 200,000 Americans dead from COVID-19 before October.
06/12/20 -- 2,117,000 confirmed cases; 116,800 deaths.
06/11/20 -- 2,090,000 confirmed cases; 116,000 deaths.
06/10/20 -- 2,066,000 confirmed cases; 115,100 deaths.
06/09/20 -- 2,046,000 confirmed cases; 114,100 deaths.
06/08/20 -- 2,026,000 confirmed cases; 113,000 deaths.
06/07/20 -- 2,007,000 confirmed cases; 112,500 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
06/06/20 -- 1,976,000 confirmed cases; 111,900 deaths.
06/05/20 -- 1,949,000 confirmed cases; 111,000 deaths.
06/04/20 -- 1,924,000 confirmed cases; 110,100 deaths.
06/03/20 -- 1,902,000 confirmed cases; 109,100 deaths.
05/31/20 -- 1,837,000 confirmed cases; 106,200 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/30/20 -- 1,817,000 confirmed cases; 105,600 deaths.
05/29/20 -- 1,793,000 confirmed cases; 104,500 deaths.
05/24/20 -- 1,686,000 confirmed cases; 99,300 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/23/20 -- 1,667,000 confirmed cases; 98,700 deaths.
05/22/20 -- 1,645,000 confirmed cases; 97,600 deaths.
05/17/20 -- 1,528,000 confirmed cases; 91,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/16/20 -- 1,497,000 confirmed cases; 89,400 deaths.
05/11/20 -- 1,379,000 confirmed cases; 81,500 deaths.
05/10/20 -- 1,364,000 confirmed cases; 80,600 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/07/20 -- 1,289,000 confirmed cases; 76,500 deaths.
05/06/20 -- 1,260,000 confirmed cases; 74,500 deaths.
05/05/20 -- 1,233,000 confirmed cases; 72,000 deaths.
05/04/20 -- 1,208,000 confirmed cases; 69,600 deaths. CDC projects cases increasing to 200,000 per day with deaths rising to 3,000 per day by June because of states, localities and people not following guidelines and reopening their economies too soon.
05/03/20 -- 1,184,000 confirmed cases; 68,300 deaths. Every 44 seconds, another American dies from COVID-19. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/02/20 -- 1,158,000 confirmed cases; 67,000 deaths.
05/01/20 -- 1,129,000 confirmed cases; 65,500 deaths.
04/30/20 -- 1,094,000 confirmed cases; 63,600 deaths. The U.S. accounts for over a third of the world's cases, and over a quarter of COVID-19 deaths--despite possessing only 5% of the world's population. Yet--even now--we still lack the adequate testing capabilities that are critically needed to safely reopen the economy, and remain sorely lacking the necessary rational national leadership so vital to saving American lives and livelihoods.
04/29/20 -- 1,064,000 confirmed cases; 61,500 deaths. The U.S. now has as many COVID-19 deaths in just NINE WEEKS as there was for all TWELVE YEARS of the Vietnam War.
04/28/20 -- 1,034,000 confirmed cases; 59,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/27/20 -- 1,009,000 confirmed cases; 56,500 deaths.
04/22/20 -- 853,000 confirmed cases; 47,800 deaths (+2,674*)
04/21/20 -- 825,000 confirmed cases; 45,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/20/20 -- 788,000 confirmed cases; 43,200 deaths.
04/16/20 -- 671,000 confirmed cases; 33,100 deaths. Less COVID-19 testing performed this week than last, despite desperate need to ramp up volume to reopen economy.
04/15/20 -- 640,000 confirmed cases; 30,800 deaths. The United States recorded its first coronavirus fatality on Feb. 29. It took 38 days to reach 10,000 deaths and just nine more days to go from 10,000 fatalities to 30,000. An increase in fatalities over the last 48 hours was expected, but was also due to new CDC policy, starting on 04/14, to include probable COVID-19 deaths...finally.
04/14/20 -- 609,000 confirmed cases; 26,600 deaths (+2,364 - *New worst daily death toll)
04/13/20 -- 583,000 confirmed cases; 24,200 deaths
04/12/20 -- 558,000 confirmed cases; 22,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S. With just 4.25% of the world's population, the U.S. has 30% of the COVID-19 infections and 20% of the COVID-19 deaths. So far, the U.S. has the very WORST response of ANY nation, something formerly inconceivable, and inexcusable that it could now be allowed to happen here. In the U.S., we have 1.5 million seniors in 15,000 nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Despite forming only 0.45% of the U.S. population, they make up almost 10% of deaths, primarily because our federal government is not doing enough to protect them. Reported that many hospitals are no longer accepting COVID-19 patients from nursing homes, preferring they die there, instead. Our seniors, who helped build, grow and make America great, are being sacrificed, solely to ignorance.
04/11/20 -- 530,000 confirmed cases; 20,500 deaths.
04/08/20 -- 432,000 confirmed cases; 15,900 deaths.
04/07/20 -- 400,000 confirmed cases; 13,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. Figures indicate a Covid-19 fatality rate for TESTED Americans at 3.25%.
04/06/20 -- 369,000 confirmed cases; 11,000 deaths.
04/02/20 -- 246,000 confirmed cases; 6,050 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/01/20 -- 217,000 confirmed cases; 5,150 deaths.
03/31/20 -- 190,000 confirmed cases; 4,200 deaths.
03/29/20 -- 143,000 confirmed cases; 2,450 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
(Update 5: Friday, 03/27/20, confirmed U.S. cases 105,000--which is 50% over NIH high-end estimate; deaths 1,700 by end of day. The perspective for cases is significantly skewed low and thus highly misleading, however, as just 0.17% of U.S. population has been tested to date.)
"As many as 70,000 Americans could be confirmed as infected with coronavirus by the end of next week, marking a “pretty dramatic” increase in the number of confirmed cases," the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, told his employees in an agency-wide conference call on 03/20/20.
Except 03/21/20 saw a 33% jump in U.S. cases, from 18,000 to over 24,000. If continuing at 33% every 24 hours, the number of confirmed cases is trending much higher than just 70,000 by 03/27/20. Suspect confirmed cases will be double that. Bear in mind, states hardest hit are not testing many people, saving the tests for those most in need. So the actual number of infected Americans is going to be far higher than just what limited testing of the population has so far confirmed. Don't think this fact is being given enough attention. More important than the number of cases confirmed is the number contracting the disease and not getting tested, spreading the disease, in many cases unknowingly. Hospital projections are for about 100 MILLION Americans to become infected, with about 500,000 dead from covid-19.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of crackpot conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of greed, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of plutocrats, the party of corruption, the party of anti-democracy, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their pact with the Devil.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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@odyoddeller ~ A lot of words, but you're wrong. That's not debt, that's called dependency. However, China is more dependent upon the U.S. than vice versa, and in a world economy, there is dependency among all nations. If the U.S. stopped trading with China, China's economy would collapse. But that would hurt the U.S., too, because there is a codependency. I know, I know....reality is hard, and if Republicans couldn't buy and sell fear, they'd cease to exist.
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Whenever the media runs video of Manchin and Sinema, they need to superimpose a flashing chyron on their foreheads: "FOR SALE...FOR SALE...FOR SALE..."
Get big money out of politics and get corrupt politicians like Manchin and Sinema sucking up to the corporate trough voted out.
• A summer sting operation by Greenpeace had an Exxon Mobil lobbyist reveal that he met with Manchin weekly to try to persuade him to weaken Biden’s climate agenda (and he’s not the only rich guy who gets Manchin regularly on the line). Manchin has received more donations than any other Senator from oil, gas, and coal industry.
• An August piece in Harper’s noted that the West Virginia Democratic Party, which the senator played no small role in gutting, remains entirely under Manchin’s influence and control. It also mentions how Manchin leveraged his influence within the Senate to get plush government appointments for people close to him, including his wife.
• A September report from Type Investigations and the Intercept revealed that Manchin is currently invested in multiple coal companies that are run by his son, and that, even though the elder Manchin’s investments are in a blind trust, he has personally made $4.5 million from them during the time he has spent in the Senate (11 years to date).
• This is likely the Manch’s last term. In this remaining time, he seems to be simply looking out for his sources of wealth, including the ones that come from his son’s coal incinerators. It wouldn’t be the first time a Manchin family member used conflicts of interest to their advantage. Joe’s wife, Gayle, previously served as head of the West Virginia Board of Education and used her position to try to require the state’s schools to purchase EpiPens. EpiPens are manufactured by the Big Pharma juggernaut Mylan, whose former CEO was Heather Bresch—Manchin’s daughter, who stepped down after it was revealed she helped fix the prices of EpiPens in collusion with Pfizer. Family helping family: It’s a highly lucrative graft.
• While Manchin and Sinema worked to delay and reduce the Democrats’ budget bill, they were raising campaign money from wealthy Republican donors, according to a Sludge review of campaign finance data from Code for Democracy. For many of these donors, their contributions to Manchin or Sinema this year have been only their first or second donations to any Democrats in recent election cycles.
• Twenty years ago, when Kyrsten Sinema was a Green Party activist running for the Phoenix City Council, she likened the practice of raising campaign cash to “bribery.” Now that she's a U.S. senator, she no longer seems to have such qualms. So far this year, she's raised nearly $750,000 in donations from the pharmaceutical and medical sector (plus more from the financial sector) at a time when the Arizona Democrat was using her power in a narrowly divided Senate to force President Joe Biden to scale down his spending agenda. Her actions are closely aligned with the priorities of donors who have much at stake in how Biden's initiatives turn out.
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Trump Surgeon General: "Four months since this pandemic began, and we've stopped telling people just how very, very few Americans we've tested, we're still not elucidating any real coherent strategy for dealing with COVID-19. Instead of testing the American public to get a handle on this pandemic, confine outbreaks, gain more time, and protect the American people, especially those Americans at high-risk--such as the young, the elderly, those sick or with conditions--we are using the American people as guinea pigs, tracking where they start dying after the epidemic has already taken firm root in their communities! Just remember...DON'T PANIC!!!"
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-‘n-‘Thief, Toxic Trump, so much—although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages—as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation—only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regurgitation
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump’s COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration…
Now reaching vacation destination!
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Toxic Trump: "I'm the BEST, just absolutely CRUSHING the competition, with over FOUR POINT TWO MILLION coronavirus cases and over 147 -- one-hundred and forty-seven!!! -- THOUSAND deaths! Easy as 1-2-3! They ALL got eighty-sixed, 'cause nobody else even comes close! With a QUARTER of the world's cases AND deaths--can you even imagine how truly great, how awesome, that achievement is, with only just FOUR PERCENT of the world's population to work with? Believe it or not, I accomplished in only FIVE WEEKS what it took the Vietnam War a whole TWELVE YEARS to do! Not done with the fun--and not to be outdone--I then doubled down on the death toll from Vietnam in just FOUR MONTHS! PLUS, we're not even counting ALL the COVID-19 cases and deaths here in the U.S.! And, with only TEN PERCENT of the U.S. population already infected, we're just getting started with all the sickness and death; there's PLENTY more to come! Those other weaklings and losers don't stand a chance, because we're going to keep right on winning--as long as I'm in charge! Now, vacation's over; time to get back to work on increasing those numbers, people! Let's keep America great, get rid of all the excess baggage! As wartime President, I am commanding all CIVILIANS to senselessly sacrifice their lives for my arrogance, stupidity, vanity, malevolence, and greed!"
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Trump and Republicans are like Jack and his band of boys in 'Lord of the Flies' who went native and turned barbaric. Ralph, Simon, Piggy and the other group of boys represent the rest of us who value civilization and order. Just as Jack and his band turned savage, killing and cannibalizing their fellow students on the deserted island they landed upon, Trump and Republicans, manically obsessed with power, money and vanity, have also turned savage, rejecting responsibility, reason, civility, morality, and science, killing their fellow Americans and cannibalizing our government. Except there will be no adults arriving to save those of us trying to do the right thing, like in the classic tale. We are the adults, and it is strictly up to us to save ourselves and this country from the fascistic, nihilistic impulses of Trump and Republicans.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
― Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a serious threat to our very security.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
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GOP cult: “Democracy is great…only so long as we can subvert it with lies, a multitude of Jim Crow voter suppression laws, egregious gerrymandering, obstruction, sedition, and terrorism to gain power and maintain our corrupt, plutocratic, minority fascist rule!”
Meet the new ugly face of white supremacy in America! Funny--it looks just like the old ugly face. Except this time they got their Imperial Wizard installed as Chief Jester of the Supreme Court, where he magically declared racism somehow no longer a problem in America, paving the way for thousands of new Jim Crow laws and egregious gerrymandering suppressing and disenfranchising millions of American voters. Of course, harsh realities will continue to exist irrespective of any blind eye or pretentious, capricious edicts by some Supreme Court. And Roberts' conservative SCOTUS decisions only confirm how the white supremacist problem and its perpetual "fix" on the American judicial branch and justice system has never gone away, as America continues to struggle with overcoming a racist history of colonialism, slavery, and discrimination.
"...we must recognize that one of the two political parties is routinely engaged in sabotaging free elections with voter-suppression efforts aimed at the minority voters it cannot win over at the ballot box. These anti-democratic power grabs became a GOP staple decades before Donald Trump, culminating in the actions of a George W. Bush–anointed chief justice, John Roberts, whose Supreme Court shredded the Voting Rights Act of 1965. As Roberts famously put it in his 2007 opinion for the plurality, “The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.” Since then, discrimination on the basis of race has only expanded in states like Georgia and Florida, where Black voting rights have been cavalierly undermined and trashed."
~ Frank Rich, November 9, 2020 (Written even before the rash of new Jim Crow laws being proposed and passed by Republicans in many states.)
Chief Justice Roberts and his fellow conservative SCOTUS justices: the architects of a new era of Jim Crow in America.
Need to expand SCOTUS to 15 justices, do away with the filibuster, pass a new Voting Rights Act, and let Biden appoint six new justices to bring sanity and justice back to the Supreme Court.
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@oliverphippen1957 Thing about Republican cult dupes, Doc, they don't think for themselves! All they know how to do is mindlessly parrot GOP talking points!
Only place due process comes into play is in the Senate TRIAL part of the impeachment process. There is no due process during an inquiry or investigatory phase in our justice system. BTW, impeachment is not a criminal proceeding, it is no different than someone getting fired from their job. Any criminal trial, if warranted, would take place after removal from office in a court of law--which is not Congress, doofus! BIG, BIG difference, which you Republicans are about to learn the hard way!
There are sound reasons for holding these initial investigatory hearings behind closed doors. This is so other potential witnesses testimony is not tainted, for example. Or, to protect the witness, in order that the truth may come out, for another example. Moreover, most of these witnesses will be recalled at the appropriate time during later OPEN House hearings, anyway, televised to the public. Also, these witnesses can be called upon by both defense and prosecution in the open Senate trial phase. Some of the testimony involves classified materials, which portions must be held from the public. An impeachment INQUIRY is in many respect like a grand jury, which is held behind closed doors. However, while some portions may best be handled discretely for now, Democrats WANT these witnesses testifying publicly in open hearings, both to bolster the case for impeachment and to increase public awareness and support.
Nothing improper is being done in investigating Trump's alleged crimes and malfeasance. In fact, many observers believe Democrats have been too preoccupied with being fair and far too lenient and patient with this lawless administration. Personally, it seems they have struck a nice balance, using a determined, methodical approach of gathering the facts and evidence and seeing where that leads. Don't think impeachment is something that should be rushed, or rushed into; that impeachment should be reserved only for serious breaches of the public trust, and never used for partisan differences or partisan gain.
Bottom line: Republicans want to distract from Toxic Traitor Trump's crimes and gross unfitness for office by making it all about the process and the wacky Republican partisan conspiracy theories that landed Trump in this whole Ukraine fiasco of his in the first place--suckered by his own Russian/GOP propaganda! The heavy irony is just too rich which, sadly, we fear you lack the character and integrity to appreciate, if not also the mental capacity to process!
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, John Eastman and all other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed? If Garland doesn't stand up for the rule of law, justice and democracy, this nation is soon doomed.
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
18 U.S.C. §2383 -- Rebellion or insurrection
Whoever incites, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof … shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.
18 U.S.C. §2384 -- Seditious conspiracy
If two or more persons … in any place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof, … they shall each be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.
18 U.S.C. §2385 -- Advocating overthrow of Government
Whoever knowingly or willfully advocates, abets, advises, or teaches the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying the government of the United States or the government of any State … by force or violence, ... they shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.
18 U.S. Code § 2331 -- Domestic Terrorism (Supplemental penalty of up to 17 years imprisonment)
(5) the term “domestic terrorism” means activities that—
(A) involve acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State;
(B) appear to be intended—
(i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population;
(ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or
(iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and
(C) occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States
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Welcome to war. This is what war is. It's terrible, it's tragic, it's ugly, it stinks, it's unfair, it's sad, it's wasteful, it's hell, innocents die, and things always go wrong. You think we'd have learned that by now, but no, it's a lesson that has to be repeatedly learned, evidently. The consensus is that nobody foresaw the Afghan government and its armed forces completely capitulating so quickly as they did. Some say there should have been a contingency plan for this, but even though hindsight is 20/20, have yet to hear any rational plan that could have dealt with this situation. Shit happens, and Biden got handed a turd with Afghanistan. Instead of allowing the crap to continue, Biden made the hard, responsible decision to pull the U.S. out of another country's civil war. Fallout was inevitable, and Republicans trying to capitalize on that politically or media trying to profit from it is truly degenerate.
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@chrishewitt4654 ~ You really need to study up on your American history, Doc! Limbaugh was hardly the first of his kind. In fact, he pretty much copied the playbook of the notorious Rev. Charles E. Coughlin in the 1930's and 40's.
To read Father Coughlin’s articles and the transcripts of his radio broadcasts is to find tropes that have become all too familiar in recent years: a not-always-subtle anti-Semitism; a nativism combined with alarm in response to foreign invaders; open praise for dictators; “both-sides” arguments designed to excuse the policies of genocidal strongmen; the rhetoric of victimization served up to an audience of millions of whites; dog-whistles encouraging sedition and vigilantism; identification of Christianity as the true American religion; and, of course, histrionic claims of censorship when entities, both public and private, cut off his access to his public.
You, yourself, are using the "both sides are good people" that Toxic Trump used to describe the white supremacists and neo-Nazis in Charleston, and later attributed to the terrorist mob he unleashed in insurrection against his own government at the nation's Capitol. No matter how much money raised for charities, it was a thin patina that couldn't cover Limbaugh's rot, or the harm he did to civil society and political discourse here in America. As they say, you can put lipstick on a pig, but there's no disguising that it's still a pig. And, yes, you obviously do have the Republican cult blinders on.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Hypocritical Republican cult whines about cancel culture...
--while making death threats against those disagreeing with them
--while conducting a terrorist attack against the nation's Capitol in insurrection, beating and killing police, intent on killing lawmakers and the Republican VP, attempting a coup to overthrow the results of a free and fair election...just because their candidate lost.
--while trying to cancel out the votes of millions of Democrats and minorities by objecting solely to their votes, enacting numerous voter suppression measures, and engaging in egregious gerrymandering.
--while labeling MSM "the enemy of the people."
--while censoring and moving to remove fellow Republicans of integrity who speak up for truth and decency, and against GOP lies, terrorism, and crackpot conspiracy theories.
--while Reich-wing media turns off comments yet rants against "censorship."
--while Faux News fires its news editor for truthfully reporting that Arizona had been called for Biden.
--while trying to run a Biden campaign bus off the road.
--while Rep. Marjorie Greene prevents press from covering town hall meetings where nobody wore a mask.
--after seriously injuring over 140 police officers and killing one in the Republican cult's seditious terrorist attack of insurrection against the nation's Capitol, Republican cult terrorists threaten to call the cops on reporters trying to get their side of the story.
--while canceling out the lives of hundreds of thousands of their fellow Americans by spreading lies about COVID-19, politicizing a deadly pandemic, and refusing to follow common sense health guidelines.
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GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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Who'd have ever equated voting in America with survival? But that's pretty much what it has boiled down to, hasn't it? Survival of ourselves, survival of our democracy, survival of our nation, and survival of our planet. The irony is that Republicans have always tried to paint Democrats as an existential threat...but in doing so it is actually they who have become exactly that.
Democrat voters need an even greater turnout in '22 and '24, put the final fork in Trumpism! Republicans want to engage in Jim Crow voter suppression laws, voter intimidation, and egregious gerrymandering? Republicans want to engage in corruption, gaslight their corruption, coverup their corruption? Republicans want to turn a blind eye to Russian election interference and knowingly disseminate Russian propaganda for Putin? Republicans want to instigate and sanction Reich-wing domestic terrorist insurrection? Republicans want to live in delusion and denial about the major problems confronting the nation and planet? Let's just prove that's fuel for the fire, and make their fascist antidemocratic corruption backfire on them!
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A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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THE all-time, epic chess match! Republicans opted for opening with the King's Gambit, utilizing the Russian Defense, which has left them open and vulnerable on all fronts, holding a very weak position. Can Democrats recover and capitalize in time, or will the Constitution be lost forever, America relegated to the scrap heap of history, a mere brief shooting star, checkmated by its own ignorance??
Sometimes it's not about left and right, but right or wrong. Five-alarm fire is ongoing, President Nero and his Republican arsonist cohorts continue pouring the gasoline in deliriously delusional delight. Sorry, kids, grandkids, and all who come after...the truth was too controversial, too inconvenient for our busy day.
TRUE patriotic Americans don't blindly await their fate like sheep before the slaughter; this isn't any parlor game being played by deviant, depraved Republicans in Congress. Perhaps the most crucial point in American history continues to unfold before us, which requires active, informed civic involvement. Public apathy and passivity would prove fatal to our long and deeply cherished Republic.
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Both sides slowly circling, seizing up and testing the meddle of the "other." Who will be first to strike? Trump, in a frantic tantric frenzy, bovine perspiration running down the upper lip area, lashes out, predictably unpredictably and inappropriately, with a 12-pound turd of toddler gibberish! Hitting the floor with a loud thud, everyone around stands in shock, disbelief, and amazement, puzzled how to best approach the situation, unsure if they should, as they hold their noses.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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~ Bad Vibration, Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Sick fascination, no reservation
Brutalization, victimization
Race relation identification
Saud assassination operation
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Abomination seeks domination
Militarization provocation
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, no resignation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
What location revitalization?
Cessation media manipulation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Magnification of inspiration
Cooperation, collaboration
Restoration results in elation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It’s that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don’t care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn’t want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it’s more than hope—those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another four months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn’t really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
“The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.”
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump’s hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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GOP cult is NOT the party of law and order, NOT the party of the Constitution and patriots, NOT the party of "values," NOT the party of "Christianity,"_* NOT the party of fiscal responsibility, NOT the party of clean government, NOT the party of freedom. It's the party of terrorism, lawlessness, corruption, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry, misogyny, Big Lies, crackpot conspiracy theories, unmitigated greed, gross hypocrisy, socialized taxpayer payouts for plutocrats, sedition, traitors, and tyranny.
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@larrythao1414 No, Doc, you don't get it! U.S. already used nuclear weapons against population centers of people--the only nation to ever do so. We killed millions. Never apologized, still making excuses why we needed to do it. We are the fox guarding the hen house when it comes to nuclear weapons. We have never lived up to our end of the NNPT commitments, requiring us to eliminate our own stockpiles of nuclear weapons. Not just up to America to determine what other nations do to insure their own sovereignty and security--it's a global issue. Trump needs to work with other nations, but he chose instead to rip up a perfectly fine Iranian nuclear agreement and go it alone--simply for his own ego. Meanwhile, Trump uses a double-standard with his lover, Kim Dong ill, which allows him to continue with his nuclear program. He backed out of nuclear treaty with Russia. U.S. has allowed Israel to develop and maintain a nuclear weapons arsenal off the grid. Israel not subject to IEAA or any other nuclear inspections or agreements--rogue nuclear nation. Now Trump talking about militarizing space with Space Force, a catalyst for other nations to expand their own military capabilities beyond conventional means. Hypocrisy at its finest! You want to stop nuclear proliferation, hypocrisy ain't going to get it done. In fact, it's been a major deterrent to deterrence.
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@gottagoat ~ Had a '69 Cougar with a 351 Cleveland. Rebuilt the motor and transmission, put dual exhaust with cherry bombs on it, mag wheels and sport tires. Had it all fixed up, parked it at the church park and ride for the bus stop and took the bus to work downtown. Upon return, found it gone, stolen. Cops called back two days later saying they had found it abandoned and completely stripped. They even took the back seat! Always liked GTO's and Cuda''s, too. But that was the last muscle car owned; left the remains of the Cougar at the junkyard.
Anyway, it's funny, ironic, and quite hypocritical how Republicans go on and on about free speech, but when someone says something they disagree with, they threaten violence! Talk about cancel culture! And, sorry, but merely claiming everything I said was untrue just doesn't make it so, Doc, much as you might wish. There's lots of people using the word "Trumpism." You going to beat the shit out of every one of us? And you are not most Americans--your kind are in the minority, remember? Get a clue, dear----not some fascist Republican cult of seditious terrorists.
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Republican cult morons rail against the very "elite" they keep voting for, who give tax cuts to the rich and have created the greatest income inequality and wealth disparity in American history.
Why? They are driven by the divisive fear and bigotry programmed into them 24/7 by the Reich-wing media and propaganda owned or funded by the plutocracy. It's absolutely Orwellian, and it began around 1984 in America. What is witnessed now is just the rotten results from the poisoned tree bearing fruition. It's the disease killing America that existed long before COVID-19, and which is likely to persist long after.
Republican cult going to believe what the Republican cult wants to believe, whatever the truth, whatever proof, whatever anybody says. "Healing" the country means deprogramming the 30-40% of Americans deep in cultdom. That needs to be recognized, acknowledged, and acted upon if we truly wish to revive the patient, America, and restore it to glory.
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Traitor-'n-Thief Toxic Trump is a compromised Russian asset who puts his own personal interests--legal, financial, and egotistical--ahead of the national interest in both domestic and foreign policy. A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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The judge in this case is clearly biased and/or corrupt, and the fix is in, so his ruling that went against previous cases and court rulings is hardly surprising. Wisconsin defense lawyers had been recently interviewed about this law, and they said that there was no good defense against Rittenhouse's violation of the law:
In Wisconsin, lawful gun owners can generally open carry without a permit. But a person must be 18 or older to carry a “dangerous weapon.” Rittenhouse was 17 at the time of the shootings.
Rittenhouse’s attorneys previously argued he was protected under a vague state law that allows younger children to carry rifles for hunting, but he was charged with underaged unlawful firearms possession anyway. Criminal defense attorneys who specialize in Wisconsin firearm law say it will be hard for the defense to beat that back at trial.
“There are a variety of defenses to this charge; none of them are great or even rise to the level of good,” said Tom Grieve, a Milwaukee-based criminal defense attorney.
If convicted of the misdemeanor gun charge, the maximum penalty is up to nine months in jail or a $10,000 fine.
Wisconsin Statute 948.60 Possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18.
(1) In this section, “dangerous weapon" means any firearm, loaded or unloaded; any electric weapon, as defined in s. 941.295 (1c) (a); metallic knuckles or knuckles of any substance which could be put to the same use with the same or similar effect as metallic knuckles; a nunchaku or any similar weapon consisting of 2 sticks of wood, plastic or metal connected at one end by a length of rope, chain, wire or leather; a cestus or similar material weighted with metal or other substance and worn on the hand; a shuriken or any similar pointed star-like object intended to injure a person when thrown; or a manrikigusari or similar length of chain having weighted ends.
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Asked by reporters about the protestors gathering against pandemic lockdowns, the vast majority not wearing face masks or observing social distancing, Toxic Trump--who tweeted his supporters to "Liberate" three states with Democratic governors critical to his reelection, against his own administrations pandemic edicts and guidance, and in foment of partisan rebellion against state's governors during a Federal National Emergency declared against this pandemic--said, "They seem to be very responsible people to me!"
Trumpette insanity that should have us ALL livid with outrage! Not only are these Republican cult fools putting themselves, their loved ones, and everyone else in danger, they are putting an increased burden upon our already over-stressed health care workers and system, FURTHER endangering them and those they would serve. They put all our other essential front-line workers at increased risk, as well--those we need for our groceries and supplies, to keep the government, electric, gas and other critical infrastructure functioning. What's really, really stupid about their aberrant, irrational partisan cult behavior, is that they are only PROLONGING restrictive measures to contain COVID-19, EXTENDING the time until our economy can reopen fully, REDUCING the amount our economy can be opened--all of which DAMAGES Trump's reelection chances! But that isn't the worst of it. These Trumpettes ignorantly protesting are KILLING actual Americans, just as surely as they put a gun to their heads and pulled the trigger. Toxic Trump shares responsibility, but it is these GOP idiots who own primary responsibility for manslaughter. They should be charged, tried, and convicted, in our view. At the very, very least, they should have all been arrested for public endangerment. Ludicrous and lethal ignorance!
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To protect our health care and front-line workers, it is critical to protect ourselves and others! Protecting those most vulnerable groups among us--like the elderly, homeless, prisoners, minorities, and migrants--is one of the best ways of protecting ourselves! It's a win-win situation, folks--even without a global pandemic, but now especially! Conversely, it is actually Trump and the GOP's rejection of truth, facts, and science, fear-mongering, stigmatization, bigotry, xenophobia, racism, cruelty and lack of compassion which endangers Americans. Ignorance kills.
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, John Eastman and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
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To protect our health care and front-line workers, it is critical to protect ourselves and others! Protecting those most vulnerable groups among us--like the elderly, homeless, prisoners, minorities, and migrants--is one of the best ways of protecting ourselves! It's a win-win situation, folks--even without a global pandemic, but now especially! Conversely, it is actually Trump and the GOP's fear-mongering, stigmatization, bigotry, xenophobia, racism, cruelty and lack of compassion which endangers Americans. Ignorance kills.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or "the Wall") is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle's name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called "leaders" in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. has ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 -- than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to--and a barrier against--our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It's design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge--and help teach--people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see...if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
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Gonzo Kaporal - Using preliminary studies involving relatively few subjects that likely became infected with a different strain of COVID-19, and which have yet to be peer-reviewed, to dubiously draw firm conclusions which are contrary to the current scientific concensus, is neither scientific, nor rational, logical use of your brain.
Clearly, you have little appreciation for science. Would deduce you're either a Russian bot trying to confuse things, an anti-vaxxer, a gloom and doomsayer, or merely just some cantankerous contrarian crackpot. Whichever, your intellectual dishonesty and lack of scientific understanding destroys your credibility.
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Gonzo Kaporal - You engage in the logical fallacy of a strawman argument, which is again intellectual dishonesty. Nothing scientific about your intellectual dishonesty, whatsoever! We only pointed out your failure to heed or warn of the disclaimer of the one study, as well as pointing out other factors you failed to take into consideration. It is intellectually dishonest and unscientific to present research that has not even been peer-reviewed as settled science, nor is it scientific to use such preliminary studies to draw any firm conclusions.
Moreover, the other article does not support your conclusions, either, as it cites both possibilities of long-term and short-term immunity with COVID-19. The article appears to primarily deals with the development of an effective vaccine; it makes no definitive judgment on the length of immunity to COVID-19. So, you misrepresented a general article, which is not a definitive study--more intellectual dishonesty and misunderstanding of science by you.
Another bit of your intellectual dishonesty is saying you were being accused of being a Russian bot, when that was just one of four possibilities presented. Because you regarded Russian asset Toxic Trump as poison, we actually took that as the least likely possibility. There are other possibilities not nefarious, as well, which you had the opportunity to explain, but chose not to, erecting another strawman, instead.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
Democrats, Independents, others: WTF?!?
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Suspect what will be most remarkable is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much to future generations--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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"Peace is not a very big thing to ask for, is it?" ~ Fatima Gailani, Afghan activist and negotiator, pleading for continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan
It is when asking the Taliban, who do not seek peace or to bargain in good faith, but total domination once again. U.S. has spent 20 years and over $2 trillion trying to achieve peace in Afghanistan, losing over 4000 American lives (military and civilian contractors), with tens of thousands of Americans wounded there.
"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials … have given Afghans little reason to support their government," Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the commander of U.S. forces in the country, wrote in a 2009 memorandum. "This crisis of confidence, coupled with a distinct lack of economic and educational opportunity, has created fertile ground for the insurgency."
That was 11 years ago, and little has changed since. Thought the invasion of Afghanistan by Bush was a mistake that would lead to a quagmire, and have been proven correct. Still, initially supported efforts to bring peace and stability there, along with basic human and civil-rights, because after invading felt we had an obligation to rebuild. However, while U.S. blunders there have contributed to a failure, Afghans are their own worst enemy, and no one can help them until enough of them are willing to help themselves.
What Afghanistan needs is more leaders like this Kabul mayor, and more Afghanis loyal to their nation instead of their tribal factions, both of which seem in too short supply.
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@rm5282 ~ My problem with this video wasn't with the criticism, which was admittedly deserved; it is that it doesn't present the whole picture, only a fraction of the problem that is skewed heavily against the lesser offending major political party, which was found highly misleading.
I don't consider that criticism of this piece to be Whataboutism, because the intent of Whataboutism is to deflect and deceive, and/or and attempt to rationalize an act or behavior. There was no attempt or intent to rationalize, deflect, or deceive; regardless of what Republicans are doing or who is most at fault, I think Democrats as a whole can do----and need to do----better in living up to the ideals we profess to believe in and support. In that regard, the criticism was welcomed, appreciated, and valued.
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@Sneednfeedn ~ The Republican cult rejects those conservatives who dare speak the truth about today's GOP. Oddly enough, Ronald Reagan, the person you quote, would be disgusted and appalled by how low the GOP has sunk. But, of course, Republican cult morons always going to try projecting their own fascism, because that's just what Republican cult morons going to do. Also, you're just parroting fallacious Reich-wing talking points, such as equating common sense gun regulations that even many gun owners support with "disarming all Americans," which is complete BS.
There is no record of Huey Long ever speaking or writing the quote you gave. Variations of that quote have been attributed to him and to others, but only after Long's death. The origin of the quote is unknown. Ronald Reagan's quote is a distortion of a previous quote, partisan propaganda he used to demonize his political opponents. At any rate, both quotes you provide are nonsensical. So, for example, if someone says that "If communism ever comes to America, we'll call it anti-communism," then that means that rabidly anti-communist conservatives must therefore be the communists, right? After all, that is the illogic you are promoting, which is utter rubbish. Fascism is extreme right-wing, while socialism and communism are left-wing and extreme left-wing. There is a bit of wisdom held in the quote that has been misattributed to Huey Long and others, IF it is not taken too literally. It should be interpreted as a warning that we should be cautious so as not to become that which is fought against.
Here is the actual quote that Reagan bastardized, along with some relevant history about the original Reich-wing "America First" fascist movement of the 20's and 30's:
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
~ How Fascism Works, The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that Trump lost his reelection bid.
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@JC-justchillin ~ Your words and meaning weren't minimized. This is the same system of government we've had for over 200 years. You engage in false equivalencies, as only one party, Republicans, have become craven enablers to a sociopathic President, who combines the worst of Andrew Johnson and Richard Nixon, but is far more evil. Before (and during) Trump, Republican politicians have been the craven enablers and beneficiaries of hyper-partisan hate-mongers in Reich-wing media, like Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Faux News, Breitbart, etc., who have created a mindless Republican cult who disturbingly idolizes and can see no wrong with Trump. If you yourself were not ideologically blinded so totally, you would understand that, and wouldn't attempt making such false equivalencies. Either that, or you're just one of those lazy, insecure, unintelligent, uninformed clowns that like to imagine postulating both sides are the same makes you sophisticated, superior, somehow above the fray. Those kind are just as blind, just as much a part of the problem. Whichever, you're not misunderstood at all, as you are quite transparent, easily seen through. Your words betray you.
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@JC-justchillin ~ Speaking for yourself, trolling away, because you can't really defend your beliefs. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic hyper-partisan Republican cult placing political party over truth, reason, and country.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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To protect our health care and front-line workers, it is critical to protect ourselves and others! Protecting those most vulnerable groups among us--like the elderly, homeless, prisoners, minorities, and migrants--is one of the best ways of protecting ourselves! It's a win-win situation, folks--even without a global pandemic, but now especially! Conversely, it is actually Trump and the GOP's fear-mongering, stigmatization, bigotry, xenophobia, racism, cruelty and lack of compassion which endangers Americans. Ignorance kills.
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You don't get denialism without nihilism. As life-long conservative Bill Kristol astutely pointed our just recently in a tweet, the Republican party has embraced nihilism. Republicans still labeling COVID-19 a "hoax;" Republicans still refusing to wear masks or social distance after over half-a-million American fatalities from COVID-19; Congressional Republicans obstructing a COVID-19 stimulus bill certain to pass just to delay vital and urgently needed relief to Americans desperate for help; not one Congressional Republican in either chamber voting for the badly needed stimulus bill; Republican governors dropping mask mandates and all restrictions on businesses, heedless of rising case counts in their states and deadly new variants of the virus; and Republican leaders continuing to push the Big Lie that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen without evidence and in disregard of plentiful evidence and facts to the contrary, even AFTER their Big Lie incited a terrorist attack by a mindless Republican mob against the nation's Capitol in insurrection against the government, attempting to overturn a legitimate election, sieging, storming, sizing, sacking, defiling, defacing and disgracing America's citadel of, and temple to, democracy--these are all prime examples of nihilism.
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GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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We got Big Brag Daddy Baghdad Bob broadcasting direct from Washington, D.C. daily, with Toxic Trump and a revolving cast of his sycophantic minions! Happy talk, disinformation, empty promises, idle threats, vicious smears, bogus pandemic models, dog whistles, continuous crackpot conspiracies--they got it all, and more!
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**MEDIA FAIL** -- Trump campaign advisor David Urban only seeks to obfuscate and cover-up for partisan purpose, not interested in the truth, doesn't offer any rational or new perspective. Why does media stupidly allow such clowns to misinform viewers, fog the issues? He's not a prosecutor, and he doesn't know that of which he speaks, which would have been quickly exposed had CNN bothered to enlist any kind of legal expert on the panel to drive a truck through the holes in his deliberately deceptive right-wing propaganda talking points. Why wasn't Urban confronted with the fact that those interventions by Trump and DOJ aren't being done for all similar cases, but only for ONE particular case, involving one of Trump's criminal dirty operatives, a friend of his for 30 years, Roger Stone? Why wasn't he asked if Trump and Barr will now intercede in every such case, overruling line prosecutors and the guidelines they follow in each?
Moreover, Barr's 'story' doesn't even begin to pass the smell test. What happened to common sense, media? Sacrificed just so you can stay stuck in neutral in the ditch, too cowardly and lazy to look right or left to find the truth staring you straight in the face? REALLY? Media BE better, WE be better!
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The militarization of law enforcement continues, the systemic racial injustice in law enforcement and justice departments continues, the out-of-control police unions continue, the lack of police accountability continues, while a TERRORIST insurrection against the U.S. government to overthrow the legal results of a fair election causing the death of one police officer, suicide by two other police officers involved, and 140 seriously injured by groups of white nationalists, white-supremacists, neo-Nazis, Qanon, and other assorted Republican Reich-wing nut jobs is handled with kid gloves by law enforcement and the justice system?!?
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Not every American needs to get tested everyday, and the percentage of Americans exposed and recovered is still far, far too low to staff businesses with the employees needed for them to operate profitably. The key is timely RANDOMIZED testing and CONTACT TRACING testing.
Unfortunately, the U.S. currently STILL lacks the capability to test all the Americans working on the front lines (not just health-care workers) and getting sick. Still Americans with suspected COVID-19 suffering mild symptoms being told tests unavailable, unable to get tested, can only quarantine themselves, not even knowing for sure if they have COVID-19, or something else.
The key to reopening the economy is testing, testing, testing. But, Republican cult morons don't want to listen to the science, the experts, and the data. Worse, they blind themselves to all the dead American bodies stacking up--more Americans lost in EIGHT WEEKS than all TWELVE YEARS of the Vietnam War.
The U.S. will soon fix the problems with lack of testing--even without the national coordinated response so desperately needed from Trump. With randomized and contact tracing used in conjunction with lockdowns and other measures, the number of tests needing to be done daily is but a small fraction of the population. So, the testing capacities needed are feasible, will soon be available to us, and constitutes the only sane strategy for a quicker recovery--for both public health and our economy.
The BIG problem with trying to take shortcuts in a pandemic is the needless sacrifice of human life.
Businesses can be restarted, but dead Americans are gone, forever. Another thing is that reopening too soon only exacerbates the problem and delays recovery, forcing more and longer mitigation efforts, hurting us MORE. Not to mention the HUGE economic cost of all those Americans getting sick, missing work, suffering lasting debilitating, life-long conditions as a result of contracting the disease, all the associated added medical costs for hospital stays and the like, and all the economic costs associated with longer mitigation efforts that will be needed.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It's that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don't care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another five months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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A "tornado shelter" in the candle factory that didn't really offer much shelter, sadly resulting in many senseless deaths. No U.S. tornado is known to have killed more than 80 people outside the core tornado season from March to June. If more than 80 deaths recorded, this Mayfield, KY tornado will become among the 25 most deadly in U.S. history, despite occurring outside the core tornado season in December. At least two F5/EF5 tornadoes are on the record books for December: one in Vicksburg, Mississippi on Dec. 5, 1953, that killed 38 (the deadliest December tornado on record up to this year), and one on Dec. 18, 1957, that struck Sunfield, Illinois, as part of the state’s most severe outbreak on record so late in the year.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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The Molotov cocktail recipe:
Mix in equal parts of mental illness, willful ignorance, fear, hate, decades of 24/7 Reich-wing disinformation, misinformation, and crackpot conspiracy programming by Republican politicians, media and demagogues, add supplemental divisive Russian propaganda attacking and weakening America, stir well, garnish with COVID-19, and you have the mindless Republican cult descending into fascism, committing terrorism and sedition. Then, grab a stiff drink--you'll need it.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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President Nero stoked racial animosities, igniting the embers, keeps feeding the flames. Lynching, murder of innocent civilians by law enforcement, followed by protests, riots, civil unrest, people hurt, property damaged--those were all inevitable with an arsonist in the Oval, even if COVID-19 wasn't presently so starkly highlighting the social divides in this nation. You didn't see this coming, it's because you refused to look.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It's that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don't care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another five months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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Merrick Garland’s House Testimony Demonstrated the Failure of His Hyper-Cautious Approach to His Job
Despite Garland’s many efforts to not appear political by declining to investigate Trump and his cronies for possible crimes and by using DOJ resources to actively protect Trump from civil liability, Republicans are still portraying him as the most political attorney general in history.
The other weakness of Garland’s timid approach was on full view during his opening statement and responses to Democratic members of Congress. “The essence of the rule of law is that like cases are treated alike. That there not be one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans; one rule for friends, another for foes,” Garland stated grandly. But by declining to investigate Trump and his associates, Garland is enabling further attacks on our democracy. (While proving inequity by putting Republicans above the law.)
Crucially, the two parties are not the same. Garland’s standard sets up a false equivalency between the Democratic Party and a political party whose national leader, Donald Trump, incited and celebrated a violent assault on our nation’s Capitol to overthrow the results of a free and fair election and who continues to portray the insurrection as a glorious “protest.” To that end, in the middle of the attorney general’s testimony, Trump issued a statement highlighting Garland’s feebleness at failing to even investigate the organizers and leaders of the Jan. 6 events, declaring “the insurrection took place on November 3, Election Day. January 6 was the Protest!”
Garland’s efforts to depoliticize the DOJ have proved to be an abdication of his responsibility to protect the rule of law. Take just a few examples: Garland’s failure to reconsider the obstruction of justice case against the former president, his deferral of an investigation of possible financial crimes by Trump and his organization to local prosecutors in New York City and Westchester, his use of the DOJ to protect Trump from defamation allegations, and his deferral of a soliciting of voter fraud felony probe in Georgia to local prosecutors there. By abdicating his responsibility, Garland is also opening the door for Trump to commit these possibly criminal abuses all over again, this time with the full support of the Republican Party, and maybe ultimately return to power.
--Mark Stern
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@universe25.x ~ Your argument is both wrong and ignorant, based upon false premises and antiquated thinking. NATO nations border Russia now, just as they have since the days of the USSR.
NATO is a defensive organization, as Putin well knows. The U.S. and other NATO allies have no intention or interest whatsoever of employing offensive military forces against Russia in aggression, as Putin also well knows. NATO was formed at the request of European nations in conjunction with the U.S. as a hedge against Russian aggression, another thing of which Putin is well aware.
And there's no mistaking that Russia is the aggressor, with its annexation of the Ukranian territory of Crimea, its military operation in eastern Ukraine, and its ongoing efforts to destabilize Ukraine.
Which is not because Ukraine poses any threat to Russia. It's because Putin promotes Russian nationalism and a return to the supposed "glory" of the former communist Soviet Union as a way to gain support to prop up his corrupt regime, much as Hitler did.
Putin runs a brutal, repressive regime, and while there is resistance and protests, they are met with harsh crackdowns by security forces and often heavy punishment handed down to those involved. What Putin fears is not the U.S. or NATO, but his fellow citizens.
Putin is posturing. He's not stupid, isn't about to kill the goose that lays the golden egg, which is the corrupt regime he runs that enriches him and appointed oligarchy friends. If he thought he could get away with taking Ukraine, he would do it, but he knows it would be too costly, and could well prove his downfall.
You are proposing we acquiesce, appease and surrender to a despot, Putin, and that we do not support democratic nations seeking independence as we did in 1776. Couldn't disagree more.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
Democrats, Independents, others: WTF?!?
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To those not wearing masks, social distancing, or following guidelines: Your willful ignorance does not mask your wanton disregard for human life, your appalling lack of humanity and humility, your supremely selfish inconsideration of others. Despite absolutely loathing wearing a mask, it's also the reason it's worn. The sooner we all start wearing masks, social distancing, and taking this deadly pandemic seriously, the sooner we get to take them off, the less time they'll need to be worn. Not to mention, the sooner we can go back to a normal that is more like normal, the sooner we can get our jobs back and our economy rolling, again. And, of course, most importantly, the more lives we can save--which might even be your own life, or the life of a friend or loved one.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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We got Big Brag Daddy Baghdad Bob broadcasting direct from Washington, D.C. daily, with Toxic Trump and a revolving cast of his sycophantic minions! Happy talk, disinformation, empty promises, idle threats, vicious smears, bogus pandemic models, dog whistles, continuous crackpot conspiracies--they got it all, and more!
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Forget MAGA -- Making Americans Gullible Again -- Putin/Trump 2020!!
Doc, we already been there, done that! No more hostile Russian attacks, traitors, and felons. Here I thought you was a patriot! Disappointing...but hardly surprising, given.
You see, Doc, I live in a mostly conservative town in a mostly conservative rural county in America. People here watch Fox News, people here voted for Trump. However, most now want him gone after reading the Mueller Report. One can respect these Republicans, who place country before party, who can still distinguish right from wrong, up from down. They have come to realize that Trump is compromised by Russia and has committed serious crimes. They don't hide from those facts, or attempt denial.
Unfortunately, the same does not hold true for Trumpturds sucked into the Republican/Trump cult, becoming unpatriotic founts of disinformation, propaganda, and bogus conspiracy theories like "Deep State" -- traitors willing to damage our nation and put all American's security at risk, merely to further their own partisan interests. These phony patriots are despicable, disgusting, and sickening. Trumpturds only want partisan team to win, don't really care about principles, Constitution, or country.
Trumpturds are apparently too ignorant to grasp how they are being manipulated into hurting themselves and the U.S. This is something very disheartening to observe of one's fellow citizens, fostering deep distrust and division. This was one of Putin's objectives and--like helping get Trump elected--we see it has been quite successful. If a true American patriot, these words will hopefully reach you, and give pause for reflection.
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What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil. They are either actively or silently complicit in fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorist violence, Reich-wing insurrection, and Reich-wing undermining of our democracy and Constitution.
It's crystal clear that Trump, Boebert, Greene, Gosar and other Republicans like them are fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorism. The GOP has become radicalized to such an extent that it has essentially become a fascist terrorist organization, with members that fantasize and promote violence against their fellow Americans. While those Republican elected officials must be condemned and sanctioned, they are only a symptom of the disease poisoning a third of America, the most visible part of the cancer infecting our nation.
The GOP has been mainstreaming radicalization of their voter base for decades, ALLOWING Reich-wing media and Reich-wing demagogues to take over the party, to the point it has become a fascist, nihilistic cult. Because just as now, Republican politicians and their plutocratic masters have always seen it as the ends justifying whatever means to win power. Remember the Republican Tea Party? This catastrophe with the GOP didn't start with Trump, who just exploited what Republicans had already built.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle for graft and to grift their voters and us taxpayers. You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A quarter of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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@warmburny5843 ~ Believe that what has precipitated or been the genesis of the deterioration of the GOP was Nixon's forced resignation and Ford's subsequent blanket pardon just a month later. Republican use of the "Southern strategy" during Nixon's time, which continues to this day, is also a significant factor in pushing the GOP to the far right. Of course, those events also did a severe disservice to our nation, but they invoked a sense of shame, disgrace and insecurity among Republicans. After Watergate, many Republicans were unwilling or reluctant to admit they voted for Nixon. The Republican ship was unmoored, set drifting a flounder. Republicans, unable to defend the indefensible of Watergate, Nixon's pardon and racist appeals, encumbered by shame, disgrace, and insecurity, yet unwilling to abandon their political party, reacted in unhealthy ways.
Rather than defending their own party, they increasingly took to making scurrilous attacks to tear down their political opponents, with President Carter being the first to suffer. By the time Clinton got into office, the smears and attacks had gotten far worse. With President Obama, there was the Tea Party movement and Birtherism, the first flexing of the White power movement's political influence upon the GOP. Under Trump, the dark underbelly of American fascism was brought out into the open and sanctioned as "America First," a movement which bears uncanny resemblance to the original America First fascist movement of the 1920's and '30's.
Another readily apparent unhealthy result of Nixon and Ford's pardon has been Republican idolization and attempts to make heroes of Presidents Reagan, George W. Bush, and Trump, despite none rising above mediocrity and each successively being worse Presidents. While support for a President and the leader of one's political party is normal and expected, Republican's extreme embrace and deification of them entailed blind support and an unwillingness to question or criticize them, ostensibly to present a united front.
Yet another destructive reaction by Republicans was the use of lies, denials, obfuscations, propaganda techniques and propaganda for political gain, and the abandonment of truth, reason, integrity, scruples, honor and principle. While those undesirable traits have become ubiquitously present within and synonymous with the Republican party for a number of years now, it was a gradual process that worsened over time, and continues to worsen. The Republican party has chosen to separate itself from a common shared reality based upon truth and reason in blind pursuit of political power, placing party before common good and country, creating for itself a dystopian, nihilistic, Orwellian fantasy world. It is these things which are the most highly corrosive to the moral fabric of our society and most damaging to the nation.
To be sure, there have been other significant factors involved in the radicalization of the GOP which should not be discounted, such as the rise of right-wing demagogues like Rush Limbaugh, right-wing media like Fox, and right-wing White Christian nationalism. Would also acknowledge that the GOP is not a monolithic entity; people have different reasons for voting Republican, varying degrees of commitment to and involvement in the party. Not all Republicans are racist, bigoted, xenophobic, misogynistic, or unhinged extremists, although, unfortunately, such ignorance and hate has come to predominance in the GOP. There are many Republicans who are otherwise decent folk, if politically misguided and/or radicalized. However, with the exception of those Republicans leaving the party or vociferously and actively fighting against the rot and dysfunction occurring, even those who through their silent acquiescence and votes are complicit in enabling, aiding and abetting the evil being perpetuated by the GOP, and comprise part of what has for all intents and purposes become a fascist, nihilistic cult.
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Confronted with a conundrum contrary or conflicting, the Republican cult instinct for self-preservation induces a cease of circulation to the cranium, causing confusion, chaos, crisis, corruption, and criminality! Cult for cult, con for con, convolution after convolution, corny concocted cockamamie crackpot conspiracy after corny concocted cockamamie crackpot conspiracy, cover-up after cover-up, the GOP is alone, in a league all its own!
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FINAL SHOWDOWN ROUND INTER-GOVERNMENTAL MATCHUP: CBP/ICE versus Secret Service/U.S. Marshals
WHEN: High noon.
WHERE: OK Corral and Cage Them All Up, somewhere on the U.S. southern border.
THE STAKES: Rule of Law, sanity, America, future of humanity.
THE PRIZE: Justice, hopefully.
The long-awaited, much anticipated showdown is finally here, the nation anxiously perched at the edge of its seat! CBP/ICE team can be identified by their Confederate grey uniforms, swastikas, and white pointy hats. Secret Service/Marshals dressed in red, white, and blue. It's looking to be a short and very punishing affair for CBP/ICE, their opponents possessing all the advantages on their side. Expectations are CBP/ICE will attempt to compensate using child abuse, rape, torture, and other dirty tricks, sealing its own doom.
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While feeling the pain and outrage of the injustice of Floyd's brutal, senseless murder at the hands of law enforcement--done in plain sight with impunity--and can empathize, can not experience the same level of fear and sickness of minorities suffering from such racism, who must live and deal with this dangerous reality EVERY DAY of their lives HERE in America. It is hard to even imagine, but can certainly understand how protests turn to angry rioting, when nothing seems to change, even if at the same time cognizant and saddened that such rioting is counterproductive and adding more harm to those communities already hurting. If there was only one thing could tell my minority brothers and sisters, fellow American citizens, it is that you will never stand alone in standing up against injustice; there are many Americans like me continuing to stand alongside you, willing to speak out, to act. Those of us who don't see colors, or biological gender, or infirmaties--but PEOPLE. Stay strong, stay proud, stay NOBLE--truth and decency WILL prevail if we fight for them.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It’s that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don’t care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn’t want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it’s more than hope—those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another three months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn’t really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
“The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.”
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump’s hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much to future generations--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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GOP cult is NOT the party of law and order, NOT the party of the Constitution and patriots, NOT the party of "values," NOT the party of fiscal responsibility, NOT the party of clean government, NOT the party of freedom. It's the party of terrorism, lawlessness, corruption, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry, misogyny, big lies, socialized taxpayer payouts for plutocrats, sedition, traitors, and tyranny.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It's that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don't care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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Republicans can't handle reality, would rather traffic and believe in lies. The GOP is a fascist, nihilistic cult that would destroy democracy and America if given sufficient opportunity. And THAT, folks, is your reality check.
What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil. They are either actively or silently complicit in fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorist violence, Reich-wing insurrection, and Reich-wing undermining of our democracy and Constitution.
It's crystal clear that Trump, Boebert, Greene, Gosar and other Republicans like them are fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorism. The GOP has become radicalized to such an extent that it has essentially become a fascist terrorist organization, with members that fantasize and promote violence against their fellow Americans. While those Republican elected officials must be condemned and sanctioned, they are only a symptom of the disease poisoning a third of America, the most visible part of the cancer infecting our nation.
The GOP has been mainstreaming radicalization of their voter base for decades, ALLOWING Reich-wing media and Reich-wing demagogues to take over the party, to the point it has become a fascist, nihilistic cult. Because just as now, Republican politicians and their plutocratic masters have always seen it as the ends justifying whatever means to win power. Remember the Republican Tea Party? This catastrophe with the GOP didn't start with Trump, who just exploited what Republicans had already built.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle for graft and to grift their voters and us taxpayers. You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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How many climate change warnings before they are heeded and aggressive actions taken to tackle the problem?
What we are witnessing and experiencing is only just the beginning of the reckoning for human stupidity, greed, apathy, and short-sightedness. Pretty soon, with so many suffering, empathy will be in short supply. I fear what is to come for the human race, for our children, for their children, and all who follow after, and the sorrow I feel for them and our planet, for all that will be lost, overwhelms. Because this didn't have to happen. We knew decades ago that we were creating our own apocalypse and took no more than token measures to stop it. And humans continue to dawdle, fiddling while the planet burns.
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GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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03/10/20 Lack of funding has hampered the federal government's response to the coronavirus outbreak, the head of CDC told Congress. "The truth is we've underinvested in the public health labs," Redfield told them.
Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash., was among the lawmakers who questioned Redfield on this point. She noted that her congressional colleagues were able to quickly obtain tests and results, while some of her constituents in Washington, one of the states hardest hit by coronavirus, were still waiting. "I find it interesting that when my colleagues," she said, "were able to get tested almost immediately and quickly receive their results while folks in my district and across Washington state are unable to get their testing results back."
Redfield blamed the lack of adequate funding and resources. "There's not enough equipment, there's not enough people, there's not enough internal capacity, there's no search capacity," he said.
During the hearing Redfield was also pressed on the CDC's failure to update its website with the number of people being tested every day. So far, less than 5,000 tested by CDC and public labs! This, despite dozens of countries globally involved in a pandemic with more than 116,000 confirmed cases worldwide and at least 4,090 deaths so far, with over 800 cases in the U.S. and at least 27 deaths, according to the latest tallies from Johns Hopkins University.
Nursing homes and assisted living centers should take unprecedented action to curtail most social visits, and should even take steps to keep some employees away, to slow the spread of the new coronavirus, the industry said on Tuesday. “The mortality rate is shocking,” said Mark Parkinson, president and chief executive officer of the American Health Care Association. He said that the death rate might well exceed the 15 percent reported in China for people aged 80 and older who were infected.
The challenge of the virus “is one of the most significant, if not the most significant” issues the industry has ever faced, he said.
Industry officials said they are recommending that nursing homes should allow people to enter only if it is essential.
Staff members, contractors and government officials should be asked, “Do you need to be in-building to operate?” said Dr. David Gifford, the health care association’s chief medical officer.
As for family members, he said, “Our recommendation is they should not be visiting.”
Anyone who does visit, he said, should be screened carefully at reception and anyone who has signs of illness should be turned away.
Meanwhile, Trump remains in denial about the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping the U.S., grossly understating the seriousness and urgency of a major global medical health emergency, with his administration very dangerously sending mixed and conflicting messages to the American people.
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@DansEarway ~ If Republicans actually believed in justice, they wouldn't be trying to gaslight Trump's crimes. Republicans wouldn't have all been constantly saying, "Lock her up!" Republicans wouldn't have been shouting in unison, "Kill Nancy Pelosi!" Republicans wouldn't have erected a gallows on the lawn of Congress, chanting, "Hang Mike Pence!"
But you're right, justice DOES matter. That's why Trump needs to be held accountable for the crimes he's committed. Not lock Trump up without any charge, hearing or trial. Not lynch him or kill him. But instead charged, arrested, arraigned and tried in a court of law in front of a jury of his peers. You know, the way our justice system is supposed to work.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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For three years, Republicans have propped up and protected a racist, corrupt, sociopathic narcissistic menace to society, gaslighting and covering up Traitor Trump crimes, ineptness, and incompetence. Republicans don't really care about our country; time and again, for decades now, they have put their politics and greed for power above the welfare of this nation. The destructiveness of GOP politics on American government began under Nixon, but starting with Reagan it became a Republican selling point. Conservatism won't die, but Republicanism has become a zero-sum game for losers. This incarnation of the GOP needs to die, or it will be the end of American greatness.
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Let's just call January 6 what it actually was -- a Republican smash and grab, an act of violent larceny against democracy and sedition employing domestic terrorism right out in open sight.
"Without accountability, an attempted autogolpe and insurrection is just practice."
"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ― Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
So, why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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Freedoms can exist only up to the point they infringe upon the freedom of others. Religious tolerance can be practiced only up to the point it becomes intolerant of others. Our Constitution is a secular document, not a religious one, and it was certainly never intended to be a suicidal death pact. Getting vaccinated and following CDC guidelines brings freedom from preventable illness or injury, and a senseless premature death, but the mindless fascist Republican cult only believes in freeDUMB. Just as they don't understand or would deny the Constitution is as much about the common good as personal liberties, and that those two things are intrinsically and inextricably intertwined.
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge." ~ Ben Franklin, from Poor Richard's Almanack
Those who scorn public health guidelines during a deadly global pandemic and confuse a grievous public health issue with "essential" liberty to kill and harm themselves and their fellow citizens--as well as their nation--sorely lack both care and knowledge. They are also sorely lacking in common sense, something else about which Mr. Franklin was quite keen. Mr. Franklin was also one our nation's first scientists--yet these modern-day knuckleheads who ought know better refute science! Were he alive today, he would be rather dismayed, disgruntled, and disgusted with the fascist anti-science Republican cult, that much is crystal clear.
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There has never been a graceful exit for the losing side in any war.
Truth is, our hasty withdrawal from Vietnam was even worse if you look at the numbers and the whole picture. Only 7,000 were evacuated from Vietnam during the fall of Saigon, with many more left behind, including two dead American soldiers----the last to die in the Vietnam War----left behind in a hospital and not returned until a year later by the Vietnamese. That evacuation occurred under hostile NVA and Vietcong fire. Since August 14, over 28,000 have already been evacuated from Afghanistan despite the complete capitulation of the Afghan government and Afghan Army, with no hostile fire upon American troops by the Taliban so far. 33,000 have been evacuated since July. Moreover, the January 27, 1973 peace agreement signed by the Americans with the North Vietnamese ended all direct U.S. military involvement in Vietnam, and provided sixty days for troop removal. Just as with Afghanistan, all troops were removed. However, it was over two years later, on April 30, 1975, when the fall of Saigon occurred. So, the U.S. had nearly two-and-a-half years to evacuate everyone else before the fall of the South Vietnamese government and armed forces, instead of just the two weeks like in Afghanistan so far.
The other thing in stark contrast between Vietnam and Afghanistan is that no Democrats----including Carter, who was running against Ford for President----tried to use the situation for political gain like Republicans are so desperately and depravedly doing now. That, despite the fact that it was the previous Trump administration which bears the brunt of the blame for the current situation.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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05/06/20 -- 1,260,000 confirmed cases; 74,500 deaths.
05/05/20 -- 1,233,000 confirmed cases; 72,000 deaths.
05/04/20 -- 1,208,000 confirmed cases; 69,600 deaths. CDC projects cases increasing to 200,000 per day with deaths rising to 3,000 per day by June because of states, localities and people not following guidelines and reopening their economies too soon.
05/03/20 -- 1,184,000 confirmed cases; 68,300 deaths. Every 44 seconds, another American dies from COVID-19. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/02/20 -- 1,158,000 confirmed cases; 67,000 deaths.
05/01/20 -- 1,129,000 confirmed cases; 65,500 deaths.
04/30/20 -- 1,094,000 confirmed cases; 63,600 deaths. The U.S. accounts for over a third of the world's cases, and over a quarter of COVID-19 deaths--despite possessing only 5% of the world's population. Yet--even now--we still lack the adequate testing capabilities that are critically needed to safely reopen the economy, and remain sorely lacking the necessary rational national leadership so vital to saving American lives and livelihoods.
04/29/20 -- 1,064,000 confirmed cases; 61,500 deaths. The U.S. now has as many COVID-19 deaths in just NINE WEEKS as there was for all TWELVE YEARS of the Vietnam War.
04/28/20 -- 1,034,000 confirmed cases; 59,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/27/20 -- 1,009,000 confirmed cases; 56,500 deaths.
04/26/20 -- 985,000 confirmed cases; 55,400 deaths.
04/25/20 -- 958,000 confirmed cases; 54,000 deaths.
04/24/20 -- 927,000 confirmed cases; 52,400 deaths.
04/23/20 -- 890,000 confirmed cases; 50,400 deaths.
04/22/20 -- 853,000 confirmed cases; 47,800 deaths (+2,674*)
04/21/20 -- 825,000 confirmed cases; 45,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/20/20 -- 788,000 confirmed cases; 43,200 deaths.
04/19/20 -- 760,000 confirmed cases; 41,700 deaths.
04/18/20 -- 735,000 confirmed cases; 39,900 deaths.
04/17/20 -- 702,000 confirmed cases; 37,000 deaths.
04/16/20 -- 671,000 confirmed cases; 33,100 deaths. Less COVID-19 testing performed this week than last, despite desperate need to ramp up volume to reopen economy.
04/15/20 -- 640,000 confirmed cases; 30,800 deaths. The United States recorded its first coronavirus fatality on Feb. 29. It took 38 days to reach 10,000 deaths and just nine more days to go from 10,000 fatalities to 30,000. An increase in fatalities over the last 48 hours was expected, but was also due to new CDC policy, starting on 04/14, to include probable COVID-19 deaths...finally.
04/14/20 -- 609,000 confirmed cases; 26,600 deaths (+2,364 - *New worst daily death toll)
04/13/20 -- 583,000 confirmed cases; 24,200 deaths
04/12/20 -- 558,000 confirmed cases; 22,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S. With just 4.25% of the world's population, the U.S. has 30% of the COVID-19 infections and 20% of the COVID-19 deaths. So far, the U.S. has the very WORST response of ANY nation, something formerly inconceivable, and inexcusable that it could now be allowed to happen here. In the U.S., we have 1.5 million seniors in 15,000 nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Despite forming only 0.45% of the U.S. population, they make up almost 10% of deaths, primarily because our federal government is not doing enough to protect them. Reported that many hospitals are no longer accepting COVID-19 patients from nursing homes, preferring they die there, instead. Our seniors, who helped build, grow and make America great, are being sacrificed, solely to ignorance.
04/11/20 -- 530,000 confirmed cases; 20,500 deaths.
04/10/20 -- 502,000 confirmed cases; 18,800 deaths.
04/09/20 -- 466,000 confirmed cases; 16,700 deaths.
04/08/20 -- 432,000 confirmed cases; 15,900 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S.
04/07/20 -- 400,000 confirmed cases; 13,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. Figures indicate a Covid-19 fatality rate for TESTED Americans at 3.25%.
04/06/20 -- 369,000 confirmed cases; 11,000 deaths.
04/05/20 -- 338,000 confirmed cases; 9,700 deaths.
04/04/20 -- 312,000 confirmed cases; 9,400 deaths.
04/03/20 -- 278,000 confirmed cases; 7,150 deaths.
04/02/20 -- 246,000 confirmed cases; 6,050 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/01/20 -- 217,000 confirmed cases; 5,150 deaths.
03/31/20 -- 190,000 confirmed cases; 4,200 deaths.
03/30/20 -- 165,000 confirmed cases; 3,250 deaths.
03/29/20 -- 143,000 confirmed cases; 2,450 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
(Update 5: Friday, 03/27/20, confirmed U.S. cases 105,000--which is 50% over NIH high-end estimate; deaths 1,700 by end of day. The perspective for cases is significantly skewed low and thus highly misleading, however, as just 0.17% of U.S. population has been tested to date.)
"As many as 70,000 Americans could be confirmed as infected with coronavirus by the end of next week, marking a “pretty dramatic” increase in the number of confirmed cases," the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, told his employees in an agency-wide conference call on 03/20/20.
Except 03/21/20 saw a 33% jump in U.S. cases, from 18,000 to over 24,000. If continuing at 33% every 24 hours, the number of confirmed cases is trending much higher than just 70,000 by 03/27/20. Suspect confirmed cases will be double that. Bear in mind, states hardest hit are not testing many people, saving the tests for those most in need. So the actual number of infected Americans is going to be far higher than just what limited testing of the population has so far confirmed. Don't think this fact is being given enough attention. More important than the number of cases confirmed is the number contracting the disease and not getting tested, spreading the disease, in many cases unknowingly. Hospital projections are for about 100 MILLION Americans to become infected, with about 500,000 dead from covid-19.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
Democrats, Independents, others: WTF?!?
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation—only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regurgitation
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump’s COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration…
Now reaching vacation destination!
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@maryc8552 ~ No more respect for SCROTUM, as it no longer represents America and the will of the majority of Americans. I'm a little concerned that you feel the need to twist things around, to deliberately confuse disdain with obsession, demonstrating your own obsession with propaganda. Just like glossing over the Republican obstructionism in the Senate when Democrats were nominating highly-qualified moderate judges, necessitating the Democrat rule ending filibusters for judge nominations. Just like glossing over the arbitrary Republican rule on not nominating SCROTUM judges in the last year of a Presidential term, then proceeding to ignore their own rule; the height of Republican hypocrisy and a purely partisan power grab by the GOP (Greedy Old Plutocrats).
The end result will only backfire on Republicans in the end, when Democrats expand current SCROTUM to FIFTEEN justices, while adding Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C. as new U.S. states. Furthermore, because conservative SCROTUM justices are WAY out of touch with TWO-THIRDS or more of the American public on key issues, their short-sighted narrow-minded conservative decisions will only wind up driving more voters away from the GOP, which already represented just a minority of voters. It's Pyrrhic, short-lived victory for Republicans.
Obviously, you're evading, still not answering the important question: What does your reply have to do with voters electing the President, not SCROTUM? All we get from you is intellectual dishonesty. Appears you're just here as Putin's little puppet-pie propaganda pawn, Doc. #moreRussiasanctions
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@maryc8552 ~ Au contraire, my little Russian fly, caught in the spider's web! No need to check the comments, as we have a most excellent memory! Have seen your comments plastered all over this platform, had you pegged as a Russian bot long ago, from the beginning. Not talking about just this thread here. If not a Russian bot, then a GOP propagandist, helping Putin's puppet-pie pawn, so it's really a difference without any distinction, anyway.
You bots and propagandists give yourselves away, as you're not reasonable people interested in any reasonable, civil discussion of the issues. If you were, you would have answered the simple question, you wouldn't be changing the subject, you would respond to the points and arguments. You wouldn't engage in intellectual dishonesty. Sorry, Doc, you've been busted! #moreRussiasanctions
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--Instead of striving to bring out the best in people, Toxic Trump reveled in bringing out the very worst.
--Instead of uniting the country, Toxic Trump sought to divide us.
--Instead of abiding by and honoring our Constitution and the rule of law, Toxic Trump held them in disdain, disregarded them, and degraded them, running the most corrupt administration in U.S. history.
--Instead of strengthening democracy and our cherished institutions, Toxic Trump worked to diminish and destroy them, inciting a terrorist insurrection against his own government, attempting a coup to steal an election.
--Instead of insuring a peaceful transfer power after losing the election, Toxic Trump kept insisting against all evidence that he won, continuously repeating the Big Lie that resulted in the terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol.
--Instead of confronting a serious threat to Americans with a deadly global pandemic, Toxic Trump lied to the American people about it, ignored it, and refused to take any responsibility for his gross homicidal criminal negligence that resulted in one out of every 800 Americans dying from COVID-19--over 400,000 American lives in just ten months, as many casualties as all of WWII.
--Instead of confronting the ever-increasing existential crisis from climate change and its harmful effects, Toxic Trump gutted regulations and withdrew from the voluntary Paris climate accords, exacerbating the problem and poisoning citizens.
--Instead of creating jobs, Toxic Trump was the first President since the Great Depression to preside over a net loss of jobs over his tenure.
--Instead of lowering the national deficit, Toxic Trump increased it from 19.2 trillion to 27 trillion----the highest rate of increase of ANY President, ever.
--Instead of helping out the least among us, Toxic Trump widened the wealth and income disparity gap. 50% of his $1.9 trillion tax cut went to the top 5%; 65% went to the top 20%, with the top 40% benefiting next most, and the bottom 20% only receiving 1%. Moreover, his huge tax cut for big corporations and the wealthy left a legacy adding $1,000,000,000,000 a year to the federal deficit while lowering federal revenue.
--Instead of building bridges, humane immigration reform, and infrastructure, Toxic Trump built walls, cages, and concentration camps, separated children from mothers, allowed American infrastructure to decline and deteriorate, rejected economic opportunity.
--Instead of raising our standing and security in the world, Toxic Trump lowered and weakened it.
--Instead of draining the swamp, Toxic Trump turned it into a noxious overflowing sewer of Republican corruption.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Republican cult placing political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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Tucker Carlson and Faux News: mainstreaming American fascism purely for profit.
America's enemies don't need to spread disinformation, doubt, discord, and division to weaken America, kill Americans--Republican politicians, Reich-wing demagogues, Faux News, OAN, Newsmax, Breitbart and the rest of the Reich-wing media do that so effectively for them, already. More Americans need to realize that the GOP has abdicated it's duty as loyal opposition, and that its prioritization of party over country and welcoming embrace of violent radical Reich-wing extremists diminishes both our government and our national security, endangering ALL Americans, as well as weakening and endangering America itself.
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That's like saying if only we had the Nazi's point of view. Just like with Nazi Germany, the Russian POV is all too clear. Just like with Nazi Germany, it involves uber nationalism and ambitions of territorial expansion, a return to the former USSR hegemony. Just as with Nazi Germany, appeasement would be stupid.
At any rate, this is a silly comment, as the Russian state propaganda stating their position vis-a-vis Ukraine is easily available to anyone that wants it. Here's the thing though, Russia is the aggressor here, and Russia is the one not respecting Ukrainian sovereignty. No one objective finds Russian propaganda credible or has any doubts that Russia is in the wrong. While I don't think Putin would be stupid enough to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he has already militarily seized illegally annexed Crimea from Ukraine, and it would be stupid of the West not to aid Ukraine to prevent future Russian land grabs there.
Which is not at all the same as Bush's illegal invasion of Iraq using cherry-picked and bogus intelligence to deceive the American people. The U.S. is not looking to invade Ukraine or Russia, or to start a war. The honorable intent is to help a democratic ally defend itself from foreign aggression, help requested by the people and government of Ukraine.
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Toxic Trump: "I'm the BEST, just absolutely CRUSHING the competition, with over TWO POINT FIVE MILLION coronavirus cases and over 123--one-hundred and twenty-three!!!--THOUSAND deaths! Easy as 1-2-3! They ALL got eighty-sixed, 'cause nobody else even comes close! With a QUARTER of the world's cases AND deaths--can you even imagine how truly great, how awesome, that achievement is, with only just FOUR PERCENT of the world's population to work with? Believe it or not, I accomplished in only FIVE WEEKS what it took the Vietnam War a whole TWELVE YEARS to do! Not done with the fun--and not to be outdone--I then doubled down on the death toll from Vietnam in just FOUR MONTHS! PLUS, we're not even counting ALL the COVID-19 cases and deaths here in the U.S.! And, with only SEVEN PERCENT of the U.S. population already infected, we're just getting started with all the sickness and death; there's PLENTY more to come! Those other weaklings and losers don't stand a chance, because we're going to keep right on winning--as long as I'm in charge! Now, vacation's over; time to get back to work on increasing those numbers, people! Let's keep America great, get rid of all the excess baggage! As wartime President, I am commanding all CIVILIANS to senselessly sacrifice their lives for my arrogance, stupidity, vanity, malevolence, and greed!"
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Trump Surgeon General: "Four months since this pandemic began, and we've stopped telling people just how very, very few Americans we've tested, we're still not elucidating any real coherent strategy for dealing with COVID-19. Instead of testing the American public to get a handle on this pandemic, confine outbreaks, gain more time, and protect the American people, especially those Americans at high-risk--such as the young, the elderly, those sick or with conditions--we are using the American people as guinea pigs, tracking where they start dying after the epidemic has already taken firm root in their communities! Just remember...DON'T PANIC!!!"
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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GOP cult is NOT the party of law and order, NOT the party of the Constitution and patriots, NOT the party of "values," NOT the party of fiscal responsibility, NOT the party of clean government, NOT the party of freedom. It's the party of terrorism, lawlessness, corruption, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry, misogyny, Big Lies, socialized taxpayer payouts for plutocrats, sedition, traitors, and tyranny.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of crackpot conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of greed, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of plutocrats, the party of corruption, the party of anti-democracy, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their pact with the Devil.
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It's like rowing or paddling upstream, or into a stiff wind--if you ease-up too much or stop, you will only have to paddle twice as hard to make up all the previous hard-earned progress that was quickly lost. Failing to maintain isolation and other measures for sufficient time to stop the spread of COVID-19 transmission will cost U.S. more in time, effort, money, and LIVES. Reopening and relaxing measures too early in defiance of the science and data is the ultimate in colossal ignorance, greed, ruthlessness, and arrogance.
We have a segment of Republican cult willfully ignorant, who malevolently seek to sabotage containment efforts. But many do not grasp how important it is that we treat ourselves and everyone else as being infected.
This is because people know that is very unlikely, especially outside dense urban areas, where incidence rates are low. Because of the delay in onset of the disease and asymptomatic carriers, COVID-19 is a stealth killer that uses Americans against each other as its foot soldiers, transporting it, keeping the disease and its train of transmission alive. This is further complicated because people cannot see a virus, see it attacking, see it spreading, until it is too late. For many of us, seeing is believing, and people are incapable or reluctant to make that leap of logic required to keep them and everyone safe--even with the massive public education efforts.
Of course, the problem becomes greatly exacerbated when the President refuses to wear a mask, and his administration works against itself in fighting this deadly global pandemic, sending conflicting messages to the public. Toxic Trump, his administration, and all the Republicans who have aided and abetted him, are directly responsible in our view for the senseless deaths of tens and thousands of Americans. The dead are the worst of it, but there is also the tremendous needless suffering and economic loss accompanying their wanton criminal negligence.
No national testing, no rational national coordinated pandemic response. Republican governors reopening too quickly in defiance of CDC guidelines are only following the President's lead. Democratic governors in many states likewise being adversely pressured by Toxic Trump's pandemic disinformation and Republican opposition to requisite lockdowns. Problem starts at the top. Don't fault even the worst Republican governors as much as this President. The President needed to take the lead, take the hit for the hard decisions--not put all the weight on governors as he as.
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Taking the vaccination brings freedom from preventable illness or injury, and a senseless premature death, but the mindless fascist Republican cult only believes in freeDUMB. Just as they don't understand or would deny the Constitution is as much about the common good as personal liberties, and that those two things are intrinsically and inextricably intertwined.
In a sane America----one where a third of the population wasn't programmed into a mindless, fascist Republican cult----we would have universal Covid-19 vaccine passports, masks and social distancing required wherever and whenever deemed necessary by public health officials, and mandatory vaccinations for all those able to receive it. Actually, in a sane America, none of that would be necessary, because everyone able would be voluntarily getting vaccinated, and everybody would be faithfully following CDC guidelines like wearing masks and socially distancing. They would be doing so because it is in there own best interest; because it is the moral and ethical thing to do to protect our fellow citizens; because we need to prevent the creation of new, more deadly variants; because it is the best way to recover the economy; because it is the best way to get things back to normal; because it is the civic, patriotic thing to do; and because it is just plain old-fashioned common sense.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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Woman's reproductive choice is a Constitutional right under Roe v. Wade, which was rendered 50 years ago in a 7-2 decision by a SCOTUS containing a 7-2 conservative majority. For the past five decades, an overwhelmingly majority of Americans have consistently supported that decision. Besides, Republicans don't give a crap about zygotes, embryos, fetuses, children, or women, as repeatedly and amply proven by their policies. And if Republicans really cared about human life, they wouldn't be banning mask and vaccine mandates during a deadly global pandemic that has already taken over 680,000 American lives in just 18 months. Fascist GOP is a Jim Jones-style cult pro-death party full of heinous hypocrites!
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@David-infantryst ~ So, Doc, whether or not you realized it, you've just confirmed your dishonesty and lack of good faith! You're also conflating things in an attempt to rationalize wrongful cop killings and your own dishonesty. You're still cherry-picking, still not responding to all the points and arguments, still being disingenuous and, now, trying to politicize the issue on top of everything else. As for black-on-black killings, that was already addressed with allocating resources more wisely to reduce crime. You evidently didn't ponder upon how you're disgracing yourself, your unit, and our armed services--or you just don't care. We're guessing it's the latter. No wonder you're defending bad cops--you're just like them! Perhaps you're even one of them!
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Worst economic downturn in American history, catastrophically botched COVID-19 pandemic response with over 160,000 senseless American deaths. TWENTY straight weeks of over ONE MILLION new unemployment claims. Deaths projected to double by the end of year due to most corrupt, incompetent, racist, and ignorant President in U.S. history. A treasonous President that compromised himself with Russia, who refuses to hold the U.S. principle foreign adversary accountable for its attacks on America, who won't even speak out against Russian bounties on U.S. soldiers. Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy: "Toxic Trump is doing a helluva job!" Rabid right-wing cult media is DESTROYING America!
What's really confusing America is Newsmax, Faux News, and all the other rabid right-wing media outlets propagating and spreading disinformation. Without the supporting cast of willing supplicant proto-fascist right-wing media exploiting and profiting from them, the lies and distortions of Toxic Trump and Republicans would hold very little power, and could not persist.
Anyone really all that surprised that the CEO of Newsmax, Chris Ruddy, is a dishonest partisan hack with no character or integrity whatsoever? If so, that's only because you've never seen Newsmax.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, John Eastman and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, along with Reich-wing demagogues and media, who were complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance, and in spreading disinformation and misinformation. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump left office, one out of every 800 Americans had died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 410,000 fatalities, as many American casualties as all of WWII. To put it into further perspective, throughout Trump's catastrophic mishandling of a deadly global pandemic, the U.S. led the world in cases and deaths, suffering nearly 25% of each, despite having only 4.25% of global population, despite having the advantage of being the richest and most advanced nation in the world.
The memorial would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure. Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle to grift their voters and us taxpayers.
You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
Republicans have had lots and lots of practice gaslighting and revising history. Pretty soon, they're going to make the GOP disappear! They're already on the wrong side of history, yet keep edging ever closer to extinction.
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
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Republicans use obstructionism as a means to gain power, and power as a means to further their corruption. The Republican party is composed of grifters, grafters, white supremacists, Christian nationalists, lunatics, assorted bigots, and the gullible sheep they prey upon. Their ideology is no longer conservatism, but fascism and nihilism. It traffics in lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, ignorant culture wars, and hypocrisy.
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Republican Sen. Tim Scott is like having a 1943 German Jew train conductor extolling to passengers the comforts of Auschwitz. Kentucky AG Daniel Cameron who, like Tim Scott, found time to be a supporting guest speaker at this year's RNC to renominate racist, fascist Toxic Trump--rather than obtaining justice for Breonna Taylor--is no different. Rep. Will Hurd--a former U.S. CIA intelligence officer, no less--didn't impeach racist, fascist Toxic Trump despite overwhelming evidence of his crimes in the Mueller Report and Ukraine shakedown detailing the Traitor-'n-Thief's attempts to use foreign interference to win elections, compromising himself with our principle foreign adversary, grievously endangering our democracy and national security.
What the HELL is wrong with these people, these so-called leaders who are supposed to be public servants; have they no shame, no character, no integrity, no decency, nor even any sense of self-preservation whatsoever? Do they really think their supporting, aiding and abetting a racist and fascist President makes them somehow immune from the inevitable consequences of the hate being promoted against them? Are they really that lost in tribalistic partisanship, the Republican cult, blind ideology, and greed for corrupt power and fame that they would behave thus?!? Maybe someone can explain how this isn't selling their own brothers and sisters down the river, because it is simply unconscionable and incomprehensible.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-‘n-‘Thief, Toxic Trump, so much—although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages—as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, homophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, divisive, anti-science, anti-democratic raving lunatic and his corruption, a man compromised by foreign nations, including our principle adversary, through his tremendous debt. Between that, his catastrophic, irresponsible handling of COVID-19, and his incitement of anti-democratic violent Reich-wing groups, Trump has made himself America's #1 most serious national security threat. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself, mental illness, and his upbringing, who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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Trump Has Sabotaged America’s Coronavirus Response
by Laura Garrett
In 2018, the Trump administration fired the government’s entire pandemic response chain of command, including the White House management infrastructure. In numerous phone calls and emails with key agencies across the U.S. government, the only consistent response I encountered was distressed confusion.
....
White House efforts included reducing $15 billion in national health spending and cutting the global disease-fighting operational budgets of the CDC, NSC, DHS, and HHS. And the government’s $30 million Complex Crises Fund was eliminated.
In May 2018, Trump ordered the NSC’s entire global health security unit shut down, calling for reassignment of Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer and dissolution of his team inside the agency. The month before, then-White House National Security Advisor John Bolton pressured Ziemer’s DHS counterpart, Tom Bossert, to resign along with his team. Neither the NSC nor DHS epidemic teams have been replaced. The global health section of the CDC was so drastically cut in 2018 that much of its staff was laid off and the number of countries it was working in was reduced from 49 to merely 10. Meanwhile, throughout 2018, the U.S. Agency for International Development and its director, Mark Green, came repeatedly under fire from both the White House and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. And though Congress has so far managed to block Trump administration plans to cut the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps by 40 percent, the disease-fighting cadres have steadily eroded as retiring officers go unreplaced.
Public health advocates have been ringing alarm bells to no avail.
Ronald Klain, who directed U.S. efforts on Ebola, has been warning for two years that the United States was in grave danger should a pandemic emerge. In 2017 and 2018, the philanthropist billionaire Bill Gates met repeatedly with Bolton and his predecessor, H.R. McMaster, warning that ongoing cuts to the global health disease infrastructure would render the United States vulnerable to, as he put it, the “significant probability of a large and lethal modern-day pandemic occurring in our lifetimes.” And an independent, bipartisan panel formed by the Center for Strategic and International Studies concluded that lack of preparedness was so acute in the Trump administration that the “United States must either pay now and gain protection and security or wait for the next epidemic and pay a much greater price in human and economic costs.”
https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/31/coronavirus-china-trump-united-states-public-health-emergency-response/
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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So, no more ride-along trips for male reporters to report on female candidates on campaigns, right, Doc? They can make whatever rules they want the male reporters to follow, and if they don't do it, too bad! What happens as we get more and more female politicians, as is currently happening at an increasing rate? What happens to those male reporters, genius boy? Where do they go? How do they feel about losing their jobs, getting pay cuts, losing opportunities, because of sexist discrimination? Republicans apparently can't see beyond their own ignorance, much less grasp the bad consequences of that ignorance that comes back to bite them. Or, as seems more likely with many, they know and just don't care.
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Trump Has Sabotaged America’s Coronavirus Response
by Laura Garrett
In 2018, the Trump administration fired the government’s entire pandemic response chain of command, including the White House management infrastructure. In numerous phone calls and emails with key agencies across the U.S. government, the only consistent response I encountered was distressed confusion.
....
White House efforts included reducing $15 billion in national health spending and cutting the global disease-fighting operational budgets of the CDC, NSC, DHS, and HHS. And the government’s $30 million Complex Crises Fund was eliminated.
In May 2018, Trump ordered the NSC’s entire global health security unit shut down, calling for reassignment of Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer and dissolution of his team inside the agency. The month before, then-White House National Security Advisor John Bolton pressured Ziemer’s DHS counterpart, Tom Bossert, to resign along with his team. Neither the NSC nor DHS epidemic teams have been replaced. The global health section of the CDC was so drastically cut in 2018 that much of its staff was laid off and the number of countries it was working in was reduced from 49 to merely 10. Meanwhile, throughout 2018, the U.S. Agency for International Development and its director, Mark Green, came repeatedly under fire from both the White House and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. And though Congress has so far managed to block Trump administration plans to cut the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps by 40 percent, the disease-fighting cadres have steadily eroded as retiring officers go unreplaced.
Public health advocates have been ringing alarm bells to no avail.
Ronald Klain, who directed U.S. efforts on Ebola, has been warning for two years that the United States was in grave danger should a pandemic emerge. In 2017 and 2018, the philanthropist billionaire Bill Gates met repeatedly with Bolton and his predecessor, H.R. McMaster, warning that ongoing cuts to the global health disease infrastructure would render the United States vulnerable to, as he put it, the “significant probability of a large and lethal modern-day pandemic occurring in our lifetimes.” And an independent, bipartisan panel formed by the Center for Strategic and International Studies concluded that lack of preparedness was so acute in the Trump administration that the “United States must either pay now and gain protection and security or wait for the next epidemic and pay a much greater price in human and economic costs.”
https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/31/coronavirus-china-trump-united-states-public-health-emergency-response/
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Before U.S. gun manufacturers bought off the NRA and the GOP to create a bogus political issue and instill fear, mass shootings weren't a thing in America and schools were much safer. Today, over 393 MILLION guns are owned by citizens, which translates to about 120 guns for every 100 citizens. A record number, 40 MILLION, were sold in 2020 alone. However, over 2/3 of Americans do NOT own ANY firearm; less than a third of U.S. citizens own all the firearms, which amounts to a whopping third of all civilian firearms owned in the world are in the U.S. The sheer number of firearms present in the U.S. makes accidental gun injury and death, rampant gun violence, and mass shootings a certainty. Ironically, the inescapable truth is that those purchasing and owning guns, mostly for self defense, are making America less safe for everyone.
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Asked by reporters about the protestors gathering against pandemic lockdowns, the vast majority not wearing face masks or observing social distancing, Toxic Trump--who tweeted his supporters to "Liberate" three states with Democratic governors critical to his reelection, against his own administrations pandemic edicts and guidance, and in foment of partisan rebellion against state's governors during a Federal National Emergency declared against this pandemic--said, "They seem to be very responsible people to me!"
Trumpette insanity that should have us ALL livid with outrage! Not only are these Republican cult fools putting themselves, their loved ones, and everyone else in danger, they are putting an increased burden upon our already over-stressed health care workers and system, FURTHER endangering them and those they would serve. They put all our other essential front-line workers at increased risk, as well--those we need for our groceries and supplies (including migrant workers), to keep the government, electric, gas and other critical infrastructure functioning. What's really, really stupid about their aberrant, irrational partisan cult behavior, is that they are only PROLONGING restrictive measures to contain COVID-19, EXTENDING the time until our economy can reopen fully, REDUCING the amount our economy can be opened--all of which DESTROYS Trump's reelection chances! But that isn't the worst of it. These Trumpettes ignorantly protesting are KILLING actual Americans, just as surely as they put a gun to their heads and pulled the trigger. Toxic Trump shares responsibility, but it is these GOP idiots who own primary responsibility for manslaughter. They should be charged, tried, and convicted, in our view. At the very, very least, they should all be arrested for public endangerment. Ludicrous and lethal ignorance!
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General was half-right--ballistic missiles don't discriminate between military structures and equipment, and military personnel. However, there is a very real possibility that Iran breathed a sigh of relief their signal sent didn't kill any Americans, widening the conflict.
We think the General wants to kill, but does that mean we can read his mind, know for sure? Do we kill the General because we think he wants to kill? I'm sure he has his reasons for killing, just like those who see their fellow countrymen killed unjustly by him have their reasons for killing him. Wonder what's is in the General's mind when he orders strikes he knows will kill civilians, as frequently our military does with drones and bombs that don't discriminate between combatant and civilian? When the U.S. kills more civilians than combatants, why isn't that terrorism? When the U.S. Commander-in-Chief threatens to obliterate another nation's cultural heritage sites and conduct wholly disproportionate military responses in violation of International Law to which the U.S. is signatory, isn't that terrorism?
So, we know the General is no mind reader, yet he wants to be judge, jury and executioner. Why? Because we got attacked in a country which told us to leave because of Trump's willful provocations; we promised we would but lied to the Iraq government? U.S. troops should have been removed in respect of Iraq sovereignty, and there would have been no threat to them in the first place. Any American casualties would have been on Trump's hands for pulling this stunt to save his sorry butt from impeachment, anyway. Any Americans get killed, the underlying blame goes to our sociopathic Traitor-in-Thief, President Nero.
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@Max50ww ~ You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It’s that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don’t care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn’t want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it’s more than hope—those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another four months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn’t really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
“The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.”
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump’s hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It's that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don't care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another five months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over four decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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@DEAH-01 ~ Or, in this case, not the Home Owners Association, but the condo association. Believe the same laws and regulations in Florida cover both or are very similar, so it's a minor distinction.
Just speculation, but it's possible that some or even many of the owners leased out units in the building, and because they didn't live there, were reluctant to pay the large sum of money needed for repair, as the leasor may have been prohibited from passing those costs along to the leasee until the lease expired and a new lease drawn up, and may have also been reluctant in any case because the higher lease costs would translate to people moving elsewhere cheaper at the end of their lease to escape paying the higher lease, while also making it harder for condo owners to find tenants for any existing or resulting vacancies. It is often common practice, or at least not unusual, for people to buy one or more condo units as business investments, then lease them out to others.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of conspiracy theories, the party of hate, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of corruption, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, don't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their deal with the Devil.
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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Trump Has Sabotaged America’s Coronavirus Response
by Laura Garrett
In 2018, the Trump administration fired the government’s entire pandemic response chain of command, including the White House management infrastructure. In numerous phone calls and emails with key agencies across the U.S. government, the only consistent response I encountered was distressed confusion.
....
White House efforts included reducing $15 billion in national health spending and cutting the global disease-fighting operational budgets of the CDC, NSC, DHS, and HHS. And the government’s $30 million Complex Crises Fund was eliminated.
In May 2018, Trump ordered the NSC’s entire global health security unit shut down, calling for reassignment of Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer and dissolution of his team inside the agency. The month before, then-White House National Security Advisor John Bolton pressured Ziemer’s DHS counterpart, Tom Bossert, to resign along with his team. Neither the NSC nor DHS epidemic teams have been replaced. The global health section of the CDC was so drastically cut in 2018 that much of its staff was laid off and the number of countries it was working in was reduced from 49 to merely 10. Meanwhile, throughout 2018, the U.S. Agency for International Development and its director, Mark Green, came repeatedly under fire from both the White House and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. And though Congress has so far managed to block Trump administration plans to cut the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps by 40 percent, the disease-fighting cadres have steadily eroded as retiring officers go unreplaced.
Public health advocates have been ringing alarm bells to no avail.
Ronald Klain, who directed U.S. efforts on Ebola, has been warning for two years that the United States was in grave danger should a pandemic emerge. In 2017 and 2018, the philanthropist billionaire Bill Gates met repeatedly with Bolton and his predecessor, H.R. McMaster, warning that ongoing cuts to the global health disease infrastructure would render the United States vulnerable to, as he put it, the “significant probability of a large and lethal modern-day pandemic occurring in our lifetimes.” And an independent, bipartisan panel formed by the Center for Strategic and International Studies concluded that lack of preparedness was so acute in the Trump administration that the “United States must either pay now and gain protection and security or wait for the next epidemic and pay a much greater price in human and economic costs.”
https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/31/coronavirus-china-trump-united-states-public-health-emergency-response/
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Sam Spade ~ Much respect for Adams, but he takes an antiquated, cynical view we don't share. Don't agree that this passage of his is necessarily is a good precursor of the present day, either. Monarchy and aristocracy has had many more opportunities than democracy (especially so when Adams penned it), and believe a fair comparison between democracy and other forms of governance show the former to be superior in most every respect. Granted, we have an inherent bias, perhaps, but it would seem an outside objective view would come to the same conclusion.
Moreover, Adams shortchanges democracy here by omitting positive aspects. Would we rather rule ourselves through a democratic process, or allow others to decide our fates for us? The choice seems easy, messy as it may sometimes be. A proper understanding of Adams words is to know the (often irrational) fear of democracy held by many of our founding fathers, many of whom wanted only landholders granted the privilege of voting, and who denied Native Americans, women, and Blacks voting privilege.
We've come a long way, baby, and we still have miles to go in forming a more perfect Union. We've lasted almost 250 years, and there is no reason to believe we can't--or won't--last another 250 or more years, as fragile is democracy. The price of democracy is eternal vigilance and an engaged electorate. It's always up to us. "A Republic, if you can keep it." Americans may have ideological differences, and some may now misguidedly seek to impose minority fascist rule over the majority, nevertheless strongly believe most Americans still think our democracy is worthwhile, worth saving. Call us Jeffersonian in that regard.
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Sam Spade ~ You're not telling us anything we didn't already know, had not already considered, none of which really addresses the substance of our arguments; you only reiterate your own opinion. Which you're welcome to have. But just repeating it without answering the arguments does not a convincing case make.
You appear to take a very rudimentary view of history and progress, simplifying the former and largely ignoring the latter. You leave out many of the great minds that formed our country and Constitution. What about Alexander Hamilton, Charles Carroll of Carrollton (widely regarded at the time as the most intellectual and learned man in America, as well as one of its wealthiest), and so many others? What about all the great minds that came after, making the U.S. what it is today; Abraham Lincoln, Carl Schurz, etc., etc.? Not just statesmen, either, but also influential authors, such as Harriet Beecher Stowe, Samuel Clemens, Harper Lee, to name just a few. You say Greece was the only democracy, somehow forgetting Rome was democratic.
At about the same time that popular government was introduced in Greece, it also appeared on the Italian Peninsula in the city of Rome. The Romans called their system a rēspūblica, or republic, from the Latin rēs, meaning thing or affair, and pūblicus or pūblica, meaning public—thus, a republic was the thing that belonged to the Roman people, the populus romanus.
Relevant to the history of direct democracy is the history of Ancient Rome, specifically the Roman Republic, traditionally beginning around 509 BC. Rome displayed many aspects of democracy, both direct and indirect, from the era of Roman monarchy all the way to the collapse of the Roman Empire.
The fact that there were so few democracies for Adams to evaluate and make comparisons with was exactly the point we were emphasizing, of which you seem oblivious or uncomprehending.
Many, not all, of our founding fathers were intellectuals, which they have been succeeded by generations of intellectuals, keeping our flame of democracy alive, thriving, and growing--even to this day. That should neither be ignored, nor discounted. Moreover, the "good points" you concede demonstrate that are founding fathers were not omniscient, not infallible. In some ways they had great vision; in other ways they were short-sighted and narrow-minded.
Your conclusion confirms what we'd already stated about the fragility of democracy. But that's quite the long stretch to doomsaying our democratic republic. While our nation is indeed at a turning point, it has been preceded by many such turning points endured, with many more no doubt yet to come. While the present turning point should certainly serve as a call to action for all citizens of good conscience, "Rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated," as Samuel Clemens would have it.
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Toxic Trump, at coronavirus press briefing 04/20/20, "We're looking at maybe "only" 50-60,000 deaths in the U.S.!" Just three days later, the toll surpassed 50,000; six days after that, it went over 61,000. On 05/04/20--a mere two weeks after Trump's delusional pronouncement--the U.S. reached 70,000 deaths. Less than a week later, on 05/10/20, the toll went over 80,000 American deaths. Because of many state and local governments opening up their economies too soon is blatant disregard of Trump administration's own guidelines, the CDC Mayday report projects new highs of 3,000 deaths and 200,000 new cases per DAY by June. That would put us at 100-150,000 deaths--just by the end of June, alone. That's acceptable, here in America? Since when?
04/22/20 saw a new worst of nearly 2,700 COVID-19 deaths in a single day, topping the nearly 2,400 Americans lost on 04/14/20. Trump's claim was simply more of his wishful thinking, lies, and bogus claims. Clueless, disinterested, deranged, disengaged, and detached from reality are not the qualities you want in a leader during a major global pandemic crisis. That's a lethal combination that has already cost more American lives in just eight weeks than the Vietnam War in its entire twelve-year span.
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***MEDIA FAIL*** -- Fareed Zakaria doesn't realize that he and many like him in the media are enablers for Trump and Republicans. Here's why. While there's much Fareed gets right, there are some key aspects where he is sorely mistaken.
--Support for impeachment INQUIRY was justified long ago, most certainly after the release of the Mueller Report and Barr's gross mischaracterization and misrepresentation of its contents, which outlines Trump's malfeasance, abuse of power, and crimes--all of the highest order.
--The terminology and announcement, whether called impeachment inquiry or investigation, or just plain Congressional oversight, has been blown out of proportion by the media and overly politicized, hurting Democratic efforts while providing succor to Trump and Republicans seeking to cover-up and gaslight serious malfeasance. In fact, there need be no formal announcement of any kind by the House at all. The announcement makes little difference when the courts have already been notified in official legal filings by Democrats that the subpoenas are in furtherance of investigation into impeachment. Democrat leadership took a hit for deliberately, but wisely, holding off on that announcement to avoid unnecessarily further exacerbating partisan divisions. In fact, an impeachment inquiry/investigation/oversight by Dems has essentially been ongoing in some form or other since even before the release of the Mueller Report, if not recognized or characterized as such by the media or public.
--Big, BIG difference between impeachment inquiry/investigation/oversight and any resulting floor vote to impeach, and Fareed Zakaria surely must know this critical distinction, yet dishonestly conflates the two as justification or excuse for his being OPPOSED to impeachment inquiry/investigation/oversight. Such an impeachment inquiry typically only leads to an actual vote on referral to the Senate for a trial if there is substance to the allegations, so Fareed is mischaracterizing the process to make an invalid excuse. There have been far more forays into impeaching than there have been actual House votes to impeach, irrespective of the office being impeached.
--Fareed Zakaria ignores and absolves Congressional Republican's responsibility and duty as patriotic Americans to honor their sworn oath to honor, protect, and preserve the Constitution. While there will always be a political component to impeachment, it was clearly not intended by our founding fathers to be a partisan issue in Congress. Republicans share an EQUAL responsibility, which can't simply be waved off by media pundits because Republicans refuse to honor their responsibility under our Constitution to honor that Constitution. Media cowardice enables Congressional Republican cowardice and corruption, and through them, Trump criminality, abuses, and corruption.
--Fareed Zakaria is saying that if an impeachment inquiry had found sufficient evidence for a vote on impeachment to pass, he would have been opposed. This is just plain wrong, because neither him or anyone else could know what that impeachment investigation would uncover! Otherwise, he is saying that he would then support an impeachment that he hadn't thought should have been investigated in the first place, which is a ridiculous position to take both in light of the circumstances, and the fact that the impeachment wouldn't have happened had they not investigated despite his foolish advice.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and disturbing. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of plutocrats, the party of corruption, the party of anti-democracy, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their pact with the Devil.
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Worst economic downturn in American history, catastrophically botched COVID-19 pandemic response with over 160,000 senseless American deaths. TWENTY straight weeks of over ONE MILLION new unemployment claims. Deaths projected to double by the end of year due to most corrupt, incompetent, racist, and ignorant President in U.S. history. A treasonous President that compromised himself with Russia, who refuses to hold the U.S. principle foreign adversary accountable for its attacks on America, who won't even speak out against Russian bounties on U.S. soldiers. Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy: "Toxic Trump is doing a helluva job!" Rabid right-wing cult media is DESTROYING America!
What's really confusing America is Newsmax, Faux News, and all the other rabid right-wing media outlets propagating and spreading disinformation. Without the supporting cast of willing supplicant proto-fascist right-wing media exploiting and profiting from them, the lies and distortions of Toxic Trump and Republicans would hold very little power, and could not persist.
Anyone really all that surprised that the CEO of Newsmax, Chris Ruddy, is a dishonest partisan hack with no character or integrity whatsoever? If so, that's only because you've never seen Newsmax.
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To those not wearing masks, social distancing, or following guidelines: Your willful ignorance does not mask your wanton disregard for human life, your appalling lack of humanity and humility, your supremely selfish inconsideration of others. Despite absolutely loathing wearing a mask, it's also the reason it's worn. The sooner we all start wearing masks, social distancing, and taking this deadly pandemic seriously, the sooner we get to take them off, the less time they'll need to be worn. Not to mention, the sooner we can go back to a normal that is more like normal, the sooner we can get our jobs back and our economy rolling, again. And, of course, most importantly, the more lives we can save--which might even be your own life, or the life of a friend or loved one.
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~ Bad Vibration, Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Sick fascination, no reservation
Brutalization, victimization
Race relation identification
Saud assassination operation
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Abomination seeks domination
Militarization provocation
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
What location revitalization?
Cessation media manipulation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Magnification of inspiration
Cooperation, collaboration
Restoration results in elation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of crackpot conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of plutocrats, the party of corruption, the party of anti-democracy, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their pact with the Devil.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian nationalism religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
The Republican cult is sick, twisted, perverted, seditious, and dangerous.
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Elmer Fudd's always trying to convince me he just wants unity.
What he really means is that he wants to eat me.
Unity and compromise is a two-way street that only works if both parties operate in good faith. Republicans have a long history of failing to do that--or even try. Recent history since Biden won the election shows no indication of them changing their divisive, destructive words, attitudes, and acts. Tyrant Trump incited a terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol to overthrow an election, endangering his VP and members of Congress, sat by and gleefully reveled in watching it happen for hours, ignoring desperate pleas for help, and only a very few Republican are willing to speak out, impeach him, convict him, and prevent him from holding public office again? That's not loyal opposition; that's a dangerous political cult.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast would soon come to consume them.
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***MEDIA FAIL*** -- CNN and top NY Times reporter analyze problems in U.S. political landscape, yet NEVER even one single mention of some of the most important salient facts!
1) Putin is playing U.S. population, gaming elections.
2) Republicans are playing U.S. population, gaming elections.
3) Republicans are willfully and knowingly spreading Putin's debunked propaganda in aid of both their own and Russia's aforementioned efforts.
4) Republicans are willfully and knowingly protecting a President that has compromised himself with our chief foreign adversary, Russia, despite clear and overwhelming evidence of criminality of the highest order threatening our elections, democracy, and national security.
No rational analysis of the situation can be obtained by omission of such relevant facts. Instead, what the public is provided in this mediocre media presentation is a mindless mish-mash of moral mush and doubt where the skies are ever so clear and bright, the danger ever so present.
Moreover, any reasonable analysis does not ignore that a Republican cult has been created over decades by right-wing media and demagogues that is without parallel on the left. Bruni was right that Trump is not the only problem, but fails to make the logical case that Trump is merely a symptom of the disease, a figurehead which can be replaced. Bruni fails to account how Republican politicians are now beholden to the cult they created.
Bruni, CNN and, indeed, most of MSM, consistently fail to make critical distinctions necessary to informing the public by falsely inferring or equating left and right when it involves matters of right or wrong, with truth on one side, nothing but deceptions on the other. This is a recurring theme in MSM which is highly destructive to our society--hope the media keeps that in mind next time they discuss how destructive the partisan divide is without assigning blame where blame rightly belongs.
Bruni basically states that both sides equally view the other as something of an existential threat, but fails to provide any crucial context, rational or comparison of the two to support his opinion. How is it equal, when one side is praying for the other side preying on others and getting preyed upon? How is equal when one side seeks to unite, the other to divide? If true both sides living in mortal fear of the other, what reason for each side for that fear? When was that fear instilled for each side? Was there justification, or was it the product of demagoguery? All very important question any good journalist should be addressing, but MSM fails spectacularly again to inform the public.
The problem is clear, the solution more complicated. The problem isn't actually Russia, but right-wing media, demagoguery, and propaganda dividing us into two realities in a world where--obviously--only one can exist. Only one of those realities is Orwellian. That world was being created with GOP Potemkin villages long before Russia even thought about meddling in U.S. elections. If not their initial intent, GOP propaganda opened the door, facilitating similar Russian attacks against us; nevertheless, Putin merely represents just one more poison added to their already toxic stew. Is media REALLY this stupid? Which side calls a free press the "enemy of the American people?"
So, we know the problem, and we don't start blaming the whole classroom when one student or group starts acting out. Now, what to do; how does the media help make the public aware of this Republican cult and the dangers their behavior poses to society, including their own selves? How do we stop or protect ourselves from such partisan disinformation programming of the population now and in the future? How can Americans that are typically apathetic or indifferent to politics be persuaded that they have a moral and patriotic obligation to become informed and to speak out, to protest, to vote, to make a difference for their country and society when vitally needed? THAT'S the discussion we ought to be having. Media BE better, WE be better!
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The Case Against Donald Trump
The president of the United States poses a threat to our collective existence. The choice voters face is spectacularly obvious.
OCTOBER 22, 2020 — Jeffrey Goldberg, on behalf of the editors of The Atlantic
In 1973, a United States Air Force officer, Major Harold Hering, asked a question that the Air Force did not want asked. Hering, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, was then in training to become a Minuteman-missile crewman. The question he asked one of his instructors was this: “How can I know that an order I receive to launch my missiles came from a sane president?”
The writer Ron Rosenbaum would later call this the “forbidden question.” Missile officers are allowed to ask certain sorts of questions—about the various fail-safe systems built to prevent the accidental launching of nuclear weapons, for instance. But the Air Force would not answer Hering’s question, and it moved to discharge him after determining that officers responsible for launching nuclear weapons did not “need to know” the answer. “I have to say I feel I do have a need to know because I am a human being,” Hering said in response.
Hering’s question was taboo because the national defense strategy of the United States is built on the unstated assumption that the American people will not allow a lunatic to become president. If that assumption is wrong, then no procedural, legal, or technological mechanisms exist that are able to fully protect the human race from such a lunatic. Hering discovered a catastrophic flaw in U.S. nuclear doctrine, and for this he was driven from the Air Force.
In most matters related to the governance and defense of the United States, the president is constrained by competing branches of government and by an intricate web of laws and customs. Only in one crucial area does the president resemble, in the words of the former missile officer and scholar Bruce Blair, an absolute monarch—his control of nuclear weapons. Richard Nixon, who was president when Major Hering asked his question, was reported to have told members of Congress at a White House dinner party, “I could leave this room and in 25 minutes, 70 million people would be dead.” This was an alarming but accurate statement.
When contemplating their ballots, Americans should ask which candidate in a presidential contest is better equipped to guide the United States through a national-security crisis without triggering a nuclear exchange, and which candidate is better equipped to interpret—within five or seven minutes—the ambiguous, complicated, and contradictory signals that could suggest an imminent nuclear attack. These are certainly not questions that large numbers of voters asked themselves in 2016, when a transparently unqualified candidate for president won the support of 63 million Americans.
At the time, Donald Trump had not yet served in public office, so concerns about his ability to protect the United States from harm were hypothetical, though grounded in his long and terrible record as a human being. As The Atlantic stated in its October 2016 endorsement of his opponent, Hillary Clinton, Trump “traffics in conspiracy theories and racist invective; he is appallingly sexist; he is erratic, secretive, and xenophobic; he expresses admiration for authoritarian rulers, and evinces authoritarian tendencies himself … He is an enemy of fact-based discourse; he is ignorant of, and indifferent to, the Constitution; he appears not to read.”
What we have learned since we published that editorial is that we understated our case. Donald Trump is the worst president this country has seen since Andrew Johnson, or perhaps James Buchanan, or perhaps ever. Trump has brought our country low; he has divided our people; he has pitted race against race; he has corrupted our democracy; he has shown contempt for American ideals; he has made cruelty a sacrament; he has provided comfort to propagators of hate; he has abandoned America’s allies; he has aligned himself with dictators; he has encouraged terrorism and mob violence; he has undermined the agencies and departments of government; he has despoiled the environment; he has opposed free speech; he has lied frenetically and evangelized for conspiracism; he has stolen children from their parents; he has made himself an advocate of a hostile foreign power; and he has failed to protect America from a ravaging virus. Trump is not responsible for all of the 220,000 COVID-19-related deaths in America. But through his avarice and ignorance and negligence and titanic incompetence, he has allowed tens of thousands of Americans to suffer and die, many alone, all needlessly. With each passing day, his presidency reaps more death.
But let us lay all of this aside for the moment. Let us even lay aside the extraordinary fact that Donald Trump has been credibly accused of rape. Compelling evidence suggests that his countless sins and defects are rooted in mental instability, pathological narcissism, and profound moral and cognitive impairment. Which returns us to the subject of Major Hering.
Trump’s opponent, Joe Biden, is in many ways a typically imperfect candidate, but if we judge these men on two questions alone—Who is a more trustworthy steward of America’s nuclear arsenal? Which man poses less of a threat to our collective existence?—the answer is spectacularly obvious.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/10/atlantics-endorsement-against-donald-trump/616815/
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"Peace is not a very big thing to ask for, is it?" ~ Fatima Gailani, Afghan activist and negotiator, pleading for continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan
It is when asking the Taliban, who do not seek peace or to bargain in good faith, but total domination once again. U.S. has spent 20 years and $2 trillion trying to achieve peace in Afghanistan, losing over 4000 American lives (military and civilian contractors), with tens of thousands of Americans wounded there.
"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials … have given Afghans little reason to support their government," Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the commander of U.S. forces in the country, wrote in a 2009 memorandum. "This crisis of confidence, coupled with a distinct lack of economic and educational opportunity, has created fertile ground for the insurgency."
That was 11 years ago, and little has changed since. Thought the invasion of Afghanistan by Bush was a mistake that would lead to a quagmire, and have been proven correct. Still, initially supported efforts to bring peace and stability there, along with basic human and civil-rights, because after invading felt we had an obligation to rebuild. However, while U.S. blunders there have contributed to a failure, Afghans are their own worst enemy, and no one can help them until enough of them are willing to help themselves.
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Only when law enforcement demonstrates nationally that it is capable of adequately policing and holding itself accountable can the public have the security and confidence they are there to PROTECT and serve ALL citizens. We're sick of the carnage and misery--we're not waiting, anymore, police, prosecutors, judges, mayors, councils, legislators, governors, Congress, Mr. President, SCOTUS. This is really a question of whether or not America wants to be a democracy, or something less.
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Ignorant Republicans, Governors and Mayors:
DO YOU UNDERSTAND???
A virus can't think. But you can.
The real war isn't against this virus--it's against our own IGNORANCE and HUBRIS!
Restarting an economy REQUIRES first protecting public health in the midst of a deadly global pandemic. That's just plain, old-fashioned, common sense, fools! States, localities, and CITIZENS not fully on board with recommended protocols, guidelines--acting hastily and rashly in willful disregard of medical experts, the science, and the data--are PROLONGING isolation measures for EVERYONE, only DELAYING economic recovery in the U.S., while you are disabling and KILLING even more Americans.
Colorado bought hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 tests from South Korea, hiding it from the Toxic Trump administration, lest they steal it! While exercising far more prudence than many Republican governors, Colorado's governor is still jumping the gun, asking for trouble, putting health and lives unnecessarily at risk. Isn't Gov. Polis to blame so much, here, when it is really the lack of national leadership at fault.
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Let's just call January 6 what it actually was -- a Republican smash and grab, an act of violent larceny against democracy and our government, sedition employing domestic terrorism right out in open sight. It was just one of Trump's failed attempts to achieve an autogolpe.
"Without accountability, an attempted autogolpe and insurrection is just practice."
"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ― Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
So, why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. Because our democracy, our institutions, and our very security is seriously endangered. And because rule of law and justice for all really does matter.
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Ignorant Republicans, Governors and Mayors:
DO YOU UNDERSTAND???
A virus can't think. But you can.
The real war isn't against this virus--it's against our own IGNORANCE and HUBRIS!
Restarting an economy REQUIRES first protecting public health in the midst of a deadly global pandemic. That's just plain, old-fashioned, common sense, fools! States, localities, and CITIZENS not fully on board with recommended protocols, guidelines--acting hastily and rashly in willful disregard of medical experts, the science, and the data--are PROLONGING isolation measures for EVERYONE, only DELAYING economic recovery in the U.S., while you are disabling and KILLING even more Americans.
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Meet the new ugly face of white supremacy in America! Funny--it looks just like the old ugly face. Except this time they got their Imperial Wizard installed as Chief Jester of the Supreme Court, where he magically declared racism somehow no longer a problem in America, paving the way for thousands of new Jim Crow laws and egregious gerrymandering suppressing and disenfranchising millions of American voters. Of course, harsh realities will continue to exist irrespective of any blind eye or pretentious, capricious edicts by some Supreme Court. And Roberts' conservative SCOTUS decisions only confirm how the white supremacist problem and its perpetual "fix" on the American judicial branch and justice system has never gone away, as America continues to struggle with overcoming a racist history of colonialism, slavery, and discrimination.
"...we must recognize that one of the two political parties is routinely engaged in sabotaging free elections with voter-suppression efforts aimed at the minority voters it cannot win over at the ballot box. These anti-democratic power grabs became a GOP staple decades before Donald Trump, culminating in the actions of a George W. Bush–anointed chief justice, John Roberts, whose Supreme Court shredded the Voting Rights Act of 1965. As Roberts famously put it in his 2007 opinion for the plurality, “The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.” Since then, discrimination on the basis of race has only expanded in states like Georgia and Florida, where Black voting rights have been cavalierly undermined and trashed."
~ Frank Rich, November 9, 2020 (Written well before the rash of new Jim Crow laws now being proposed and passed by Republicans in many states.)
Chief Justice Roberts and his fellow conservative SCOTUS justices: the architects of a new era of Jim Crow in America. Need to expand SCOTUS to 15 justices, do away with the filibuster, pass a new Voting Rights Act, and let Biden appoint six new justices to bring sanity and justice back to the Supreme Court.
Three current Republican SCOTUS justices worked on Bush's legal team in Bush v. Gore, where a Republican SCOTUS made a partisan decision along partisan lines in what is widely regarded as one of the worst SCOTUS decisions ever, handing Bush the election.
Chief Justice John Roberts: Roberts flew to Florida in November 2000 to assist Bush's legal team. He helped prepare the lawyer who presented Bush's case to the Florida state Supreme Court and offered advice throughout. After Bush became president, he nominated Roberts to the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit (the Senate confirmed him in 2003); Bush then elevated Roberts to the chief justice position in 2005, to succeed William Rehnquist. During his Senate confirmation hearing, Roberts declined to reveal his view of the justices' 2000 decision.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh: He was also in private practice in 2000 and helped the Bush legal team. After the election, Bush hired Kavanaugh to be a counsel and then staff secretary. In the West Wing, Kavanaugh met his future wife, Ashley, who was Bush's personal secretary. Bush appointed Kavanaugh to the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, where Roberts had first served. In 2018, Trump elevated Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
Judge Amy Coney Barrett: Barrett wrote on the questionnaire she submitted to the Senate for her Supreme Court confirmation review, "One significant case on which I provided research and briefing assistance was Bush v. Gore. I did work on Bush v. Gore. I did work on behalf of the Republican side."
Roberts wrote the briefings Sandra Day O'Conner used in Bush v Gore to deny FL their vote. He was then nominated when she retired. She denied FL the vote so she could retire with a pro-lifer in the WH. She gasped in front of witnesses "That can't be" when FL was called for Gore.
On the very last day of its term before Independence Day, 2021, Republican SCROTUM (Supreme Court of Odious Treasonous Unhinged Maggots) dropped a turd on America, legalizing discrimination against people of color, modernizing Jim Crow, and turning the former SCOTUS into the new KKK headquarters, with Chief Jester Roberts appointing himself the Grand Imperial Wizard.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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The Molotov cocktail recipe:
Mix in equal parts of mental illness, willful ignorance, fear, hate, decades of 24/7 Reich-wing disinformation, misinformation, and crackpot conspiracy programming by Republican politicians, plutocrats, media and demagogues, add supplemental divisive Russian propaganda attacking and weakening America, stir well, garnish with COVID-19, and you have the mindless Republican cult descending into fascism, committing terrorism and sedition. Then, grab a stiff drink--you'll need it.
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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@DennisWilkinson61 ~ Who'd have ever connected voting in America with survival? But that's pretty much what it has boiled down to, hasn't it? Survival of ourselves, survival of our democracy, and survival of our nation. The irony is that Republicans have always tried to paint Democrats as an existential threat...but in doing so it is they who have become exactly that.
Democrat voters need an even greater turnout in '22 and '24, put the final fork in Trumpism! Republicans want to engage in Jim Crow voter suppression laws, voter intimidation, and egregious gerrymandering? Let's just prove that's fuel for the fire, and make their antidemocratic corruption backfire on them!
Which is why I replied to your comment on crawling through broken glass and fire ants; because that's the kind of mentality we need to adopt, and appreciated that!
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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Vote BLUE for science, humanity, sanity, truth, reason, democracy, and reality! And, don't forget to also GET OUT THE VOTE! With anti-democratic, fascist Trump and GOP, must vote to win too big to rig, too real to steal, create too much heat to cheat; if complete, Dems can't be beat.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast would soon come to consume them.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It's that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don't care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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Extremely Stable Genius (TM) looking now to extort China to fabricate dirt on his political opponent, blissfully heedless how he's strung himself up by the balls for them, while they hold the prospects for his reelection and any trade deal--along with American's economy and security--in the palm of their gleeful, grateful hands turning and tightening the winch he's using to elevate himself. He'll need to raise himself through the roof to pull off another election miracle, but the aperture appears a just a tad too narrow, sure to subject his sad, scaly, sagging scrotum to tremendous, excruciating pressure. Look out below, then, because Toxic Traitor Trump's tiny tote won't tolerate the terrible treatment, and it WILL be ugly, witnessing a novel form of castration!
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-‘n-‘Thief, Toxic Trump, so much—although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages—as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, homophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, divisive, anti-democratic raving lunatic and his corruption, a man compromised by foreign nations, including our principle adversary, through his tremendous debt. Between that, his catastrophic, irresponsible handling of COVID-19, and his incitement of anti-democratic violent Reich-wing groups, Trump has made himself America's #1 most serious national security threat. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself, mental illness, and his upbringing, who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over four decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, nihilistic, hyper-partisan fascist cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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Trump excluded the Afghan government from peace negotiations with the Taliban, legitimizing the Taliban by making a separate peace deal with them and delegitimizing the government we worked so long and hard at so much cost to build and support, while releasing 5,000 Taliban prisoners and agreeing to withdraw all U.S. forces by May 1, 2021, guaranteeing failure. Moreover, Trump eviscerated the refugee program for Afghan and Iraqi allies visa programs, creating a huge backlog over several years. A federal judge even ruled Trump's delaying of those visas illegal. Furthermore, Trump abandoned are Kurdish allies in Syria and Iraq. Trump and Pompeo could hardly have screwed up our foreign policy any worse, and the damage they did will take decades to repair. But the Republican cult morons are too stupid to know and too stupid to care; they'll just deny and try to shift blame, as usual.
Liz Cheney's right----it didn't have to happen this way: her father, Dick Cheney, and George Bush were responsible for the deterioration of affairs in Afghanistan by diverting troops and resources to conduct an illegal invasion of Iraq on the false premise of WMD and Iraq harboring terrorists. The situation in Afghanistan never recovered from that fatal mistake by Cheney and Bush; it allowed the Taliban to regroup and come back bigger and stronger than ever. Cheney and Bush's illegal war in Iraq also resulted in the emergence of ISIS.
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We got Big Brag Daddy Baghdad Bob broadcasting direct from Washington, D.C. daily, with Toxic Trump and a revolving cast of his sycophantic minions! Happy talk, disinformation, empty promises, idle threats, vicious smears, bogus pandemic models, dog whistles, continuous crackpot conspiracies--they got it all, and more!
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News anchor: "In just ONE month, we got over 800,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in America with OVER 40,000 deaths because of Trump shirking responsibility, refusing to take a global pandemic seriously, prepare, and defend our nation! Now, that lunatic has turned pandemic press briefings into macabre Dear Leader campaign rallies where he belittles and berates any and all who question him! Can you tell us just WTF the situation is at the moment in the White House?"
White House correspondent: "Situation unchanged--still hopeless. Completely, totally FUBAR, as usual. Don't expect any help or change from this dystopian, dysfunctional Branch..."
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Not surprised by SCOTUS ruling or timing. Although feared that activist, extremist partisan hack Reich-wing jokers on the Court would delay a decision just to hinder the January 6th Select Committee, they have no love for Trump, whom they (correctly) perceive more as a liability and time-bomb to the GOP (and their Court) than an asset. A quick decision of this nature was also expected given the Trump suit seeking Executive Privilege was meritless. Besides, it's a long game these Riech-wing jokers on the Court are playing, cashing in their chips where most advantageous, knowing full well that they are delegitimizing the Court and themselves. More important matters ahead, expect more irrational, activist, extremist and partisan hack decisions from Reich-wing justices that have no sound basis in existing law, precedent, or the Constitution, which they interpret arbitrarily and capriciously at whim to fit their bankrupt ideology and political agenda.
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@SLJShortt ~ Exactly. Also, it actually only takes the President to order the National Guard to protect federal property. The DC mayor actually did request and receive National Guard troops for January 6, but their orders only extended to the city itself, not to the Capitol. The mayor has no authority over the Capitol, which is federal property.
Traitor Trump did NOT ask either the Speaker of the House or the Leader of the Senate, Moscow McCoverup, about deploying National Guard troops to the Capitol prior to January 6. As you had pointed out, such arrangement would be outside of the purview of the Speaker and Leader, anyway. The respective Sergeant-at-Arms for the Senate and House appointed by the Leader and Speaker are only responsible for keeping order and security within their own chamber, and report to the Capitol Chief of Police, who oversees overall security. The Capitol Chief of Police was appointed by the Republican-controlled Capitol Police Board which, as you also pointed out, would have been the body responsible for requesting the National Guard.
It should also be pointed out that Trump unilaterally deployed national Guard troops and other federal agencies to protect the Capitol and other federal property during the BLM protests last summer, without any request for such deployment from the DC mayor, the Capitol police, or Congress.
Regardless, the Reich-wing lies trying to shift blame are just intended to deflect and distract. Trump sat there for three hours watching in joyful glee on TV as the Capitol was being attacked by the mob he sent there, refusing to send in the National Guard or anyone else to protect the building, his VP, members of Congress, their staffs, and all the others working there. That's dereliction of duty, a betrayal of Trump's oath of office, and seditious. Reich-wing puppet propagandists don't want to talk about that because they can't defend it.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. Sure, some of them truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Republican cult placing political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or "the Wall") is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle's name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called "leaders" in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. has ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 -- than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to--and a barrier against--our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It's design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge--and help teach--people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see...if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
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For five long years, the American people, Lady Justice, and Constitution have all been crying out for accountability, pleading, "Until this moment, Republicans, I think I have never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness. ...You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"
Insane stuff from an insane man, that describes Traitor Trump to a "T." What it constitutes is an attempted coup and an insurrection. So, why hasn't Trump and his accomplices been arrested for those and all his other crimes, yet? Why is Merrick Garland and his DOJ failing to do their duty? If Trump is not prosecuted, it sets a terrible precedent enabling the next wannabe authoritarian President. This is no time for playing nice.
Expect these documents from the National Security Archives to produce even more incriminating evidence of Traitor Trump's autogolpe. Also expect the House Select Committee to pass them on to the DOJ, along with a referral for criminal charges against Trump and his accomplices. Merrick Garland MUST prosecute Trump for his many crimes, or our justice system and democracy will be destroyed.
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~ Bad Vibration, Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization duration
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
What location revitalization?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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Ignorant Republicans, Governors and Mayors:
DO YOU UNDERSTAND???
A virus can't think. But you can.
The real war isn't against this virus--it's against our own IGNORANCE and HUBRIS!
Restarting an economy REQUIRES first protecting public health in the midst of a deadly global pandemic. That's just plain, old-fashioned, common sense, fools! States, localities, and CITIZENS not fully on board with recommended protocols, guidelines--acting hastily and rashly in willful disregard of medical experts, the science, and the data--are PROLONGING isolation measures for EVERYONE, only DELAYING economic recovery in the U.S., while you are disabling and KILLING even more Americans.
Colorado bought hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 tests from South Korea, hiding it from the Toxic Trump administration, lest they steal it! While exercising far more prudence than many Republican governors, Colorado's governor is still jumping the gun, asking for trouble, putting health and lives unnecessarily at risk. Isn't Gov. Polis to blame so much, here, when it is really the lack of national leadership at fault.
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Ms. Yates is correct to point out the initial improprieties President Trump and his campaign engaged in with our principle adversary, Russia, a hostile foreign power, where both knowingly used each other and benefited. Despite knowing of this foreign interference in our election, Trump and those around him did not inform the proper authorities, instead encouraging it in various ways while lying to the public about any knowledge or involvement. This is not the behavior we expect of any good citizen, much less the occupant of the Oval Office, who has always been held to a higher standard. While there are many other items that could and certainly should be included in the Articles of Impeachment, they are essentially superfluous; this is ample reason enough to impeach and should be presented as the First Article. The American people need to understand that Trump and his campaign betrayed their own country in getting him elected, sacrificing and putting at risk every citizen's security--Republican, Democrat, or Other. They cheated, and are traitors to democracy. Despite this utterly contemptible behavior by Trump and his campaign not rising to the level of the criminal--only through sheer ignorance and ineptness by Trump and staff according to the Mueller Report--the subsequent attempted cover-up and indictable criminal obstruction counts outlined in the Report, disturbing as they are, kind of pale in comparison when placed beside. And I think this is what most people are going to find disturbing and key on--not so much on the legal implications and Constitutional aspects and those ramifications, which are also very important, albeit perhaps more difficult to fully grasp all the inherent nuances.
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Conservatism--the endless, futile quest to justify greed. For many in the tribalistic partisan Republican cult, it's a blind faith in capitalism and liberty that deliberately ignores the limitations and responsibilities involved with each, often driven by ignorant anarchist impulses, which are in turn rooted in ignorance such as greed, bigotry, racism, xenophobia, and religion. They reject societal norms that places reasonable restrictions on those things in benefit of the common good.
You see the well-dressed, well-fed pandemic lock-down protestors, most driving newer, expensive vehicles. You KNOW these people are nowhere near destitute, that they got money and time to waste. Then, you think about all the African-Americans being very disproportionately affected in inner cities, who ARE suffering greatly, yet continue to give selflessly on the front lines of this war against COVID-19, and abide by guidelines despite the hardships affecting low-income and poverty sectors far worse. Many of them feel FORCED to work to pay the bills, WISHING they had a non-essential job where they could receive unemployment, be on vacation at home with family, and not be put at risk in general society, where they have typically been ill-protected by their employers. They are put at greater increased risk by protestors.
You also think about ALL the other essential medical and front-line workers being put at greater increased risk by ignorant protestors--and about the suffering and deaths you KNOW will result from their ignorance. From their continued rejection of truth, reason, facts, science, and even common sense. We have to wonder at the willful ignorance, despite knowing the reasons, appalled at their irrationalism, and fearful for our nation, our families and friends, and ourselves.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation—only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regurgitation
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump’s COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration…
Now reaching vacation destination!
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Who'd have ever equated voting in America with survival? But that's pretty much what it has boiled down to, hasn't it? Survival of ourselves, survival of our democracy, survival of our nation, and survival of our planet. The irony is that Republicans have always tried to paint Democrats as an existential threat...but in doing so it is actually they who have become exactly that.
Democrat voters need an even greater turnout in '22 and '24, put the final fork in Trumpism! Republicans want to engage in Jim Crow voter suppression laws, voter intimidation, and egregious gerrymandering? Republicans want to engage in corruption, gaslight their corruption, coverup their corruption? Republicans want to live in delusion and denial about the major problems confronting the nation and planet? Let's just prove that's fuel for the fire, and make their fascist antidemocratic corruption backfire on them!
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Let's face it; this American fall towards fascism didn't just happen overnight. Since before the '70s Republicans have engaged in dog whistles and pursued a racist agenda, hidden behind various facades. Reagan helped Goldwater using dog-whistles; Nixon was infamous for his use of them. Roger Ailes micromanaged Nixon's appearances, and stoked racial fears and resentments. Reagan employed them getting elected governor of California. Lee Atwater, who greatly admired Nixon's 'Southern strategy,' worked on Reagan's Presidential campaign, teaming up with Ailes. A year after Reagan's victory, Atwater gave what was then an anonymous interview, and perhaps lulled by the anonymity, he offered an unusually candid response to a question about Reagan, the Southern strategy, and the drive to attract the Wallace voters:
"You start out in 1954 by saying, "N------, N------, N-------." By 1968 you can't say "N-------," that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states' rights and all that stuff. You're getting so abstract now, you're talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you're talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is, blacks get hurt worse than whites. And subconsciously maybe that is part of it. I'm not saying that. But I'm saying that if it is getting that abstract, and that coded, that we are doing away with the racial problem one way or the other. You follow me; because obviously sitting around saying, "We want to cut taxes and we want to cut this," is much more abstract than even the busing thing, and a hell of a lot more abstract than "N------, N------." So anyway you look at it, race is coming on the back burner."
Humiliated and stunned by Nixon's forced resignation, Republicans anointed Reagan their hero, and have long insisted on regarding him as such, despite his repeated use of racial dog-whistles and his mediocre record. In 1980, Reagan characterized food stamp recipients as, "That strapping young buck in front of you at the checkout buying T-bone steak, while you wait in line to buy hamburger," and kicked off his campaign outside Philadelphia, Mississippi--notorious for the KKK lynching of four volunteer civil rights workers just 16 years earlier--by delivering the promise that, "I believe in state's rights!" Reagan returned in 1984 to another cheering crowd, this time endorsing the neo-Confederate slogan, "The South shall rise again!"
Lee Atwater went on to work with Roger Ailes on George H.W. Bush's Presidential campaign, which shamelessly stoked racial fear through the infamous Willie Horton political ad and other means. Roger Ailes would go on to head Fox News for Rupert Murdoch, until numerous allegations of sexual harassment and improprieties, along with related lawsuits against Fox, forced his removal. Ailes was a polarizing influence, who has been called the most destructive force in American politics in 50 years.
Conservative plutocrats and the GOP created the beast over decades with round-the-clock propaganda, but were swallowed whole by their own mutated creations of daily outrage, white grievance politics, and phony populism; first by the Tea Party, then by Trump. Unable to go back, and clearly having no way forward, they remain planted in their own muck and mire, trapped by the cult of their own making. The pundits and conservatives rejecting Trump are trying to salvage their party, but any person of principle and sense ought to know enough to defect the rotten machine.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-‘n-‘Thief, Toxic Trump, so much—although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages—as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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How testing failures allowed coronavirus to sweep the U.S.
The Trump administration’s decision to forgo a World Health Organization test and create its own had fateful consequences, experts say.
By Joanne Kenen -- Politico -- 03/06/20
On Saturday Jan. 11 — a month and a half before the first Covid-19 case not linked to travel was diagnosed in the United States — Chinese scientists posted the genome of the mysterious new virus, and within a week virologists in Berlin had produced the first diagnostic test for the disease.
Soon after, researchers in other nations rolled out their own tests, too, sometimes with different genetic targets. By the end of February, the World Health Organization had shipped tests to nearly 60 countries.
The United States was not among them.
Why the United States declined to use the WHO test, even temporarily as a bridge until the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention could produce its own test, remains a perplexing question and the key to the Trump administration’s failure to provide enough tests to identify the coronavirus infections before they could be passed on, according to POLITICO interviews with dozens of viral-disease experts, former officials and some officials within the administration’s health agencies.
The slowness of the testing regimen — which, administration officials acknowledged this week, is still not producing enough tests to meet the national demand — was the first, and most sweeping, of many failures. So far there have been confirmed cases in at least 23 states, and at least 15 deaths, while the stock market plunged and an otherwise healthy economy braced for a major disruption.
But neither the CDC nor the coronavirus task force chaired by Vice President Mike Pence would say who made the decision to forgo the WHO test and instead begin a protracted process of producing an American test, one that got delayed by manufacturing problems, possible lab contamination and logistical delays.
“Please provide an explanation for why the Covid-19 diagnostic test approved by the World Health Organization was not used,” Sen. Patty Murray, the ranking Democrat on the Senate health committee, who represents the hard-hit state of Washington, asked in a 3½-page letter on the testing fiasco to Pence, Health Secretary Alex Azar, CDC director Robert Redfield, and Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn.
So far, none has been provided.
“We developed a test very rapidly after China produced the [genetic] sequence. We are in the process of validating that and that’s the test we’re going to be using,” said the CDC’s Stephen Redd, a 30-year veteran of the agency, at a recent briefing, even as members of the presidential task force acknowledged that the pace of testing had lagged.
Azar, who initially led the White House response and has now been sidelined by Pence, also has kept defending the testing regime.
“We’ve actually been progressing with this on par with our peer countries,” he told reporters recently.
* * *
The government’s incapacity to conduct widespread testing slowed diagnoses, creating chains of infection. It also deprived epidemiologists of a map that could have told them how far and how fast the virus was traveling and where they should concentrate efforts to slow it down.
But there were additional problems with the administration’s approach to testing, according to experts and former officials. From the start, the White House focused on containment, trusting that a limited ban on travel to and from China could somehow force a fast-moving virus to stop cold when it hit the Chinese border. But, while containment might have helped buy the U.S. some time, without aggressive domestic surveillance through testing, it was an incomplete strategy.
“They needed and still need to be searching for where the cases are, instead of trusting that limited travel bans were keeping out a virus that was probably already on the march,” said former FDA Commissioner David Kessler.
That wasn’t how the president viewed it.
“China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus,” Trump tweeted on Jan. 24. “The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American People, I want to thank President Xi!”
But once the CDC finally began its national testing regime, it faltered in almost every way imaginable.
The initial tests didn’t work, and officials are probing whether there was possible contamination. The protocol for who could be tested was restricted to people already known to have been exposed to the virus or who had been in China, even as the epidemic raced to multiple countries like Japan, South Korea, Italy and Iran.
Decisions about testing are usually made by scientists, but Democrats have accused the White House of putting politics above expertise — and lacking a coherent response.
“We are staring down a potential pandemic,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said recently. “We have a crisis of coronavirus, and President Trump has no plan, no urgency, no understanding of the facts or how to coordinate a response.”
The failures weren’t by any means the CDC’s alone. The FDA did not immediately trigger a regulatory workaround enabling qualified medical centers to roll out tests that they had designed themselves — tests that are now starting to become more widely available.
And the mistakes were not just in testing.
Trump repeatedly boasted of airport screening and travel restrictions — which Azar and other administration leaders touted as aggressive and historic in their scope — but experts told POLITICO that those measures that were far too little, too late, and too focused on China.
“I closed them down very early, against the advice of almost everybody, and we’ve been given rave reviews,” Trump proclaimed to a Fox News audience at a televised town hall this week.
But after the virus started spreading and cases popped up outside China, the U.S. policy did not immediately change.
Other failures appear to have been related to a lack of preparation within agencies that spanned administrations but certainly continued through the first three years of Trump’s tenure.
Masks and gowns were in short supply despite years of talk about bulking up federal emergency stockpiles — without Congress appropriating enough money. A whistleblower has alleged HHS staff were inadequately protected when greeting U.S. evacuees returning from Wuhan, China. The CDC has had trouble wrangling passenger information from airlines to contact people who may have been exposed on flights, administration officials said. And health officials are trying to figure out how to handle a second “floating petri dish” in the Pacific, another cruise ship contagion with elderly passengers at high risk. With some passengers already sick, test kits were delivered by helicopter.
James Lawler, a global-health expert at the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Global Center for Health Security, where some coronavirus evacuees are being treated and the possible course of the epidemic is being modeled, said the government’s failures have been so extensive that when asked what went out more about the cookies we use. wrong, he parried, “What went right?”
Airport passenger screening has gotten less scrutiny than testing, but it appears to be lagging, too. Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf told House lawmakers that Customs and Border Protection and medical staff had screened more than 50,000 passengers on flights from China and Iran who were funneled through 11 airports. But the screening, which involved measures such as testing people for elevated body temperatures, may have detected only one in three infected travelers arriving from overseas, Harvard School of Public Health communicable disease expert Marc Lipsitch told a news briefing this week.
“I think you could have certainly hundreds, if not more, cases around the United States by this point,” he said.
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/06/coronavirus-testing-failure-123166
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Who'd have ever equated voting in America with survival? But that's pretty much what it has boiled down to, hasn't it? Survival of ourselves, survival of our democracy, survival of our nation, and survival of our planet. The irony is that Republicans have always tried to paint Democrats as an existential threat...but in doing so it is actually they who have become exactly that.
Democrat voters need an even greater turnout in '22 and '24, put the final fork in Trumpism! Republicans want to engage in Jim Crow voter suppression laws, voter intimidation, and egregious gerrymandering? Republicans want to engage in corruption, gaslight their corruption, coverup their corruption? Republicans want to turn a blind eye to Russian election interference and knowingly disseminate Russian propaganda for Putin? Republicans want to instigate and sanction Reich-wing domestic terrorist insurrection? Republicans want to live in delusion and denial about the major problems confronting the nation and planet? Let's just prove that's fuel for the fire, and make their fascist antidemocratic corruption backfire on them!
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over four decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, nihilistic, hyper-partisan fascist cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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Trump Has Sabotaged America’s Coronavirus Response
by Laura Garrett
In 2018, the Trump administration fired the government’s entire pandemic response chain of command, including the White House management infrastructure. In numerous phone calls and emails with key agencies across the U.S. government, the only consistent response I encountered was distressed confusion.
....
White House efforts included reducing $15 billion in national health spending and cutting the global disease-fighting operational budgets of the CDC, NSC, DHS, and HHS. And the government’s $30 million Complex Crises Fund was eliminated.
In May 2018, Trump ordered the NSC’s entire global health security unit shut down, calling for reassignment of Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer and dissolution of his team inside the agency. The month before, then-White House National Security Advisor John Bolton pressured Ziemer’s DHS counterpart, Tom Bossert, to resign along with his team. Neither the NSC nor DHS epidemic teams have been replaced. The global health section of the CDC was so drastically cut in 2018 that much of its staff was laid off and the number of countries it was working in was reduced from 49 to merely 10. Meanwhile, throughout 2018, the U.S. Agency for International Development and its director, Mark Green, came repeatedly under fire from both the White House and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. And though Congress has so far managed to block Trump administration plans to cut the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps by 40 percent, the disease-fighting cadres have steadily eroded as retiring officers go unreplaced.
Public health advocates have been ringing alarm bells to no avail.
Ronald Klain, who directed U.S. efforts on Ebola, has been warning for two years that the United States was in grave danger should a pandemic emerge. In 2017 and 2018, the philanthropist billionaire Bill Gates met repeatedly with Bolton and his predecessor, H.R. McMaster, warning that ongoing cuts to the global health disease infrastructure would render the United States vulnerable to, as he put it, the “significant probability of a large and lethal modern-day pandemic occurring in our lifetimes.” And an independent, bipartisan panel formed by the Center for Strategic and International Studies concluded that lack of preparedness was so acute in the Trump administration that the “United States must either pay now and gain protection and security or wait for the next epidemic and pay a much greater price in human and economic costs.”
https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/31/coronavirus-china-trump-united-states-public-health-emergency-response/
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TRUM_PLANNED_EMIC!
Given plenty of advance warnings about COVID-19, Toxic Trump chose not to heed the sound advice provided. We could have been Taiwan, with a comparative 100 deaths in the U.S.; or South Korea, with a comparative 1500 deaths here, after adjusted for population size. Taiwan had just seven deaths; South Korea less than 300. We got over 150,000 deaths already, with the count still rapidly rising, while we remain, still, firmly mired in the first wave of the disease. Even worse, after six months, we STILL lack the adequate testing and rational national response to contain the disease.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over four decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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Worst-Case Estimates for U.S. Coronavirus Deaths
Sheri Fink - The New York Times - Saturday, March 14, 2020
Officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and epidemic experts from universities around the world conferred last month about what might happen if the new coronavirus gained a foothold in the United States. How many people might die? How many would be infected and need hospitalization?
One of the agency’s top disease modelers, Matthew Biggerstaff, presented the group on the phone call with four possible scenarios — A, B, C and D — based on characteristics of the virus, including estimates of how transmissible it is and the severity of the illness it can cause. The assumptions, reviewed by The New York Times, were shared with about 50 expert teams to model how the virus could tear through the population — and what might stop it.
The C.D.C.’s scenarios were depicted in terms of percentages of the population. Translated into absolute numbers by independent experts using simple models of how viruses spread, the worst-case figures would be staggering if no actions were taken to slow transmission.
Between 160 million and 214 million people in the United States could be infected over the course of the epidemic, according to one projection. That could last months or even over a year, with infections concentrated in shorter periods, staggered across time in different communities, experts said. As many as 200,000 to 1.7 million people could die.
And, the calculations based on the C.D.C.’s scenarios suggested, 2.4 million to 21 million people in the United States could require hospitalization, potentially crushing the nation’s medical system, which has only about 925,000 staffed hospital beds. Fewer than a tenth of those are for people who are critically ill.
The assumptions fueling those scenarios are mitigated by the fact that cities, states, businesses and individuals are beginning to take steps to slow transmission, even if some are acting less aggressively than others. The C.D.C.-led effort is developing more sophisticated models showing how interventions might decrease the worst-case numbers, though their projections have not been made public.
“When people change their behavior," said Lauren Gardner, an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering who models epidemics, “those model parameters are no longer applicable,” so short-term forecasts are likely to be more accurate. “There is a lot of room for improvement if we act appropriately.”
Those actions include testing for the virus, tracing contacts, and reducing human interactions by stopping mass gatherings, working from home and curbing travel. In just the last two days, multiple schools and colleges closed, sports events were halted or delayed, Broadway theaters went dark, companies barred employees from going to the office and more people said they were following hygiene recommendations.
(more...)
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Chris Cuomo could sometime be a bit much, but he generally played it straight and was personable. He screwed up by helping his brother and then lying to his bosses about the extent of that involvement. Unclear if this new allegation of sexual impropriety was the same ABC producer who had earlier made an allegation, whether it involved the same incident and just provided proof, or if it involved another women and a separate allegation. When NY AG James released records of her investigation into allegations of sexual improprieties by Gov. Cuomo this week, it detailed the involvement of Chris, revealing it to be more than he had admitted. Thus, the timeline provided here by CNN makes sense, and the actions they have taken appear appropriate. From Chris Cuomo's statement, it appears he knows and accepts that.
Don't think Chris was wrong for supporting his brother, but do think he was wrong in how he supported his brother; by casting aspersions against the women and doubt upon their allegations. And I do think Chris violated CNN rules and journalistic ethics. Further allegation or proof of a past allegation of sexual impropriety by Chris himself were probably either the last straw or additional confirmation that CNN was making the correct call to terminate him.
I also think that the scandal with Chris was damaging CNN's credibility, and would have continued to damage it had they not fired him. However, I can't understand why CNN rehired Jeffery Toobin, whose own scandal damaged CNN's credibility, and continues to do so. There are better legal analysts than Toobin, anyway.
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"Peace is not a very big thing to ask for, is it?" ~ Fatima Gailani, Afghan activist and negotiator, pleading for continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan
It is when asking the Taliban, who do not seek peace or to bargain in good faith, but total domination once again. U.S. has spent 20 years and $2 trillion trying to achieve peace in Afghanistan, losing over 4000 American lives (military and civilian contractors), with tens of thousands of Americans wounded there.
"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials … have given Afghans little reason to support their government," Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the commander of U.S. forces in the country, wrote in a 2009 memorandum. "This crisis of confidence, coupled with a distinct lack of economic and educational opportunity, has created fertile ground for the insurgency."
That was 11 years ago, and little has changed since. Thought the invasion of Afghanistan by Bush was a mistake that would lead to a quagmire, and have been proven correct. Still, initially supported efforts to bring peace and stability there, along with basic human and civil-rights, because after invading felt we had an obligation to rebuild. However, while U.S. blunders there have contributed to a failure, Afghans are their own worst enemy, and no one can help them until enough of them are willing to help themselves.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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"Peace is not a very big thing to ask for, is it?" ~ Fatima Gailani, Afghan activist and negotiator, pleading for continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan
It is when asking the Taliban, who do not seek peace or to bargain in good faith, but total domination once again. U.S. has spent 20 years and over $2 trillion trying to achieve peace in Afghanistan, losing over 4000 American lives (military and civilian contractors), with tens of thousands of Americans wounded there.
"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials … have given Afghans little reason to support their government," Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the commander of U.S. forces in the country, wrote in a 2009 memorandum. "This crisis of confidence, coupled with a distinct lack of economic and educational opportunity, has created fertile ground for the insurgency."
That was 11 years ago, and little has changed since. Thought the invasion of Afghanistan by Bush was a mistake that would lead to a quagmire, and have been proven correct. Still, initially supported efforts to bring peace and stability there, along with basic human and civil-rights, because after invading felt we had an obligation to rebuild. However, while U.S. blunders there have contributed to a failure, Afghans are their own worst enemy, and no one can help them until enough of them are willing to help themselves.
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GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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GOP cult: “Democracy is great…only so long as we can subvert it with lies, cheating, a multitude of Jim Crow voter suppression laws, egregious gerrymandering, obstruction, coups, election interference, sedition, and terrorism to gain power and maintain our corrupt, plutocratic, minority fascist rule!”
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Republican cult morons rail against the very "elite" they keep voting for, who give tax cuts to the rich and have created the greatest income inequality and wealth disparity in American history.
Why? They are driven by the divisive fear and bigotry programmed into them 24/7 by the Reich-wing media and propaganda owned or funded by the plutocracy. It's absolutely Orwellian, and it began around 1984 in America. What is witnessed now is just the rotten results from the poisoned tree bearing fruition. It's the disease killing America that existed long before COVID-19, and which is likely to persist long after.
Republican cult going to believe what the Republican cult wants to believe, whatever the truth, whatever proof, whatever anybody says. "Healing" the country means deprogramming the 30-40% of American electorate deep in cultdom. That needs to be recognized, acknowledged, and acted upon if we truly wish to revive the patient, America, and restore it to glory.
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What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil. They are either actively or silently complicit in fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorist violence, Reich-wing insurrection, and Reich-wing undermining of our democracy and Constitution.
It's crystal clear that Trump, Boebert, Greene, Gosar and other Republicans like them are fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorism. The GOP has become radicalized to such an extent that it has essentially become a fascist terrorist organization, with members that fantasize and promote violence against their fellow Americans. While those Republican elected officials must be condemned and sanctioned, they are only a symptom of the disease poisoning a third of America, the most visible part of the cancer infecting our nation.
The GOP has been mainstreaming radicalization of their voter base for decades, ALLOWING Reich-wing media and Reich-wing demagogues to take over the party, to the point it has become a fascist, nihilistic cult. Because just as now, Republican politicians and their plutocratic masters have always seen it as the ends justifying whatever means to win power. Remember the Republican Tea Party? This catastrophe with the GOP didn't start with Trump, who just exploited what Republicans had already built.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle for graft and to grift their voters and us taxpayers. You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Republican cult are corrupt LYING hypocrites. Dirty, disgusting, deplorable, despicable, deranged, disgraceful, demented, dishonorable, depraved, disingenuous, devious, diabolical, duplicitous...and that's just a partial tabulation of the 'D' words describing the GOP; the complete listing of their nasty traits is far too many to enumerate.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance.
In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump left office, one out of every 800 Americans had died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 410,000 fatalities, as many American casualties as all of WWII. It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Republican cult placing greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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~ Bad Vibration, Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Dispensation of exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Sick fascination, no reservation
Brutalization, victimization
Race relation identification
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Constant conflation and truth negation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cessation media manipulation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cooperation, collaboration
Restoration results in elation
Every generation, jubilation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
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@northmuond ~ Rittenhouse was underage, traveled from out-of-state to break the curfew that had been imposed, and unlawfully carrying an assault rifle. He went looking for trouble.
And if you say, "what right did the rioters have to be there," then why are all the Reich-wing morons trying to make Ashleigh Babbitt a martyr, calling for the police officer who shot her to be charged with murder? Over 140 police were seriously injured when they were brutally attacked on January 6 by rioters chanting "Hang Mike Pence" and "Kill Nancy Pelosi"...yet only one person was shot, and that was to protect high elected officials from imminent harm as domestic terrorists were breaking and entering into the House Chamber. The police were there at the Nation's Capitol acting in their lawful capacity.
In contrast, Rittenhouse was not seriously injured, was not in Kenosha acting in any lawful capacity, was not a highly trained law enforcement officer, but he ended up shooting three people. After Rittenhouse shot his first victim, he did not seek to help the victim with medical aid, did not call 911 as he was asked to do; instead he fled the scene of the crime as an active shooter, calling a friend to tell them he had just shot someone. As I said, in my book, taken altogether, it doesn't add up to self-defense. Rittenhouse was a trigger-happy kid fancying himself to be a hero who lacked the maturity to make sound judgments----which is exactly why there are laws disallowing minors from carrying assault weapons around in public.
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@northmuond ~ Rittenhouse didn't travel across state lines with the gun; he picked up at his father's house in Wisconsin where it was stored. His father was away and said he had inadvertently left the gun safe unlocked, which was how he was able to access it. His house in Illinois was about 30 miles from Kenosha. The point was that he went out of state looking for trouble. Another separate point was that it was illegal in both Illinois and Wisconsin for him to be walking around carrying an assault rifle, regardless of crossing any state line.
And if he hadn't gone looking for trouble, Rittenhouse would still be alive and not be facing multiple homicide and criminal charges. Something which completely negates your argument on that point, because any reasonable person would choose to avoid the hassle, expense, disruption, notoriety, stress, anxiety, arrest, trial, and risk of possible prison time.
Rittenhouse was committing a crime because he was a minor in illegal possession of a deadly assault rifle, so a defense that he was there to protect property and uphold the law is laughable. If a bank robber shoots a security guard trying to stop him in commission of a crime, he doesn't get to claim self defense.
To my view, if Rittenhouse isn't convicted, it would be a travesty of justice. I don't think Rittenhouse is necessarily a bad person, but he was young, insecure, and stupid, and he made some very poor decisions because of that, resulting in him killing two people and seriously injuring another. There's good reasons why the state doesn't allow minors to go parading around with assault rifles.
Nor am I close-minded about this case, either. I've stated my reasons for thinking the way I do and, so far, neither you or anyone else has offered a convincing case why I should think otherwise. And that isn't confined to just comments or replies on social media, but includes differing perspectives obtained from a variety of sources. To me, consideration extends beyond just Rittenhouse and justice for his victims, to the ramifications that would result from not finding him guilty. For me, it isn't about the Second Amendment, or being for or against BLM and racial justice, or political affiliation. It's about what kind of society we wish to live in.
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@northmuond ~ Not looking for trouble? That's a joke! Here is what Kyle is recorded saying shortly before that fateful night:
In a published 29-second video clip taken days before the fatal shootings last August Rittenhouse can be heard saying he wished he could shoot people, whom he believed to be looters, fleeing a nearby CVS store. “Bro, I wish I had my [expletive] AR, I’d start shooting rounds at them,” Rittenhouse is heard saying.
But even if that evidence right from the horse's mouth is ignored, the fact is that Rittenhouse responded to an armed militia group's online call for armed vigilantes to go to Kenosha, in what he CLEARLY KNEW was a very volatile situation there. Rittenhouse choosing to illegally arm himself with a deadly assault rifle is further proof that he CLEARLY KNEW the situation was very volatile. If that's not looking for trouble, then your understanding of the phrase is tortuously skewed. If my son had done something similar as a minor, even if he didn't shoot anyone, I would ask him in no uncertain terms why he went looking for trouble and what the hell was he thinking.
Witnesses said that it was not Rittenhouse who put out the dumpster fire, but another one of the armed militia men. Other witnesses said that at one point they saw Rittenhouse with a fire extinguisher walking down the sidewalk, but not using it on the trash barrel fires he was passing by. Witnesses also said that it was not Rosenbaum that started the dumpster fire, but a protestor.
You repeatedly try to demonize the victim Rosenbaum by bringing up his criminal record, which is irrelevant. That Rosenbaum was just released from a psychiatric hospital could possibly be relevant, though. However, one of the armed militia men who was there at the gas station testified in court that he didn't see Rosenbaum as any serious threat. You don't try to demonize Rittenhouse for hitting a minor girl earlier in the year, which is also irrelevant. You are either unaware or uncaring of the double standards and bias you apply to this case.
You're using basically the same argument already rebutted about Kyle being there, asking the hypothetical, what if he didn't have a gun? If he wasn't there, three people wouldn't have been shot, and Rittenhouse would be facing a slew of criminal charges and possible prison time, regardless of any "right" he had to be there. Moreover, you choose to conveniently ignore that Rittenhouse didn't have any "right" to be there after curfew and illegally armed with an AR-15.
And, no, it can't automatically be assumed that he would have been beaten half to death, either. The truth is that no one can know for certain what might have happened had he not had a gun. According to witnesses, even before the fracas started with Rosenbaum, a number of protesters were complaining that Rittenhouse and others at the gas station were pointing their weapons at them. According to studies, people are provoked by other people simply carrying loaded weapons around them in public places outside of where they would traditionally be used, e.g., shooting ranges, hunting grounds. So, how much did Rittenhouse having that gun contribute to initiating a confrontation? We'll never know for sure, but it may have well been a significant or at least contributing factor, especially if he was pointing it at people who had not yet posed any personal threat to him.
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@northmuond ~ You're ignoring the fact that after Rittenhouse shot Rosenbaum he fled the scene of the crime. Rittenhouse posed as an EMT, even though he only had training to be a lifeguard, which is much different. But he still had medical supplies on him, and after he shot Rosenbaum, he could have tried to help save the life of the victim he shot. Nobody was chasing Rittenhouse at that point, no one was threatening him. A reporter there did try to help Rosenbaum, and he asked Rittenhouse to call 911. But he fled, instead calling his friend to tell him he just shot someone.
At that point, he was an active shooter fleeing the scene of the crime, and people tried to stop him. The paramedic he later shot in the biceps (who really was an EMT) who was among those trying to stop Rittenhouse could have shot him, but he didn't. People weren't trying to beat him up and lynch him, they were trying to detain and disarm Rittenhouse because he was an armed active shooter.
Instead of fleeing the scene of the crime, Rittenhouse should have claimed self defense, stayed with the victim he first shot, trying to provide medical assistance, and called 911. Soon, the cops and ambulances would have been there. I also have to wonder why Rittenhouse didn't stay with the group of armed militia he was with, why he allowed himself to be separated from them. Rosenbaum couldn't have harmed Rittenhouse if he was with that group, there was safety in numbers.
Thing is, Rittenhouse responded to an online call of a vigilante group to go to Kenosha because of the social unrest there. A minor had no business arming himself with an AR-15 and going there to act as a vigilante, posing as an EMT, trying to play the hero. In view of everything that transpired, what it points to is Rittenhouse's immaturity. Inserting an minor armed with a deadly weapon acting as a vigilante into a very volatile situation is like an accident waiting to happen, a powder keg ready to blow.
Consider that on January 6, when thousands of people attacked the nation's Capitol in an act of domestic terrorism and insurrection, 140 police were seriously injured in the space of just a few hours, and yet not one of those rioting were shot in self defense by the police. Only Ashli Babbitt was shot ONE TIME, but that was done only to protect members of Congress still present in the House chamber that Babbitt was illegally breaking into and trying to enter. Rittenhouse was not seriously injured, yet he fired at least eight rounds, hitting three people, killing two and seriously injuring another, claiming self defense. Do you see the incongruity, do you see the problem here?
Consider also that the paramedic that Rittenhouse shot and injured could have shot Rittenhouse first, but didn't. Why? Because, as he testified, he didn't want to harm Rittenhouse. But what if he had shot first? Wouldn't he have been able to claim self defense? Wouldn't his claim to self defense have been more legitimate? After all, Rittenhouse had just shot someone else trying to stop and detain an active shooter, and was pointing the gun at him. So, in self defense supposed to be a matter of whomever shoots first is the "winner" that escapes accountability and the other person the "loser" who becomes the victim that gets the blame, that get injured or dies? Do you see the incongruity, do you see the problem here?
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@northmuond ~ The video clip was published by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, which is Wisconsin's largest and most reputable newspaper. The newspaper tends to lean slightly to the right. You can hear Kyle's voice on it, and it matches up with events that occurred at the time. I know it doesn't fit the narrative you wish to believe, but it is what it is, and it demonstrates Rittenhouse's state of mind at the time.
Yeah, bad stuff happens everywhere all the time, so let's everyone get out our guns and go march off to act as vigilantes to help the Uighers in China, or Ted Bundy scam the federal government in Utah, or whatever cause celebre that is trending at any given moment. Because that's the kind of justice system we want in America, right? There's very good reasons why we have the police and national guard, and why armed militia groups are outlawed in all 50 states. Looting and burning is bad, but property is replaceable and human life is not. We don't go around shooting shoplifters, do we?
There is no "maybe" about it; Rittenhouse went looking for trouble. It wasn't ten minutes away, it was about 30 miles away, across a state line. Trying to downplay or diminish those things isn't going to convince me. Nor does using the wrongful actions of those looting, burning and vandalizing during social unrest as justification for a minor to wrongfully arm themselves with an assault rifle and travel out of state to act as a vigilante make a convincing argument. Two wrongs don't make a right, as I'm sure you're mother taught you. All it does is create more wrong, and that is precisely what happened.
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers is sending in 500 National Guard troops to Kenosha, because an innocent verdict for Rittenhouse is likely to spark more social unrest. If that happens, do you think Rittenhouse's vigilantism will have helped matters, or just made them worse? Just the fact that the National Guard has to be sent in is not good; a consequence of Rittenhouse's looking for trouble is that he has only brewed up more trouble.
But that is merely one of the ramifications alluded to that could result, none of them good. What happens when those protesting social injustice all start walking around with assault weapons and body armor to protect themselves from the vigilantes? Do we really want to see Civil War playing out in our streets between protesters and self-appointed vigilantes, with innocent victims getting caught in the crossfire? Since January 6, should self-appointed armed vigilantes start showing up to Republican rallies, because they could start looting, vandalizing, defacing, defiling, terrorizing, and trying to kill people like they did at the Capitol? Do you see the incongruity, do you see the problem?
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@northmuond ~ You're not actually responding to many of the points and arguments, you're just looking for new ways to attack. That's intellectually dishonest. Is that how you hope to convince me? If so, you will surely fail. Your use of sarcasm doesn't score you any points, either.
You're also fabricating things and resorting to hyperbole which is, again, intellectually dishonest. I've watched the video numerous times of Rittenhouse running away, and did not hear anyone yelling "Kill him." Someone did yell, "Get him," and
"he shot someone," though. But that's to be expected, because he was an active shooter running away from the scene of the crime. But even if someone had yelled that out, it doesn't mean that those trying to detain and disarm him because he was an active shooter intended to kill him, or that all those present would have allowed that to happen.
Nor was Rittenhouse "continuously struck in the head with a skateboard." WATCH THE VIDEO. After Rittenhouse shot at one person who jumped over him attempting to kick him, Huber then struck him a glancing blow on the back of his SHOULDER with the skateboard ONE TIME. It wasn't a hard blow, and it glanced off, because Rittenhouse had been moving, turning when the first guy tried to kick him. Huber was already moving away from Rittenhouse by the time Rittenhouse turned on the ground and fired the shot that killed him.
And you're just rehashing many of the same arguments you've already made that had already been rebutted. For instance, it was already covered that Rittenhouse was fleeing the scene of another man he shot. It was already covered that he did not offer his victim any medical assistance, nor did he call 911 when asked. It was already covered that Rittenhouse was considered an active shooter.
Rittenhouse shot Rosenbaum four times, and the pathologist testified that the fatal shot in the back came when he was horizontal, already down. What, you think that after getting shot three times from an AR-15 assault rifle, one of the most lethal weapons, lying on the ground, Rosenbaum posed any kind of serious threat to Rittenhouse? That's not self defense, that's murder.
Grosskruetz has not been charged with having an illegal weapon. You want to use that against him, but then you want to use the excuse for Rittenhouse that the judge threw out the charge of him being a minor illegally carrying a deadly assault rifle. In fact, unlike Rittenhouse, Grosskruetz was an adult and an actual certified EMT. He was allowed to carry a weapon. The potential charge against him would have been carrying a concealed weapon, but it obviously wasn't being concealed when he was shot by Rittenhouse. Furthermore, Grosskruetz had his hands up, and only pointed his gun at Rittenhouse after he re-racked his AR-15 and pointed it at him. He could have shot him before putting his hands up or when pointing it at Rittenhouse, but testified that his objective wasn't to hurt Rittenhouse. He did not fire his weapon, but Rittenhouse certainly did.
Rittenhouse crossed state lines with the AR-15 in the trunk of his friend's car when he fled home after shooting three people, which was illegally purchased for him, and which according to state law here is illegal for minors to carry. That provision has traditionally been enforced here. Have never seen minors parading around any town in Wisconsin with firearms. It just isn't a thing. There is an exception for hunting, and minors over the age of 12 often hunt in Wisconsin, with certain restrictions. However, Rittenhouse wasn't hunting in the streets of Kenosha (unless it was humans), where it is illegal within the city limits, and he did not have any out-of-state permit to hunt in Wisconsin, either, which is required under law.
The judge in this case is clearly biased and/or corrupt, and the fix is in, so his ruling that goes against previous cases and court rulings is hardly surprising. They recently had interviewed Wisconsin defense lawyers about this law, and they said that there was no good defense against Rittenhouse's violation of the law:
In Wisconsin, lawful gun owners can generally open carry without a permit. But a person must be 18 or older to carry a “dangerous weapon.” Rittenhouse was 17 at the time of the shootings.
Rittenhouse’s attorneys previously argued he was protected under a vague state law that allows younger children to carry rifles for hunting, but he was charged with underaged unlawful firearms possession anyway. Criminal defense attorneys who specialize in Wisconsin firearm law say it will be hard for the defense to beat that back at trial.
“There are a variety of defenses to this charge; none of them are great or even rise to the level of good,” said Tom Grieve, a Milwaukee-based criminal defense attorney.
If convicted of the misdemeanor gun charge, the maximum penalty is up to nine months in jail or a $10,000 fine.
Wisconsin Statute 948.60 Possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18.
(1) In this section, “dangerous weapon" means any firearm, loaded or unloaded; any electric weapon, as defined in s. 941.295 (1c) (a); metallic knuckles or knuckles of any substance which could be put to the same use with the same or similar effect as metallic knuckles; a nunchaku or any similar weapon consisting of 2 sticks of wood, plastic or metal connected at one end by a length of rope, chain, wire or leather; a cestus or similar material weighted with metal or other substance and worn on the hand; a shuriken or any similar pointed star-like object intended to injure a person when thrown; or a manrikigusari or similar length of chain having weighted ends.
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Got one American dead and more Americans dying from COVID-19, and who knows how many infected because this administration can't get its act together, still can't provide the requisite testing kits to keep the American people safe, still spreading extremely dangerous disinformation, dismissing a very real threat to public health as a "hoax."
But all that's important to Trump and his ilk are getting laughs with vituperative, vindictive partisan demagoguery at their annual gala of gluttony CPAC conference--sticking it to the other side to assuage insecurities, so these losers can claim to be "winning." Pathetic, sickening, shocking, enraging, and highly alarming. BTW, the Presidency shouldn't be a stand-up comedian routine. We got a bad joke played upon us, instead of a real President. Big trouble is, Republicans just don't have what it takes to admit their mistakes--prefer to be yellow weasels bringing the whole nation down.
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The Case Against Donald Trump
The president of the United States poses a threat to our collective existence. The choice voters face is spectacularly obvious.
OCTOBER 22, 2020 — Jeffrey Goldberg, on behalf of the editors of The Atlantic
In 1973, a United States Air Force officer, Major Harold Hering, asked a question that the Air Force did not want asked. Hering, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, was then in training to become a Minuteman-missile crewman. The question he asked one of his instructors was this: “How can I know that an order I receive to launch my missiles came from a sane president?”
The writer Ron Rosenbaum would later call this the “forbidden question.” Missile officers are allowed to ask certain sorts of questions—about the various fail-safe systems built to prevent the accidental launching of nuclear weapons, for instance. But the Air Force would not answer Hering’s question, and it moved to discharge him after determining that officers responsible for launching nuclear weapons did not “need to know” the answer. “I have to say I feel I do have a need to know because I am a human being,” Hering said in response.
Hering’s question was taboo because the national defense strategy of the United States is built on the unstated assumption that the American people will not allow a lunatic to become president. If that assumption is wrong, then no procedural, legal, or technological mechanisms exist that are able to fully protect the human race from such a lunatic. Hering discovered a catastrophic flaw in U.S. nuclear doctrine, and for this he was driven from the Air Force.
In most matters related to the governance and defense of the United States, the president is constrained by competing branches of government and by an intricate web of laws and customs. Only in one crucial area does the president resemble, in the words of the former missile officer and scholar Bruce Blair, an absolute monarch—his control of nuclear weapons. Richard Nixon, who was president when Major Hering asked his question, was reported to have told members of Congress at a White House dinner party, “I could leave this room and in 25 minutes, 70 million people would be dead.” This was an alarming but accurate statement.
When contemplating their ballots, Americans should ask which candidate in a presidential contest is better equipped to guide the United States through a national-security crisis without triggering a nuclear exchange, and which candidate is better equipped to interpret—within five or seven minutes—the ambiguous, complicated, and contradictory signals that could suggest an imminent nuclear attack. These are certainly not questions that large numbers of voters asked themselves in 2016, when a transparently unqualified candidate for president won the support of 63 million Americans.
At the time, Donald Trump had not yet served in public office, so concerns about his ability to protect the United States from harm were hypothetical, though grounded in his long and terrible record as a human being. As The Atlantic stated in its October 2016 endorsement of his opponent, Hillary Clinton, Trump “traffics in conspiracy theories and racist invective; he is appallingly sexist; he is erratic, secretive, and xenophobic; he expresses admiration for authoritarian rulers, and evinces authoritarian tendencies himself … He is an enemy of fact-based discourse; he is ignorant of, and indifferent to, the Constitution; he appears not to read.”
What we have learned since we published that editorial is that we understated our case. Donald Trump is the worst president this country has seen since Andrew Johnson, or perhaps James Buchanan, or perhaps ever. Trump has brought our country low; he has divided our people; he has pitted race against race; he has corrupted our democracy; he has shown contempt for American ideals; he has made cruelty a sacrament; he has provided comfort to propagators of hate; he has abandoned America’s allies; he has aligned himself with dictators; he has encouraged terrorism and mob violence; he has undermined the agencies and departments of government; he has despoiled the environment; he has opposed free speech; he has lied frenetically and evangelized for conspiracism; he has stolen children from their parents; he has made himself an advocate of a hostile foreign power; and he has failed to protect America from a ravaging virus. Trump is not responsible for all of the 220,000 COVID-19-related deaths in America. But through his avarice and ignorance and negligence and titanic incompetence, he has allowed tens of thousands of Americans to suffer and die, many alone, all needlessly. With each passing day, his presidency reaps more death.
But let us lay all of this aside for the moment. Let us even lay aside the extraordinary fact that Donald Trump has been credibly accused of rape. Compelling evidence suggests that his countless sins and defects are rooted in mental instability, pathological narcissism, and profound moral and cognitive impairment. Which returns us to the subject of Major Hering.
Trump’s opponent, Joe Biden, is in many ways a typically imperfect candidate, but if we judge these men on two questions alone—Who is a more trustworthy steward of America’s nuclear arsenal? Which man poses less of a threat to our collective existence?—the answer is spectacularly obvious.
The Atlantic has endorsed only three candidates in its 163-year history: Abraham Lincoln, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Hillary Clinton. The latter two endorsements had more to do with the qualities of Barry Goldwater and Donald Trump than with those of Johnson and Clinton. The same holds true in the case of Joe Biden. Biden is a man of experience, maturity, and obvious humanity, but had the Republican Party put forward a credible candidate for president, we would have felt no compulsion to state a preference. Donald Trump, however, is a clear and continuing danger to the United States, and it does not seem likely that our country would be able to emerge whole from four more years of his misrule. Two men are running for president. One is a terrible man; the other is a decent man. Vote for the decent man.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/10/atlantics-endorsement-against-donald-trump/616815/
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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Rep. Cheney gave a powerful and defiant speech speaking truth to the dysfunctional Republican party to which she belongs, which has abdicated its duty to be LOYAL opposition----except for one thing. Republicans did not end communism in the former USSR or cause its dissolution. A consistent foreign policy by both Democratic and Republican leaders in the Executive Branch and Congress (and our NATO allies, as well) over decades played a role, but it was the work and decisions of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev that were the decisive factor and which deserve most credit. He instituted policies of glasnost and perestroika, changed Soviet law to allow other parties to compete against the Communist Party, motivated because he saw clearly that Russia was dysfunctional, its costly imperialism, political and economic structure moribund and detrimental to Russia's progress. For his courage and actions, for speaking the truth to the Russian people, Gorbachev paid a much higher price politically than is Liz Cheney currently, who is displaying the same kind of courage as he did.
Gorbachev received the Nobel Peace prize in 1990 for all that he did for Russia and ending the Cold War, and it is wrong for Cheney to falsely attribute all credit to her Republican party for the results largely due to his independent decisions, engaging in history revisionism for the benefit of her political party. Isn't that exactly why the GOP----and Liz Cheney----find themselves in their present predicament in the first place? So, it is heavily ironic that Cheney does not extend the same due for his bravery and patriotism in telling the truth to the Russian people that she is exhibiting telling the truth about the 2020 election to the American people. It is also heavily ironic that the credit she is falsely attributing to the Republican party for the USSR becoming more democratic comes at a time when the Republican party is corroding democracy and seeking to make America less democratic.
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Confronted with a conundrum contrary or conflicting, the Republican cult instinct for self-preservation induces a cease of circulation to the cranium, causing confusion, chaos, crisis, corruption, and criminality! Cult for cult, con for con, convolution after convolution, cockamamie concocted crackpot conspiracy after cockamamie concocted crackpot conspiracy, cover-up after cover-up, the GOP is alone, in a league all its own!
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Let's just call January 6 what it actually was -- a Republican smash and grab, an act of violent larceny against democracy and our government, sedition employing domestic terrorism right out in open sight. It was just one of Trump's failed attempts to achieve an autogolpe.
"Without accountability, an attempted autogolpe and insurrection is just practice."
"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ― Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
So, why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. Because our democracy, our institutions, and our very security is seriously endangered. And because rule of law and justice for all really does matter.
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The Case Against Donald Trump
The president of the United States poses a threat to our collective existence. The choice voters face is spectacularly obvious.
OCTOBER 22, 2020 — Jeffrey Goldberg, on behalf of the editors of The Atlantic
In 1973, a United States Air Force officer, Major Harold Hering, asked a question that the Air Force did not want asked. Hering, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, was then in training to become a Minuteman-missile crewman. The question he asked one of his instructors was this: “How can I know that an order I receive to launch my missiles came from a sane president?”
The writer Ron Rosenbaum would later call this the “forbidden question.” Missile officers are allowed to ask certain sorts of questions—about the various fail-safe systems built to prevent the accidental launching of nuclear weapons, for instance. But the Air Force would not answer Hering’s question, and it moved to discharge him after determining that officers responsible for launching nuclear weapons did not “need to know” the answer. “I have to say I feel I do have a need to know because I am a human being,” Hering said in response.
Hering’s question was taboo because the national defense strategy of the United States is built on the unstated assumption that the American people will not allow a lunatic to become president. If that assumption is wrong, then no procedural, legal, or technological mechanisms exist that are able to fully protect the human race from such a lunatic. Hering discovered a catastrophic flaw in U.S. nuclear doctrine, and for this he was driven from the Air Force.
In most matters related to the governance and defense of the United States, the president is constrained by competing branches of government and by an intricate web of laws and customs. Only in one crucial area does the president resemble, in the words of the former missile officer and scholar Bruce Blair, an absolute monarch—his control of nuclear weapons. Richard Nixon, who was president when Major Hering asked his question, was reported to have told members of Congress at a White House dinner party, “I could leave this room and in 25 minutes, 70 million people would be dead.” This was an alarming but accurate statement.
When contemplating their ballots, Americans should ask which candidate in a presidential contest is better equipped to guide the United States through a national-security crisis without triggering a nuclear exchange, and which candidate is better equipped to interpret—within five or seven minutes—the ambiguous, complicated, and contradictory signals that could suggest an imminent nuclear attack. These are certainly not questions that large numbers of voters asked themselves in 2016, when a transparently unqualified candidate for president won the support of 63 million Americans.
At the time, Donald Trump had not yet served in public office, so concerns about his ability to protect the United States from harm were hypothetical, though grounded in his long and terrible record as a human being. As The Atlantic stated in its October 2016 endorsement of his opponent, Hillary Clinton, Trump “traffics in conspiracy theories and racist invective; he is appallingly sexist; he is erratic, secretive, and xenophobic; he expresses admiration for authoritarian rulers, and evinces authoritarian tendencies himself … He is an enemy of fact-based discourse; he is ignorant of, and indifferent to, the Constitution; he appears not to read.”
What we have learned since we published that editorial is that we understated our case. Donald Trump is the worst president this country has seen since Andrew Johnson, or perhaps James Buchanan, or perhaps ever. Trump has brought our country low; he has divided our people; he has pitted race against race; he has corrupted our democracy; he has shown contempt for American ideals; he has made cruelty a sacrament; he has provided comfort to propagators of hate; he has abandoned America’s allies; he has aligned himself with dictators; he has encouraged terrorism and mob violence; he has undermined the agencies and departments of government; he has despoiled the environment; he has opposed free speech; he has lied frenetically and evangelized for conspiracism; he has stolen children from their parents; he has made himself an advocate of a hostile foreign power; and he has failed to protect America from a ravaging virus. Trump is not responsible for all of the 220,000 COVID-19-related deaths in America. But through his avarice and ignorance and negligence and titanic incompetence, he has allowed tens of thousands of Americans to suffer and die, many alone, all needlessly. With each passing day, his presidency reaps more death.
But let us lay all of this aside for the moment. Let us even lay aside the extraordinary fact that Donald Trump has been credibly accused of rape. Compelling evidence suggests that his countless sins and defects are rooted in mental instability, pathological narcissism, and profound moral and cognitive impairment. Which returns us to the subject of Major Hering.
Trump’s opponent, Joe Biden, is in many ways a typically imperfect candidate, but if we judge these men on two questions alone—Who is a more trustworthy steward of America’s nuclear arsenal? Which man poses less of a threat to our collective existence?—the answer is spectacularly obvious.
The Atlantic has endorsed only three candidates in its 163-year history: Abraham Lincoln, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Hillary Clinton. The latter two endorsements had more to do with the qualities of Barry Goldwater and Donald Trump than with those of Johnson and Clinton. The same holds true in the case of Joe Biden. Biden is a man of experience, maturity, and obvious humanity, but had the Republican Party put forward a credible candidate for president, we would have felt no compulsion to state a preference. Donald Trump, however, is a clear and continuing danger to the United States, and it does not seem likely that our country would be able to emerge whole from four more years of his misrule. Two men are running for president. One is a terrible man; the other is a decent man. Vote for the decent man.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/10/atlantics-endorsement-against-donald-trump/616815/
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"real qanon" is the same as saying "real fake." Don't you know anything, Doc? The crooks always want you to look away while the crime in progress, or the evidence being presented! But crooks are stupid, always giving themselves away that way, getting caught! Duh! Just take, for example, that despicable Abel Danger character who was victimizing innocents and got his old ornery self busted the other day, sitting in jail, now! A martyr to supreme stupidity! Another clueless cult classic! No different than Toxic Traitor Trump. See what happens? They never learn, though, do they? Little children playing with matches, and getting burned by the fires they start, but still wanting to throw them lit matches around!
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Gee, didn't you know? Republicans don't care anything about protecting workers, public health, law, justice, or the environment...only about maximizing profits! That's how we got into this pickle in the first place, with a 100,000 Americans dead in just three months; that's why other nations have stopped the spread, but we're STILL in the first wave, losing more than a 1,000 Americans daily, remember?
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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America's enemies don't need to spread disinformation, doubt, discord, and division to weaken America, kill Americans--Republican politicians, Reich-wing demagogues, Faux News, OAN, Newsmax, Breitbart and the rest of the Reich-wing media do that so effectively for them, already. More Americans need to realize that the GOP has abdicated it's duty as loyal opposition, and that its prioritization of party over country and welcoming embrace of violent radical Reich-wing extremists diminishes both our government and our national security, endangering ALL Americans, as well as weakening and endangering America itself.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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There has never been a graceful exit for the losing side in any war.
Truth is, our hasty withdrawal from Vietnam was even worse if you look at the numbers and the whole picture. Only 7,000 were evacuated from Vietnam during the fall of Saigon, with many more left behind, including two dead American soldiers----the last to die in the Vietnam War----left behind in a hospital and not returned until a year later by the Vietnamese. That evacuation occurred under hostile NVA and Vietcong fire. Since August 14, over 120,000 have already been evacuated from Afghanistan despite the complete capitulation of the Afghan government and Afghan Army, with no hostile fire upon American troops by the Taliban so far. Over 125,000 have been evacuated since the end of July. Moreover, the January 27, 1973 peace agreement signed by the Americans with the North Vietnamese ended all direct U.S. military involvement in Vietnam, and provided sixty days for troop removal. Just as with Afghanistan, all troops were removed. However, it was over two years later, on April 30, 1975, when the fall of Saigon occurred. So, the U.S. had nearly two-and-a-half years to evacuate everyone else before the fall of the South Vietnamese government and armed forces, instead of just the two weeks like in Afghanistan so far.
The other thing in stark contrast between Vietnam and Afghanistan is that no Democrats----including Carter, who was running against Ford for President----tried to use the situation for political gain like Republicans are so desperately and depravedly doing now. That, despite the fact that it was the previous Trump administration which bears the brunt of the blame for the current situation.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, along with Reich-wing demagogues and media, who were complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance, and in spreading disinformation and misinformation. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump left office, one out of every 800 Americans had died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 410,000 fatalities, as many American casualties as all of WWII. To put it into further perspective, throughout Trump's catastrophic mishandling of a deadly global pandemic, the U.S. led the world in cases and deaths, suffering nearly 25% of each, despite having only 4.25% of global population, despite having the advantage of being the richest and most advanced nation in the world.
The memorial would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure. Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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Let's just call January 6 what it actually was -- a Republican smash and grab, an act of violent larceny against democracy and our government, sedition employing domestic terrorism right out in open sight. It was just one of Trump's failed attempts to achieve an autogolpe.
"Without accountability, an attempted autogolpe and insurrection is just practice."
"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ― Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
So, why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. Because our democracy, our institutions, and our very security is seriously endangered. And because rule of law and justice for all really does matter.
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Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
Democrats, Independents, others: WTF?!?
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The Case Against Donald Trump
The president of the United States poses a threat to our collective existence. The choice voters face is spectacularly obvious.
OCTOBER 22, 2020 — Jeffrey Goldberg, on behalf of the editors of The Atlantic
In 1973, a United States Air Force officer, Major Harold Hering, asked a question that the Air Force did not want asked. Hering, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, was then in training to become a Minuteman-missile crewman. The question he asked one of his instructors was this: “How can I know that an order I receive to launch my missiles came from a sane president?”
The writer Ron Rosenbaum would later call this the “forbidden question.” Missile officers are allowed to ask certain sorts of questions—about the various fail-safe systems built to prevent the accidental launching of nuclear weapons, for instance. But the Air Force would not answer Hering’s question, and it moved to discharge him after determining that officers responsible for launching nuclear weapons did not “need to know” the answer. “I have to say I feel I do have a need to know because I am a human being,” Hering said in response.
Hering’s question was taboo because the national defense strategy of the United States is built on the unstated assumption that the American people will not allow a lunatic to become president. If that assumption is wrong, then no procedural, legal, or technological mechanisms exist that are able to fully protect the human race from such a lunatic. Hering discovered a catastrophic flaw in U.S. nuclear doctrine, and for this he was driven from the Air Force.
In most matters related to the governance and defense of the United States, the president is constrained by competing branches of government and by an intricate web of laws and customs. Only in one crucial area does the president resemble, in the words of the former missile officer and scholar Bruce Blair, an absolute monarch—his control of nuclear weapons. Richard Nixon, who was president when Major Hering asked his question, was reported to have told members of Congress at a White House dinner party, “I could leave this room and in 25 minutes, 70 million people would be dead.” This was an alarming but accurate statement.
When contemplating their ballots, Americans should ask which candidate in a presidential contest is better equipped to guide the United States through a national-security crisis without triggering a nuclear exchange, and which candidate is better equipped to interpret—within five or seven minutes—the ambiguous, complicated, and contradictory signals that could suggest an imminent nuclear attack. These are certainly not questions that large numbers of voters asked themselves in 2016, when a transparently unqualified candidate for president won the support of 63 million Americans.
At the time, Donald Trump had not yet served in public office, so concerns about his ability to protect the United States from harm were hypothetical, though grounded in his long and terrible record as a human being. As The Atlantic stated in its October 2016 endorsement of his opponent, Hillary Clinton, Trump “traffics in conspiracy theories and racist invective; he is appallingly sexist; he is erratic, secretive, and xenophobic; he expresses admiration for authoritarian rulers, and evinces authoritarian tendencies himself … He is an enemy of fact-based discourse; he is ignorant of, and indifferent to, the Constitution; he appears not to read.”
What we have learned since we published that editorial is that we understated our case. Donald Trump is the worst president this country has seen since Andrew Johnson, or perhaps James Buchanan, or perhaps ever. Trump has brought our country low; he has divided our people; he has pitted race against race; he has corrupted our democracy; he has shown contempt for American ideals; he has made cruelty a sacrament; he has provided comfort to propagators of hate; he has abandoned America’s allies; he has aligned himself with dictators; he has encouraged terrorism and mob violence; he has undermined the agencies and departments of government; he has despoiled the environment; he has opposed free speech; he has lied frenetically and evangelized for conspiracism; he has stolen children from their parents; he has made himself an advocate of a hostile foreign power; and he has failed to protect America from a ravaging virus. Trump is not responsible for all of the 220,000 COVID-19-related deaths in America. But through his avarice and ignorance and negligence and titanic incompetence, he has allowed tens of thousands of Americans to suffer and die, many alone, all needlessly. With each passing day, his presidency reaps more death.
But let us lay all of this aside for the moment. Let us even lay aside the extraordinary fact that Donald Trump has been credibly accused of rape. Compelling evidence suggests that his countless sins and defects are rooted in mental instability, pathological narcissism, and profound moral and cognitive impairment. Which returns us to the subject of Major Hering.
Trump’s opponent, Joe Biden, is in many ways a typically imperfect candidate, but if we judge these men on two questions alone—Who is a more trustworthy steward of America’s nuclear arsenal? Which man poses less of a threat to our collective existence?—the answer is spectacularly obvious.
The Atlantic has endorsed only three candidates in its 163-year history: Abraham Lincoln, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Hillary Clinton. The latter two endorsements had more to do with the qualities of Barry Goldwater and Donald Trump than with those of Johnson and Clinton. The same holds true in the case of Joe Biden. Biden is a man of experience, maturity, and obvious humanity, but had the Republican Party put forward a credible candidate for president, we would have felt no compulsion to state a preference. Donald Trump, however, is a clear and continuing danger to the United States, and it does not seem likely that our country would be able to emerge whole from four more years of his misrule. Two men are running for president. One is a terrible man; the other is a decent man. Vote for the decent man.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/10/atlantics-endorsement-against-donald-trump/616815/
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or "the Wall") is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle's name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called "leaders" in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 -- than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to--and a barrier against--our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It's design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge--and help teach--people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see...if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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"Peace is not a very big thing to ask for, is it?" ~ Fatima Gailani, Afghan activist and negotiator, pleading for continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan
It is when asking the Taliban, who do not seek peace or to bargain in good faith, but total domination once again. U.S. has spent 20 years and $2 trillion trying to achieve peace in Afghanistan, losing over 4000 American lives (military and civilian contractors), with tens of thousands of Americans wounded there.
"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials … have given Afghans little reason to support their government," Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the commander of U.S. forces in the country, wrote in a 2009 memorandum. "This crisis of confidence, coupled with a distinct lack of economic and educational opportunity, has created fertile ground for the insurgency."
That was 11 years ago, and little has changed since. Thought the invasion of Afghanistan by Bush was a mistake that would lead to a quagmire, and have been proven correct. Still, initially supported efforts to bring peace and stability there, along with basic human and civil-rights, because after invading felt we had an obligation to rebuild. However, while U.S. blunders there have contributed to a failure, Afghans are their own worst enemy, and no one can help them until enough of them are willing to help themselves.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over four decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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@colingallagher1443 ~ You're dishonestly trying to erect a bogus strawman argument, Doc! The nationality, ethnicity, or race of the nanny is totally irrelevant. You are also apparently either naive or being deliberately obtuse about the problem with medical "experts" for hire in U.S. court cases. It is the job of the defense to create doubt and, unfortunately, too often unscrupulous "experts" are paid for testimony that distorts the truth and/or is based upon dubious or junk science. In this case, the evidence contradicts the defense "experts" whose "opinions" run contrary to the wide consensus among the vast majority of medical experts on shaken baby syndrome.
The other problem here is that the coroner was unduly influenced, and if there are conflicting views, then both sides should have their day in court to be heard and their testimony evaluated, so that truth and justice is not circumvented. The fact that this baby and her grieving parents were denied that opportunity is a travesty. Conversely, it's also at least somewhat possible that a trial could have cleared the defendant of any wrongdoing.
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@colingallagher1443 ~ Basically, you can't really refute my points and arguments, so you instead chose to ignore them and go off on another tangent. Plenty of cases where people are convicted upon circumstantial evidence with no eyewitness testimony or video. In this case, the circumstantial evidence is quite strong. The "standard" is to hold people accountable for egregious crimes, even if it occasionally happens the guilty are able to escape justice.
I'm sorry that you can't be objective about this case, feel the need to engage in the logical fallacy of ad hominem, slandering Gupta and CNN. Sure, there is two sides to this -- paid liars for defense lawyers and the vast majority of medical experts with integrity who actually care about science, infants and shaken baby syndrome. It's just a shame your lack of objectivity leads you to believing the paid liars. You're no different than the climate change deniers, and perhaps you even are one of those, too.
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@colingallagher1443 ~ Mostly all you got is dishonest ad hominem, Doc! If you think that makes a convincing argument, then you're really not thinking. Also, in case you "think" it hasn't been noticed, you've been trying to dishonestly reframe this to be about guilt or innocence, when my comment is actually only addressing the problem of quacks and grifters using their credentials to testify at trials where they promote junk science, and a disturbing lack of accountability thereof. You have chosen to ignore and sidestep that with a sleazy shuffle move because you can't defend junk science and have no cogent or coherent response to offer in rebuttal.
District Attorney Marian Ryan announced the move to drop charges against Brady only after a medical examiner reversed an earlier decision that Rehma Sabir's death was a homicide. "Based on an assessment of the present state of the evidence, including the amended ruling from the Medical Examiner who performed the autopsy, the Commonwealth cannot meet its burden of proof," Mr. Ryan said in a statement. I can find no evidence to support your claim about the "prosecution's own expert witnesses had sustained a thoracic spine compression fractures three to four weeks prior to her death." Your story doesn't add up for a number of reasons, the primarily reason being thoracic spine compression fractures would not account for the injuries to Rehma, are not life-threatening, nor would they account for her death. So, quite obviously, that couldn't have been the real reason for the DA dropping charges. Can you substantiate your dubious claim? Because I don't find it credible, at all. It sounds like you either fabricated it or are misrepresenting the facts.
Here is the cold, hard facts about this case:
Behind Rehma’s changing table, detectives found a piece of drywall missing. A police report described it as “consistent with being damaged by forceful contact with the corner” of the table.
The damage was not there before they left for work, Sameer and Nada told authorities.
Next to the changing table, police found human blood on six baby wipes discarded in a diaper pail. More blood was found on a baby wipe in a kitchen garbage can, on a pillowcase and blanket in Rehma’s crib and on the onesie Rehma was wearing. DNA testing confirmed it was Rehma’s, according to the prosecution.
None of the family had seen blood on Rehma or knew of any injury that would explain the discovery.
An upstairs neighbor told police she had heard Rehma screaming and crying around the time Nada left for work. At 9:30 a.m., the neighbor said the crying became so “extreme” that she came downstairs and began knocking on the front door. She told police she could hear the baby “often gasping for its breath between cries.”
The neighbor told police she then began “pounding” on the door, timing her knocks between cries. No one responded. The crying continued while the neighbor, who worked from home, went back upstairs to prepare for a 10 a.m. conference call.
By the time her 20-minute call was over, she said, the crying had stopped.
McCarthy “admitted she had sole care and custody of Rehma” all day; she also denied any “accidental or other trauma to Rehma” and had no explanations for her injuries.
At the hospital, Newton and her team of specialists were hard at work on their differential diagnosis. That’s a term doctors use to explain how they review and eliminate conditions that might cause the symptoms they see.
In cases of suspected child abuse, the list of possibilities is long and includes a host of metabolic diseases, genetic syndromes, tumors, clotting disorders, infections and vitamin deficiencies.
Potential causes are carefully crosschecked with a child’s medical record and a thorough interview of the family. If needed, appropriate tests are run.
“This baby did not have a bleeding disorder,” said Yogman, Rehma’s pediatrician, whose office ordered the tests. “She had some of the problems that we see every day in the first year of life — feeding issues, some reflux — but by and large she was a healthy little girl.”
Newton and her team decided there was only one credible explanation for Rehma’s condition:
“Rehma’s head injuries were consistent with a violent shaking as well as impact to her head either by directly striking the head or causing the head to strike another object or surface,” Newton would later conclude in her official ruling. “There is no other explanation.”
The abuse had to have occurred that day, Newton maintained, because immediately after the injury, Rehma would not have appeared normal.
“Rehma would not have been able to track people with her eyes, sit on her own, play with toys, hold a bottle, drink from a bottle, or eat and chew food,” Newton concluded.
A few months later, Boston medical examiner Dr. Katherine Lindstrom released the autopsy report. She found blunt force injuries behind Rehma’s right ear, on her back and right buttock, and healing fractures in Rehma’s left arm, leg and upper back.
She also found typical signs of abusive head trauma: detached retinas and widespread bleeding in both eyes; blood in the subdural layer of the brain, which is the tissue between the brain and skull; and swelling in Rehma’s brain and spine.
She concluded Rehma’s death was caused by complications of blunt force trauma to the head. It was, she said, a homicide.
Child abuse pediatrician Newton wasn’t surprised by the findings.
“Rehma did have quite a terrible bruise, which I think was related to being thrown down on the side of her head and her ear,” Newton told Gupta as she pointed to Rehma’s CT scan.
“It is my opinion that Rehma was subjected to violent force,” Newton said. “I believe she was shaken and slammed.”
Aisling McCarthy Brady, Rhema's nanny, came to U.S. in 2002 on a 90-day work visa and never left, working as a nanny for a decade before Rhema's death. While Brady was in the country illegally, she had multiple restraining orders taken out against her between 2005-2012. She was the subject of two restraining orders over harassment and was arrested over a bar brawl. Those who knew Brady, originally from County Cavan in Ireland, have described her as aggressive and violent. Neighbor Thomas Collins told the Boston Herald than when he heard that the woman worked as a nanny, it even crossed his mind to tell her employers about her past.
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@colingallagher1443 ~ So, you refuse to provide a source for your dubious claim, indicating you either deliberately fabricated it or are misrepresenting the facts.
The DA had no choice after the coroner was unduly influenced by the quacks for the defense pushing junk science. I don't fault the DA. I do fault the coroner, who made the correct finding, let it stand for three years, and then only changed it suddenly right before the trial after being unduly influenced. It was terrible travesty of justice, but hardly surprising she didn't lose her job over it. That's just not the way things usually work in that profession.
Shaken baby syndrome — also known as abusive head trauma, shaken impact syndrome, inflicted head injury or whiplash shake syndrome. ~ Mayo Clinic
Rhema was diagnosed with AHT -- abusive head trauma. As previously noted by the attending physician who had examined and treated Rhema, her diagnosis was that Rhema was shaken and slammed.
There was no trial, remember? That's the issue that you keep wanting to neglect, forget, and deflect from. Nor are we sitting on the jury. Which means we are free to use evidence about Brady's temperamental character and past in forming our own conclusions about what really happened. Unlike in a court of law, in the court of public opinion all evidence for and against may be considered in determining the truth. And, unlike you, I am considering ALL the evidence, whereas you are choosing to ignore the vast wealth of evidence indicating Brady's guilt.
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Unlike many others here, I don't blame Sen. Peters for the omission of the word "insurrection." I'm quite sure that it wasn't the preference of Peters and Democrats on the committee to not use the word, but rather was done at the insistence of Republicans. They----and they alone----are to blame. Peters and the rest of the Democrats rightly decided that getting out a timely report with bipartisan support on the security and intelligence failures, as well as recommendations to secure the Capitol, were more important than inclusion of the word. I am just as disappointed and disgusted about not describing the events of January 6 as an insurrection as everyone else, would agree that there is some danger in not doing so, but it was imperative to get to the bottom of this aspect of January 6, and we needed those recommendations to secure the Capitol. It was a choice of two evils, and I think Peters and the Democrats made the correct decision to get this vitally needed report produced and released. I salute Keilar for her tough questioning, and while I understand Peters is running a critically important committee that requires bipartisanship to function well and is being diplomatic to foster as much cooperation with Republicans as possible, I still wish he had been more forthright about exactly why the word insurrection wasn't used to describe the insurrection, placing blame where deservedly due.
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation—only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regurgitation
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump’s COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration…
Now reaching vacation destination!
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GOP cult is NOT the party of law and order, NOT the party of the Constitution and patriots, NOT the party of "values," NOT the party of fiscal responsibility, NOT the party of clean government, NOT the party of freedom. It's the party of terrorism, lawlessness, corruption, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry, misogyny, Big Lies, socialized taxpayer payouts for plutocrats, sedition, traitors, and tyranny.
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GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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GOP, formerly Greed Over People, has been downgraded to the the QOP: Qanon Operating Platform
Q = Putin
Qanon = Republican cult suckers and Congressional GOP traitors destroying America
GOP is the party of lies, the party of conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of corruption, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their deal with the Devil.
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RECORD-SMASHING JOURNEY!!!
Republican hypocrisy reaches new heights--unseen heretofore, now traveling at Mach 666 as it disappears into a whole other dimension, the unrelenting gravitational pull inevitably sucking the very life from the Republican Party into its vortex, while poisoning and sickening the nation.
The absolute absurdity of Republican efforts to so-called "investigate the investigators" and "turn the tables" using a phony, debunked pretext -- while ignoring, denying, obfuscating, and attempting their very best to cover-up the culmination of the Mueller investigation (both its legal and security implications), dishonoring their sworn oaths to the Constitution -- launches hypocrisy to heights never before seen in this lifetime, defying belief. WOW!!! Just simply, WOW!!!
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Elmer Fudd's always trying to convince me he just wants unity.
What he really means is that he wants to eat me.
Unity and compromise is a two-way street that only works if both parties operate in good faith. Republicans have a long history of failing to do that--or even try. Recent history since Biden won the election shows no indication of them changing their divisive, destructive words, attitudes, and acts. Tyrant Trump incited a terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol to overthrow an election, endangering his VP and members of Congress, sat by and gleefully reveled in watching it happen for hours, ignoring desperate pleas for help, and only a very few Republican are willing to speak out, impeach him, convict him, and prevent him from holding public office again? That's not loyal opposition; that's a dangerous political cult.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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We got Big Brag Daddy Baghdad Bob broadcasting direct from Washington, D.C. daily, with Toxic Trump and a revolving cast of his sycophantic minions! Happy talk, disinformation, empty promises, idle threats, vicious smears, bogus pandemic models, dog whistles, continuous crackpot conspiracies--they got it all, and more!
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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Republican Rep. Gaetz wore a gas mask in Congress just five days ago, mocking COVID-19 as a hoax! This week, Republicans Sen. Cruz, Rep. Gosar, Rep. Doug Collins, AND Rep. Matt Gaetz all exposed to COVID-19 at CPAC and now are self-quarantining for two weeks. Also, Trump newly-appointed acting Chief of Staff, came into contact with the same individual and is now in isolation! Congressional Republicans and the CPAC organizer then interacted closely afterward with the President, including shaking hands! Rep. Gaetz was at a Mar-a-Lago party with Trump, then flew back to D.C. with Trump on Air Force One, finding out in-flight that he had been exposed, then quarantined on a separate part of the plane! And so, the wheel of karma grinds on, crushing GOP ignorance, to be ever born afresh. Trouble is, they may have infected a whole bunch of other people besides just the President along the way--innocent people. Moreover, Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert was also exposed, but CHOSE to return to work in Congress and NOT self-quarantine!! Toxic Typhoid Trump claims not to have been tested! Claims he feels fine, doesn't need testing despite close exposure! WTF is WRONG with these people?!?
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"Peace is not a very big thing to ask for, is it?" ~ Fatima Gailani, Afghan activist and negotiator, pleading for continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan
It is when asking the Taliban, who do not seek peace or to bargain in good faith, but total domination once again. U.S. has spent 20 years and $2 trillion trying to achieve peace in Afghanistan, losing over 4000 American lives (military and civilian contractors), with tens of thousands of Americans wounded there.
"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials … have given Afghans little reason to support their government," Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the commander of U.S. forces in the country, wrote in a 2009 memorandum. "This crisis of confidence, coupled with a distinct lack of economic and educational opportunity, has created fertile ground for the insurgency."
That was 11 years ago, and little has changed since. Thought the invasion of Afghanistan by Bush was a mistake that would lead to a quagmire, and have been proven correct. Still, initially supported efforts to bring peace and stability there, along with basic human and civil-rights, because after invading felt we had an obligation to rebuild. However, while U.S. blunders there have contributed to a failure, Afghans are their own worst enemy, and no one can help them until enough of them are willing to help themselves.
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Elmer Fudd's always trying to convince me he just wants unity.
What he really means is that he wants to eat me.
When the truth is divisive, then there can be no unity. Unity and compromise is a two-way street that only works if both parties operate in good faith. Republicans have a long history of failing to do that--or even trying. Recent history since Biden won the election shows no indication of them changing their divisive, destructive words, attitudes, obstruction and other acts. Tyrant Trump incited a terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol to overthrow an election, endangering his VP and members of Congress, sat by and gleefully reveled in watching it happen for hours, ignoring desperate pleas for help from Congressional Republicans forced to flee for their lives, and only a very few Republicans were willing to speak out, impeach him, convict him, and prevent him from holding public office again? Republicans wouldn't even agree to a bipartisan January 6 commission formulated upon a plan in which all their demands were met. That's not loyal opposition--that's a dangerous terrorist political cult of fascists.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It’s that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don’t care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn’t want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it’s more than hope—those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another four months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn’t really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
“The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.”
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump’s hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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TRUM_PLANNED_EMIC!
Given plenty of advance warnings about COVID-19, Toxic Trump chose not to heed the sound advice provided. We could have been Taiwan, with a comparative 100 deaths in the U.S.; or South Korea, with a comparative 1500 deaths here, after adjusted for population size. Taiwan had just seven deaths; South Korea less than 300. We got over 160,000 deaths already, with the count still rapidly rising, while we remain, still, firmly mired in the first wave of the disease. Even worse, after six months, we STILL lack the adequate testing and rational national response so desperately needed to contain the disease.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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For five long years, the American people, Lady Justice, and Constitution have all been crying out for accountability, pleading, "Until this moment, Republicans, I think I have never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness. ...You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"
Insane stuff from an insane man, that describes Traitor Trump to a "T." What it constitutes is an attempted coup and an insurrection. So, why hasn't Trump and his accomplices been arrested for those and all his other crimes, yet? Why is Merrick Garland and his DOJ failing to do their duty? If Trump is not prosecuted, it sets a terrible precedent enabling the next wannabe authoritarian President. This is no time for playing nice.
Expect these documents from the National Security Archives to produce even more incriminating evidence of Traitor Trump's autogolpe. Also expect the House Select Committee to pass them on to the DOJ, along with a referral for criminal charges against Trump and his accomplices. Merrick Garland MUST prosecute Trump for his many crimes, or our justice system and democracy will be destroyed.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of plutocrats, the party of corruption, the party of anti-democracy, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their pact with the Devil.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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Asked by reporters about the protestors gathering against pandemic lockdowns, the vast majority not wearing face masks or observing social distancing, Toxic Trump--who tweeted his supporters to "Liberate" three states with Democratic governors critical to his reelection, against his own administrations pandemic edicts and guidance, and in foment of partisan rebellion against state's governors during a Federal National Emergency declared against this pandemic--said, "They seem to be very responsible people to me!"
Trumpette insanity that should have us ALL livid with outrage! Not only are these Republican cult fools putting themselves, their loved ones, and everyone else in danger, they are putting an increased burden upon our already over-stressed health care workers and system, FURTHER endangering them and those they would serve. They put all our other essential front-line workers at increased risk, as well--those we need for our groceries and supplies (including migrant workers), to keep the government, electric, gas and other critical infrastructure functioning. What's really, really stupid about their aberrant, irrational partisan cult behavior, is that they are only PROLONGING restrictive measures to contain COVID-19, EXTENDING the time until our economy can reopen fully, REDUCING the amount our economy can be opened--all of which DESTROYS Trump's reelection chances! But that isn't the worst of it. These Trumpettes ignorantly protesting are KILLING actual Americans, just as surely as they put a gun to their heads and pulled the trigger. Toxic Trump shares responsibility, but it is these GOP idiots who own primary responsibility for manslaughter. They should be charged, tried, and convicted, in our view. At the very, very least, they should all be arrested for public endangerment. Ludicrous and lethal ignorance!
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"Peace is not a very big thing to ask for, is it?" ~ Fatima Gailani, Afghan activist and negotiator, pleading for continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan
It is when asking the Taliban, who do not seek peace or to bargain in good faith, but total domination once again. U.S. has spent 20 years and $2 trillion trying to achieve peace in Afghanistan, losing over 4000 American lives (military and civilian contractors), with tens of thousands of Americans wounded there.
"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials … have given Afghans little reason to support their government," Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the commander of U.S. forces in the country, wrote in a 2009 memorandum. "This crisis of confidence, coupled with a distinct lack of economic and educational opportunity, has created fertile ground for the insurgency."
That was 11 years ago, and little has changed since. Thought the invasion of Afghanistan by Bush was a mistake that would lead to a quagmire, and have been proven correct. Still, initially supported efforts to bring peace and stability there, along with basic human and civil-rights, because after invading felt we had an obligation to rebuild. However, while U.S. blunders there have contributed to a failure, Afghans are their own worst enemy, and no one can help them until enough of them are willing to help themselves.
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We got Big Brag Daddy Baghdad Bob broadcasting direct from Washington, D.C. daily, with Toxic Trump and a revolving cast of his sycophantic minions! Happy talk, disinformation, empty promises, idle threats, vicious smears, bogus pandemic models, dog whistles, continuous crackpot conspiracies--they got it all, and more!
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GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, or QaBomb, they're all part and parcel of the current Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian nationalism religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again." ― Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney
More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, phony culture wars, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They have essentially become a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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“I'm not scared of the Maos and the Stalins and the Hitlers.
I'm scared of the thousands or millions of people that hallucinate them to be "authority", and so do their bidding, and pay for their empires, and carry out their orders.
I don't care if there's one looney with a stupid moustache. He's not a threat if the people do not believe in "authority".” ― Larken Rose
Setting aside the sleazy immoral Reich-wing grifters at the top -- people like Trump, Congressional Republicans, Reich-wing demagogues and media -- the rank-and-file of the GOP has become a fascist, nihilistic cult. To be clear, Trump did not create the cult, it existed before him. He merely served as a unifying figure they chose to rally around and worship as their fool's gold god. Trump appealed to their basest nature and told them what they wanted to hear. Now, those Reich-wing grifters may have cultivated their cult to exploit for their own greed, power and vanity, but at least to some extent the Republican cult in turn seeks to exploit the GOP for their own various misguided purposes. They CHOOSE to be willfully ignorant, to believe or espouse the lies, because as a political calculus they shortsightedly see it as expedient to their ends.
What must also be taken into consideration are the characteristics of a cult. Why do people join a cult? Why do they choose to remain in a cult? No need to go into detail; the answers are largely common knowledge or easily researched. But it should be pointed out that in a complex world, the simplistic and rigid beliefs embraced by cults can be very alluring, no matter how fantastical and removed from reality. It should also be acknowledged that the Republican cult is not a monolithic entity, but an amalgamation of sects, including White supremacists, Christian nationalists, libertarians, sovereign nationals, anarchists, tax resistors, Qanon and other extremist fringe groups. Of course, not every Republican is an extremist, a fascist, or untethered from reality. But this latter more benign group is nevertheless part of the fascist Republican cult, complicit in their support of the whole, whether through their silent acquiescence and votes or willing assistance.
It's a very dangerous feedback loop, a vicious circle, one that as it sinks further into depravity its threat correspondingly rises, for as the Republican cult has over time been becoming increasingly more radicalized, we witness the election of more radical politicians to represent them, more radicalized Reich-wing media and demagogues to feed them propaganda. While some Republicans are leaving the GOP and some others are speaking out and trying to save their party, they constitute a weak minority, unfortunately.
In a normal, sane world, the Republican cult would have ended or been marginalized after the Mueller Report, after Trump's Ukraine shakedown and impeachment, after Trump's horrendous handling of a deadly global pandemic, after his election defeat, or after January 6th and his second impeachment. But that hasn't happened. Instead, the Republican cult continues to become increasingly more radicalized and extreme. As President Biden says, "We are in a battle for the soul of this nation." And that battle is far from over.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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@percy2245 ~ Sure, but most people are investing in cryptocurrencies because of their volatility, looking to make a quick killing. With volatility comes high risk. Besides, stable coins value also fluctuates; they are only as stable as that to which they are tied. And, for example, why buy USDT when one could invest in government bonds? USDT, one the more popular ones, is tied to the U.S. dollar, and run by Tether out of Hong Kong. Personally, I trust the U.S. government more than some start-up financial venture outfit in China. If the dollar value goes down, USDT value goes down correspondingly. But if USDT value goes down, it does not affect the value of the U.S. dollar. The same is true if the stable coin is tied to gold or some other precious metal. So, while stable coins may not be as volatile as cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, it still represents additional risk over the commodity to which it is tied.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance.
In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump left office, one out of every 800 Americans had died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 400,000 fatalities, as many American casualties as WWII. It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It's that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don't care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another five months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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Congressional Republicans are more corrupt than Ukraine! Ukraine (actually ranked #120 out of 180 nations for corruption in 2018) is constantly falsely labeled the #3 most corrupt nation by Republicans in their gaslighting cover-up charade. Yet, Ukraine resisted Trump's extortion scheme, recognizing that digging up dirt on a political rival was clearly corrupt, refusing to go along with Trump's shakedown. They continue to resist Trump's shakedown, which didn't end after discovery.
Conversely, complicit in cover-up of high crimes of most grave nature detrimental to our Constitution, democracy, and national security, Republicans are saying "YES" to corruption in OUR U.S. government--demonstrating and proving their own gross corruption. In fact, Congressional Republicans have been conducting an ongoing effort using Russian propaganda about Ukraine and Biden to further Trump's corrupt efforts to smear his political rival, despite that also furthering Russia's attacks against America. Just how sick are these Republicans? How sick America they have brought us so low?
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Trump refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the election!
Traitor-'n-Thief Toxic Trump: "Get rid of the ballots and we'll have a very peaceful — there won't be a transfer, frankly, there'll be a continuation."
WTF?!? Get rid of the ballots means getting rid of ALL the votes--absentee, mail-in, and in-person ballots! It means a Toxic Trump coup, an illegal seizure of power, a dictator, ignoring citizen's votes, no more democracy!!!
"This is how democracy dies. A president so desperate to cling to power that he won't commit to a peaceful transition of power. That he seeks to throw out millions of votes. And a Republican Party too craven to say a word," Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff
"In case anyone is unclear on the concept, in the United States of America, we do not "get rid of" ballots. We count them. Counting the ballots — all the ballots — is the way we determine who leads our country after our elections. The only way," Ellen Weintraub, a commissioner of the Federal Elections Commission, tweeted. Weintraub has previously debunked Trump's claims about mail-in voting fraud.
Trump has a long history of making unsubstantiated claims about electoral fraud, dating back to his allegations that he lost the popular vote in 2016 only because "millions" of people voted illegally. He has also been waging legal battles in multiple states in an attempt to stop the expansion of vote-by-mail and has admitted to using the USPS to sabotage those efforts.
Over the years, multiple extensive studies have found that widespread voter fraud is virtually nonexistent, difficult to successfully pull off, and discouraged through steep criminal penalties.
The US has had successful peaceful transitions of power in every single election since its inception in 1776, including following a contested election between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, during the US Civil War, and on multiple occasions when the electoral college vote has diverged from the popular vote.
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@dilbert0815 ~ Bush v. Gore, Citizens United, Chief Jester Roberts smiling and nodding along while presiding over sham Senate impeachment trial, Assassination Goon B.S. Barr butchering the law, slaughtering justice, politicizing and weaponizing the DOJ. It's why we lost all respect for the Supreme Court, the law, and the justice system in this country. Congratulations, Republicans, on turning our nation into a banana Republic, making America an object lesson to the world on how to destroy democracy!
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--Instead of striving to bring out the best in people, Toxic Trump reveled in bringing out the very worst.
--Instead of uniting the country, Toxic Trump sought to divide us.
--Instead of abiding by and honoring our Constitution and the rule of law, Toxic Trump held them in disdain, disregarded them, and degraded them.
--Instead of strengthening democracy and our cherished institutions, Toxic Trump worked to diminish and destroy them, inciting a terrorist insurrection against his own government, attempting a coup to steal an election.
--Instead of insuring a peaceful transfer power after losing the election, Toxic Trump kept insisting against all evidence that he won, continuously repeating the Big Lie that resulted in the terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol.
--Instead of confronting a serious threat to Americans with a deadly global pandemic, Toxic Trump lied to the American people about it, ignored it, and refused to take any responsibility for his gross homicidal criminal negligence that resulted in one out of every 800 Americans dying from COVID-19--over 400,000 lives in just ten months, as many casualties as all of WWII.
--Instead of confronting the ever-increasing existential crisis from climate change and its harmful effects, Toxic Trump gutted regulations, exacerbating the problem and poisoning citizens.
--Instead of creating jobs, Toxic Trump was the first President since the Great Depression to preside over a net loss of jobs over his tenure.
--Instead of lowering the national deficit, Toxic Trump increased it from 19.2 trillion to 27 trillion.
--Instead of building bridges, humane immigration reform, and infrastructure, Toxic Trump built walls and cages, separated children from mothers, allowed American infrastructure to decline and deteriorate, rejected economic opportunity.
--Instead of raising our standing and security in the world, Toxic Trump lowered and weakened it.
--Instead of draining the swamp, Toxic Trump turned it into a noxious overflowing Republican sewer.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, John Eastman and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed? If Garland doesn't stand up for justice and democracy, this nation is soon doomed.
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
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Professor Turley disgraced himself and his employer, Georgetown University, getting taken to the mat repeatedly and completely outclassed by three experts from other universities. While clearly knowledgeable about Constitutional law and history, Professor Turley failed to present any rational academic argument against impeachment, choosing instead to turn a blind eye to high crimes, unprecedented total obstruction of Congress oversight and impeachment powers, this President's penchant for perversions and abuses of power, and dire national security concerns...while making false allegations, engaging in false equivalencies, projecting undue bias and playing coy. Although much value and greatly appreciate opposing perspectives, Professor Turley's performance was an act of bad faith and intellectual dishonesty, demonstrating a critical lack of integrity, of which Georgetown University, its students, and its alumni should all be ashamed, as it reflects very poorly on them and their fine institution. This was a fool willingly made a Republican cult tool, and the motivation appears more self-interest than altruistic--at a time when all sane, loyal hands are crucially required on deck.
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Trump and Republicans are like Jack and his band of boys in 'Lord of the Flies' who went native and turned barbaric. Ralph, Simon, Piggy and the other group of boys represent the rest of us who value civilization and order. Just as Jack and his band turned savage, killing and cannibalizing their fellow students on the deserted island they landed upon, Trump and Republicans, manically obsessed with power, money and vanity, have also turned savage, rejecting responsibility, reason, civility, morality, and science, killing their fellow Americans and cannibalizing our government. Except there will be no adults arriving to save those of us trying to do the right thing, like in the classic tale. We are the adults, and it is strictly up to us to save ourselves and this country from the fascistic, nihilistic impulses of Trump and Republicans.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
― Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a serious threat to our very security.
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again." ― Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney
More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They have essentially become a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Welcome to war. This is what war is. It's terrible, it's tragic, it's ugly, it stinks, it's unfair, it's sad, it's wasteful, it's hell, innocents die, and things always go wrong. You think we'd have learned that by now, but no, it's a lesson that has to be repeatedly learned, evidently. The consensus is that nobody foresaw the Afghan government and its armed forces completely capitulating so quickly as they did. Some say there should have been a contingency plan for this, but even though hindsight is 20/20, have yet to hear any rational plan that could have dealt with this situation. Shit happens, and Biden got handed a turd with Afghanistan. Instead of allowing the crap to continue, Biden made the hard, responsible decision to pull the U.S. out of another country's civil war. Fallout was inevitable, and Republicans trying to capitalize on that politically or media trying to profit from it is truly degenerate.
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Unlike many others here, I don't blame Sen. Peters for the omission of the word "insurrection." I'm quite sure that it wasn't the preference of Peters and Democrats on the committee to not use the word, but rather was done at the insistence of Republicans. They----and they alone----are to blame. Peters and the rest of the Democrats rightly decided that getting out a timely report with bipartisan support on the security and intelligence failures, as well as recommendations to secure the Capitol, were more important than inclusion of the word. I am just as disappointed and disgusted about not describing the events of January 6 as an insurrection as everyone else, would agree that there is some danger in not doing so, but it was imperative to get to the bottom of this aspect of January 6, and we needed those recommendations to secure the Capitol. It was a choice of two evils, and I think Peters and the Democrats made the correct decision to get this vitally needed report produced and released. I salute Keilar for her tough questioning, and while I understand Peters is running a critically important committee that requires bipartisanship to function well and is being diplomatic to foster as much cooperation with Republicans as possible, I still wish he had been more forthright about exactly why the word insurrection wasn't used to describe the insurrection, placing blame where deservedly due.
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@vinsanity40k ~ I'm glad you pointed out what happened in Michigan (it happened in a few other states, as well), but think you got it backwards. It is Republicans who are cowards, not Democrats. They've spent over 40 years creating the beast, cultivating it, nourishing it, and exploiting it, thinking they would be masters, that they could ride the tiger, heedless that they would eventually become slaves to it, and that the beast would come to consume them. Are Democrats aware of the danger? Sure, and we would all be fools not to fear what is happening. But Peters isn't being a coward. Rather than repeat myself, please read my own analysis of this situation here in this thread. Keep in mind that this committee investigation and report was confined solely to the security aspects, and will by no means be the final word on the January 6 insurrection.
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The hypocrisy involved isn't the worst part of Trump's golfing during the height of this deadly global pandemic striking the nation. Besides, the problem in the first place was a Republican cult that seizes on any morsel of divisive partisanship--no matter how false or fanciful--to slander and smear their opponents in their poison politics of personal destruction. Trump's attacks on his predecessor wouldn't be so noteworthy now if they hadn't reached the intended receptive audience back then; the root problem is GOP hypocrisy, which Toxic Trump merely exploits to his own corrupt ends.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain critical to its survival.
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GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, John Eastman and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
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Bush v. Gore, Citizens United, Chief Jester Roberts smiling and nodding along while presiding over sham Senate impeachment trial, Assassination Goon B.S. Barr butchering the law, slaughtering justice, politicizing and weaponizing the DOJ. It's why we lost all respect for the Supreme Court, the law, and the justice system in this country. Congratulations, Republicans, on turning our nation into a banana Republic, making America an object lesson to the world on how to destroy democracy!
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** ~ Bad Vibration, Grave Reverberation ~ **
So much frustration and aggravation
Dispensation of exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Sick fascination, no reservation
Brutalization, victimization
Race relation identification
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cessation media manipulation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cooperation, collaboration
Restoration results in elation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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Toxic Trump: "I'm the BEST, just absolutely CRUSHING the competition, with over THREE MILLION coronavirus cases and over 132 -- one-hundred and thirty-two!!! -- THOUSAND deaths! Easy as 1-2-3! They ALL got eighty-sixed, 'cause nobody else even comes close! With a QUARTER of the world's cases AND deaths--can you even imagine how truly great, how awesome, that achievement is, with only just FOUR PERCENT of the world's population to work with? Believe it or not, I accomplished in only FIVE WEEKS what it took the Vietnam War a whole TWELVE YEARS to do! Not done with the fun--and not to be outdone--I then doubled down on the death toll from Vietnam in just FOUR MONTHS! PLUS, we're not even counting ALL the COVID-19 cases and deaths here in the U.S.! And, with only SEVEN PERCENT of the U.S. population already infected, we're just getting started with all the sickness and death; there's PLENTY more to come! Those other weaklings and losers don't stand a chance, because we're going to keep right on winning--as long as I'm in charge! Now, vacation's over; time to get back to work on increasing those numbers, people! Let's keep America great, get rid of all the excess baggage! As wartime President, I am commanding all CIVILIANS to senselessly sacrifice their lives for my arrogance, stupidity, vanity, malevolence, and greed!"
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No question that Toxic Trump wants to manipulate the data to paint a rosy picture, sacrificing American lives for his own personal gain. But states are doing nearly all the testing, not the feds. State and private labs are doing nearly all the test processing. The big failure regarding this aspect of the catastrophically failed pandemic response is Putin puppet-pie President Nero's criminal negligence in failing to authorize the Defense Production Act to build capacity for testing and TIMELY processing.
It's not just about quantity of tests. More important is quality. Most critically, it is taking TWO WEEKS or more to obtain the TEST RESULTS unless hospitalized. Due to the long lab processing times due to lack of capability and backlog, the contact tracing needed to contain and control the spread becomes no longer practical or tenable, creating an untenable situation of contagion, hospitalizations, and subsequent avoidable deaths. While some infected people waiting for test results may quarantine themselves, many others taking routine tests, who may be positive and asymptomatic, will not, unwilling or unable to wait that long for their results to come back. This latter group is spreading the disease in their communities. Until we have TIMELY TEST RESULTS, the quantity of tests administered is a largely MEANINGLESS figure. While true the U.S. is STILL only performing just a fraction of the COVID-19 testing needed, ramping up testing won't help unless or until the turnaround processing time problem is fixed and ALL test results can be obtained within less than 48 hours.
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"Peace is not a very big thing to ask for, is it?" ~ Fatima Gailani, Afghan activist and negotiator, pleading for continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan
It is when asking the Taliban, who do not seek peace or to bargain in good faith, but total domination once again. U.S. has spent 20 years and $2 trillion trying to achieve peace in Afghanistan, losing over 4000 American lives (military and civilian contractors), with tens of thousands of Americans wounded there.
"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials … have given Afghans little reason to support their government," Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the commander of U.S. forces in the country, wrote in a 2009 memorandum. "This crisis of confidence, coupled with a distinct lack of economic and educational opportunity, has created fertile ground for the insurgency."
That was 11 years ago, and little has changed since. Thought the invasion of Afghanistan by Bush was a mistake that would lead to a quagmire, and have been proven correct. Still, initially supported efforts to bring peace and stability there, along with basic human and civil-rights, because after invading felt we had an obligation to rebuild. However, while U.S. blunders there have contributed to a failure, Afghans are their own worst enemy, and no one can help them until enough of them are willing to help themselves.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, John Eastman and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
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@vallee7966 ~ Scary, is what it is. And dangerous. Because it's actually more than 20 million; it's probably two to three times that, considering 71 million voted for Traitor Trump in 2020. And while that's still a minority, it's nonetheless a quite sizable minority. It's a form of mass delusion, or mass psychosis, with a number of contributing factors, Covid-19 being just one very small part of it.
“You can't fight hatred with hatred and expect anyone to listen to you. You can only try to lessen it with humor, wit, truth and commonsense. If that doesn't work run like hell, while they throw rocks at you.”. ― Shannon L. Alder.
“For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.”
― Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
“I'm not scared of the Maos and the Stalins and the Hitlers.
I'm scared of the thousands of millions of people that hallucinate them to be "authority", and so do their bidding, and pay for their empires, and carry out their orders.
I don't care if there's one looney with a stupid moustache. He's not a threat if the people do not believe in "authority".”
― Larken Rose
“People reject what they do not understand because it makes them feel small. They would rather believe in some other reality, even if it is only an illusion, so long as it makes them feel bigger.”
― Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem
“The masses have never thirsted after truth. They turn aside from evidence that is not to their taste, preferring to deify error, if error seduce them. Whoever can supply them with illusions is easily their master; whoever attempts to destroy their illusions is always their victim.” ― Gustave Le Bon, French social psychologist, The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind
“It is not famine, not earthquakes, not microbes, not cancer, but man himself who is man’s greatest danger to man, for the simple reason that there is no adequate protection against psychic epidemics, which are infinitely more devastating than the worst of natural catastrophes.” ― Carl Jung
“If one can isolate the mass, allow no free thinking, no free exchange, no outside corrective, and can hypnotize the group daily with noises, with press and radio and television, with fear and pseudo-enthusiasms, any delusion can be instilled. People will begin to accept the most primitive and inappropriate acts.”
“Delusions, carefully implanted, are difficult to correct. Reasoning no longer has value; for the lower, more animal type of thinking becomes deaf to any thought on a higher level. If one reasons with a totalitarian who has been impregnated with official clichés, he will sooner or later withdraw into his fortress of collective totalitarian thinking. The mass delusion that gives him his feelings of belonging, of greatness, of omnipotence, is dearer to him than his personal awareness and understanding.” ― Joost Meerloo, The Rape of a Mind
'Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America' by Kathleen Belew (Harvard University Press, 2018)
The movement “brought together members of the Klan, militias, radical tax resisters, white separatists, neo-Nazis, and proponents of white theologies such as Christian Identity, Odinism, and Dualism” (ix). What was it about the movement that brought these ideologies together?
The promise of violence — rather, the promise that members would get to inflict violence on other people. Belew writes that as the white power movement matured, it became more violent, and “[as] violence came to the fore of the movement, distinctions among white power factions melted away” (60). Belew calls this process “violent community formation” (34). Yet as a social movement, Belew makes a distinction between the white power movement’s “revolutionary violence” and the Ku Klux Klan’s “vigilante violence.”
Vigilante violence “served to constitute, shore up, and enforce systemic power” (106). Given that the U.S. government has a long history of “defending vigilante violence by refusing to enforce the law” (99), law enforcement inaction and vigilante violence may be understood together as a case of one hand washing the other. Revolutionary violence, however, sought to overthrow the state. It is the white power movement’s goal of overthrowing the federal government that sets it apart in the history of white supremacy in the U.S.
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Trump has left Senate Republicans little choice but to impeach him, or they make a complete mockery out of themselves, the law, Congress, Constitution and country! Sure, the rats will scurry, and the worms slither, but at the end of the day, they must come up with twenty amongst them willing to fall on their swords. Volunteers likely to be rare with these cowards, so this is where the action is expected to really start heating up, with Senate Republicans vying viciously and vitriolically against each other for those coveted 'No' votes to avoid crossing their cult, while still getting Trump out of there and salvaging as many GOP seats in Congress as they can!
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You don't get denialism without nihilism. As life-long conservative Bill Kristol astutely pointed out, the Republican party has embraced nihilism. Republicans denying systemic racism; Republicans still labeling COVID-19 a "hoax;" Republicans still refusing to wear masks or social distance after over half-a-million American fatalities from COVID-19; Congressional Republicans obstructing a COVID-19 stimulus bill certain to pass just to delay vital and urgently needed relief to Americans desperate for help; not one Congressional Republican in either chamber voting for the badly needed stimulus bill; Republican governors dropping mask mandates and all restrictions on businesses, heedless of rising case counts in their states and deadly new variants of the virus; and Republican leaders continuing to push the Big Lie that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen without evidence and in disregard of plentiful evidence and facts to the contrary, even AFTER their Big Lie incited a terrorist attack by a mindless Republican mob against the nation's Capitol in insurrection against the government, attempting to overturn a legitimate election, sieging, storming, sizing, sacking, defiling, defacing and disgracing America's citadel of, and temple to, democracy; and now Republicans attempting history revisionism, trying to sweep the January 6 insurrection under the rug--these are all prime examples of nihilism.
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Why America is so vulnerable to coronavirus
Ryan Cooper
All over the world, governments are scrambling to defend their citizenry from COVID-19, the disease caused by the outbreak of novel coronavirus. So far it seems levels of success have varied; countries like Italy and Iran have struggled so far, while Vietnam and Taiwan have seemingly put forth an efficient and effective response.
The United States, where a major outbreak is clearly developing, however, is in a class by itself. America's atrociously inadequate welfare state makes it by far the most vulnerable rich country to a viral pandemic, and the vicious, right-wing ideology of the Republican Party has wrecked the government's ability to manage crises of any kind.
The national health care system is of course the most important tool for any country trying to fight off an epidemic — all citizens need to be able to get tested, receive treatment, or be quarantined if necessary. If and when a vaccine is developed, the system needs to distribute it to everyone as fast as possible. That means handing it out for free in locations across the country, and perhaps making
The American health care system fails at every one of these tasks. Nearly 30 million Americans are uninsured, and a further 44 million are underinsured — meaning they will likely hesitate to go to the doctor if they start developing COVID-19 symptoms. This problem is seriously exacerbated by the rampant predatory profiteering that infects every corner of the health care system. Indeed, responsible citizens who have gone in for tests have already started getting slammed with multi-thousand dollar bills. A father and daughter who were evacuated from China and then forcibly quarantined for several days (luckily they were not infected) went home to find $3,918 in bills.
If you are working-class person with a $10,000 deductible (not at all uncommon), going to the doctor simply because you have flu-like symptoms (which is how most cases of COVID-19 are experienced) could very easily send you into bankruptcy. If infected, millions of Americans are likely going to take their chances — and keep spreading the virus.
Indeed, U.S. health care is not only by far the worst system among rich countries, it is much worse than that of many middle-income or poorer countries when it comes to confronting a fast-moving epidemic. Distributing a vaccine is not that difficult of a task — World Health Organization workers managed it with smallpox even in desperately poor African countries in the 1970s. You just round up everyone, and give out the shot. But that will be a heavy lift indeed with a health care system geared above all to price-gouge sick people out of as much money as possible. While in theory the government could stand up a one-time free (or cheap) vaccination program, the administration has already ruled that out. "We can’t control that price because we need the private sector to invest," said HHS Secretary Alex Azar. That very likely means an eyewateringly-expensive vaccine that tens of millions can't get — we've seen what rapacious pharma companies do with insulin. (Speaking of vaccines, as Ryan Grim points out at The Intercept, Joe Biden voted against a Bernie Sanders amendment to force drug companies to provide drugs funded by public research at a reasonable price.)
It's worth pointing out again that if we had Medicare-for-all, these concerns would vanish at a stroke. People experiencing symptoms would feel free to seek medical care without worrying about breaking the bank, and a vaccine could be distributed by the government through hospitals and clinics at no cost to patients.
But there are still further problems. The United States is one of only a handful of countries (almost all of them desperately poor) with no national sick leave program, which means many workers who come down with COVID-19 will be forced to choose between starving or spreading the disease. Food service workers are especially unlikely to have sick leave from their employers, and are generally not paid well either. So-called "gig economy" companies naturally provide no sick leave either. In China, food delivery services have been critical for feeding cities under lockdown, but in America they are likely to become just another vector of infection.
Finally, there is conservative ideology. As I have written, the Trump administration — under the influence of conservative fanatics like Mick "The Knife" Mulvaney — has deliberately devastated the government's pandemic response capacity. He's cut key personnel, slashed funding, and made sure thousands more Americans have been thrown off their insurance. And while Trump is certainly the most incompetent president in American history, his style of government is not at all out of keeping with typical Republican rule. As Thomas Frank writes in his book The Wrecking Crew, for decades GOP rule has meant rampant corruption and disastrous incompetence. When a Republican is in the White House, unqualified cronies end up in charge of federal emergency management, and American cities and towns end up ruined. Even today, the Trump regime is doing its level best to kick as many people off their health insurance as possible — the Supreme Court just announced it would hear the latest Republican attempt to destroy the Affordable Care Act through judicial rule-by-decree.
The conservative movement has served like a bath of hydrofluoric acid on the quality, competence, and basic decency of American institutions. Republicans have all but posted up signs everywhere saying "epidemics welcome here." So now they are resorting to the only thing they know how to do really well — lying, concocting conspiracy theories and blaming Democrats and the media for any bad news. It does not bode well.
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'Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America' by Kathleen Belew (Harvard University Press, 2018)
The movement “brought together members of the Klan, militias, radical tax resisters, white separatists, neo-Nazis, and proponents of white theologies such as Christian Identity, Odinism, and Dualism” (ix). What was it about the movement that brought these ideologies together?
The promise of violence — rather, the promise that members would get to inflict violence on other people. Belew writes that as the white power movement matured, it became more violent, and “[as] violence came to the fore of the movement, distinctions among white power factions melted away” (60). Belew calls this process “violent community formation” (34). Yet as a social movement, Belew makes a distinction between the white power movement’s “revolutionary violence” and the Ku Klux Klan’s “vigilante violence.”
Vigilante violence “served to constitute, shore up, and enforce systemic power” (106). Given that the U.S. government has a long history of “defending vigilante violence by refusing to enforce the law” (99), law enforcement inaction and vigilante violence may be understood together as a case of one hand washing the other. Revolutionary violence, however, sought to overthrow the state. It is the white power movement’s goal of overthrowing the federal government that sets it apart in the history of white supremacy in the U.S.
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Traitor-'n-Thief Toxic Trump is a compromised Russian asset who puts his own personal interests--legal, financial, and egotistical--ahead of the national interest in both domestic and foreign policy. A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
― Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a serious threat to our very security.
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again." ― Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney
More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They have essentially become a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, John Eastman and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed? If Garland doesn't stand up for the rule of law, justice and democracy, this nation is soon doomed.
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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Agree that Mueller conducted himself appropriately with honor, while Barr disgraced himself and the DOJ. However, Mueller had an obligation to more fully support his work in the aftermath of his investigation and report, and he failed the American people in that regard. Also agree with Holder on the need for Democrat's current strategy, using courts to set precedent and help check Executive overreaches while overcoming this administration's obstruction, so that evidence, witnesses, and testimony can be obtained to further accountability and critically enhance the prospect for impeachment success. Fast and Furious was a Republican witch hunt, and Holder should never have been held in contempt of Congress for protecting a necessary Constitutional principle (not Obama). Holder is right about Comey being wrong, as well, but more forgiving than warranted. However, sharply disagree that Nixon should have been pardoned, or that Trump should be pardoned or not prosecuted. If Holder had his way, the Civil War wouldn't have been fought, because it "was too damaging to the nation!"
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Republicans are trying to create an unequal justice system, where laws don't apply to their guy, Trump. However, if successful, their reward will be a public where a majority now has NO faith in their justice system and government. So what will they have won? Making America weak, compromised by Russia, their ill-gotten gains meaningless, society resorting to a form of anarchy without due respect for the rule of law?
If one thinks that is hyperbole, think again. Republicans are playing a dangerous game where there are no winners, only losers: the American people, their Constitution, and their country. In their blind obsession for "winning" at whatever cost, Republicans have lost their morals, ethics, principles, honor, and patriotism, incapable even of giving due consideration to the harm they are doing to themselves, their party, and their own nation.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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~ Bad Vibration, Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization duration
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
What location revitalization?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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Posted the following as a comment here, which perhaps better sums up my earlier sentiment: Gee, who better than the amoral partisan hack, Dr. Torture Yoo, to analyze the amoral President Trump's bizarre obstruction and cover-up attempts?
Torture Yoo disingenuously claims both sides are rushing towards this Constitutional crisis, but that just isn't true. That ignores how Trump got a free pass for two years from Congressional Republicans, who were derelict in upholding their obligations to Oversight and their Oath. Dems haven't been given much time, and the clock is ticking on justice for the Mueller Report and election security for 2020. Does Torture Yoo have a better, realistic proposal for dealing with the situation caused directly by Trump, not Congress? Forget I asked--don't want Torture Yoo's opinions. But let's bear in mind who the subject of the Mueller Report is, Trump. Not any Congressional committee or chamber. The subject is the problem, not those confronting the subject out of necessity. Torture Yoo's inability to grasp that is why we don't need amoral commentators.
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**MEDIA FAIL** -- Krystal Ball: "Because Joe Biden isn't real people suffering real harm to himself and his son (another non-human, Krystal?) from this lunatic occupying the Oval and the Republicans enabling, aiding, and abetting him!" Why is Joe Biden considered an elite, anyway? Because people like him enough he continually is able to hold office and serve the public? That's simply terribly intolerable, right, Krystal? How does abiding in the democratic process make someone an elite, anyway Krystal? Who, exactly, are these "elite" institutions of which you constantly speak, Krystal? You been looking in your crystal ball, again? Not a Joe Biden fan, but Krystal is cracked! Likes to denigrate the media, when she works and writes for what many consider the most "elite" of media, the NY Times, in effect declaring herself irrelevant! Not only that, but here she is, agreeing to appear on CNN, considered by the right-wing crowd to be the "elite" of the elite! How stupid and hypocritical do you have to be? There are some valid criticisms to be made about the media, but Krystal hasn't quite learned yet how to interpret what she views in her crystal ball, thinks the little picture is the big picture!
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Who'd have ever equated voting in America with survival? But that's pretty much what it has boiled down to, hasn't it? Survival of ourselves, survival of our democracy, survival of our nation, and survival of our planet. The irony is that Republicans have always tried to paint Democrats as an existential threat...but in doing so it is actually they who have become exactly that.
Democrat voters need an even greater turnout in '22 and '24, put the final fork in Trumpism! Republicans want to engage in Jim Crow voter suppression laws, voter intimidation, and egregious gerrymandering? Republicans want to engage in corruption, gaslight their corruption, coverup their corruption? Republicans want to turn a blind eye to Russian election interference and knowingly disseminate Russian propaganda for Putin? Republicans want to instigate and sanction Reich-wing domestic terrorist insurrection? Republicans want to live in delusion and denial about the major problems confronting the nation and planet? Let's just prove that's fuel for the fire, and make their fascist antidemocratic corruption backfire on them!
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(1) Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts.
~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
(2) You are entitled to your own views, but you are not entitled to your own facts.
~ U.S. Secretary of Defense James R. Schlesinger, December 1975 and January 1976
(3) People are entitled to their own opinions, but not to their own facts.
~ U.S Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, 1983 Washington Post op-ed, who credited the quote to Alan Greenspan in 1984: "During the commission’s deliberations, Alan Greenspan, our chairman and former chairman of the president’s Council of Economic Advisers, imposed a simple but crucial rule: Members were entitled to their own opinions, but not to their own facts."
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THE all-time, epic chess match! Republicans opted for opening with the King's Gambit, utilizing the Russian Defense, which has left them open and vulnerable on all fronts, holding a very weak position. Can Democrats recover and capitalize in time, or will the Constitution be lost forever, America relegated to the scrap heap of history, a mere brief shooting star, checkmated by its own ignorance??
Sometimes it's not about left and right, but right or wrong. Five-alarm fire is ongoing, President Nero and his Republican arsonist cohorts continue pouring the gasoline in deliriously delusional delight. Sorry, kids, grandkids, and all who come after...the truth was too controversial, too inconvenient for our busy day.
TRUE patriotic Americans don't blindly await their fate like sheep before the slaughter; this isn't any parlor game being played by deviant, depraved Republicans in Congress. Perhaps the most crucial point in American history continues to unfold before us, which requires active, informed civic involvement. Public apathy and passivity would prove fatal to our long and deeply cherished Republic.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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Elmer Fudd's always trying to convince me he just wants unity.
What he really means is that he wants to eat me.
Unity and compromise is a two-way street that only works if both parties operate in good faith. Republicans have a long history of failing to do that--or even try. Recent history since Biden won the election shows no indication of them changing their divisive, destructive words, attitudes, obstruction and other acts. Tyrant Trump incited a terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol to overthrow an election, endangering his VP and members of Congress, sat by and gleefully reveled in watching it happen for hours, ignoring desperate pleas for help, and only a very few Republican were willing to speak out, impeach him, convict him, and prevent him from holding public office again? That's not loyal opposition; that's a dangerous terrorist political cult of fascists.
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Republicans: "I pledge allegiance to the lies of Trump, and to the racism, bigotry, crimes, corruption, crackpot conspiracies, delusions and ignorance for which he stands, one dysfunctional lunatic fascist cult under Trump, a nation forever divided, with plutocracy, autocracy and injustice for all."
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Seditious Republican cult is a shrinking demographic that is exclusive and repulsive. Corrupt and ignorant, GOP seeks minority rule through non-stop propaganda while subverting our electoral process, law, Constitution, democracy, and American national security trying to wrap their tentacles around a tenuous, temporary grip on power. The Republican cult--created and nurtured by plutocrats, oligarchs, and right-wingnut fascists, religious fundamentalists, demagogues, and other assorted grifters--would turn America into a banana republic to worship a fascist dictator.
Just remember, though, they are the minority, and their kind will always be the minority. Do not be intimidated; do not be afraid; do not despair; stand up and be counted! The truth does matter in America! "She is worth it!"
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-‘n-‘Thief, Toxic Trump, so much—although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages—as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, homophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, divisive, anti-democratic raving lunatic and his corruption, a man compromised by foreign nations, including our principle adversary, through his tremendous debt. Between that, his catastrophic, irresponsible handling of COVID-19, and his incitement of anti-democratic violent Reich-wing groups, Trump has made himself America's #1 most serious national security threat. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself, mental illness, and his upbringing, who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil. They are either actively or silently complicit in fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorist violence, Reich-wing insurrection, and Reich-wing undermining of our democracy and Constitution.
It's crystal clear that Trump, Boebert, Greene, Gosar and other Republicans like them are fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorism. The GOP has become radicalized to such an extent that it has essentially become a fascist terrorist organization, with members that fantasize and promote violence against their fellow Americans. While those Republican elected officials must be condemned and sanctioned, they are only a symptom of the disease poisoning a third of America, the most visible part of the cancer infecting our nation.
The GOP has been mainstreaming radicalization of their voter base for decades, ALLOWING Reich-wing media and Reich-wing demagogues to take over the party, to the point it has become a fascist, nihilistic cult. Because just as now, Republican politicians and their plutocratic masters have always seen it as the ends justifying whatever means to win power. Remember the Republican Tea Party? This catastrophe with the GOP didn't start with Trump, who just exploited what the Republicans had already built.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle for graft and to grift their voters and us taxpayers. You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
Democrats, Independents, others: WTF?!?
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Candace Owens is propagating another bald-faced Republican Big Lie. As of inauguration day, January 20, 2021, over 411,000 Americans had died from Covid-19 in just TEN months under Trump. (Covid-19 infections only began to spread widely in late February and early March 2020 in the U.S. With the subsequent lag time between contraction of the disease and death, significant amounts of fatalities didn't result until mid-March 2020.) As of December 20, 2021, the total was 808,000. Which translates to 397,000 Covid-19 deaths in ELEVEN months under Biden. Considering that most of those deaths under Biden were incurred by Republicans refusing to get vaccinated, and who are also adamantly opposed to vaccine mandates, it appears Republicans are literally DYING to make Biden look bad.
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As of 03/02/20 in the U.S.A., we still don't have the testing kits we need yet; just announced yesterday that test kits for 75,000 will be released over the next two weeks, with 50,000 more following. Reported 15,000 sent out over weekend. Reliable testing protocol absolutely vital to assessing and containment of COVID-19! Health experts and American public both in the dark without massive testing about which Americans, how many Americans have COVID-19--and where--so they can be isolated and treated before infecting others. Health experts have criticized Trump administration for inexplicably not adopting W.H.O. test much earlier. In the U.S. the CDC has conducted just 500 tests for COVID-19 to date, with 102 cases now known in the U.S. For perspective, compare to the U.K., with a much smaller population, who already tested 10,400 people, finding 23 COVID-19 cases (raised to 40 cases in UK, 38 deaths in EU on 03/02/20).
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It’s that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don’t care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn’t want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it’s more than hope—those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another four months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn’t really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
“The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.”
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump’s hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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--Instead of striving to bring out the best in people, Toxic Trump reveled in bringing out the very worst.
--Instead of uniting the country, Toxic Trump sought to divide us.
--Instead of abiding by and honoring our Constitution and the rule of law, Toxic Trump held them in disdain, disregarded them, and degraded them, running the most corrupt administration in U.S. history.
--Instead of strengthening democracy and our cherished institutions, Toxic Trump worked to diminish and destroy them, inciting a terrorist insurrection against his own government, attempting a coup to steal an election.
--Instead of insuring a peaceful transfer power after losing the election, Toxic Trump kept insisting against all evidence that he won, continuously repeating the Big Lie that resulted in the terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol.
--Instead of confronting a serious threat to Americans with a deadly global pandemic, Toxic Trump lied to the American people about it, ignored it, and refused to take any responsibility for his gross homicidal criminal negligence that resulted in one out of every 800 Americans dying from COVID-19--over 400,000 American lives in just ten months, as many casualties as all of WWII.
--Instead of confronting the ever-increasing existential crisis from climate change and its harmful effects, Toxic Trump gutted regulations and withdrew from the voluntary Paris climate accords, exacerbating the problem and poisoning citizens.
--Instead of creating jobs, Toxic Trump was the first President since the Great Depression to preside over a net loss of jobs over his tenure.
--Instead of lowering the national deficit, Toxic Trump increased it from 19.2 trillion to 27 trillion----the highest rate of increase of ANY President, ever.
--Instead of helping out the least among us, Toxic Trump widened the wealth and income disparity gap. 50% of his $1.9 trillion tax cut went to the top 5%; 65% went to the top 20%, with the top 40% benefiting next most, and the bottom 20% only receiving 1%. Moreover, his huge tax cut for big corporations and the wealthy left a legacy adding $1,000,000,000,000 a year to the federal deficit while lowering federal revenue.
--Instead of building bridges, humane immigration reform, and infrastructure, Toxic Trump built walls, cages, and concentration camps, separated children from mothers, allowed American infrastructure to decline and deteriorate, rejected economic opportunity.
--Instead of raising our standing and security in the world, Toxic Trump lowered and weakened it.
--Instead of draining the swamp, Toxic Trump turned it into a noxious overflowing sewer of Republican corruption.
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Instead of insuring adequate testing, contact tracing, surveillance testing, medical equipment, staff, and medical supplies like PPE -- as just as critically, if not more, public adherence to pandemic guidelines like wearing masks and social distancing -- Toxic Trump and Republican leaders pushed strongly for reopening the economy too soon, against CDC guidelines, despite the grave warnings of scientists, experts, and doctors; despite common sense. Most Republican governors took the Putin puppet President's lead, not taking a deadly global pandemic seriously. We need to shutdown, again, and stay that way until we have testing and other capabilities, and we have the current raging spread back under FIRM control. Which means back to isolation for the American public. No sea cruise. No airline flight. No theme park. No barber or beauty salon. No tattoo. No school. Just stay at home. Again. All only because of criminal negligence by Republican leaders and some Americans who just had to be stupid, inconsiderate, and heartless. The whole nation suffers and mourns; the innocents punished alongside the perpetrators of this insanity.
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@bryanatwku ~ May not have agreed with their policies or ideologies, thought some were worse than others, but never before thought any Republican President was the absolute worst in U.S. history--and I've lived under six of them. The assessment is not predicated upon political party; it's an objective analysis of Trump and his Presidency. You can disagree, but a number of reputable historians have already predicted the same, although they typically wait about ten years before making any final conclusive judgments. I am fully confident that history will confirm my assessment, even if more damaging facts about his Presidency aren't revealed in the meantime--which they surely will be. Conversely, don't think any President I've lived under--Republican or Democrat--is the "best President in history." So much for your silly erroneous assumption, then.
What other President incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government in an attempted coup? Which other President told over 30,000 demonstrable falsehoods to the American people while serving just one term in office? Which other President ever had as many indictments against members of his administration? Which other President ever got impeached twice? Which other President ever sought foreign help to get elected--and then again to get reelected? Which other President caused the senseless, horrible deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans, due solely to their gross negligence? (President Wilson during the Spanish Flu, one might argue, but that was pre-modern times when medicine and science were still quite primitive; the Spanish Flu was far more deadly, killing young and old alike; and Wilson's decisions, as with other nations at the time, were predicated in large part upon not telegraphing weakness to the other side during WWI.)
According to the 2020 census, there was no mass exodus from blue states to red states. Only three states went down in population: West Virginia (a Red state) lost the most, suffering 3.20%. Mississippi (another Red state) lost 0.20% of its population. Illinois, the only Blue state to decrease in population, was last, with just 0.14%. Those are the facts. As far as analyzing that data, as to where people moved and why, that takes time, and it is too early to draw the kinds of definitive conclusions you are attempting to make. People move for many reasons, and it rarely involves the political climate of their former state. The fact that some red states are turning more purple does not support your presumption they are leaving because of political considerations. Moreover, Trump ordered the Census count to be completed early during a pandemic, and his initial order to include a citizenship question on the Census which was blocked by the courts was predicted to result in some people refusing to participate--factors which experts have warned likely caused the 2020 Census to be inaccurate. The primary way Republicans are trying to gain more representation in Congress is through passing Jim Crow voter suppression laws and egregious gerrymandering--essentially by cheating and weakening our democracy, because they can't win fair and square.
Trump inherited a blooming economic expansion from Obama, who had inherited the greatest recession since the Great Depression from his predecessor Bush. In a recent report on the COVID-19 crisis, Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, broke down the differences between the economy under the last three years of Obama’s presidency and first three years under Trump. (Take note that economic data for 2020 was not included, in order to leave out the pandemonium caused by the coronavirus and Trump's mishandling of the response--and which would make Trump’s numbers look much, much worse. For instance, GDP growth in 2020 plummeted to -30%, with tens of millions of jobs lost, only half of which were subsequently regained. Pandemic-related job losses left a crater in the economy. Many experts say it will take several years for the labor market to recover from the blow. The unemployment rate soared to 15% under Trump, and remained about half of that when he left office.)
In contrast with Trump’s numerous claims about building the greatest economy in history, Zandi found that by most measurements, the country’s economic health under both administrations is quite similar. “The reality is that the economy did equally well in the last three years of President Obama’s second term as in Trump’s first three years,” Zandi wrote. (Economic expansion was also faster under Clinton than Trump.) The last three years of President Obama’s administration saw an increase of 8.1 million jobs and a 2 percentage-point drop in the overall unemployment rate, decreasing from 6.2% in 2014 to 4.9% by the end of 2016. Under Trump, the number of jobs increased by 6.55 million in his first three years, and unemployment dropped from 4.4% to 3.7%. At the same time, however, the growth rate of disposable income actually dropped, from 2.6% to 2.3%, according to the Moody’s report. The federal budget deficit — accumulated when the government spends more than it receives in revenues — has ballooned from $15 trillion at the end of the Obama administration to over $25 trillion during Trump’s first three years in the White House. Soaring deficit levels come as a natural consequence of the 2017 tax cuts: researchers at the Tax Policy Center found that corporate tax revenue declined by 40% between 2017 and 2018, while income taxes paid to the federal government declined by 5.4%. With less tax money coming in but similar levels of spending going out, it’s no wonder the federal deficit has increased.
Moreover, (as some of us have long been aware) experts say presidents wield only limited power on the economy's trajectory. "It's true the president is probably the single most powerful person with the most influence over it," Aaron Sojourner, a former White House economist who served both the Obama and Trump administrations said. "But nobody has very much control over it." So your premise that Trump could have somehow single-handedly usher in some kind of gilded age for the American economy is critically flawed.
Most people living on the U.S. border did not support Trump's immigration policies. (Incidentally, I formerly lived just 15 miles from the border in Arizona, and also lived in Texas for some years.) Trump's wall was a boondoggle to fulfill a campaign promise made in ignorance to appeal to xenophobes and racists that wasted billions in taxpayer dollars, and can be breached simply by means of just a hacksaw. His policy of forcing those legally seeking asylum to wait months across the border in Mexico in refugee camps to be processed was inhumane, as was his policy of separating children--including young infants--from their mothers and locking them up in cages with inadequate hygienic requirements and space. Instead of spending some of that money more effectively on host nations of the asylum seekers to tackle the problem at its roots and help stem the flow, he cut existing funding to them, exacerbating the problem. While Trump's harsh, inhumane measures worked to some extent, they only delayed the inevitable, creating a pent-up demand that would only result in more refugees attempting to seek asylum later.
Trump's foreign policy was a disaster, sucking up to ruthless autocrats and dictators while alienating our allies. He compromised himself (and our national security) with Russia by seeking help from them winning the 2016 election. His decision to reverse decades of policy under both Republican and Democratic administrations and establish an embassy in Jerusalem destroyed any pretense of the U.S. being an impartial peace broker, along with any chance of the U.S. achieving a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians for the near future.
Divisiveness has been driven by right-wing politicians, right-wing media, and right-wing demagogues funded by plutocrats for decades, long before Obama became President. And it was quite obvious that much of the divisiveness in reaction to Obama was as much rooted in racism as Republican divisive propaganda. Trump was not a believer in unity or compromises, as his actions well demonstrated. Besides, you are advocating divisiveness, anyway, in hopes of strong state and local government, because you seem to believe that it will only lead somehow to a fracture of the U.S., and apparently because you brought into the Reich-wing propaganda lies and erroneously believe that common sense gun reform supported by a majority of Americans from across the political spectrum somehow translates into taking everyone's guns away, or someone is somehow trying to take away your freedom of religion or speech, when nobody is advocating anything like that.
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@bryanatwku ~ Do you refute the population change figures you were given from the 2020 Census showing how only three states decreased in population, and that the two worst decreases were in heavily Red States? Do you refute that Derek Chavin, a police officer, was found guilty on all three counts against him for killing George Floyd, and is now in jail awaiting sentencing? Do you dispute that Trump was rejected by a good majority of voters? Do you dispute that Trump was the first President to ever by impeached twice for his malfeasance?
See, I can ask lots of questions, too. But that doesn't actually respond to the points and arguments. You're going to have to up your game, try debating honestly for a change, instead of trying to evade and talk past the points and arguments presented to you. I'm still waiting for a complete response, by the way, although you probably think the moon is made of cheese (just to demonstrate the kind of dishonest strawman attacks you made in previous replies assigning ridiculous beliefs to me which are not possessed). I know you can do better, but will you?
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@bryanatwku ~ As was made clear and should have been obvious anyway, the point wasn't about answering all the questions; it was to demonstrate how merely asking a bunch of questions doesn't actually respond to the points and arguments. It's just a device that can be used to dishonestly evade and deflect from the points and arguments, while trying to put the onus on the other person instead of honestly defending one's own views.
At any rate, your answers are much less than satisfactory, although quite revelatory of where your head is at. For example, you don't seem to understand how reputable historians take pride in being non-partisan and objective, or how a general consensus among them may be formed over years based upon all the facts and evidence available. You slough off historians as partisan and then claim you don't care what they say, anyway. Well, then, OK, why should anyone care what you have to say? You could be dismissed as just some know-nothing partisan hack, right? Why should anyone care what economists or any other expert says, because if those informed analysis and opinions differs from somebody, it can be discarded, regardless of the facts and evidence and how more knowledge and expertise possessed than oneself? To make it clear for you, because you seem to like misunderstanding and twisting things, those are rhetorical questions underscoring the problem with your answer.
Sure, there is a moderate rate of population growth in the U.S.----which only reinforces the point about how out of three states that had decreased population, the two top losses were to Red states, and the one loss in a Blue state was not all that significant. Your answer does nothing to explain or account for that and its stark incongruence to your baseless claim of "mass exoduses from Blue states to Red." Nor does it support the conclusion that any significant portion of people moving from state to state did so for political reasons. It doesn't explain the many Republicans unregistering as Republican voters or publicly quitting the GOP in disgust because of their lies, distortions, and gaslighting, either. It ignores how varying population growths among, and occurring within, the states themselves can affect representational changes in Congress. It doesn't account for how the egregious Republican gerrymandering in many Red states affects political representation, advantaging Republicans and disadvantaging Democrats. As stated before there are many factors influencing state representation that must be considered when making an assertion such as yours, and you fail to do that. Bottom line is that you still fail to proffer any definitive evidence to prove your claim for any "mass exodus" to Red states, or that being the reason for any representational changes to states.
True that indictments are only a charge that a crime has been committed, but you ignore how they led to a number of convictions and guilty pleas on major felonies from those in the Trump campaign and administration. You ignore how federal indictments are rarely brought without sufficient cause to believe that the government can prove its case in a court of law. You ignore that the indictments were brought about not under Biden's DOJ, but under Trump's own DOJ, despite AG Barr's own extensive and extremely partisan track record under Trump, protecting him and his corrupt cronies. Which, by the way, caused numerous federal prosecutors--both Republican and Democrat--to publicly take the unprecedented step of objecting to Barr's actions and the critical lack of independence demonstrated at the DOJ under Barr. And your reply also ignores how those associated with Trump that accepted a pardon from him were also accepting their guilt.
You either didn't bother to read the Mueller Report and watch both impeachment trials, or you're just gaslighting Trump's malfeasance. Which the former amounts to willful ignorance and gaslighting, anyway. An impeachment trial is a political process having to do with rebuking and/or removing high officials from office for malfeasance. While the process is described rather loosely in our Constitution and borrows some aspects of judicial procedures and terminology, it is NOT a criminal trial, and should not be confused or conflated with such. At worst, those being impeached and tried could possibly lose their job, disbarment from public office, and have some benefits stripped, with separate votes being required afterward for both disbarment from public office and removal of benefits. They do not have to have committed any specific crime on the books for this to happen. If convicted, it does not go on any criminal record against them, and there is no criminal punishment. Just because most Republicans in Congress failed to honor their oath of office, and most Senate Republicans twice failed to honor both their oath of office and their oath to be impartial jurors can not be taken as any indication of innocence. Despite that, Trump malfeasance was so egregious that his second impeachment trial resulted in the most bipartisan majority ever in U.S. history to vote for conviction.
In any case (pun intended), if someone rapes, brutally murders, and maliciously mutilates your daughter in cold blood, is then charged, tried, and found innocent by a jury--be it because of insufficient evidence, poor prosecutorial strategy, jury bias, some combination thereof or for some other reason--it doesn't mean that person didn't commit the crime...it just means they got away with it and must be treated as innocent under the law. But an impeachment trial is not a criminal trial, and just because Trump likewise twice got away with crimes and malfeasance does not necessarily mean he didn't commit those acts or didn't deserve to be convicted and removed from office.
As is plainly evident once again, debunking right-wing talking points, denialism, and misleading propaganda requires much more from me in the way of time, thought, and effort than it takes you to simply parrot them. Which is a distinct disadvantage. However, I do have one big advantage on my side, which is the truth. Will respond later to the rest as time permits, but you still have not responded to many of the points and arguments already presented to you, and we're still waiting for you to do so.
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@Pilotin74 ~ Thanks, my patience has been duly tried! Byran's not exactly stupid, but he's quite ignorant. And he's intellectually dishonest, besides. Guys like him come here to disseminate Reich-wing propaganda, nothing more. His words indicate he is a white supremacist / white nationalist. Another word for nationalist is fascist. Since WWII, nationalism and the word nationalist has been out of vogue, because nationalism and fascism were viewed as little different from each other, and millions of lives were lost fighting the Axis. It's a large reason the word "patriot" is used in America, instead, to differentiate from racist nationalism, aka fascism.
As I told him, I lived just 15 miles from the border in Arizona, and lived for a number of years in Texas, besides. So, I'm quite familiar with the situation at the border and the issue of immigration. Racist and xenophobic Republicans deliberately conflate illegal immigration with legal asylum seekers, and don't wish to understand how the problems requires a multi-faceted approach, or how the U.S. is a nation of immigrants. They don't really care about the inhumane treatment, the coyotes, the dangers faced by illegal immigrants and asylum seekers wanting a better life, or how most of them don't want to leave their home countries, and do so only out of dire necessity. They got no humanity. Only hate. They know Democrats don't support open immigration, but they tell the lie, anyway.
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Get big money out of politics, and get corrupt politicians like Manchin and Sinema sucking up to the corporate trough voted out.
• A summer sting operation by Greenpeace had an Exxon Mobil lobbyist reveal that he met with Manchin weekly to try to persuade him to weaken Biden’s climate agenda (and he’s not the only rich guy who gets Manchin regularly on the line). Manchin has received more donations than any other Senator from oil, gas, and coal industry.
• An August piece in Harper’s noted that the West Virginia Democratic Party, which the senator played no small role in gutting, remains entirely under Manchin’s influence and control. It also mentions how Manchin leveraged his influence within the Senate to get plush government appointments for people close to him, including his wife.
• A September report from Type Investigations and the Intercept revealed that Manchin is currently invested in multiple coal companies that are run by his son, and that, even though the elder Manchin’s investments are in a blind trust, he has personally made $4.5 million from them during the time he has spent in the Senate (11 years to date).
• This is likely the Manch’s last term. In this remaining time, he seems to be simply looking out for his sources of wealth, including the ones that come from his son’s coal incinerators. It wouldn’t be the first time a Manchin family member used conflicts of interest to their advantage. Joe’s wife, Gayle, previously served as head of the West Virginia Board of Education and used her position to try to require the state’s schools to purchase EpiPens. EpiPens are manufactured by the Big Pharma juggernaut Mylan, whose former CEO was Heather Bresch—Manchin’s daughter, who stepped down after it was revealed she helped fix the prices of EpiPens in collusion with Pfizer. Family helping family: It’s a highly lucrative graft.
• While Manchin and Sinema worked to delay and reduce the Democrats’ budget bill, they were raising campaign money from wealthy Republican donors, according to a Sludge review of campaign finance data from Code for Democracy. For many of these donors, their contributions to Manchin or Sinema this year have been only their first or second donations to any Democrats in recent election cycles.
• Twenty years ago, when Kyrsten Sinema was a Green Party activist running for the Phoenix City Council, she likened the practice of raising campaign cash to “bribery.” Now that she's a U.S. senator, she no longer seems to have such qualms. So far this year, she's raised nearly $750,000 in donations from the pharmaceutical and medical sector (plus more from the financial sector) at a time when the Arizona Democrat was using her power in a narrowly divided Senate to force President Joe Biden to scale down his spending agenda. Her actions are closely aligned with the priorities of donors who have much at stake in how Biden's initiatives turn out.
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Farmer wakes up one morning, goes outside to milk his cows, and discovers his entire herd is missing! So, he then walks over nest door to where the Republican cult lives, notices them grinding a whole bunch of beef into hamburger, and asks them, "Did you see what happened to all my cows?"
Republican cult: "Yeah, they jumped over the moon."
Farmer: "Do you have any actual evidence of that?"
Republican cult: "No, because they landed on the dark side, and you can't see them over there. But we're conducting a bunch of investigations and fraudits, and we're confident evidence will soon emerge to prove it!"
Farmer: "You know, that sounds like a load of manure!"
Republican cult: "Well, that's what we all choose to believe!"
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@El ganso Loco - Republican cult asininely embracing Q-anon! Looney-Tunes GOP crapped their party into the toilet with Toxic Trump, now flushing it down into the sewer! Good riddance to bad governance and bad actors!
Calculate 99% of these bad actors at MSM sites are of Russian origin. Real Republican cult morons don't come to real news, might learn things they don't want to know. Instead, they seek to stay safe and secure in their regularly scheduled Reich-wing programming Faux News delusional bubble world. It's quite obvious these Russian bots aren't here to convince anyone of anything, only to agitate, divide, and disseminate disinformation to weaken America, kill Americans. As for the other 1%, they're just flamer perverts getting their sick jollies, beyond reason or redemption, anyway.
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Trump Has Sabotaged America’s Coronavirus Response
by Laura Garrett
In 2018, the Trump administration fired the government’s entire pandemic response chain of command, including the White House management infrastructure. In numerous phone calls and emails with key agencies across the U.S. government, the only consistent response I encountered was distressed confusion.
....
White House efforts included reducing $15 billion in national health spending and cutting the global disease-fighting operational budgets of the CDC, NSC, DHS, and HHS. And the government’s $30 million Complex Crises Fund was eliminated.
In May 2018, Trump ordered the NSC’s entire global health security unit shut down, calling for reassignment of Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer and dissolution of his team inside the agency. The month before, then-White House National Security Advisor John Bolton pressured Ziemer’s DHS counterpart, Tom Bossert, to resign along with his team. Neither the NSC nor DHS epidemic teams have been replaced. The global health section of the CDC was so drastically cut in 2018 that much of its staff was laid off and the number of countries it was working in was reduced from 49 to merely 10. Meanwhile, throughout 2018, the U.S. Agency for International Development and its director, Mark Green, came repeatedly under fire from both the White House and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. And though Congress has so far managed to block Trump administration plans to cut the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps by 40 percent, the disease-fighting cadres have steadily eroded as retiring officers go unreplaced.
Public health advocates have been ringing alarm bells to no avail.
Ronald Klain, who directed U.S. efforts on Ebola, has been warning for two years that the United States was in grave danger should a pandemic emerge. In 2017 and 2018, the philanthropist billionaire Bill Gates met repeatedly with Bolton and his predecessor, H.R. McMaster, warning that ongoing cuts to the global health disease infrastructure would render the United States vulnerable to, as he put it, the “significant probability of a large and lethal modern-day pandemic occurring in our lifetimes.” And an independent, bipartisan panel formed by the Center for Strategic and International Studies concluded that lack of preparedness was so acute in the Trump administration that the “United States must either pay now and gain protection and security or wait for the next epidemic and pay a much greater price in human and economic costs.”
https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/31/coronavirus-china-trump-united-states-public-health-emergency-response/
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While mostly agree with Rep. Duetch, he has no words of defense for his fellow Democratic colleagues subjected to racist attacks here, instead throwing them under the bus, equating those he KNOWS are not anti-Semitic, and whose words have been taken out of context, with those who are known racists with a divisive agenda. He shows no indication of understanding or empathy how Palestinians and Muslims can feel the same fear of Israel and Jews he does for anti-Semitism, when people in the Israeli government, Jews, and other Islamophobic racists speak of them as animals and terrorists. Does he feel any empathy for the over 1,000,000 Palestinians Israeli Jews ethnically cleansed from Israel to create a "Jewish" nation, and how many and their descendents are still forced to live in refugee camps 70 years later because Israel denies them their natural and legal right of return to their homes and properties, which were illegally appropriated? Don't believe Jews control the world or its monetary systems, but neither is it any secret that Israeli front organizations like AIPAC unduly influence U.S. foreign policy through campaign donations and other political means. We need to talk about that, Rep. Deutch, and we need to be clear about where American interests end and Israeli interests begin. That can't--and shouldn't--be brushed under the rug as anti-Semitic.
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Putin is posturing. He's not stupid, isn't about to kill the goose that lays the golden egg, which is the corrupt regime he runs that enriches him and his appointed oligarchy cronies. If he thought he could get away with taking Ukraine, he would do it, but he knows it would be too costly, and could well prove his downfall.
NATO nations border Russia now, just as they have since the days of the USSR. NATO is a defensive organization, as Putin well knows. The U.S. and other NATO allies have no intention or interest whatsoever of employing offensive military forces against Russia in aggression, as Putin also well knows. NATO was formed at the request of European nations in conjunction with the U.S. as a hedge against Russian aggression, another thing of which Putin is well aware.
And there's no mistaking that Russia is the aggressor, with its annexation of the Ukranian territory of Crimea, its military operation in eastern Ukraine, and its ongoing efforts to destabilize Ukraine.
Which is not because Ukraine poses any threat to Russia. It's because Putin promotes Russian nationalism and a return to the supposed "glory" of the former communist Soviet Union as a way to gain support to prop up his corrupt regime, much as Hitler did. This also constitutes military extortion against Ukraine because of Russian economic dependency upon Ukraine.
Putin runs a brutal, repressive regime, and while there is resistance and protests, they are met with harsh crackdowns by security forces and often heavy punishment handed down to those involved. What Putin fears is not the U.S. or NATO, but his fellow citizens.
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"As many as 70,000 Americans could be confirmed as infected with coronavirus by the end of next week, marking a “pretty dramatic” increase in the number of confirmed cases, the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, told his employees in an agency-wide conference call on 03/20/20."
Except 03/21/20 saw a 33% jump in U.S. cases, from 18,000 to over 24,000. If continuing at 33% every 24 hours, the number of confirmed cases is trending much higher than just 70,000 by 03/27/20. Suspect confirmed cases will be double that. Bear in mind, states hardest hit are not testing many people, saving the tests for those most in need. So the actual number of infected Americans is going to be far higher than just what limited testing of the population has so far confirmed. Don't think this fact is being given enough attention. More important than the number of cases confirmed is the number contracting the disease and not getting tested, spreading the disease, in many cases unknowingly. Hospital projections are for about 100 MILLION Americans to become infected, with about 500,000 dead from covid-19.
(Update 5: Friday, 03/27/20, confirmed U.S. cases 105,000--which is 50% over NIH high-end estimate; deaths 1,700 by end of day. The perspective for cases is significantly skewed low and thus highly misleading, however, as just 0.17% of U.S. population has been tested to date.)
03/29/20 -- 143,000 confirmed cases; 2,450 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
03/30/20 -- 165,000 confirmed cases; 3,250 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
03/31/20 -- 190,000 confirmed cases; 4,200 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
04/01/20 -- 217,000 confirmed cases; 5,150 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
04/02/20 -- 246,000 confirmed cases; 6,050 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/03/20 -- 278,000 confirmed cases; 7,150 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/04/20 -- 312,000 confirmed cases; 9,400 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/05/20 -- 338,000 confirmed cases; 9,700 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/06/20 -- 369,000 confirmed cases; 11,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/07/20 -- 400,000 confirmed cases; 13,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. Figures indicate a Covid-19 fatality rate for TESTED Americans at 3.25%.
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It seems you misunderstood. It was asked to elicit the details from the mother. It wasn't that the reporter didn't know what she meant or what that detailed, it was just a question designed to provide her the opportunity for her tell her story in her own words. That is what a good reporter (or good communicator) does. Also, it was important that she tell her story, because she was witness to what the police had told her, and she is the one making the accusation that their story changed.
Moreover, it is typical in interviews like this that a producer, reporter, or staff goes over the information that will be provided by the interviewee before taping. Thus, the question wasn't being asked to inform the reporter, but rather to inform the audience, and it wasn't necessarily to define the phrase "he was lied on" for viewers so much as to inform them of the specifics of that allegation, of that to which she was referring.
As you observed, anyone could easily understand the phrase to mean a falsehood told meant to impugn a person's reputation. But here the falsehood told by the police was also meant to justify or rationalize her son's shooting, to cover for the perpetrators who chased him down and caused his death, to falsely and unjustly portray Ahmaud as the criminal instead of the victim. Hope this explanation helps make sense of things!
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over four decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America could have confronted and conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, nihilistic, hyper-partisan fascist cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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Instead of embracing the reverence for nature and sustainability practiced by the America's indigenous peoples, we have entered into a death pact with capitalism, consumerism, greed, and selfishness, largely forced upon the common person by large businesses and the wealthy, who continue exploiting us for the own short-sighted, immediate benefit. We bear some responsibility for that, too. For taking part, for allowing it to happen, and for allowing it to continue as long as it has. Until enough of us average citizens wake up and become active in changing how our cultures and societies operate, the downward spiral of our environment will continue leading us into a dead-end death trap. Capitalism and consumerism can serve a purpose. However, they should be viewed and utilized as just one tool at our disposal in our toolbox, and not overly relied upon, like a hammer used for every job, which does more destruction than good.
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Captain of aircraft carrier struck by coronavirus wants sailors off ship
ABC News -- 03/31/20
In an unusually blunt memo, the captain of the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier has warned top Navy leaders that most of his ship's crew of 5,000 needs to be quarantined ashore in Guam -- because he's concerned that keeping them on the ship would continue the spread of the novel coronavirus.
A week after an initial three sailors were identified as being infected with the virus, a U.S. official told ABC News that the number of infected sailors has risen to at least 70.
MORE: 36 sailors test positive for coronavirus on Navy aircraft carrier
The aircraft carrier is currently in Guam, where it docked on a timely port visit that allowed it to quarantine the growing number of infected sailors and enable the testing of the ship's crew.
Under Navy orders, the majority of the ship's crew has remained aboard the ship while pierside. Some have been moved to shore, though not in the individual housing advised under guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In a copy of the memo, sent to top Navy leaders on March 30 and obtained by ABC News, Captain Brett Crozier, the ship's commanding officer (CO), argued that testing was not enough and that more needed to be done to keep the virus from spreading quickly to the rest of the ship's crew. The contents of the memo were first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle.
Crozier continued, adding that "due to a warship's inherent limitations of space," it isn't possible to comply with the CDC's recommendations for social distancing.
"With the exceptions of a handful of senior officer staterooms, none of the berthing onboard a warship is appropriate for quarantine or isolation," Crozier wrote. "Thousands of ‘close contact’ Sailors require quarantine in accordance with guidance."
"The only effective method to preserve an individual’s health is total isolation for 14+ days in accordance with the NAVADMIN Individual hotel/barracks rooms with separate heads," he wrote.
Crozier added that "decisive action is required" because the "the spread of the disease is ongoing and accelerating" and will continue because he can’t meet the CDC’s social distancing guidelines and separation for up to two weeks.
In order to meet the guidelines, Crozier urged that his sailors needed to be placed in individual quarantine facilities on Guam, each with its own bathroom. While he acknowledged that it "may seem like an extraordinary measure" to remove the majority of a deployed U.S. aircraft carrier's personnel, he said it was "necessary."
Crozier said that 10% of the ship's crew could remain aboard to run its nuclear reactor, maintain security and sanitize the ship.
(MORE: President Trump authorizes ready reserve forces to fight coronavirus: Here's what that means )
"This is a necessary risk," Crozier said. "Keeping over 4,000 young men and women on board the [Roosevelt] is an unnecessary risk and breaks faith with those Sailors entrusted to our care."
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/captain-of-aircraft-carrier-struck-by-coronavirus-wants-sailors-off-ship/ar-BB11YOXd
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
~ "Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts."
~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of conspiracy theories, the party of hate, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of corruption, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, don't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their deal with the Devil.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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GOP cult is NOT the party of law and order, NOT the party of the Constitution and patriots, NOT the party of "values," NOT the party of fiscal responsibility, NOT the party of clean government. It's the party of terrorism, lawlessness, corruption, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry, misogyny, big lies, sedition, and traitors.
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation—only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regurgitation
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump’s COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration…
Now reaching vacation destination!
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GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian nationalism religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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Republicans: "I pledge allegiance to the lies of Trump, and to the racism, bigotry, crimes, corruption, conspiracies, delusions and ignorance for which he stands, one dysfunctional lunatic fascist cult under Trump, a nation forever divided, with plutocracy, autocracy and injustice for all."
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Unbelievable! This volcano is fixing to blow! First, it's Rosenstein playing the rat abandoning the sinking pirate ship, then Barr self-destructs, meanwhile Ms. Conway decides to very publicly and quite defiantly break the law, not only once, but twice on successive days. WOW!!! Does she really think Barr can protect her? When's Trump's coronation? Or are they all moving into the Trump Moscow Hotel? Keeping the passports handy? Trump's all-star defense team: Barr, Rosenstein, Conway, Huckabee-Sanders, Putin, Satan, and Congressional Republicans. Sad.
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You don't get denialism without nihilism. As life-long conservative Bill Kristol astutely pointed our just recently in a tweet, the Republican party has embraced nihilism. Republicans still labeling COVID-19 a "hoax;" Republicans still refusing to wear masks or social distance after over half-a-million American fatalities from COVID-19; Congressional Republicans obstructing a COVID-19 stimulus bill certain to pass just to delay vital and urgently needed relief to Americans desperate for help; Republican governors dropping mask mandates and all restrictions on businesses, heedless of rising case counts in their states and deadly new variants of the virus; and Republican leaders continuing to push the Big Lie that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen without evidence and in disregard of plentiful evidence and facts to the contrary, even AFTER their Big Lie incited a terrorist attack by a mindless Republican mob against the nation's Capitol in insurrection against the government, attempting to overturn a legitimate election, sieging, storming, sizing, sacking, defiling, defacing and disgracing America's citadel of, and temple to, democracy--these are all prime examples of nihilism.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over four decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America could have confronted and conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, nihilistic, hyper-partisan fascist cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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@bradychick6535 ~ Bad Vibration, Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
What location revitalization?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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Republicans constitute the minority, can't win on their merits, have sunk so low that they cheat to win elections. Under the Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, they've even taken to pushing Russian propaganda crackpot conspiracies to smear Democrats, using the DOJ and Congress to conduct phony investigations in an effort to unethically, if not illegally, influence elections. Most disturbing and troubling is the Republican cult that not only tolerates such nefarious aberrations, but encourages it, in short-sighted mindless tribalism willing to flush America down the toilet if perceived to benefit their power-obsessed partisan purpose of the moment. This reflects an abject failure not only in GOP so-called "leadership," but among that minority Republican electorate that enables such highly destructive damage to our democratic Republic.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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Merrick Garland: "Trump and Congressional Republicans screwed me out of a seat on the Supreme Court...that's why now as AG I can't prosecute them for the many crimes they've committed!"
Merrick Garland’s House Testimony Demonstrated the Failure of His Hyper-Cautious Approach to His Job
Despite Garland’s many efforts to not appear political by declining to investigate Trump and his cronies for possible crimes and by using DOJ resources to actively protect Trump from civil liability, Republicans are still portraying him as the most political attorney general in history.
The other weakness of Garland’s timid approach was on full view during his opening statement and responses to Democratic members of Congress. “The essence of the rule of law is that like cases are treated alike. That there not be one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans; one rule for friends, another for foes,” Garland stated grandly. But by declining to investigate Trump and his associates, Garland is enabling further attacks on our democracy. (While proving inequity by putting Republicans above the law.)
Crucially, the two parties are not the same. Garland’s standard sets up a false equivalency between the Democratic Party and a political party whose national leader, Donald Trump, incited and celebrated a violent assault on our nation’s Capitol to overthrow the results of a free and fair election and who continues to portray the insurrection as a glorious “protest.” To that end, in the middle of the attorney general’s testimony, Trump issued a statement highlighting Garland’s feebleness at failing to even investigate the organizers and leaders of the Jan. 6 events, declaring “the insurrection took place on November 3, Election Day. January 6 was the Protest!”
Garland’s efforts to depoliticize the DOJ have proved to be an abdication of his responsibility to protect the rule of law. Take just a few examples: Garland’s failure to reconsider the obstruction of justice case against the former president, his deferral of an investigation of possible financial crimes by Trump and his organization to local prosecutors in New York City and Westchester, his use of the DOJ to protect Trump from defamation allegations, and his deferral of a soliciting of voter fraud felony probe in Georgia to local prosecutors there. By abdicating his responsibility, Garland is also opening the door for Trump to commit these possibly criminal abuses all over again, this time with the full support of the Republican Party, and maybe ultimately return to power.
--Mark Stern
"Try as he may, Merrick Garland cannot perform boring independence fast enough to outrun GOP claims that he’s a wild-eyed, violent socialist. And while the GOP currently exists only to cast everything you thought you believed into doubt, the real endgame is vigilantism. The endgame is to ensure that people mistrust government, election systems, school boards, (teachers, health care officials) the media, and the justice system enough to lend a hand in their destruction."
--Dahlia Lithwick
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion. obstruction of justice, and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian nationalism religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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Seems only fair that the least Toxic Trump could do, after slaughtering over 80,000 Americans with his "greatest ever" ignorance, is to give the U.S. government his resort properties, to be quickly converted by the Army Corp of Engineers into public hospitals, medical facilities, and morgues. Too bad that's never going to happen--Turd Trump refuses to even sign order for FEMA to help fellow Americans out with OUR taxpayer money to bury their loved ones whom he killed, like they do in every other national emergency, despite repeated pleas to him, appealing for some shred of humanity, respect, and dignity be given for our dead.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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Donald Trump, at White House press conference on 04/07/20:
And we’re going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO. We’re going to put a very powerful hold on it, and we’re going to see.
Trump later at that same press conference:
Q: Thanks. A quick follow-up on that. So is the time to freeze funding to the WHO during a pandemic of this magnitude?
THE PRESIDENT: No, maybe not. I mean, I’m not saying I’m going to do it, but we’re going to look at it.
Q: You did say that you’re going to —
THE PRESIDENT: We give a tremendous —
Q: You said you’d put a hold on it.
THE PRESIDENT: No, I didn’t.
Toxic Trump, one week later, on 04/14/20: "I'm withholding WHO funding!"
WHO held a important meeting on COVID-19 vaccines at the beginning of May, with all nations attending...except no U.S. medical and scientific representatives sent by the Trump Administration, without any explanation. The absence particularly stunning in light that U.S. has half of world's cases and a quarter of the deaths, although possessing just 5% of the global population.
ME, US, the world: WTF?? Why in HELL is that raving lunatic STILL in charge during this major pandemic health crisis?!? Hasn't he KILLED enough Americans, ALREADY?!?
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You don't get out too much, that's obvious. Or, you're just another Russian bot, stirring the pot. Journalist wasn't being disrespectful, doofus. It was actually a very sympathetic, respectful, objective, and professional synopsis. The "smiling" was recollecting the good in Kobe, an emphasis on the positive, of hope in a time of tragedy. The focus was overwhelmingly on the good, not the mistakes and mishaps in his life--which is only expected, and wholly appropriate in the immediate wake of such tragedy. The journalist spent considerable time also celebrating his fans and those who loved him. BTW, most people are aware that everyone reacts to grief in different ways. How some people like to make something sinister out of nothing is actually destructive to them, and to society.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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Republicans can't handle reality, would rather traffic and believe in lies. The GOP is a fascist, nihilistic cult that would destroy democracy and America if given sufficient opportunity. And THAT, folks, is your reality check.
What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil. They are either actively or silently complicit in fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorist violence, Reich-wing insurrection, and Reich-wing undermining of our democracy and Constitution.
It's crystal clear that Trump, Boebert, Greene, Gosar and other Republicans like them are fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorism. The GOP has become radicalized to such an extent that it has essentially become a fascist terrorist organization, with members that fantasize and promote violence against their fellow Americans. While those Republican elected officials must be condemned and sanctioned, they are only a symptom of the disease poisoning a third of America, the most visible part of the cancer infecting our nation.
The GOP has been mainstreaming radicalization of their voter base for decades, ALLOWING Reich-wing media and Reich-wing demagogues to take over the party, to the point it has become a fascist, nihilistic cult. Because just as now, Republican politicians and their plutocratic masters have always seen it as the ends justifying whatever means to win power. Remember the Republican Tea Party? This catastrophe with the GOP didn't start with Trump, who just exploited what Republicans had already built.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle for graft and to grift their voters and us taxpayers. You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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Trump has left Senate Republicans little choice but to impeach him, or they make a complete mockery out of themselves, the law, Congress, Constitution and country! Sure, the rats will scurry, and the worms slither, but at the end of the day, they must come up with twenty amongst them willing to fall on their swords. Volunteers likely to be rare with these cowards, so this is where the action is expected to really start heating up, with Senate Republicans vying viciously and vitriolically against each other for those coveted 'No' votes to avoid crossing their cult, while still getting Trump out of there and salvaging as many GOP seats in Congress as they can!
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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The American workplace isn't ready for an epidemic. Many Americans have no insurance, many others can ill-afford deductibles, still more can't afford to take off work when not feeling well; more than a third of jobs don't offer sick days, and even where available, they may have been already used, or employees try saving them for more serious illness--all making us extremely vulnerable to epidemics such as COVID-19. Many jobs in America involve low-paying work in the service industry, where employees are in constant contact with, and exposed to, a huge swath of the public on a daily basis. These folks typically don't get sick days or insurance benefits, and can ill-afford to miss any work because of loss of money and the threat of losing their job. Many are ill-educated, and may not pay sufficient heed to health warnings, further exacerbating the spread of the epidemic facing us all.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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Not every American needs to get tested everyday, and the percentage of Americans exposed and recovered is still far, far too low to staff businesses with the employees needed for them to operate profitably. The key is timely RANDOMIZED testing and CONTACT TRACING testing.
Unfortunately, the U.S. currently STILL lacks the capability to test all the Americans working on the front lines (not just health-care workers) and getting sick. Still Americans with suspected COVID-19 suffering mild symptoms being told tests unavailable, unable to get tested, can only quarantine themselves, not even knowing for sure if they have COVID-19, or something else.
The key to reopening the economy is testing, testing, testing. But, Republican cult morons don't want to listen to the science, the experts, and the data. Worse, they blind themselves to all the dead American bodies stacking up--more Americans lost in EIGHT WEEKS than all TWELVE YEARS of the Vietnam War.
The U.S. will soon fix the problems with lack of testing--even without the national coordinated response so desperately needed from Trump. With randomized and contact tracing used in conjunction with lockdowns and other measures, the number of tests needing to be done daily is but a small fraction of the population. So, the testing capacities needed are feasible, will soon be available to us, and constitutes the only sane strategy for a quicker recovery--for both public health and our economy.
The BIG problem with trying to take shortcuts in a pandemic is the needless sacrifice of human life. Businesses can be restarted, but dead Americans are gone, forever. Another thing is that reopening too soon only exacerbates the problem and delays recovery, forcing more and longer mitigation efforts, hurting us MORE. Not to mention the HUGE economic cost of all those Americans getting sick, missing work, suffering lasting debilitating, life-long conditions as a result of contracting the disease, all the associated added medical costs for hospital stays and the like, and all the economic costs associated with longer mitigation efforts that will be needed.
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***MEDIA FAIL*** -- Cuomo makes many excellent points, but we all lost. Why? Because he didn't call out Duffy's rampant projection and Whataboutism for what they were. When we start comparing one wrong thing with an opponents wrongs, we are lowering the moral threshold for everyone, creating a construct where the end game is no wrong too wrong, no evil too evil. Someone gets murdered, we know it's wrong, we don't compare to other murderers to condemn, because there is no need. We KNOW it's wrong. These forms of propaganda are used to obfuscate the facts, and their harm to society is real, as they work to lower our moral standards. Ironic, considering both Cuomo and Duffy are both well-educated Catholics certain to have been well-versed in the pitfalls of morality.
Cuomo is the son of a politician, and a smart fellow. He should know all about projectionism and Whataboutism, that they go back to Russian communist leaders in the 1920's and--more importantly--have become the most frequent forms of propaganda techniques engaged in by Republicans. Yet, he gets manipulated into making comparisons, defending past actions defending, etc., instead of calling out the B.S. on the spot, putting an end to that highly destructive nonsense poisoning our discourse, dividing us, misinforming us, weakening us, being used as a vehicle to evade and deny truth, leading us to sure ruin.
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation—only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regurgitation
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump’s COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration…
Now reaching vacation destination!
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Toxic Trump: "I'm the BEST, just absolutely CRUSHING the competition, with over TWO POINT EIGHT MILLION coronavirus cases and over 130 -- one-hundred and thirty!!! -- THOUSAND deaths! Easy as 1-2-3! They ALL got eighty-sixed, 'cause nobody else even comes close! With a QUARTER of the world's cases AND deaths--can you even imagine how truly great, how awesome, that achievement is, with only just FOUR PERCENT of the world's population to work with? Believe it or not, I accomplished in only FIVE WEEKS what it took the Vietnam War a whole TWELVE YEARS to do! Not done with the fun--and not to be outdone--I then doubled down on the death toll from Vietnam in just FOUR MONTHS! PLUS, we're not even counting ALL the COVID-19 cases and deaths here in the U.S.! And, with only SEVEN PERCENT of the U.S. population already infected, we're just getting started with all the sickness and death; there's PLENTY more to come! Those other weaklings and losers don't stand a chance, because we're going to keep right on winning--as long as I'm in charge! Now, vacation's over; time to get back to work on increasing those numbers, people! Let's keep America great, get rid of all the excess baggage! As wartime President, I am commanding all CIVILIANS to senselessly sacrifice their lives for my arrogance, stupidity, vanity, malevolence, and greed!"
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Rep. Cheney gave a powerful and defiant speech speaking truth to the dysfunctional Republican party to which she belongs, which has abdicated its duty to be LOYAL opposition----except for one thing. Republicans did not end communism in the former USSR or cause its dissolution. A consistent foreign policy by both Democratic and Republican leaders in the Executive Branch and Congress (and our NATO allies, as well) over decades played a role, but it was the work and decisions of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev that were the decisive factor and which deserve most credit. He instituted policies of glasnost and perestroika, changed Soviet law to allow other parties to compete against the Communist Party, motivated because he saw clearly that Russia was dysfunctional, its costly imperialism, political and economic structure moribund and detrimental to Russia's progress. For his courage and actions, for speaking the truth to the Russian people, Gorbachev paid a much higher price politically than is Liz Cheney currently, who is displaying the same kind of courage as he did.
Gorbachev received the Nobel Peace prize in 1990 for all that he did for Russia and ending the Cold War, and it is wrong for Cheney to falsely attribute all credit to her Republican party for the results largely due to his independent decisions, engaging in history revisionism for the benefit of her political party. Isn't that exactly why the GOP----and Liz Cheney----find themselves in their present predicament in the first place? So, it is heavily ironic that Cheney does not extend the same due for his bravery and patriotism in telling the truth to the Russian people that she is exhibiting telling the truth about the 2020 election to the American people. It is also heavily ironic that the credit she is falsely attributing to the Republican party for the USSR becoming more democratic comes at a time when the Republican party is corroding democracy and seeking to make America less democratic.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
Democrats, Independents, others: WTF?!?
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America's enemies don't need to spread disinformation, doubt, discord, and division to weaken America, kill Americans--Republican politicians, Reich-wing demagogues, Faux News, OAN, Newsmax, Breitbart and the rest of the Reich-wing media do that so effectively for them, already. More Americans need to realize that the GOP has abdicated it's duty as loyal opposition, and that its prioritization of party over country and welcoming embrace of violent radical Reich-wing extremists diminishes both our government and our national security, endangering ALL Americans, as well as weakening and endangering America itself.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, along with Reich-wing demagogues and media, who were complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance, and in spreading disinformation and misinformation. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump left office, one out of every 800 Americans had died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 410,000 fatalities, as many American casualties as all of WWII. To put it into further perspective, throughout Trump's catastrophic mishandling of a deadly global pandemic, the U.S. led the world in cases and deaths, suffering nearly 25% of each, despite having only 4.25% of global population, despite having the advantage of being the richest and most advanced nation in the world.
The memorial would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure. Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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Open hearings are the absolute worst way for Congress to get at the truth because of Republican showboating, grandstanding, obstructionism, and obfuscating the facts in any way they can, but the public needs to see and understand for itself. The majority of Americans already know the self-evident truth, and it's plenty to convict for impeachment. However, Democrats still need to move the needle, bringing another 10-20% of those clueless Americans on board to pressure Semate Republicans into observing their sworn duty. A few Republican cult dupe morons slowly coming around, but they're not crucial or expected--it's those apolitical and apathetic voters that will make the difference, and who need to be awoken to the very real, and very clear, danger present to Constitution and country.
In point of fact, much of the truth Congress has obtained has been behind closed doors, and that practice will continue throughout because of the sensitive nature of some of the evidence and testimony involved. Understand that the truth already discovered behind closed doors can then be streamlined and presented in open hearing testimonials to the American people in a way enabled much more efficient and capable by that initial gathering of information behind closed doors. Not only is it better for the prosecution to have grand juries and the like behind closed doors, but it also to protect the accused, as a matter of fairness. It protects innocent reputations and helps guard against false charges. Republican lawmakers know full well these things, yet dishonestly cast aspersions upon the process, programming their cult--to the ultimate detriment of themselves and the nation, precisely as seen playing out right now before our very eyes! GOP never learns!
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john teague --Confronted with a conundrum contrary or conflicting, the Republican cult instinct for self-preservation induces a cease of circulation to the cranium, causing confusion, chaos, crisis, corruption, and criminality! Cult for cult, con for con, convolution after convolution, cockamamie concocted crackpot conspiracy after cockamamie concocted crackpot conspiracy, cover-up after cover-up, the GOP is alone, in a league all its own!
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Trump Has Sabotaged America’s Coronavirus Response
by Laura Garrett
In 2018, the Trump administration fired the government’s entire pandemic response chain of command, including the White House management infrastructure. In numerous phone calls and emails with key agencies across the U.S. government, the only consistent response I encountered was distressed confusion.
....
White House efforts included reducing $15 billion in national health spending and cutting the global disease-fighting operational budgets of the CDC, NSC, DHS, and HHS. And the government’s $30 million Complex Crises Fund was eliminated.
In May 2018, Trump ordered the NSC’s entire global health security unit shut down, calling for reassignment of Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer and dissolution of his team inside the agency. The month before, then-White House National Security Advisor John Bolton pressured Ziemer’s DHS counterpart, Tom Bossert, to resign along with his team. Neither the NSC nor DHS epidemic teams have been replaced. The global health section of the CDC was so drastically cut in 2018 that much of its staff was laid off and the number of countries it was working in was reduced from 49 to merely 10. Meanwhile, throughout 2018, the U.S. Agency for International Development and its director, Mark Green, came repeatedly under fire from both the White House and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. And though Congress has so far managed to block Trump administration plans to cut the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps by 40 percent, the disease-fighting cadres have steadily eroded as retiring officers go unreplaced.
Public health advocates have been ringing alarm bells to no avail.
Ronald Klain, who directed U.S. efforts on Ebola, has been warning for two years that the United States was in grave danger should a pandemic emerge. In 2017 and 2018, the philanthropist billionaire Bill Gates met repeatedly with Bolton and his predecessor, H.R. McMaster, warning that ongoing cuts to the global health disease infrastructure would render the United States vulnerable to, as he put it, the “significant probability of a large and lethal modern-day pandemic occurring in our lifetimes.” And an independent, bipartisan panel formed by the Center for Strategic and International Studies concluded that lack of preparedness was so acute in the Trump administration that the “United States must either pay now and gain protection and security or wait for the next epidemic and pay a much greater price in human and economic costs.”
https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/31/coronavirus-china-trump-united-states-public-health-emergency-response/
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“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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The following UNPRECEDENTED statement from ALL members of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff just issued will hopefully finally knock some sense into the very thick skulls of the Republican cult. Top military officials prefer to stay out of anything tinged with politics. FOR EVEN ONE to say something after last week’s event would be noteworthy and rare enough. For all eight Joint Chiefs to speak out together demonstrates just how PERILOUS they deem this moment to be, indicative of just how very much a CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER to the nation's security posed by the Traitor-'n-Thief:
“The violent riot in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021 was a direct assault on the U.S. Congress the Capitol building, and our Constitutional process. We witnessed actions inside the Capitol building that were inconsistent with the rule of law. The rights of freedom of speech and assembly do not give anyone the right to resort to violence, sedition and insurrection.
As Service Members, we must embody the values and ideals of the Nation. We support and defend the Constitution. Any act to disrupt the Constitutional process is not only against our traditions, values, and oath; it is against the law.
President-elect Joe Biden will be inaugurated and will become our 46th Commander in Chief.”
General Mark A. Milley, U.S. Army, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
General John E. Hyten, U.S. Air Force, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
General James C. McConville, U.S. Army, Chief of Staff of the Army
General David H. Berger, U.S. Marine Corps, Commandant of the Marine Corps
Admiral Michael M. Gilday, U.S. Navy, Chief of Naval Operations
General Charles Q. Brown Jr., U.S. Air Force, Chief of Staff of the Air Force
General John W. Raymond, U.S. Space Force, Chief of Space Operations
General Daniel R. Hokanson, U.S. Army, Chief of the National Guard Bureau
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Of course, the January 6th Select Committee is going to issue an invitation to members of Congress to come forward with information about January 6th before issuing a subpoena, expecting them to honor their Oath of Office. Of course, Republicans don't care about their Oath of Office. Of course, they're going to falsely claim victimhood and allege the Commitee is a political witch hunt. Of course, they're not going to cooperate. Of course, Republicans will continue to Gaslight, Obstruct, and Project, putting personal and party interests before country. Of course, outside of a small handful of Congressional Republicans, they are not leaders, but followers in a fascist, nihilistic GOP cult. Of course, they continue to push the Big Lie, whether actively or silently complicit, fomenting domestic terrorism while undermining and degrading our democracy and republic.
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@ajm6464 ~ Republicans have abandoned honor, dignity, integrity, truth, and reason, becoming utterly shameless in their rampant hypocrisy and disregard for common decency. A political party that has been hijacked by ignorance, hatred and negativity, driven by racism, misogyny, xenophobia, and religious bigotry. But have they really become so consumed by ignorance that they have completely lost their sense of self-preservation? In all of my many years, have never seen U.S. national security more compromised, endangered, and in peril than at present with this administration and Republican Senate--including during the Cold War.
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For three years, Republicans have propped up and protected a racist, corrupt, sociopathic narcissistic menace to society, gaslighting and covering up Traitor Trump crimes, ineptness, and incompetence. Republicans don't really care about our country; time and again, for decades now, they have put their politics and greed for power above the welfare of this nation. The destructiveness of GOP politics on American government began under Nixon, but starting with Reagan it became a Republican selling point. Conservatism won't die, but Republicanism has become a zero-sum game for losers. This incarnation of the GOP needs to die, or it will be the end of American greatness.
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To those not wearing masks, social distancing, or following guidelines: Your willful ignorance does not mask your wanton disregard for human life, your appalling lack of humanity and humility, your supremely selfish inconsideration of others. Despite absolutely loathing wearing a mask, it's also the reason it's worn. The sooner we all start wearing masks, social distancing, and taking this deadly pandemic seriously, the sooner we get to take them off, the less time they'll need to be worn. Not to mention, the sooner we can go back to a normal that is more like normal, the sooner we can get our jobs back and our economy rolling, again.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
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david Bordelon ***NEW CDC UPDATE***
TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome)
Fortunately, the disease and contagion has confined itself solely to the two Trump supporter sects, Trumputin and Trumpturd. All others possess natural immunity. Expecting some casualties from this disease among the cult following Trump demise, but the general population is safe, the nation should survive, albeit with a stain upon it.
Any remaining Trumpezoids should be rendered mostly harmless, although the possibility exists of continued recurring cross-contamination. Treatment is simple and relatively painless. Trumpezoids must be kept from spoon-fed Russian government/Republican propaganda for an extended period, until returning back to normal.
Yes, Doc, it seems the ugly stain will remain upon the nation. But the cure was always there. Republicans are choking to death from their own propaganda, having copiously binge gorged until they became sick, and a sickness upon society. No Grecian legend foretold this tale (well, OK, maybe the lust for power, narcissism, abandonment of reason, obsession with wealth, vanity, and doomed ending parts), but a lesson shouldn't have been required. Only common sense.
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TRUM_PLANNED_EMIC!
Given plenty of advance warnings about COVID-19, Toxic Trump chose not to heed the sound advice provided. We could have been Taiwan, with a comparative 100 deaths in the U.S.; or South Korea, with a comparative 1500 deaths here, after adjusted for population size. Taiwan had just seven deaths; South Korea less than 300. We got over 125,000 deaths already, with the count still rapidly rising, while we remain, still, firmly mired in the first wave of the disease. Even worse, after six months, we STILL lack the adequate testing and rational national response to contain the disease.
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"We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Unknown source, a derivative of similar quotes by William Butler Yeats, Bertrand Russell, and Charles Bukowski
Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
~ How Fascism Works, The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(Reference also Father Charles E. Coughlin and Henry Ford in regards to the original America First movement.)
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
Malcolm Nance: We Are In A Neo-Fascist Era In American Politics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_RxUAe2zeM
Political Analyst Tells Joy Reid: Forget Trumpism, IT’s Neo-Fascism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IgNp84JA4A
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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We have a big, BIG problem, and it's REAL serious. We have a crisis of leadership in a time of great crisis and threat. The Trump administration has misled and lied to the American people so much and so often about so many things, big and small--already. Currently, their ongoing deceptions and lies about this national and global emergency health crisis has already cost America very dearly in both cousin and coin. Things only worsen under present leadership; ignoring, or failing to address that is no different than ignoring pandemics. Trump administration's gross incompetence and rampant corruption are fomenting panic, instability, and a breakdown of society, when calm unity, a clear sense of direction, and a steady hand on the rudder guiding the nation forward are RIGHT NOW absolutely, vitally essential. Trump is incapable of acting even in his own best interests, much less ours.
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@mugshotmarley ~ Yet, speaking from experience, Ebay can still be a dicey place to make purchases. Quite sure that Amazon knows who is making purchases and sending them out to its customers, or has the means to do so. Some of their vendors found a way to exploit their customer rating system. Not desirable, but the harm done is relatively small, and not necessarily a reason to condemn Amazon--especially without knowing all the facts. This isn't to defend Amazon, by any means; just trying to be objective, reasonable, and fair. Though unaffected by it, have already lodged a complaint with Amazon about this flaw being exploited in their system. If enough people do that, trust that Amazon will make fixing the vulnerability a priority.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It's that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don't care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another five months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, John Eastman and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
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Trump falsely claims drug approval for virus
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump misstated the facts Thursday when he asserted that the Food and Drug Administration had just approved a decades-old malaria drug to treat patients infected by the coronavirus. After his FDA chief clarified that the drug still needs testing, Trump also overstated the drug's potential upside in helping contain the outbreak.
THE FACTS: The drug, known chemically as chloroquine, has been available for decades to treat the mosquito-borne illness malaria. Technically, doctors can already prescribe the drug to patients with COVID-19, a practice known as off-label prescribing. But Trump falsely suggested to reporters that the FDA had just cleared the drug specifically for the viral pandemic spreading in communities across the U.S. That would mean that the drug had met the FDA's standards for safety and effectiveness.
Minutes later, FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn emphasized that the drug still needs testing to determine if it can help patients. He said chloroquine would have to be tested in “a large pragmatic clinical trial to actually gather that information.”
Drug trials typically require hundreds or thousands of patients and, even when accelerated, take weeks or months to complete. In his remarks, Hahn reflected on his background as a cancer doctor and warned against giving patients “false hope” before drugs are fully vetted.
While chloroquine has shown promise in preliminary laboratory studies, some experts are skeptical it will prove effective in human testing.
“I think it could be a game changer, and maybe not,” Trump said, discussing the drug.
But the FDA reiterated in a statement Thursday that there are “no FDA-approved therapeutics or drugs to treat, cure or prevent COVID-19.”
_
TRUMP: “If chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine works, or any of the other things that they're looking at that are not quite as far out ... your numbers are going to come down very rapidly.”
THE FACTS: The drugs he is referring to are for treatment in patients already infected. That doesn't prevent spread of the virus. One study is testing chloroquine to try to protect health care workers at highest risk of infection, because a vaccine is likely a year or more away.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/ap-fact-check-trump-falsely-claims-drug-approval-for-virus/ar-BB11qGbz
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law?
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No, it was limited in scope because that's what it was intended to do. The bipartisan commission agreed to by both Republicans and Democrats that was supposed to be an overall investigation into the January 6 insurrection was torpedoed at the last minute by Republicans, remember? The blame here really lies with Republicans, and we shouldn't lose sight of that. Nor should all Democrats be blamed for just two Democrats in the Senate; Charlie Brown Manchin and Silly Sinema, who refuse to abolish the filibuster there. Nonetheless, if Republicans continue to stonewall the commission, a House Special Select Committee will take up the task, which I think will produce a more thorough investigation and report than the proposed bipartisan commission would, because Republicans would only hinder, impede, and obfuscate the bipartisan commission to cover their own involvement in the insurrection, anyway.
Unlike many others here, I don't blame Sen. Peters for the omission of the word "insurrection." I'm quite sure that it wasn't the preference of Peters and Democrats on the committee to omit the word, but rather was done at the insistence of Republicans. They----and they alone----are to blame. Peters and the rest of the Democrats rightly decided that getting out a timely report with bipartisan support on the security and intelligence failures, as well as recommendations to secure the Capitol, were more important than inclusion of the word. I am just as disappointed and disgusted about not describing the events of January 6 as an insurrection as everyone else, would agree that there is some danger in not doing so, but it was imperative to get to the bottom of this aspect of January 6, and we needed those recommendations to secure the Capitol. It was a choice of two evils, and I think Peters and the Democrats made the correct decision to get this vitally needed report produced and released. I salute Keilar for her tough questioning, and while I understand Peters is running a critically important committee that requires bipartisanship to function well and is being diplomatic to foster as much cooperation with Republicans as possible, I still wish he had been more forthright about exactly why the word insurrection wasn't used to describe the insurrection, placing blame where deservedly due.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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Toxic Trump, at coronavirus press briefing 04/20/20, "We're looking at maybe only 50-60,000 deaths in the U.S.!"
Just three days later, on Thursday, 04/23/20, American COVID-19 fatalities surpass 50,000. For more perspective, the previous day, 04/22/20, saw a new worst of nearly 2,700 COVID-19 deaths in a single day, topping the nearly 2,400 Americans lost on 04/14/20. Clueless, disinterested, deranged, disengaged, and detached from reality are not the qualities you want in a leader during a major global pandemic crisis. That's a lethal combination.
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Trump excluded the Afghan government from peace negotiations with the Taliban, legitimizing the Taliban by making a separate peace deal with them and delegitimizing the government we worked so long and hard at so much cost to build and support, while releasing 5,000 Taliban prisoners and agreeing to withdraw all U.S. forces by May 1, 2021, guaranteeing failure. Moreover, Trump eviscerated the refugee program for Afghan and Iraqi allies visa programs, creating a huge backlog over several years. A federal judge even ruled Trump's delaying of those visas illegal. Furthermore, Trump abandoned are Kurdish allies in Syria and Iraq. Trump and Pompeo could hardly have screwed up our foreign policy any worse, and the damage they did will take decades to repair. But the Republican cult morons are too stupid to know and too stupid to care; they'll just deny and try to shift blame, as usual.
Liz Cheney's right----it didn't have to happen this way: her father, Dick Cheney, and George Bush were responsible for the deterioration of affairs in Afghanistan by diverting troops and resources to conduct an illegal invasion of Iraq on the false premise of WMD and Iraq harboring terrorists. The situation in Afghanistan never recovered from that fatal mistake by Cheney and Bush; it allowed the Taliban to regroup and come back bigger and stronger than ever. Cheney and Bush's illegal war in Iraq also resulted in the emergence of ISIS.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or "the Wall") is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle's name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called "leaders" in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 -- than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to--and a barrier against--our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It's design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge--and help teach--people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see...if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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@DAN-lo7fz ~ Hypocritical Republican cult whines about cancel culture...
--while making death threats against those disagreeing with them
--while censuring any Republican leaders daring to speak the truth about January 6.
--while conducting a terrorist attack against the nation's Capitol in insurrection, viciously beating police, intent on killing lawmakers and the Republican VP, attempting a coup to overthrow the results of a free and fair election...just because their candidate lost.
--while trying to cancel out the votes of millions of Democrats and minorities by objecting solely to their votes, enacting numerous voter suppression measures, and engaging in egregious gerrymandering.
--while labeling MSM "the enemy of the people."
--while censoring and moving to remove fellow Republicans of integrity who speak up for truth and decency, and against GOP lies, terrorism, and crackpot conspiracy theories.
--while Reich-wing media turns off comments yet rants against "censorship."
--while Faux News fires its news editor for truthfully reporting that Arizona had been called for Biden.
--while trying to run a Biden campaign bus off the road.
--while Rep. Marjorie Greene prevents press from covering town hall meetings where nobody wore a mask.
--after seriously injuring over 140 police officers in the Republican cult's seditious terrorist attack of insurrection against the nation's Capitol, Republican cult terrorists threaten to call the cops on reporters trying to get their side of the story.
--after canceling out millions of American's jobs under George W. Bush's recession and the largest loss of jobs since the great Depression under Toxic Trump due to his gross incompetence, lies, and willful criminal negligence in responding to a global pandemic.
--while canceling out the lives of hundreds of thousands of their fellow Americans by spreading lies about COVID-19, politicizing a deadly pandemic, and refusing to follow common sense health guidelines.
--while threatening to cancel baseball's anti-trust exemption for exercising their right to free speech
--while canceling out a bipartisan January 6 commission, despite initially agreeing to it and Democrats acceding to all Republican demands for the commission
--while criminal Michael Flynn is gifted an assault rifle IN A CHURCH and then talks about "using it in Washington"
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@tigmaticsp4570 ~ While this comment was confined specifically to one aspect----debunking the false allegations of instilling guilt in children----yours is an excellent reply in pointing out the big picture. I appreciate that. No question that the end game for these misguided folks is perpetuating racism. Here is my reply today to another on a different comment thread in a related story about a Black Texas school principal being wrongly suspended, which provides a more comprehensive cover of this issue that you may also appreciate:
~ Have pointed out before how nationalism (aka fascism) has again reared its ugly head around the world, but that isn't germane to this particular discussion, nor does it happening elsewhere in any way excuse it occurring here.
The pictures could be rated, at worst, PG, and are no different and no more revealing than what can be seen in a network TV show or commercial. The pictures are just being used as an excuse.
What really bothers some people about the picture is its depiction of the intimacy between a Black man and a White woman. Just as the hatred for Obama wasn't only because of his mixed race, but also because he was the product of the union between a Black man and a White woman. 'Bringing the War Home' by Kathleen Belew is a great book on the White power movement and its correlation to current events which stresses the importance and recurring theme among such groups of "protecting" White women.
Of course, it goes beyond just that and the pictures. More broadly, this involves a backlash against multiculturalism, diversity, and inclusiveness, as some Whites see their majority fading, and fear their power and privilege being lost----fears that are additionally being fomented, fed, and exacerbated by Reich-wing politicians, demagogues, media, Christian nationalists, and the White power groups themselves.
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Because humans have neglected to take aggressive action to curb our hydrocarbon usage and emissions, have refused to take climate change seriously, now what we are witnessing is a snowball effect, where the problem is exacerbated by fires burning in the Amazon, in Greece, in the western U.S. and Canada, raising temperatures and adding more CO2 and other greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. As the frozen tundra thaws, methane gases are being released, and as water bodies warm, methane hydrates formerly trapped at the bottom rise into the air, releasing even more methane gas. As more and more surface ice is lost on land and in the ocean, less sunlight is reflected back into space, causing more heat gain. Humans have set into motion a self-perpetuating loop; a cycle which we may well be powerless to stop, and which will destroy life on Earth as it has existed for millions of years.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and disturbing. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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Let's just call it what it actually was -- a Republican smash and grab, an act of violent larceny against democracy and sedition employing domestic terrorism right out in open sight.
"Without accountability, an attempted autogolpe and insurrection is just practice."
"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ― Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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Yet, somehow, the Report itself is distinctly and uniquely Mueller, as is his testimony reinforcing that Report. How far down those rabbit holes you want to chase, Doc? Even if true, can't change the facts! You a Russian bot, or just another Republican traitor weakening America? Sorry, got to start asking all the time, thanks to Trump. Plus, can't tell the two apart anymore, they got this constant feedback loop going on betwixt the two, the Putin bots and Republican cult dupes all sound the same now! Always casting doubt on any fact or evidence against their Russian asset, Trump. They'll try to convince one that maybe the moon really is made of cheese! But we're on to their little games.
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@markkeith9055 Why you being dishonest, Doc? Two options, so you picked one, try to pretend it's the only one! Who you think you fooling besides yourself?
Moreover, are you stupidly trying to pretend Russian bots don't exist, the Russian attack against America didn't happen, and isn't ongoing, as we can see for ourselves in real time when they flood message boards, then get taken down? Why are all the Russian bots for Trump...did you ever stop to even think about that?
Last, but not least, your behavior in responding is intellectually dishonest, because you neglect to address the primary thrust of the comment. Why should people waste their time engaging with you, when you got nothing to offer but deceit? If a real person, you're still no better or different than a Russian bot. So, what's the difference? At least own it!
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@James-hq1yv ~ Just repeating the same fuzzy math won't make it any less wrong, Doc! Besides, it wasn't 150, it was about 15,000 Republican cult lunatics. Furthermore, what you're attempting to assert is that just because only fifteen al-Qaeda terrorists were on the planes on 9/11, the rest of al-Qaeda wasn't a terrorist organization. Traitor-'n-Thief Trump is Osama bin Laden, the leader of the terrorist insurrection against our nation's Capitol, and 80-85% of Republicans still support him. That tells us all we need to know. Get a clue, not fascist Republican cult of seditious terrorists, FOR CHRIST'S SAKE!
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@James-hq1yv ~ You're all about the dishonesty, Doc! That's got nothing to do with Jesus. You can't hide your fascist hate behind the Bible, anyway. Besides, playing stupid is not only dishonest, it's just plain dumb. Like you're really too stupid to know that the Republican cult terrorists are getting arrested--whether they were inside the building, hanging off the outside of the building, or on the grounds of the Capitol illegally. That's like saying the terrorists outside the Benghazi building don't count as terrorists. Just more fuzzy math from you, more dishonesty. Only question is, are you lying to yourself, or you just lying to others? All the same to me, but something you should figure out for yourself. Get a clue, not a fascist Republican cult of seditious terrorists, FOR CHRIST'S SAKE!
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@LiberalPerspectiveNews ~ Nobody LIKES wearing seat belts....until it saves them from serious injury or death. Nonetheless, people with common sense understand the many good reasons for wearing seat belts, they buckle-up, and they enjoy the benefit of having decreased insurance costs.
The "war" over seat belts was the exact same mentality about "freeDUMB" that we see now with Covid-19 vaccines, and the flawed, fallacious arguments against laws mandating them were almost exactly the same then as are being used now against vaccines. The automobile manufacturers had little to do with it. However, the same flawed, fallacious anti-science arguments have been recycled and reused by Republicans and their plutocrat donors for tobacco use, for acid rain, and for climate change.
Yet, progress rolled on, and there was no significant amount of violence for any of these things. Yeah, we all saw what happened on January 6, when the fascist terrorist insurrectionists cowardly went running back home and crawled under their rocks to avoid felony arrests, and how many of them that got caught are now saying they regret what they did, that they were wrong, pleading for mercy, ratting out their criminal cohorts, spending time in courts, jails, and prison.
So, we're supposed to be AFRAID of these hapless morons? Don't know about you, but I don't live in fear, as Republicans like to do. Nor do I buy into the fear-mongering B.S. about anti-vaxxers going psycho because of vaccine passports or mandates that save their lives and the lives of others. You want to live in fear and appease a minority of terrorists, allowing them to kill innocents and bring America down, that's your prerogative----just don't include me.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
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Elmer Fudd's always trying to convince me he just wants unity.
What he really means is that he wants to eat me.
Unity and compromise is a two-way street that only works if both parties operate in good faith. Republicans have a long history of failing to do that--or even try. Recent history since Biden won the election shows no indication of them changing their divisive, destructive words, attitudes, and acts. Tyrant Trump incited a terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol to overthrow an election, endangering his VP and members of Congress, sat by and gleefully reveled in watching it happen for hours, ignoring desperate pleas for help, and only a very few Republican are willing to speak out, impeach him, convict him, and prevent him from holding public office again? That's not loyal opposition; that's a dangerous terrorist political cult of fascists.
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, John Eastman and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed? If Garland doesn't stand up for justice and democracy, this nation is soon doomed.
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
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@MKUltraPill ~ An acronym and term I don't much care for. For one thing, because it's simply not true, and placing all law enforcement in the same basket is more counter-productive than helpful. For another thing, the term originated in England among the criminal class, but was subsequently adopted by neo-Nazi skinheads before being used by the BLM movement.
Thus, it's meaning can be misconstrued or distorted, conflating BLM with neo-Nazis or criminals, much the way "defund the police" has been taken wildly out of context by the Reich-wing to mean getting rid of police departments altogether. The term or acronym should be judged within the context used, but the Reich-wing Republican cult doesn't care about nuance and truth, so they will dishonestly distort its meaning where it suits them. The more you know, the better we all are!
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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"Everybody that needs a test can get one!" Except, EVERYONE needs testing! It's not just about testing people who get sick, or even just those health care and other essential front-line workers, or those with a doctor referral. It's really all about RANDOMIZED testing, and testing for TRACKING and containment. THOSE are the testing capabilities desperately needed to safely reopen the economy--which the U.S. sorely lacks. Besides lying about virtually non-existent testing capabilities at the time, while also continually misleading Americans by touting testing kits instead of actual testing ABILITIES, the dirty, dastardly, dynamic duo of Toxic TRUMP and Plague PENCE were moving the goal posts, hoping to "score" in a game with no winners. They scored big, alright...in dead American bodies.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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There has never been a graceful exit for the losing side in any war.
Truth is, our hasty withdrawal from Vietnam was even worse if you look at the numbers and the whole picture. Only 7,000 were evacuated from Vietnam during the fall of Saigon, with many more left behind, including two dead American soldiers----the last to die in the Vietnam War----left behind in a hospital and not returned until a year later by the Vietnamese. That evacuation occurred under hostile NVA and Vietcong fire. Since August 14, over 120,000 have already been evacuated from Afghanistan despite the complete capitulation of the Afghan government and Afghan Army, with no hostile fire upon American troops by the Taliban so far. Over 125,000 have been evacuated since the end of July. Moreover, the January 27, 1973 peace agreement signed by the Americans with the North Vietnamese ended all direct U.S. military involvement in Vietnam, and provided sixty days for troop removal. Just as with Afghanistan, all troops were removed. However, it was over two years later, on April 30, 1975, when the fall of Saigon occurred. So, the U.S. had nearly two-and-a-half years to evacuate everyone else before the fall of the South Vietnamese government and armed forces, instead of just the two weeks like in Afghanistan so far.
The other thing in stark contrast between Vietnam and Afghanistan is that no Democrats----including Carter, who was running against Ford for President----tried to use the situation for political gain like Republicans are so desperately and depravedly doing now. That, despite the fact that it was the previous Trump administration which bears the brunt of the blame for the current situation.
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According to a recent poll, 86% of Democrats have gotten the vaccine, while only 45% of Republicans have. African-American's vaccination rate is just under 50%, which is still a higher rate than Republicans. Moreover, because African-Americans make up a much smaller percentage of the population, the total number of their unvaccinated is also much smaller than the total number of unvaccinated Republicans. It's the total numbers that tell the real story, not the percentage. It's like comparing 99% of the 1% versus 50% of the 99%. For example, out of a group of 10,000 people, that would be 99 unvaccinated of the 1%, and 5,000 unvaccinated of the 99%. There's simply no comparison. Also, while there is vaccine hesitancy among unvaccinated African-Americans, only 7% say they will not get the vaccine. Compare that to 58% of unvaccinated Republicans saying they will not get the vaccine. Most disgusting, this is merely an effort at blame-shifting by Republicans onto a minority, which is racist.
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@caboose3903 ~ All you got is lies, Doc! That's not what she said, and Reich-wing distortion of her words has been rated as totally false by fact-checkers:
"If the public health professionals, if Dr. Fauci, if the doctors tell us that we should take it, I’ll be the first in line to take it. Absolutely. But if Donald Trump tells us that we should take it, I’m not taking it."
Trump told over 30,000 lies while in office. Worse, he lied about Covid-19 repeatedly. Nobody with half a brain trusted anything he said. Only dimwit morons in the fascist Republican cult like you trust Trump.
Republicans: "I pledge allegiance to the lies of Trump, and to the racism, bigotry, crimes, corruption, crackpot conspiracies, delusions and ignorance for which he stands, one dysfunctional lunatic fascist cult under Trump, a nation forever divided, with plutocracy, autocracy and injustice for all."
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Taking the vaccination and following CDC guidelines brings freedom from preventable illness or injury, and a senseless premature death, but the mindless fascist Republican cult only believes in freeDUMB. Just as they don't understand or would deny the Constitution is as much about the common good as personal liberties, and that those two things are intrinsically and inextricably intertwined.
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge." ~ Ben Franklin, from Poor Richard's Almanack
Those who scorn public health guidelines during a deadly global pandemic and confuse a grievous public health issue with "essential" liberty to kill and harm themselves and their fellow citizens--as well as their nation--sorely lack both care and knowledge. They are also sorely lacking in common sense, something else about which Mr. Franklin was quite keen. Mr. Franklin was also one our nation's first scientists--yet these modern-day knuckleheads who ought know better refute science! Were he alive today, he would be rather dismayed, disgruntled, and disgusted with the fascist anti-science Republican cult, that much is crystal clear.
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@fishfighter73156 ~ If you'll notice, Barrett's following of precedent was acknowledged implicitly in my reply to which you responded, when it stated that she was upholding two lower court decisions, which would have relied upon precedent. However, Barrett has written and stated before that she believes precedents can be overturned, and she and other conservative justices went against precedent in gutting Civil Rights Act provisions, reinterpreting them in a way contrary to the intent of Congress when it wrote and passed the law. My reply was about why she chose to follow precedent. Another reply of mine elsewhere in another thread expounded upon this:
Ruling otherwise would have gone against precedent, opening the door to preventing schools from mandating vaccines for schoolchildren, preventing colleges from mandating the meningitis vaccine for students. Barrett has been on the bench less than a year, and she isn't stupid. She wasn't about to put herself out on a limb by going against precedent and two lower court decisions on this. See also my reply above to this comment.
The practice of Constitutional interpretivism has typically been used by conservative judges and justices to achieve their desired partisan and ideological ends through a very narrow reading of the Constitution. And when or where in conflict with those conservative aims, the practice is abandoned on the basis of various flimsy justifications that don't stand up to close scrutiny, displaying the hypocrisy at work. Moreover, how people interpret the Constitution and our founder's intent varies quite widely----just as it does with religious texts like the Christian Bible.
There are five basic sources that have guided interpretation of the Constitution: (1) the text and structure of the Constitution, (2) intentions of those who drafted, voted to propose, or voted to ratify the provision in question, (3) prior precedents (usually judicial), (4) the social, political, and economic consequences of alternative interpretations, and (5) natural law.
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You don't get denialism without nihilism. As life-long conservative Bill Kristol astutely pointed out, the Republican party has embraced nihilism. Republicans denying systemic racism; Republicans denying climate change; Republicans still labeling COVID-19 a "hoax;" Republicans refusing to wear masks or social distance after over half-a-million American fatalities from COVID-19; Congressional Republicans obstructing a COVID-19 stimulus bill certain to pass just to delay vital and urgently needed relief to Americans desperate for help; not one Congressional Republican in either chamber voting for the badly needed stimulus bill; Republican governors dropping mask mandates and all restrictions on businesses, heedless of rising case counts in their states and deadly new variants of the virus; and Republican leaders continuing to push the Big Lie that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen without evidence and in disregard of plentiful evidence and facts to the contrary, even AFTER their Big Lie incited a terrorist attack by a mindless Republican mob against the nation's Capitol in insurrection against the government, attempting to overturn a legitimate election, sieging, storming, sizing, sacking, defiling, defacing and disgracing America's citadel of, and temple to, democracy; and now Republicans attempting history revisionism, trying to sweep the January 6 insurrection under the rug, refusing to support a January 6 bipartisan commission----these are all prime examples of nihilism.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, John Eastman and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
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TRUM_PLANNED_EMIC!
Given plenty of advance warnings about COVID-19, Toxic Trump chose not to heed the sound advice provided. We could have been Taiwan, with a comparative 100 deaths in the U.S.; or South Korea, with a comparative 1500 deaths here, after adjusted for population size. Taiwan had just seven deaths; South Korea less than 300. We got over 135,000 deaths already, with the count still rapidly rising, while we remain, still, firmly mired in the first wave of the disease. Even worse, after six months, we STILL lack the adequate testing and rational national response to contain the disease.
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"Peace is not a very big thing to ask for, is it?" ~ Fatima Gailani, Afghan activist and negotiator, pleading for continued U.S. presence in Afghanistan
It is when asking the Taliban, who do not seek peace or to bargain in good faith, but total domination once again. U.S. has spent 20 years and $2 trillion trying to achieve peace in Afghanistan, losing over 4000 American lives (military and civilian contractors), with tens of thousands of Americans wounded there.
"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials … have given Afghans little reason to support their government," Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the commander of U.S. forces in the country, wrote in a 2009 memorandum. "This crisis of confidence, coupled with a distinct lack of economic and educational opportunity, has created fertile ground for the insurgency."
That was 11 years ago, and little has changed since. Thought the invasion of Afghanistan by Bush was a mistake that would lead to a quagmire, and have been proven correct. Still, initially supported efforts to bring peace and stability there, along with basic human and civil-rights, because after invading felt we had an obligation to rebuild. However, while U.S. blunders there have contributed to a failure, Afghans are their own worst enemy, and no can help them until enough of them wish to help themselves.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
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***MEDIA FAIL*** -- Smercartoonish: "One side is following the science, experts, doctors, facts, data, and plain old-fashioned common sense. The other side is killing more Americans by making a deadly global pandemic political. I'm asking you to take part in an unreliable, unscientific poll sampling of this CNN audience that tells us absolutely nothing, because it's the really important thing for you to do right now! The question is, 'Do you think Toxic Trump and his band of bioterrorists will prevail in killing more Americans in reelecting him, so he can continue his killing spree for four more years?'" MEDIA BE BETTER, WE BE BETTER!
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Trump is challenging more than House Democrats to impeach--he is also challenging the federal courts, because of their subsequent required involvement in the various lawsuits initiated. However, the federal courts have not been very kind to Trump thus far, having lost many times more often there than they have prevailed. Given legal precedent and the administration's flimsy legal defenses, Congress appears likely to prevail in most, if not all. Though the Trump administration had a couple of limited successes there, the Supreme Court has allowed many lower court rulings against Trump to stand. And I think the Supreme Court--including members of its conservative majority--will be very reluctant to make any ruling that hinders Congressional oversight and impeachment, especially given past precedent and long-standing constitutional law and precedent that the Supreme Court has no providence concerning impeachment. Also, its conservative justices are serving lifetime appointments, unlike their civil service counterparts in Congress, who must answer to their constituents. I think it likely that if litigation ever does reach SCOTUS on this matter, Trump will be either gone or toxic politically. In conjunction, at least some of these conservative justices seem savvy enough to avoid tarnishing the Supreme Court and diminishing their legitimacy the way Barr did his Attorney General's Office and the Department of Justice for which he worked.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over four decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, nihilistic, hyper-partisan fascist cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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Nobody's hanging Trump, only investigating, which is typically done behind closed doors. Unlike other suspects, Trump is receiving due process during this phase, anyway, through all the Republicans on the oversight committees. If the House does impeach and refer to Senate, Trump receives more due process than any other person losing their job, as he receives a defense. Remember, this isn't a criminal trial, but whether he should keep the job. Big, BIG difference! Trump is not being lynched, nor is he even being railroaded. He's getting every benefit of the doubt, but Republicans can't defend the crimes, so they dishonestly criticize the process, using dishonest hyperbolic words bearing no relation to the reality.
On the other hand, Trump administration really was packing migrants into detention centers, turning them essentially into concentration camps. So, yeah, there is some merit to that one, because the term does not apply solely to Jewish concentration camps run by Nazis, but also to other regimes similar abuses of human rights detaining groups of people using cruelty, as well. BTW, because some in the Jewish community did question use of the word, media and most Democrats took to using other words, respecting what had happened to them. We didn't complain about it, like Republicans are now complaining about Trump being called out on his inappropriate use of "lynching."
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There has never been a graceful exit for the losing side in any war.
Truth is, our hasty withdrawal from Vietnam was even worse if you look at the numbers and the whole picture. Only 7,000 were evacuated from Vietnam during the fall of Saigon, with many more left behind, including two dead American soldiers----the last to die in the Vietnam War----left behind in a hospital and not returned until a year later by the Vietnamese. That evacuation occurred under hostile NVA and Vietcong fire. Since August 14, over 28,000 have already been evacuated from Afghanistan despite the complete capitulation of the Afghan government and Afghan Army, with no hostile fire upon American troops by the Taliban so far. 33,000 have been evacuated since July. Moreover, the January 27, 1973 peace agreement signed by the Americans with the North Vietnamese ended all direct U.S. military involvement in Vietnam, and provided sixty days for troop removal. Just as with Afghanistan, all troops were removed. However, it was over two years later, on April 30, 1975, when the fall of Saigon occurred. So, the U.S. had nearly two-and-a-half years to evacuate everyone else before the fall of the South Vietnamese government and armed forces, instead of just the two weeks like in Afghanistan so far.
The other thing in stark contrast between Vietnam and Afghanistan is that no Democrats----including Carter, who was running against Ford for President----tried to use the situation for political gain like Republicans are so desperately and depravedly doing now. That, despite the fact that it was the previous Trump administration which bears the brunt of the blame for the current situation.
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Worst economic downturn in American history, catastrophically botched COVID-19 pandemic response with over 160,000 senseless American deaths. TWENTY straight weeks of over ONE MILLION new unemployment claims. Deaths projected to double by the end of year due to most corrupt, incompetent, racist, and ignorant President in U.S. history. A treasonous President that compromised himself with Russia, who refuses to hold the U.S. principle foreign adversary accountable for its attacks on America, who won't even speak out against Russian bounties on U.S. soldiers. Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy: "Toxic Trump is doing a helluva job!" Rabid right-wing cult media is DESTROYING America!
What's really confusing America is Newsmax, Faux News, and all the other rabid right-wing media outlets propagating and spreading disinformation. Without the supporting cast of willing supplicant proto-fascist right-wing media exploiting and profiting from them, the lies and distortions of Toxic Trump and Republicans would hold very little power, and could not persist.
Anyone really all that surprised that the CEO of Newsmax, Chris Ruddy, is a dishonest partisan hack with no character or integrity whatsoever? If so, that's only because you've never seen Newsmax.
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Who'd have ever equated voting in America with survival? But that's pretty much what it has boiled down to, hasn't it? Survival of ourselves, survival of our democracy, survival of our nation, and survival of our planet. The irony is that Republicans have always tried to paint Democrats as an existential threat...but in doing so it is actually they who have become exactly that.
Democrat voters need an even greater turnout in '22 and '24, put the final fork in Trumpism! Republicans want to engage in Jim Crow voter suppression laws, voter intimidation, and egregious gerrymandering? Republicans want to engage in corruption, gaslight their corruption, coverup their corruption? Republicans want to turn a blind eye to Russian election interference and knowingly disseminate Russian propaganda for Putin? Republicans want to instigate and sanction Reich-wing domestic terrorist insurrection? Republicans want to live in delusion and denial about the major problems confronting the nation and planet? Let's just prove that's fuel for the fire, and make their fascist antidemocratic corruption backfire on them!
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Despite knowing of the emergence of COVID-19 in December, and it threat to world health shortly thereafter, Trump did virtually nothing to prepare for the inevitable coming health crisis of a pandemic. Trump administration has had MONTHS to get its act together, yet public health system and hospital networks are NOT prepared for the kind of outbreaks seen in China, South Korea and Italy. We do NOT have the respirators and ventilators needed for the expected numbers. We do NOT have enough oxygen equipment and medications stockpiled. We do NOT have enough medical personnel to handle the expected numbers. We do NOT have enough medical facilities for those kinds of numbers. We do NOT yet even have the training programs in place to handle this epidemic for either health professionals or the public. There should have been a massive national mobilization by our Federal government started months ago to begin preparation of needed medical equipment, supplies, and drugs. Instead, Trump has peddled delusions and denials of the realities, wasting weeks, which will result in the senseless, unforgivable loss of more American lives due directly to his gross ignorance and incompetence.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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What we are witnessing and feeling is an ongoing train wreck, from the vantage point of the passengers. The lunatic conductor of the LOCO-motive, Toxic Trump, knew the end-of-the-line was coming, yet kept increasing acceleration, anyway. He's still trying to pump the gas, even with the train off the track! We on the HELL bound train, now, Lucifer's demented and depraved minion absolutely determined, dedicated, DEVOTED to getting us all there on time!
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Great to see good 'ol Torture Yoo put under the bright lights and given a little taste of his own medicine! However, as Torture Yoo proves, torture victims will say anything to make the torture stop, making it useless for intelligence gathering, good only for perverted gratification, used by sadistic, ignorant brutes like Trump, Cheney, and Torture Yoo!
It's "Torture" Yoo! Never forget--this is the clown that wrote specious opinions at OLC to provide legal cover for Dubya's torture regime! Still pissed Princeton took him on as a professor afterward, giving him a plush, prestigious job, a position he still holds, lending credibility when he deserves to be thoroughly discredited! Still pissed at Obama for not investigating torture, too--leaving the door open for another joker like Trump to torture.
Torture Yoo is a weasel. Always has been, so this is really nothing new for those who knew. Typical Republican.
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To those not wearing masks, social distancing, or following guidelines: Your willful ignorance does not mask your wanton disregard for human life, your appalling lack of humanity and humility, your supremely selfish inconsideration of others. Despite absolutely loathing wearing a mask, it's also the reason it's worn. The sooner we all start wearing masks, social distancing, and taking this deadly pandemic seriously, the sooner we get to take them off, the less time they'll need to be worn. Not to mention, the sooner we can go back to a normal that is more like normal, the sooner we can get our jobs back and our economy rolling, again.
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If only Toxic Trump and his flock of Republican cult Trumpette sheep could just give us a ballpark figure of how many American COVID-19 deaths they're planning to cause! Already almost 90,000 killed; will it be 100,000 American dead? 150,000? 250,000? 500,000? 1,000,000? Or, those morons shooting for the moon, all restraints off, no boundaries, sky's the limit? We're all just dying to know!
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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"...we must recognize that one of the two political parties is routinely engaged in sabotaging free elections with voter-suppression efforts aimed at the minority voters it cannot win over at the ballot box. These anti-democratic power grabs became a GOP staple decades before Donald Trump, culminating in the actions of a George W. Bush–anointed chief justice, John Roberts, whose Supreme Court shredded the Voting Rights Act of 1965. As Roberts famously put it in his 2007 opinion for the plurality, “The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.” Since then, discrimination on the basis of race has only expanded in states like Georgia and Florida, where Black voting rights have been cavalierly undermined and trashed." ~ Frank Rich, November 9, 2020 (Written well before the rash of new Jim Crow laws now being proposed and passed by Republicans in many states.)
Chief Justice Roberts and his fellow conservative SCOTUS justices: the architects of a new era of Jim Crow in America. Need to expand SCOTUS to 15 justices, do away with the filibuster, pass a new Voting Rights Act, and let Biden appoint six new justices to bring sanity and justice back to the Supreme Court.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and disturbing. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over four decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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The law on this is quite unambiguous: Under Section 6103 of our tax code, Treasury officials “shall” turn over the tax returns “upon written request” of the chair of either congressional tax committee or the federal employee who runs Congress's Joint Committee on Taxation. No request has ever been refused. There are no qualifiers in Section 6103 that shield the IRS from delivering, in confidence, his tax returns to Congress. No wiggle room at all.
Another provision in our tax code, Section 7214(a), provides that “Any officer or employee of the United States acting in connection with any revenue law of the United States… who with intent to defeat the application of any provision of this title fails to perform any of the duties of his office or employment… shall be dismissed from office or discharged from employment and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $10,000, or imprisoned not more than 5 years or both.”
So, how is it that this process has been held up in the courts for years? If Congress wanted to see any American taxpayer's returns, could we hold up Congressional oversight for years by filing endless lawsuits? Why is the Judicial Branch effectively usurping the power of Congress and allowing it to be so degraded as to be rendered essentially meaningless? Why can't the Judicial Branch act with expedience where the law is so clear and unambiguous, and throw out such frivolous and meritless lawsuits? Why do we allow a two-tier justice system, one for the rich and powerful, and one for the common person; one for whites, and one for people of color? WTF is wrong with SCOTUS? This is an outrage and disgrace.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast would soon come to consume them.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
Democrats, Independents, others: WTF?!?
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, John Eastman and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed? If Garland doesn't stand up for justice and democracy, this nation is soon doomed.
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
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@gulliverthegullible6667 ~ The moniker you've chosen for yourself apparently describes you perfectly, but it destroys your credibility, informs us you're nothing more than a troll, Doc!
The Republican cult listens to and follows false GOP prophets, worships a fake-orange fools gold Toxic Trump God whom they idolize and place upon a partisan pedestal.
“The mark is always the last to know.” Except the Republican cult are willfully ignorant sheep blissfully fleeced, now eager for sacrificial slaughter! It isn’t that they don’t know Toxic Trump is a treasonous grifter, an inveterate liar, a despicable selfish, soulless, godless, slimy slug filled with hate. It’s that they don’t care! Which is what makes them so dangerous.
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What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle to grift their voters and us taxpayers.
You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
Republicans have had lots and lots of practice gaslighting and revising history. Pretty soon, they're going to make the GOP disappear! They're already on the wrong side of history, yet keep edging ever closer to extinction.
GOP = Fascism The few patriots in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism needs to be called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
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War against a foreign country only happens when the moneyed classes think they are going to profit from it. ~ George Orwell
"Peace is not a very big thing to ask for, is it?" ~ Fatima Gailani, Afghan activist and negotiator, pleading for continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan
It is when asking the Taliban, who do not seek peace or to bargain in good faith, but total domination once again. U.S. has spent 20 years and over $2 trillion trying to achieve peace in Afghanistan, losing over 4000 American lives (military and civilian contractors), with tens of thousands of Americans wounded there.
"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials … have given Afghans little reason to support their government," Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the commander of U.S. forces in the country, wrote in a 2009 memorandum. "This crisis of confidence, coupled with a distinct lack of economic and educational opportunity, has created fertile ground for the insurgency."
That was 11 years ago, and little has changed since. Thought the invasion of Afghanistan by Bush was a mistake that would lead to a quagmire, and have been proven correct. Still, initially supported efforts to bring peace and stability there, along with basic human and civil-rights, because after invading felt we had an obligation to rebuild. However, while U.S. blunders there have contributed to a failure, Afghans are their own worst enemy, and no one can help them until enough of them are willing to help themselves.
Americans just got tired of too much "winning" in Afghanistan, but now Republicans are trying to profit politically and some in the press are trying to profit monetarily from the Biden blame game rather than holding the corrupt war profiteers, the corrupt politicians, the Afghanis and the Taliban accountable.
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@SkyNewsSucks000 ~ The highly-coveted Top Prize for our contestants today is an all-funeral-expenses-paid romantic getaway for two aboard the magnificent Corona Queen, taking you for an exclusive extended cruise, to a secluded stay on the exotic, remote, tropical Isle of Covid-19, where the fun is SUPER-contagious, and you will luxuriously bask in fabulous face masks and rejuvenating oxygen respirators, with the wonderful scent of disinfectant surrounding you! Sure to be a lifetime experience for some lucky few! Just remember--the couple that dies together, stays together!
BONUS SPECIAL CASES: Providing accompanying entertainment is Chief Jester Roberts and the entire Trump comedy team, featuring the Clown Commander, for laughs and coughs! There just ain't no cure, for them ocean cruise blues! Bon voyage!
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Taking the vaccination brings freedom from preventable illness or injury, and a senseless premature death, but the mindless fascist Republican cult only believes in freeDUMB. Just as they don't understand or would deny the Constitution is as much about the common good as personal liberties, and that those two things are intrinsically and inextricably intertwined.
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge." ~ Ben Franklin, from Poor Richard's Almanack
Those who scorn public health guidelines during a deadly global pandemic and confuse a grievous public health issue with "essential" liberty to kill and harm themselves and their fellow citizens--as well as their nation--sorely lack both care and knowledge. They are also sorely lacking in common sense, something else about which Mr. Franklin was quite keen. Mr. Franklin was also one our nation's first scientists--yet these modern-day knuckleheads who ought know better refute science! Were he alive today, he would be rather dismayed, disgruntled, and disgusted with the fascist anti-science Republican cult, that much is crystal clear.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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Should have been a nationwide lockdown March 1, with US population isolating as much as possible. The lack of testing necessitated it, but Trump administration had another major malfunction in leadership, which will directly senselessly cause the suffering and deaths of many more Americans who could have been spared. (First posted weeks ago; new study estimates 83% percent could have been saved if March 1 lockdown. Instead, in the absence of any rational coordinated national pandemic response due to Trump's criminal negligence, we now have states ignorantly reopening despite rising infection rates, in defiance of medicine, science, and common sense--despite 100,000 dead in less than three months from COVID-19. Another study has found that had the U.S. followed Taiwan's example, which allowed only SEVEN deaths, U.S. deaths would have been limited to only one-hundred. Instead of 100, we have over 100,000. That's just not acceptable.)
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--Instead of striving to bring out the best in people, Toxic Trump reveled in bringing out the very worst.
--Instead of uniting the country, Toxic Trump sought to divide us.
--Instead of abiding by and honoring our Constitution and the rule of law, Toxic Trump held them in disdain, disregarded them, and degraded them, running the most corrupt administration in U.S. history..
--Instead of strengthening democracy and our cherished institutions, Toxic Trump worked to diminish and destroy them, inciting a terrorist insurrection against his own government, attempting a coup to steal an election.
--Instead of insuring a peaceful transfer power after losing the election, Toxic Trump kept insisting against all evidence that he won, continuously repeating the Big Lie that resulted in the terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol.
--Instead of confronting a serious threat to Americans with a deadly global pandemic, Toxic Trump lied to the American people about it, ignored it, and refused to take any responsibility for his gross homicidal criminal negligence that resulted in one out of every 800 Americans dying from COVID-19--over 400,000 lives in just ten months, as many casualties as all of WWII.
--Instead of confronting the ever-increasing existential crisis from climate change and its harmful effects, Toxic Trump gutted regulations, exacerbating the problem and poisoning citizens.
--Instead of creating jobs, Toxic Trump was the first President since the Great Depression to preside over a net loss of jobs over his tenure.
--Instead of lowering the national deficit, Toxic Trump increased it from 19.2 trillion to 27 trillion.
--Instead of helping out the least among us, Toxic Trump widened the wealth and income disparity gap. 50% of his $1.9 trillion tax cut went to the top 5%; 65% went to the top 20%, with the top 40% benefiting next most, and the bottom 20% only receiving 1%.
--Instead of building bridges, humane immigration reform, and infrastructure, Toxic Trump built walls, cages, and concentration camps, separated children from mothers, allowed American infrastructure to decline and deteriorate, rejected economic opportunity.
--Instead of raising our standing and security in the world, Toxic Trump lowered and weakened it.
--Instead of draining the swamp, Toxic Trump turned it into a noxious overflowing sewer of Republican corruption.
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***MEDIA FAIL*** -- Sorry, Brian Stelter, it has far more to do with certain people in today's American culture than any information technology advances. It's about Republican willful ignorance, not the internet or cell phones. Those advances make it easier for some to obtain misinformation, but they also ultimately make holding a position of falsehood much more untenable and difficult. If anything, willful ignorance was EASIER before the internet and cell phones.
Actually thought this was a very intelligent segment otherwise, Brian; a credit to you, CNN, and Bernstein. There is a needed discussion to be had about how IT advances are effecting our culture, communities, society, families, relationships, politics, etc., but this wasn't it. In itself, it isn't responsible for the any changes to the impeachment debate we're having; it's merely a tool being exploited and abused by one side--and if it wasn't that tool, they'd find another to substitute, anyway. Your argument ignores all the good IT advances have done to make us a better educated, more well-informed society that now obtains much of its information in real time, instead of days, week, months, or years later--which benefits society greatly in many ways. So, there are two sides to the same coin: it's currently benefiting many Americans in learning the perfidiousness of this President and about the serious Constitutional and national security concerns necessitating his removal from Office. You also critically fail to account for traditional broadcast and print media outlets on the right, which are THE major source of disinformation in this nation, not Facebook or Twitter.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It’s that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don’t care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn’t want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it’s more than hope—those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another four months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn’t really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
“The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.”
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump’s hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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Republicans: "I pledge allegiance to the lies of Trump, and to the racism, bigotry, crimes, corruption, conspiracies, delusions and ignorance for which he stands, one dysfunctional lunatic fascist cult under Trump, a nation forever divided, with plutocracy, autocracy and injustice for all."
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America's enemies don't need to spread disinformation, doubt, discord, and division to weaken America, kill Americans--Republican politicians, Reich-wing demagogues, Faux News, OAN, Newsmax, Breitbart and the rest of the Reich-wing media do that so effectively for them, already. More Americans need to realize that the GOP has abdicated it's duty as loyal opposition, and that its prioritization of party over country and welcoming embrace of violent radical Reich-wing extremists diminishes both our government and our national security, endangering ALL Americans, as well as weakening and endangering America itself.
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regurgitation
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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***MEDIA FAIL*** -- Smercartoonish: "One side is following the science, experts, doctors, facts, data, and plain old-fashioned common sense. The other side is killing more Americans by making a deadly global pandemic political. I'm asking you to take part in an unreliable, unscientific poll sampling of this CNN audience that tells us absolutely nothing, because it's the really important thing for you to do right now! The question is, 'Do you think Toxic Trump and his band of bioterrorists will prevail in killing more Americans in reelecting him, so he can continue his killing spree for four more years?'" MEDIA BE BETTER, WE BE BETTER!
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Congressional Republicans--crazed, conceited, clueless clowns, corrupt to their crappy, childish core, careless of crime and criminal, Constitution and country; contemptible cretins who cravenly capitulated to Caesar, their Commander of Cheat and Chief Confabulator, and who can't condone, correct, or cross their cult creation they constructed. Currently conveniently--if contrary to courage, or common sense and cause--coldly calculating and crudely conflating control and creepy cash with contentment and continuity, commensurate with, and correspondent to, conspicuously cuckolding their contemporaneous citizens they constantly contrive to confuse and confound, using cunning, charades, and chicanery to convolute, cover-up and conceal their complicity, culpability, cowardice, and complete lack of character and conscience. Commie comrades send condolences and chuckle, contain callous congratulatory claims, content to be coy with their calamitous contamination conception, continually concerned about consequences with certifying, corroborating, or confessing and coming clean; cognizant counterstrikes could certainly prove conducive to the collapse of their own censurable compendium of crummy crooks.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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You don't get denialism without nihilism. As life-long conservative Bill Kristol astutely pointed our just recently in a tweet, the Republican party has embraced nihilism. Republicans still labeling COVID-19 a "hoax;" Republicans still refusing to wear masks or social distance after over half-a-million American fatalities from COVID-19; Congressional Republicans obstructing a COVID-19 stimulus bill certain to pass just to delay vital and urgently needed relief to Americans desperate for help; Republican governors dropping mask mandates and all restrictions on businesses, heedless of rising case counts in their states and deadly new variants of the virus; and Republican leaders continuing to push the Big Lie that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen without evidence and in disregard of plentiful evidence and facts to the contrary, even AFTER their Big Lie incited a terrorist attack by a mindless Republican mob against the nation's Capitol in insurrection against the government, attempting to overturn a legitimate election, sieging, storming, sizing, sacking, defiling, defacing and disgracing America's citadel of, and temple to, democracy--these are all prime examples of nihilism.
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Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country, albeit using the law, not targeted assassinations, which I generally oppose in any case. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
― Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a serious threat to our very security.
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again." ― Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney
More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They have essentially become a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth and justice--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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There will be an impeachment; pay no attention to political posturing to get public onboard. The impeachment process will destroy Trump -- make no mistake! Clinton, Nixon and Johnson never recovered from their impeachments, even though none actually impeached from office (Nixon was forced to resign). But there are many factors at play bearing consideration; this is not as simple as the media would have us believe, sometimes. For instance, the power of Pence to pardon Trump should he be impeached, the resistance and cover-up by Republicans required for impeachment.
In case it wasn't noticed, impeachment is ongoing, if not yet declared. The obvious inevitable "official" announcement timing is not nearly as concerning as the media selling Dems and their leadership short, neglecting their own duty to investigate and cover corrupt Congressional Republicans equally responsible for impeachment who are--contrastingly--derelict and openly defiant to their sworn oath by engaging in this cover-up in plain sight of the Mueller Report. No Pulitzer there. Media cowards fail big time! Media optics obsessive, misguided focus on Democrat strategy overly and overtly politicizes, is bad for impeachment, helpful to Trump and Republicans. Stupid.
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Yes, Gov. Cuomo should resign! Because of the similar nature, number, and credibility of the allegations, it appears likely that Cuomo was guilty of at least serious ethical lapses, if not criminal acts. For those pointing out the double-standard of hypocritical Republicans, consider that a stain upon them, and a good reflection upon Democrats. It appears the vast majority of Democrats also feel Cuomo should resign--for the good of the people of New York, for the good of the office, and for the good of his party. That is something which should make people proud to be counted as a Democrat, regardless of Gov. Cuomo's foibles and shortcomings.
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"Peace is not a very big thing to ask for, is it?" ~ Fatima Gailani, Afghan activist and negotiator, pleading for continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan
It is when asking the Taliban, who do not seek peace or to bargain in good faith, but total domination once again. U.S. has spent 20 years and $2 trillion trying to achieve peace in Afghanistan, losing over 4000 American lives (military and civilian contractors), with tens of thousands of Americans wounded there.
"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials … have given Afghans little reason to support their government," Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the commander of U.S. forces in the country, wrote in a 2009 memorandum. "This crisis of confidence, coupled with a distinct lack of economic and educational opportunity, has created fertile ground for the insurgency."
That was 11 years ago, and little has changed since. Thought the invasion of Afghanistan by Bush was a mistake that would lead to a quagmire, and have been proven correct. Still, initially supported efforts to bring peace and stability there, along with basic human and civil-rights, because after invading felt we had an obligation to rebuild. However, while U.S. blunders there have contributed to a failure, Afghans are their own worst enemy, and no one can help them until enough of them are willing to help themselves.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, along with Reich-wing demagogues and media, who were complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance, and in spreading disinformation and misinformation. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump left office, one out of every 800 Americans had died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 410,000 fatalities, as many American casualties as all of WWII. To put it into further perspective, throughout Trump's catastrophic mishandling of a deadly global pandemic, the U.S. led the world in cases and deaths, suffering nearly 25% of each, despite having only 4.25% of global population, despite having the advantage of being the richest and most advanced nation in the world.
The memorial would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure. Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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@dleet86 ~ Three current Republican SCOTUS justices worked on Bush's legal team in Bush v. Gore, where a Republican SCOTUS made a partisan decision along partisan lines in what is widely regarded as one of the worst SCOTUS decisions ever, handing Bush the election.
Chief Justice John Roberts: Roberts flew to Florida in November 2000 to assist Bush's legal team. He helped prepare the lawyer who presented Bush's case to the Florida state Supreme Court and offered advice throughout. After Bush became president, he nominated Roberts to the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit (the Senate confirmed him in 2003); Bush then elevated Roberts to the chief justice position in 2005, to succeed William Rehnquist. During his Senate confirmation hearing, Roberts declined to reveal his view of the justices' 2000 decision.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh: He was also in private practice in 2000 and helped the Bush legal team. After the election, Bush hired Kavanaugh to be a counsel and then staff secretary. In the West Wing, Kavanaugh met his future wife, Ashley, who was Bush's personal secretary. Bush appointed Kavanaugh to the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, where Roberts had first served. In 2018, Trump elevated Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
Judge Amy Coney Barrett: Barrett wrote on the questionnaire she submitted to the Senate for her Supreme Court confirmation review, "One significant case on which I provided research and briefing assistance was Bush v. Gore. I did work on Bush v. Gore. I did work on behalf of the Republican side."
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Yes, Gov. Cuomo must be held accountable. Personally think he should resign just from what has already come out and his poor reaction to it. And that's not even counting the nursing home deaths and his lack of transparency in reporting those deaths. But, yes, CNN, you're reading too much into that one single picture, which you probably wouldn't had you not known the back story to it.
Also, not to in any way defend Gov. Cuomo or loutish behavior in general, but there is a public backlash to playing up these kinds of allegations in the media for good reason. Do we really want the kind of insular society that builds, where human contact is shunned for fear of possibly being misinterpreted or manipulated for nefarious purpose? No more hugging that person in obvious distress to give comfort, no more touching a person on the arm to show sympathy? No more expressions of any kind to show affection? No more just being human? Is trying people in the media--public figures or no--really the kind of justice system we want? What happens when innocent people commit suicide because the media destroyed them with mere allegations, causing them to lose friends, family, jobs, careers, or even from fear of such loss?
And why is it that nearly all Democrats can agree on holding ALL public officials accountable for their bad decisions or malfeasance, yet Republicans refuse to hold their own accountable?
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Welcome to war. This is what war is. It's terrible, it's tragic, it's ugly, it stinks, it's unfair, it's sad, it's wasteful, it's hell, innocents die, and things always go wrong. You think we'd have learned that by now, but no, it's a lesson that has to be repeatedly learned, evidently. The consensus is that nobody foresaw the Afghan government and its armed forces completely capitulating so quickly as they did. Some say there should have been a contingency plan for this, but even though hindsight is 20/20, have yet to hear any rational plan that could have dealt with this situation. Shit happens, and Biden got handed a turd with Afghanistan. Instead of allowing the crap to continue, Biden made the hard, responsible decision to pull the U.S. out of another country's civil war. Fallout was inevitable, and Republicans trying to capitalize on that politically or media trying to profit from it is truly degenerate.
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***MEDIA FAIL*** -- Fareed Zakaria doesn't realize that he and many like him in the media are enablers for Trump and Republicans. Here's why. While there's much Fareed gets right, there are some key aspects where he is sorely mistaken.
--Support for impeachment INQUIRY was justified long ago, most certainly after the release of the Mueller Report and Barr's gross mischaracterization and misrepresentation of its contents, which outlines Trump's malfeasance, abuse of power, and crimes--all of the highest order.
--The terminology and announcement, whether called impeachment inquiry or investigation, or just plain Congressional oversight, has been blown out of proportion by the media and overly politicized, hurting Democratic efforts while providing succor to Trump and Republicans seeking to cover-up and gaslight serious malfeasance. In fact, there need be no formal announcement of any kind by the House at all. The announcement makes little difference when the courts have already been notified in official legal filings by Democrats that the subpoenas are in furtherance of investigation into impeachment. Democrat leadership took a hit for deliberately, but wisely, holding off on that announcement to avoid unnecessarily further exacerbating partisan divisions. In fact, an impeachment inquiry/investigation/oversight by Dems has essentially been ongoing in some form or other since even before the release of the Mueller Report, if not recognized or characterized as such by the media or public.
--Big, BIG difference between impeachment inquiry/investigation/oversight and any resulting floor vote to impeach, and Fareed Zakaria surely must know this critical distinction, yet dishonestly conflates the two as justification or excuse for his being OPPOSED to impeachment inquiry/investigation/oversight. Such an impeachment inquiry typically only leads to an actual vote on referral to the Senate for a trial if there is substance to the allegations, so Fareed is mischaracterizing the process to make an invalid excuse. There have been far more forays into impeaching than there have been actual House votes to impeach, irrespective of the office being impeached.
--Fareed Zakaria ignores and absolves Congressional Republican's responsibility and duty as patriotic Americans to honor their sworn oath to honor, protect, and preserve the Constitution. While there will always be a political component to impeachment, it was clearly not intended by our founding fathers to be a partisan issue in Congress. Republicans share an EQUAL responsibility, which can't simply be waved off by media pundits because Republicans refuse to honor their responsibility under our Constitution to honor that Constitution. Media cowardice enables Congressional Republican cowardice and corruption, and through them, Trump criminality and corruption.
--Fareed Zakaria is saying that if an impeachment inquiry had found sufficient evidence for a vote on impeachment to pass, he would have been opposed. This is just plain wrong, because neither him or anyone else could know what that impeachment investigation would uncover! Otherwise, he is saying that he would then support an impeachment that he hadn't thought should have been investigated in the first place, which is a ridiculous position to take both in light of the circumstances, and the fact that the impeachment wouldn't have happened had they not investigated despite his foolish advice.
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@pjmvdbroek ~ You don't get denialism without nihilism. As life-long conservative Bill Kristol astutely pointed our just recently in a tweet, the Republican party has embraced nihilism. Republicans still labeling COVID-19 a "hoax;" Republicans still refusing to wear masks or social distance after over half-a-million American fatalities from COVID-19; Congressional Republicans obstructing a COVID-19 stimulus bill certain to pass just to delay vital and urgently needed relief to Americans desperate for help; not one Congressional Republican in either chamber voting for the badly needed stimulus bill; Republican governors dropping mask mandates and all restrictions on businesses, heedless of rising case counts in their states and deadly new variants of the virus; and Republican leaders continuing to push the Big Lie that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen without evidence and in disregard of plentiful evidence and facts to the contrary, even AFTER their Big Lie incited a terrorist attack by a mindless Republican mob against the nation's Capitol in insurrection against the government, attempting to overturn a legitimate election, sieging, storming, sizing, sacking, defiling, defacing and disgracing America's citadel of, and temple to, democracy--these are all prime examples of nihilism.
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@dallaslove-n3b ~ If I were to start spewing out nonsense on a subject about which I knew little, and someone told me to get a clue, would not take it personally, nor would I consider it "so offensive," or claim that the other person was acting like "angry hyenas." Your words were what were being taken exception to, not you personally. The content of your comment was found to be uninformed and misinformed, somewhat detached from the reality, and seemingly naïve about our government and the passage of legislation, which was why the admonishment given to get a clue. Your reply to me exhibits more of those same traits, unfortunately, plus unwarranted fear-mongering. There is widespread agreement among economists--both conservative and liberal--that this stimulus package is precisely the kind of investment needed in our economy; that without it we would ultimately suffer greater federal debt and subsequently a greater tax burden, and a slow economic recovery, hurting millions of lower-class Americans. If you're truly for the poor and the working lower-middle class folks like me (a category to which I also belong), then you should be supporting the stimulus bill passed, not denigrating it:
-- The stimulus bill will reduce poverty by a third, lifting nearly 13 million Americans out of it, according to an analysis by Columbia University’s Center on Poverty and Social Policy.
-- While providing an array of benefits to the middle class, it is also a poverty-fighting initiative of potentially historic proportions, delivering more immediate cash assistance to families at the bottom of the income scale than any federal legislation since at least the New Deal.
-- Mr. Biden’s antipoverty efforts, which researchers say will lift nearly six million children out of poverty, came to be part of the package because families that earn in the bottom third of the income distribution, or at least of the wage distribution, have been disproportionately hurt by the pandemic.
-- The package is projected to deliver thousands of dollars in benefits to families of all races, potentially neutralizing a long history of white voters souring on spending they perceive to be targeted to racial minorities.
Major buckets
Unemployment benefits:
The package extends the existing $300 weekly unemployment benefit through Sept. 6, as well as provides a tax break on $10,000 in unemployment benefits.
Stimulus checks:
The bill would send $1,400 stimulus checks on top of the $600 payments issued through the stimulus bill passed in December. Roughly $400 billion of the package would go toward another round of checks.
Child tax credit:
Under the legislation, most Americans would receive $3,000 a year for each child ages 6 to 17, and $3,600 for each child under 6.
The provision in the bill would last one year and be sent via direct deposit on a “periodic” basis. It is a major expansion of the existing child tax credit, which provides $2,000 a year for children from birth through age 16.
The more regular payments are intended to help offset costs families face day-to-day, instead of sending families one annual payment.
Aid to state and local governments:
The package designates $350 billion for states, cities, tribal governments and U.S. territories. Facing deep budget shortfalls, state and local governments have shed 1.3 million jobs since the pandemic began last year — a loss of more than 1 in 20 government jobs. While tax revenue grew in some states last year, the majority — at least 26 states — were hit with declines, while facing significant increased expenditures due to COVID-19.
Pandemic response
Tens of billions of dollars will fund coronavirus testing and contact tracing; increasing the size of the public health workforce and funding vaccine distribution and supply chains.
Biden said there will be enough coronavirus vaccine doses for “every adult in America” by the end of May — a two-month acceleration of his previous projection of July.
Housing assistance
The bill sets aside more than $20 billion in emergency rental assistance and other relief for the homeless.
Another $10 billion goes to mortgage and homeownership assistance.
School support
The bill sets aside almost $130 billion to help K-12 schools reopen. That money would go to improving ventilation systems, reducing class sizes, buying personal protective equipment and implementing social distancing.
Colleges and other higher-education institutions would receive almost $40 billion. That money could help support financial aid grants to prevent hunger, homelessness or other challenges for students during the pandemic.
Additional funds would go to child-care providers through the Child Care and Development Block Grant program. The bill also sets aside $1 billion for the Head Start program, which provides early-childhood education, health and nutrition services to low-income children and families.
Other provisions
The bill provides $510 million for the FEMA Emergency Food and Shelter Program. That money would support homeless services providers for overnight shelter, meals, one month’s rent and mortgage assistance, and one month’s utility payments.
It expands the Employee Retention Tax Credit for start-up companies and other businesses hit by the pandemic.
The bill also increases the value of the federal COBRA health insurance program from 85 percent to 100 percent.
The bill adds a $10 billion infrastructure program to help local governments continue crucial capital projects.
The bill makes all coronavirus-related student loan relief tax-free.
The bill increases the total amount of Amtrak relief funding by $200 million.
For education funding, the bill sets aside $1.25 billion for summer enrichment; $1.25 billion for after-school programs and $3 billion for education technology.
The Senate bill also adds $8.5 billion in funds for the Provider Relief Program to assist rural health care providers.
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"Peace is not a very big thing to ask for, is it?" ~ Fatima Gailani, Afghan activist and negotiator, pleading for continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan
It is when asking the Taliban, who do not seek peace or to bargain in good faith, but total domination once again. U.S. has spent 20 years and $2 trillion trying to achieve peace in Afghanistan, losing over 4000 American lives (military and civilian contractors), with tens of thousands of Americans wounded there.
"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials … have given Afghans little reason to support their government," Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the commander of U.S. forces in the country, wrote in a 2009 memorandum. "This crisis of confidence, coupled with a distinct lack of economic and educational opportunity, has created fertile ground for the insurgency."
That was 11 years ago, and little has changed since. Thought the invasion of Afghanistan by Bush was a mistake that would lead to a quagmire, and have been proven correct. Still, initially supported efforts to bring peace and stability there, along with basic human and civil-rights, because after invading felt we had an obligation to rebuild. However, while U.S. blunders there have contributed to a failure, Afghans are their own worst enemy, and no one can help them until enough of them are willing to help themselves.
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Seems only fair that the least Toxic Trump could do, after slaughtering over 100,000 Americans already with his "greatest ever" ignorance, is to give the U.S. government his resort properties, to be quickly converted by the Army Corp of Engineers into public hospitals, medical facilities, and morgues. Too bad that's never going to happen--Turd Trump refuses to even sign order for FEMA to help fellow Americans out with OUR taxpayer money to bury their loved ones whom he killed, like they do in every other national emergency, despite repeated pleas to him, appealing for some shred of humanity, respect, and dignity be given for our dead.
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We got Big Brag Daddy Baghdad Bob broadcasting direct from Washington, D.C. daily, with Toxic Trump and a revolving cast of his sycophantic minions! Happy talk, disinformation, empty promises, idle threats, vicious smears, bogus pandemic models, dog whistles, continuous crackpot conspiracies--they got it all, and more!
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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President Nero stoked racial animosities, igniting the embers, keeps feeding the flames. Lynching, murder of innocent civilians by law enforcement, followed by protests, riots, civil unrest, people hurt, property damaged--those were all inevitable with an arsonist in the Oval, even if his gross criminal negligence with COVID-19 wasn't presently so starkly highlighting the social and economic divides in this nation. You didn't see this train wreck burning, it's only because you refused to look.
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Instead of embracing the reverence for nature and sustainability practiced by the America's indigenous peoples, we have entered into a death pact with capitalism, consumerism, greed, and selfishness, largely forced upon the common person by large businesses and the wealthy, who continue exploiting us for the own short-sighted, immediate benefit. We bear some responsibility for that, too. For taking part, for allowing it to happen, and for allowing it to continue as long as it has. Until enough of us average citizens wake up and become active in changing how our cultures and societies operate, the downward spiral of our environment will continue leading us into a dead-end death trap. Capitalism and consumerism can serve a purpose. However, they should be viewed and utilized as just one tool at our disposal in our toolbox, and not overly relied upon, like a hammer used for every job, which does more destruction than good.
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--Instead of striving to bring out the best in people, Toxic Trump reveled in bringing out the very worst.
--Instead of uniting the country, Toxic Trump sought to divide us.
--Instead of abiding by and honoring our Constitution and the rule of law, Toxic Trump held them in disdain, disregarded them, and degraded them.
--Instead of strengthening democracy and our cherished institutions, Toxic Trump worked to diminish and destroy them, inciting a terrorist insurrection against his own government, attempting a coup to steal an election.
--Instead of insuring a peaceful transfer power after losing the election, Toxic Trump kept insisting against all evidence that he won, and incited a terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol.
--Instead of confronting a serious threat to Americans with a deadly global pandemic, Toxic Trump lied to the American people about it, ignored it, and refused to take any responsibility for his gross homicidal criminal negligence that resulted in one out of every 800 Americans dying from COVID-19--over 400,000 lives in just ten months, as many casualties as all of WWII.
--Instead of confronting the ever-increasing existential crisis from climate change and its harmful effects, Toxic Trump gutted regulations, exacerbating the problem and poisoning citizens.
--Instead of creating jobs, Toxic Trump was the first President since the Great Depression to preside over a net loss of jobs over his tenure.
--Instead of lowering the national deficit, Toxic Trump increased it from 19.2 trillion to 27 trillion.
--Instead of building bridges, humane immigration reform, and infrastructure, Toxic Trump built walls and cages, separated children from mothers, allowed American infrastructure to decline and deteriorate, rejected economic opportunity.
--Instead of raising our standing and security in the world, Toxic Trump lowered and weakened it.
--Instead of draining the swamp, Toxic Trump turned it into a noxious overflowing Republican sewer.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It's that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don't care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another five months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation—only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regurgitation
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump’s COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration…
Now reaching vacation destination!
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Trump Surgeon General: "Four months since this pandemic began, and we've stopped telling people just how very, very few Americans we've tested, we're still not elucidating any real coherent strategy for dealing with COVID-19. Instead of testing the American public to get a handle on this pandemic, confine outbreaks, gain more time, and protect the American people, especially those Americans at high-risk--such as the young, the elderly, those sick or with conditions--we are using the American people as guinea pigs, tracking where they start dying after the epidemic has already taken firm root in their communities! Just remember...DON'T PANIC!!!"
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Let's just call January 6 what it actually was -- a Republican smash and grab, an act of violent larceny against democracy and our government, sedition employing domestic terrorism right out in open sight. It was just one of Trump's failed attempts to achieve an autogolpe.
"Without accountability, an attempted autogolpe and insurrection is just practice."
"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ― Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
So, why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. Because our democracy, our institutions, and our very security are seriously endangered. And because rule of law and justice for all really does matter.
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Congressional Republicans--conceited, clueless clowns, corrupt to their crappy, childish core, careless of crime and criminal, Constitution and country; contemptible, compassionless cretins who cravenly capitulated to Caesar, their Commander of Cheat and Chief Confabulator, and who can't condone, correct, or cross the cult creation they crazily constructed to compete, commencing to now coopted and conjoined at the cranium.
Currently conveniently--if contrary to courage, or common sense and cause--coldly calculating and crudely conflating control and creepy cash with contentment and continuity, commensurate with, and correspondent to, conspicuously cuckolding their contemporaneous citizens they constantly contrive to confuse and confound, using cunning, charades, and chicanery to ceaselessly convolute, cover-up and conceal their complicity, culpability, cowardice, and complete lack of character and conscience.
Commie comrades call-in condolences and chuckle, contain callous celebration or congratulatory claims, content to be coy with their calamitous conception conveying calumnious election cycle cyber contamination, continually concerned about consequences from certifying, corroborating, or confessing and coming clean to the cargo of crud they crafted; cognizant and convinced counterstrikes could certainly prove conducive to the collapse of their own censurable compendium of cancerous, cruel crackpots and crummy, conniving crooks.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It’s that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don’t care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn’t want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it’s more than hope—those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another four months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn’t really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
“The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.”
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump’s hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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You don't get denialism without nihilism. As life-long conservative Bill Kristol astutely pointed our just recently in a tweet, the Republican party has embraced nihilism. Republicans still labeling COVID-19 a "hoax;" Republicans still refusing to wear masks or social distance after over half-a-million American fatalities from COVID-19; Congressional Republicans obstructing a COVID-19 stimulus bill certain to pass just to delay vital and urgently needed relief to Americans desperate for help; not one Congressional Republican in either chamber voting for the badly needed stimulus bill; Republican governors dropping mask mandates and all restrictions on businesses, heedless of rising case counts in their states and deadly new variants of the virus; and Republican leaders continuing to push the Big Lie that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen without evidence and in disregard of plentiful evidence and facts to the contrary, even AFTER their Big Lie incited a terrorist attack by a mindless Republican mob against the nation's Capitol in insurrection against the government, attempting to overturn a legitimate election, sieging, storming, sizing, sacking, defiling, defacing and disgracing America's citadel of, and temple to, democracy--these are all prime examples of nihilism.
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America's enemies don't need to spread disinformation, doubt, discord, and division to weaken America, kill Americans----because Republican politicians, Reich-wing demagogues, Faux News, OAN, Newsmax, Breitbart and the rest of the Reich-wing media do that so effectively for them, already. More Americans need to realize that the GOP has abdicated it's duty as loyal opposition, and that its prioritization of party over country and welcoming embrace of violent radical Reich-wing extremists diminishes both our government and our national security, endangering ALL Americans, as well as weakening and endangering America itself.
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Freedoms can exist only up to the point they infringe upon the freedom of others. Religious tolerance can be practiced only up to the point it becomes intolerant of others. Our Constitution is a secular document, not a religious one, and it was certainly never intended to be a suicidal death pact. Getting vaccinated and following CDC guidelines brings freedom from preventable illness or injury, and a senseless premature death, but the mindless fascist Republican cult only believes in freeDUMB. Just as they don't understand or would deny the Constitution is as much about the common good as personal liberties, and that those two things are intrinsically and inextricably intertwined.
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge." ~ Ben Franklin, from Poor Richard's Almanack
Those who scorn public health guidelines during a deadly global pandemic and confuse a grievous public health issue with "essential" liberty to kill and harm themselves and their fellow citizens--as well as their nation--sorely lack both care and knowledge. They are also sorely lacking in common sense, something else about which Mr. Franklin was quite keen. Mr. Franklin was also one our nation's first scientists--yet these modern-day knuckleheads who ought know better refute science! Were he alive today, he would be rather dismayed, disgruntled, and disgusted with the fascist anti-science Republican cult, that much is crystal clear.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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@thekingofthisworld2154 ~FYI, started posting the following in mid-February as a comment, then posted as video to YouTube in mid-March.
The highly-coveted Top Prize for our contestants today is an all-funeral-expenses-paid romantic getaway for two aboard the magnificent Corona Queen, taking you for an exclusive extended cruise, to a secluded stay on the exotic, remote, tropical Isle of Covid-19, where the fevered fun is SUPER-contagious, and you will luxuriously bask in fabulous face masks and rejuvenating oxygen respirators, with the wonderful scent of disinfectant surrounding you! Sure to be a lifetime experience for some lucky few! Just remember--the couple that dies together, stays together!
BONUS--SPECIAL CASES: Providing accompanying entertainment is Chief Jester Roberts and the entire Toxic Trump comedy crew, featuring the Clown Commander, for laughs and coughs! There just ain't no cure, for them ocean cruise blues! Bon voyage!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwE7EFyQDm0 (exclusive Mardi Gras spectacular A/V version)
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@darrendesson6681 ~ Wrong. OJ's criminal trial had eight blacks, his civil suit trial eight whites. The burden of proof is much lower in civil cases. Most legal analysts faulted the prosecution, not the jury, in OJ's criminal trial verdict. The well-known racism and corruption within the LAPD and DA at the time was also a contributing factor in the verdict.
"OJ Simpson" has long been a dog-whistle for racists, so it's rather revealing that you bring that up. For every OJ Simpson verdict, there are thousands of unjust verdicts where the victims are Black and the perpetrators are White, or the Black person is innocent and the judges, prosecutors, and juries are all-White. Moreover, there America has a long history that continues to present day of injustice against Blacks by law enforcement and our justice system. That is not "my" narrative----that's America's sad legacy. A disgraceful legacy still being perpetuated that racists seek to gaslight, rationalize, or deny, as you are clearly doing here.
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Sounds like Moscow on the line again, calling impeachment a coup, now! OMG, stop the presses, man the trenches, lock the wives and kids in the closet--Republicans are following Putin's marching orders!!!
1) Putin is playing U.S. population, gaming elections.
2) Trump is playing U.S. population, gaming elections.
3) Republicans are playing U.S. population, gaming elections.
4) Republicans are willfully and knowingly spreading Putin's debunked propaganda in aid of both their own and Russia's aforementioned efforts.
5) Republicans are willfully and knowingly protecting a President that has compromised himself with our chief foreign adversary, Russia, despite clear and overwhelming evidence of criminality of the highest order threatening our elections, democracy, and national security.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again." ― Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney
More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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So, if as a clerk in my small conservative town I spew out anti-conservative jokes, my boss shouldn't reprimand me or fire me for exercising my right to free speech and driving away much of his/her business, because that would be stupid and illiberal of my boss? So, when the pedophile uses his free speech to advocate pedophilia, other people can't exercise their free speech to condemn such, because that would be stupid and illiberal? So, when fascism came to Nazi Germany, those speaking out against it and opposing it were stupid and illiberal?
The problem with this piece is that it engages in the logical fallacies of false equivalence and both-sidesism, without giving due consideration to, and glossing over, what has happened and continues to happen on the right. For instance, why does the 11% of those on the left think it may become necessary to resort to violence? It it because of the 30% on the right calling for violence to overthrow the government in order to exert minority rule over the majority; the right promoting and girding for another civil war; the right arming themselves to the teeth, buying body armor and assault rifles; the growth of right-wing vigilantism; the right-wing armed protests at, and invasions of, state capitols; all the right-wing death threats against teachers, school board members, election officials, Democratic politicians; right-wing domestic terrorism becoming the #1 U.S. security threat according to U.S. intelligence agencies; the violent right-wing seditious insurrection seeking to overturn an election and democracy on January 6? Is that not then a perfectly rational reaction in the face of those circumstances? Conversely, the rational on the right for violence is to impose minority rule over the majority.
This piece ignores how extremism on one side causes a stiffening of resistance on the other side. It points out that most of those believing in conspiracy theories are extremists, but critically omits mention that nearly all of the conspiracy theorists are on the right. It critically omits how the right constantly traffics in lies, distortions, denialism, nihilism, racism, bigotry, Whataboutism, projectionism and propaganda. John Avalon knows all that, because he has covered it extensively before and how damaging and dangerous it is, but neglected to include that into consideration in this discussion.
No, Jonathon Haidt, the vast majority of those on the left are not "prejudiced" against business owners, the military, and Christians. In fact, many on the left serve or have served in the military, are business owners, are Christians. What many on the left are opposed to is unnecessary, unjust, endless wars and the military industrial complex; Christian nationalists who would make America a (White) theocracy; businesses unjustly exploiting workers, buying off and corrupting politicians, and not paying their fair share of taxes.
When someone on the right says racist, homophobic, xenophobic, misogynistic, Islamophobic or other bigoted things, people on the left aren't saying you can't say that; they are saying it is wrong to say that and you shouldn't say that. Jonathan Haidt falsely labels that authoritarianism, which it is most certainly not. And if someone says racist or bigoted things at work, it doesn't matter if the boss in on the right or the left, that kind of behavior is not tolerated in the workplace, and that person is likely to be disciplined or terminated. That shouldn't be classified as authoritarianism, either.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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The Molotov cocktail recipe:
Mix in equal parts of mental illness, lies, willful ignorance, fear, hate, greed, decades of 24/7 Reich-wing disinformation, misinformation, and crackpot conspiracy programming by Republican politicians, plutocrats, media and demagogues, add supplemental divisive Russian propaganda attacking and weakening America, stir well, garnish with COVID-19, and you have the mindless Republican cult descending into fascism, committing terrorism and sedition. Then, grab a stiff drink--you'll need it.
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With Putin and his Trumpette Republican cult dupe puppet-pies, it's all about Whataboutism, projectionism, deflection, distraction, distortion, denial, obfuscation and otherwise masking or perverting the truth to subvert law and order, justice, Constitution, and democracy; sacrificing common sense, country, and greater good, in pursuit of power only to further their corruption--all while cloaking themselves in victimhood!
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian nationalism religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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War against a foreign country only happens when the moneyed classes think they are going to profit from it. ~ George Orwell
"Peace is not a very big thing to ask for, is it?" ~ Fatima Gailani, Afghan activist and negotiator, pleading for continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan
It is when asking the Taliban, who do not seek peace or to bargain in good faith, but total domination once again. U.S. has spent 20 years and over $2 trillion trying to achieve peace in Afghanistan, losing over 4000 American lives (military and civilian contractors), with tens of thousands of Americans wounded there.
"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials … have given Afghans little reason to support their government," Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the commander of U.S. forces in the country, wrote in a 2009 memorandum. "This crisis of confidence, coupled with a distinct lack of economic and educational opportunity, has created fertile ground for the insurgency."
That was 11 years ago, and little has changed since. Thought the invasion of Afghanistan by Bush was a mistake that would lead to a quagmire, and have been proven correct. Still, initially supported efforts to bring peace and stability there, along with basic human and civil-rights, because after invading felt we had an obligation to rebuild. However, while U.S. blunders there have contributed to a failure, Afghans are their own worst enemy, and no one can help them until enough of them are willing to help themselves.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law?
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"We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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'Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America' by Kathleen Belew (Harvard University Press, 2018)
The movement “brought together members of the Klan, militias, radical tax resisters, white separatists, neo-Nazis, and proponents of white theologies such as Christian Identity, Odinism, and Dualism” (ix). What was it about the movement that brought these ideologies together?
The promise of violence — rather, the promise that members would get to inflict violence on other people. Belew writes that as the white power movement matured, it became more violent, and “[as] violence came to the fore of the movement, distinctions among white power factions melted away” (60). Belew calls this process “violent community formation” (34). Yet as a social movement, Belew makes a distinction between the white power movement’s “revolutionary violence” and the Ku Klux Klan’s “vigilante violence.”
Vigilante violence “served to constitute, shore up, and enforce systemic power” (106). Given that the U.S. government has a long history of “defending vigilante violence by refusing to enforce the law” (99), law enforcement inaction and vigilante violence may be understood together as a case of one hand washing the other. Revolutionary violence, however, sought to overthrow the state. It is the white power movement’s goal of overthrowing the federal government that sets it apart in the history of white supremacy in the U.S.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast would soon come to consume them.
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"Peace is not a very big thing to ask for, is it?" ~ Fatima Gailani, Afghan activist and negotiator, pleading for continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan
It is when asking the Taliban, who do not seek peace or to bargain in good faith, but total domination once again. U.S. has spent 20 years and $2 trillion trying to achieve peace in Afghanistan, losing over 4000 American lives (military and civilian contractors), with tens of thousands of Americans wounded there.
"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials … have given Afghans little reason to support their government," Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the commander of U.S. forces in the country, wrote in a 2009 memorandum. "This crisis of confidence, coupled with a distinct lack of economic and educational opportunity, has created fertile ground for the insurgency."
That was 11 years ago, and little has changed since. Thought the invasion of Afghanistan by Bush was a mistake that would lead to a quagmire, and have been proven correct. Still, initially supported efforts to bring peace and stability there, along with basic human and civil-rights, because after invading felt we had an obligation to rebuild. However, while U.S. blunders there have contributed to a failure, Afghans are their own worst enemy, and no one can help them until enough of them are willing to help themselves.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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GOP cult is NOT the party of law and order, NOT the party of the Constitution and patriots, NOT the party of "values," NOT the party of fiscal responsibility, NOT the party of clean government, NOT the party of freedom. It's the party of terrorism, lawlessness, corruption, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry, misogyny, Big Lies, unmitigated greed, gross hypocrisy, socialized taxpayer payouts for plutocrats, sedition, traitors, and tyranny.
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@Gil7111TX ~ Corrupt, incompetent Texas Republicans had a decade to do that, Doc, knowing of the inevitability of catastrophe, but they fumbled the ball big time! And if past behavior is prologue, who's to say they don't screw up big time again, causing another major catastrophe with something else?
Why do Republicans always hypocritically tout personal responsibility, but never demonstrate much of it, and never want to hold their Republican officials personally accountable for their malfeasance? People in a democracy get the government they deserve, and you are a living example of that axiom. The problem is your refusal to recognize that.
Fortunately for you, Texas is turning Blue, and will soon enjoy more competent leadership in its legislature and Governors mansion--even while you're no doubt kicking, screaming, and fighting against it the whole time. Oh, well. You can't beat progress, but some people are always stupid enough to try.
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GOP and Trump administration: Where the hard reality of COV19 pierces the Republican cult bubble world of delusional fantasies, denialism, deceit, supreme ignorance, utter incompetence, and Orwellian governance, exposing them all as charlatans and frauds. Much as needed, we're hoping that doesn't happen; that America escapes the ravages of this disease, and we don't suffer thousands of American citizens dying, with many more becoming critically ill. Tragically, that doesn't seem very likely, and the Trump administration hardly inspires confidence, with all indications to date CONTRARY that they can capably handle such a catastrophe occurring here.
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of crackpot conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of plutocrats, the party of corruption, the party of anti-democracy, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their pact with the Devil.
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Merrick Garland: "Trump and Congressional Republicans screwed me out of a seat on the Supreme Court...that's why now as AG I can't prosecute them for the many crimes they've committed!"
Merrick Garland’s House Testimony Demonstrated the Failure of His Hyper-Cautious Approach to His Job
Despite Garland’s many efforts to not appear political by declining to investigate Trump and his cronies for possible crimes and by using DOJ resources to actively protect Trump from civil liability, Republicans are still portraying him as the most political attorney general in history.
The other weakness of Garland’s timid approach was on full view during his opening statement and responses to Democratic members of Congress. “The essence of the rule of law is that like cases are treated alike. That there not be one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans; one rule for friends, another for foes,” Garland stated grandly. But by declining to investigate Trump and his associates, Garland is enabling further attacks on our democracy. (While proving inequity by putting Republicans above the law.)
Crucially, the two parties are not the same. Garland’s standard sets up a false equivalency between the Democratic Party and a political party whose national leader, Donald Trump, incited and celebrated a violent assault on our nation’s Capitol to overthrow the results of a free and fair election and who continues to portray the insurrection as a glorious “protest.” To that end, in the middle of the attorney general’s testimony, Trump issued a statement highlighting Garland’s feebleness at failing to even investigate the organizers and leaders of the Jan. 6 events, declaring “the insurrection took place on November 3, Election Day. January 6 was the Protest!”
Garland’s efforts to depoliticize the DOJ have proved to be an abdication of his responsibility to protect the rule of law. Take just a few examples: Garland’s failure to reconsider the obstruction of justice case against the former president, his deferral of an investigation of possible financial crimes by Trump and his organization to local prosecutors in New York City and Westchester, his use of the DOJ to protect Trump from defamation allegations, and his deferral of a soliciting of voter fraud felony probe in Georgia to local prosecutors there. By abdicating his responsibility, Garland is also opening the door for Trump to commit these possibly criminal abuses all over again, this time with the full support of the Republican Party, and maybe ultimately return to power.
--Mark Stern
"Try as he may, Merrick Garland cannot perform boring independence fast enough to outrun GOP claims that he’s a wild-eyed, violent socialist. And while the GOP currently exists only to cast everything you thought you believed into doubt, the real endgame is vigilantism. The endgame is to ensure that people mistrust government, election systems, school boards, (teachers, health care officials) the media, and the justice system enough to lend a hand in their destruction."
--Dahlia Lithwick
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Ignorant Republicans, Governors and Mayors:
DO YOU UNDERSTAND???
A virus can't think. But you can.
The real war isn't against this virus--it's against our own IGNORANCE and HUBRIS!
Restarting an economy REQUIRES first protecting public health in the midst of a deadly global pandemic. That's just plain, old-fashioned, common sense, fools! States, localities, and CITIZENS not fully on board with recommended protocols, guidelines--acting hastily and rashly in willful disregard of medical experts, the science, and the data--are PROLONGING isolation measures for EVERYONE, only DELAYING economic recovery in the U.S., while you are disabling and KILLING even more Americans.
Colorado bought hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 tests from South Korea, hiding it from the Toxic Trump administration, lest they steal it! While exercising far more prudence than many Republican governors, Colorado's governor is still jumping the gun, asking for trouble, putting health and lives unnecessarily at risk. Isn't Gov. Polis to blame so much, here, when it is really the lack of national leadership at fault.
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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Trump refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the election!
Traitor-'n-Thief Toxic Trump: "Get rid of the ballots and we'll have a very peaceful — there won't be a transfer, frankly, there'll be a continuation."
WTF?!? Get rid of the ballots means getting rid of ALL the votes--absentee, mail-in, and in-person ballots! It means a Toxic Trump coup, an illegal seizure of power, a dictator, ignoring citizen's votes, no more democracy!!!
"This is how democracy dies. A president so desperate to cling to power that he won't commit to a peaceful transition of power. That he seeks to throw out millions of votes. And a Republican Party too craven to say a word," Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff
"In case anyone is unclear on the concept, in the United States of America, we do not "get rid of" ballots. We count them. Counting the ballots — all the ballots — is the way we determine who leads our country after our elections. The only way," Ellen Weintraub, a commissioner of the Federal Elections Commission, tweeted. Weintraub has previously debunked Trump's claims about mail-in voting fraud.
Trump has a long history of making unsubstantiated claims about electoral fraud, dating back to his allegations that he lost the popular vote in 2016 only because "millions" of people voted illegally. He has also been waging legal battles in multiple states in an attempt to stop the expansion of vote-by-mail and has admitted to using the USPS to sabotage those efforts.
Over the years, multiple extensive studies have found that widespread voter fraud is virtually nonexistent, difficult to successfully pull off, and discouraged through steep criminal penalties.
The US has had successful peaceful transitions of power in every single election since its inception in 1776, including following a contested election between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, during the US Civil War, and on multiple occasions when the electoral college vote has diverged from the popular vote.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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@dr.valbell6427 - ~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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Republican cult morons rail against the very "elite" they keep voting for, who give tax cuts to the rich and have created the greatest income inequality and wealth disparity in American history.
Why? They are driven by the divisive fear and bigotry programmed into them 24/7 by the Reich-wing media and propaganda owned or funded by the plutocracy. It's absolutely Orwellian, and it began around 1984 in America. What is witnessed now is just the rotten results from the poisoned tree bearing fruition. It's the disease killing America that existed long before COVID-19, and which is likely to persist long after.
Republican cult going to believe what the Republican cult wants to believe, whatever the truth, whatever proof, whatever anybody says. "Healing" the country means deprogramming the 30-40% of Americans deep in cultdom. That needs to be recognized, acknowledged, and acted upon if we truly wish to revive the patient, America, and restore it to glory.
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***~Bad Vibration, Grave Reverberation~***
So much frustration and aggravation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Sick fascination, no reservation
Brutalization, victimization
Race relation identification
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation, only stagnation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Abomination seeks domination
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cooperation, collaboration!!!
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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Who'd have ever equated voting in America with survival? But that's pretty much what it has boiled down to, hasn't it? Survival of ourselves, survival of our democracy, survival of our nation, and survival of our planet. The irony is that Republicans have always tried to paint Democrats as an existential threat...but in doing so it is actually they who have become exactly that.
Democrat voters need an even greater turnout in '22 and '24, put the final fork in Trumpism! Republicans want to engage in Jim Crow voter suppression laws, voter intimidation, and egregious gerrymandering? Republicans want to engage in corruption, gaslight their corruption, coverup their corruption? Republicans want to turn a blind eye to Russian election interference and knowingly disseminate Russian propaganda for Putin? Republicans want to instigate and sanction Reich-wing domestic terrorist insurrection? Republicans want to live in delusion and denial about the major problems confronting the nation and planet? Let's just prove that's fuel for the fire, and make their fascist antidemocratic corruption backfire on them!
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Caught a bit of 'The View' on TV a few days ago, and the subject under discussion was Republican gaslighting and history revisionism of January 6. All of the panelists condemned what Congressional Republicans were engaging in, with Joy Behar saying that she and many people she knew were scared for our democracy and country by what the Republicans were doing----except for one, Meghan McCain. She started by saying that she was against Trump's Big Lie and the insurrection, but she did not condemn Congressional Republicans for their deceitful and dangerous behavior gaslighting the January 6 insurrection, perpetuating the Big Lie, and removing Rep. Cheney from her leadership role for telling the truth. Instead, McCain resorted to House Leader McCarthy's right-wing talking point that "we don't need to relitigate this, we need to look forward," trying to sweep Republican insurrection and domestic terrorism under the rug. Then, McCain proceeded to dishonestly engage in Whataboutism, trying to change the subject by attacking Biden and blaming the media for focusing on Republicans instead of Biden's supposed faults, like the cyberattack against the gas pipeline (which was already back online by then), which she claimed was scaring people.
WTF? How is January 6 being relitigated when most of the perpetrators are still at large, only several hundred apprehended charged, with all of those either awaiting trial or a plea bargain? How is it being relitigated when January 6 is still being investigated by authorities, with no commission yet established by Congress to investigate? How are we supposed to look forward when Republican leadership is trying to gaslight and revise history with January 6, won't publicly denounce the Big Lie, causing most Republican voters to still look back at the last election, refusing to accept Biden's win, the combination creating a severe domestic terrorism threat against the U.S.? McCain of all people should know better and taken Rep. Cheney's position, yet she is a perfect example of what is wrong with Republicans, who continue placing personal interest and party before country.
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A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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To those not wearing masks, social distancing, or following guidelines: Your willful ignorance does not mask your wanton disregard for human life, your appalling lack of humanity and humility, your supremely selfish inconsideration of others. Despite absolutely loathing wearing a mask, it's also the reason it's worn. The sooner we all start wearing masks, social distancing, and taking this deadly pandemic seriously, the sooner we get to take them off, the less time they'll need to be worn. Not to mention, the sooner we can go back to a normal that is more like normal, the sooner we can get our jobs back and our economy rolling, again. And, of course, most importantly, the more lives we can save--which might even be your own life, or the life of a friend or loved one.
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America's enemies don't need to spread disinformation, doubt, discord, and division to weaken America, kill Americans----because Republican politicians, Reich-wing demagogues, Faux News, OAN, Newsmax, Breitbart and the rest of the Reich-wing media do that so effectively for them, already. More Americans need to realize that the GOP has abdicated it's duty as loyal opposition, and that its prioritization of party over country and welcoming embrace of violent radical Reich-wing extremists diminishes both our government and our national security, endangering ALL Americans, as well as weakening and endangering America itself.
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Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country, albeit using the law, not targeted assassinations, which I generally oppose in any case. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Market drops over 3,000 in just three days, wiping out $3.6 TRILLION from our accounts and economy in one WEEK--setting records for biggest losses EVER in the stock market for a day and for a week. Bankruptcy king Trump, dismissing COVID-19 as a "hoax": "Our Big Pharma, Big Med, and disinfectant companies are prospering!" That was last week. Monday, 03/08/20, market recorded it's new single biggest point loss day EVER--over 2,000 drop in the Dow, with nearly 8% loss in S&P and other benchmarks. Yesterday, 3/11/20, the market lost another 1,600 points, double the brief correction bounce from the previous day it wiped out. Today, 03/12/20, market already lost over another 2,000 points!
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***MEDIA FAIL*** -- Video is two different segments dealing with COVID-19. First part deals with the title, second part deals with pandemic impact on medical workers and patients. First segment could be a commercial for Delta airlines, advertising their pandemic response, touting safety measures. The segment, however, neglects to include the opinions of medical and scientific experts about the safety of their measures, or flying in general at a time when infection rates are soaring out of control in the majority of states around the nation. Its narrow focus on just one airline fails to inform the public what to expect when flying on so many other airlines. The fact remains that many airlines are packing too many people too near together for extended periods in the tightly enclosed space of an airplane. That was ignored in this segment. Why? While providing some good information, with 133,000 COVID-19 deaths already, and fatalities once again starting to soar, does the media really want to encourage travel on airplanes that is not absolutely essential, particularly when many airlines are NOT taking proper common-sense safety precautions? If airlines can not operate profitably keeping passengers socially distant and safe, then why isn't the media addressing that, instead of lulling people into a false sense of security about flying, which is irresponsible? Second segment demonstrates media knows how to do better, being informative, impactful, produced well, and more on point. Found this was one of those rare instance where having two disparate, but related, subjects lumped together was beneficial. However, there was no bridge to segue the two segments, and the news video title fails to inform viewers of the second subject addressed.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
~ "Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts."
~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is receiving such high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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Welcome to war. This is what war is. It's terrible, it's tragic, it's ugly, it stinks, it's unfair, it's sad, it's wasteful, it's hell, innocents die, and things always go wrong. You think we'd have learned that by now, but no, it's a lesson that has to be repeatedly learned, evidently. The consensus is that nobody foresaw the Afghan government and its armed forces completely capitulating so quickly as they did. Some say there should have been a contingency plan for this, but even though hindsight is 20/20, have yet to hear any rational plan that could have dealt with this situation. Shit happens, and Biden got handed a turd with Afghanistan. Instead of allowing the crap to continue, Biden made the hard, responsible decision to pull the U.S. out of another country's civil war. Fallout was inevitable, and Republicans trying to capitalize on that politically or media trying to profit from it is truly degenerate.
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Donald Trump, at White House press conference on 04/07/20:
And we’re going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO. We’re going to put a very powerful hold on it, and we’re going to see.
Trump later at that same press conference:
Q: Thanks. A quick follow-up on that. So is the time to freeze funding to the WHO during a pandemic of this magnitude?
THE PRESIDENT: No, maybe not. I mean, I’m not saying I’m going to do it, but we’re going to look at it.
Q: You did say that you’re going to —
THE PRESIDENT: We give a tremendous —
Q: You said you’d put a hold on it.
THE PRESIDENT: No, I didn’t.
Toxic Trump, one week later, on 04/14/20: "I'm withholding WHO funding!"
ME, US, the world: WTF?? Why in HELL is that raving lunatic STILL in charge during this major pandemic health crisis?!? Hasn't he KILLED enough Americans, ALREADY?!?
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Gee, didn't you know? Republicans don't care anything about protecting workers, school children, public health, law, justice, or the environment...only about maximizing corrupt crony profits! That's how we got into this pickle in the first place, losing over 100,000 Americans to COVID-19 in just three months; that's why other nations have stopped the spread, but we're STILL the world's epicenter, still remain stuck in the first wave, killing thousands of Americans senselessly, remember?
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
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Brenda Heeligan ~Thanks, Brenda! Sorry, we never got your notification, or would have responded sooner! That happens a lot here on YouTube.
The highly-coveted Top Prize for our contestants today is an all-funeral-expenses-paid romantic getaway for two aboard the magnificent Corona Queen, taking you for an exclusive extended cruise, to a secluded stay on the exotic, remote, tropical Isle of Covid-19, where the fevered fun is SUPER-contagious, and you will luxuriously bask in fabulous face masks and rejuvenating oxygen respirators, with the wonderful scent of disinfectant surrounding you! Sure to be a lifetime experience for some lucky few! Just remember--the couple that dies together, stays together!
BONUS--SPECIAL CASES: Providing accompanying entertainment is Chief Jester Roberts and the entire Toxic Trump comedy crew, featuring the Clown Commander, for laughs and coughs! There just ain't no cure, for them ocean cruise blues! Bon voyage!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwE7EFyQDm0 (exclusive Mardi Gras spectacular A/V version)
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James Irving ~Exactly. Makes not one iota of difference if you call COVID-19 a hoax or a Democratic hoax...it boils down to the same thing. In the context of Trump dismissing and downplaying the threat THIRTY-THREE times, the meaning was clear. It was certainly clear to his Republican base, many of whom still refuse to take this global pandemic seriously enough. The proof is in the pudding, as they say.
These "morons" are mostly Putin and GOP propagandists, who keep posting the same lies, distortions, denials and obfuscations--no matter how repeatedly they are debunked. Ironically, disturbingly, appallingly, etc. etc., both groups--Russian and Republican--seem bound and determined to kill as many Americans as possible with disinformation.
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@Cyril_Squirrel ~Right. We saw what happened in Italy, then to us here. Nothing's changed significantly. The vast majority of Americans do NOT have immunity, nor is there any certainty that reinfection is not possible. Still no adequate testing and means for surveillance and contact tracing--which is done locally, but MUST be part of a NATIONAL effort, or resurgences will most certainly occur throughout the country. Because of FDA lifting regulations and the lack of national leadership and coordination, a number of the new antigen tests being manufactured overseas and sold here are scams which are totally useless.
Bottom line is Trump's incitements to reopen the economy and failure to take the necessary steps on the federal level are actually delaying and impeding economic recovery. As usual, Trump is shooting his own self in the foot. The Russian and Republican propaganda trolls don't care about the truth, so they will repeat the same lies over and over, regardless, killing more Americans with disinformation. Their goal appears to be to waste the time of any and all opposing the Russian asset in the Oval, while creating the illusion that the minority of crackpots in the U.S. is larger than the reality.
Personally, tend to use them as a propaganda board in reverse, and call them out, but mostly ignore them, which is also very effective. Figure it's a much more productive use of time to leave new comments, than wasting much of my time and effort on responding to Russian bots, troll perverts, and GOP sock puppets. Besides, it's much more pleasurable and productive spending some of that time having a dialogue like this--amongst those of us REAL, like ourselves, capable of objectivity. We don't even necessarily have to be in perfect agreement, either, yet can still remain reasonable and rational, because we can agree at least on the facts, and are open to other points of view. Have seen your comments around town in the past, and they were appreciated, as is your input here. Be well, stay safe!
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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You don't get denialism without nihilism. As life-long conservative Bill Kristol astutely pointed our just recently in a tweet, the Republican party has embraced nihilism. Republicans still labeling COVID-19 a "hoax;" Republicans still refusing to wear masks or social distance after over half-a-million American fatalities from COVID-19; Congressional Republicans obstructing a COVID-19 stimulus bill certain to pass just to delay vital and urgently needed relief to Americans desperate for help; Republican governors dropping mask mandates and all restrictions on businesses, heedless of rising case counts in their states and deadly new variants of the virus; and Republican leaders continuing to push the Big Lie that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen without evidence and in disregard of plentiful evidence and facts to the contrary, even AFTER their Big Lie incited a terrorist attack by a mindless Republican mob against the nation's Capitol in insurrection against the government, attempting to overturn a legitimate election, sieging, storming, sizing, sacking, defiling, defacing and disgracing America's citadel of, and temple to, democracy--these are all prime examples of nihilism.
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Vote BLUE for science, humanity, sanity, truth, reason, decency, democracy, and reality! And, don't forget to also GET OUT THE VOTE! With anti-democratic, fascist Trump and GOP, must vote to win too big to rig, too real to steal, create too much heat to cheat; if complete, Dems can't be beat.
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Getting vaccinated and following CDC guidelines brings freedom from preventable illness or injury, and a senseless premature death, but the mindless fascist Republican cult only believes in freeDUMB. Just as they don't understand or would deny the Constitution is as much about the common good as personal liberties, and that those two things are intrinsically and inextricably intertwined.
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge." ~ Ben Franklin, from Poor Richard's Almanack
Those who scorn public health guidelines during a deadly global pandemic and confuse a grievous public health issue with "essential" liberty to kill and harm themselves and their fellow citizens--as well as their nation--sorely lack both care and knowledge. They are also sorely lacking in common sense, something else about which Mr. Franklin was quite keen. Mr. Franklin was also one our nation's first scientists--yet these modern-day knuckleheads who ought know better refute science! Were he alive today, he would be rather dismayed, disgruntled, and disgusted with the fascist anti-science Republican cult, that much is crystal clear.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of conspiracy theories, the party of hate, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of corruption, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their deal with the Devil.
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06/24/20 -- (Incomplete) 2,463,000+ confirmed cases; 124,300+ deaths.
06/23/20 -- 2,424,000 confirmed cases; 123,500 deaths.
06/22/20 -- 2,388,000 confirmed cases; 122,600 deaths.
06/21/20 -- 2,357,000 confirmed cases; 122,200 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
06/20/20 -- 2,331,000 confirmed cases; 122,000 deaths.
06/19/20 -- 2,297,000 confirmed cases; 121,400 deaths.
06/18/20 -- 2,264,000 confirmed cases; 120,700 deaths.
06/17/20 -- 2,235,000 confirmed cases; 119,900 deaths.
06/16/20 -- 2,199,000 confirmed cases; 118,800 deaths.
06/15/20 -- 2,182,000 confirmed cases; 118,200 deaths.
06/14/20 -- 2,162,000 confirmed cases; 117,800 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
06/13/20 -- 2,139,000 confirmed cases; 117,500 deaths. Latest projection has 200,000 Americans dead from COVID-19 before October.
06/12/20 -- 2,117,000 confirmed cases; 116,800 deaths.
06/11/20 -- 2,090,000 confirmed cases; 116,000 deaths.
06/10/20 -- 2,066,000 confirmed cases; 115,100 deaths.
06/09/20 -- 2,046,000 confirmed cases; 114,100 deaths.
06/08/20 -- 2,026,000 confirmed cases; 113,000 deaths.
06/07/20 -- 2,007,000 confirmed cases; 112,500 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
06/06/20 -- 1,976,000 confirmed cases; 111,900 deaths.
06/05/20 -- 1,949,000 confirmed cases; 111,000 deaths.
06/04/20 -- 1,924,000 confirmed cases; 110,100 deaths.
06/03/20 -- 1,902,000 confirmed cases; 109,100 deaths.
06/02/20 -- 1,881,000 confirmed cases; 108,000 deaths.
06/01/20 -- 1,860,000 confirmed cases; 107,000 deaths.
05/31/20 -- 1,837,000 confirmed cases; 106,200 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/30/20 -- 1,817,000 confirmed cases; 105,600 deaths.
05/29/20 -- 1,793,000 confirmed cases; 104,500 deaths.
05/28/20 -- 1,768,000 confirmed cases; 103,300 deaths.
05/27/20 -- 1,746,000 confirmed cases; 102,100 deaths.
05/26/20 -- 1,725,000 confirmed cases; 100,600 deaths.
05/25/20 -- 1,706,000 confirmed cases; 99,800 deaths.
05/24/20 -- 1,686,000 confirmed cases; 99,300 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/23/20 -- 1,667,000 confirmed cases; 98,700 deaths.
05/22/20 -- 1,645,000 confirmed cases; 97,600 deaths.
05/21/20 -- 1,621,000 confirmed cases; 96,400 deaths.
05/20/20 -- 1,593,000 confirmed cases; 94,900 deaths.
05/19/20 -- 1,571,000 confirmed cases; 93,500 deaths.
05/18/20 -- 1,550,000 confirmed cases; 92,000 deaths.
05/17/20 -- 1,528,000 confirmed cases; 91,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/16/20 -- 1,497,000 confirmed cases; 89,400 deaths.
05/15/20 -- 1,473,000 confirmed cases; 88,200 deaths.
05/14/20 -- 1,448,000 confirmed cases; 86,500 deaths.
05/13/20 -- 1,421,000 confirmed cases; 84,800 deaths.
05/12/20 -- 1,400,000 confirmed cases; 83,000 deaths.
05/11/20 -- 1,379,000 confirmed cases; 81,500 deaths.
05/10/20 -- 1,364,000 confirmed cases; 80,600 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/09/20 -- 1,344,000 confirmed cases; 79,700 deaths.
05/08/20 -- 1,318,000 confirmed cases; 78,200 deaths.
05/07/20 -- 1,289,000 confirmed cases; 76,500 deaths.
05/06/20 -- 1,260,000 confirmed cases; 74,500 deaths.
05/05/20 -- 1,233,000 confirmed cases; 72,000 deaths.
05/04/20 -- 1,208,000 confirmed cases; 69,600 deaths. CDC projects cases increasing to 200,000 per day with deaths rising to 3,000 per day by June because of states, localities and people not following guidelines and reopening their economies too soon.
05/03/20 -- 1,184,000 confirmed cases; 68,300 deaths. Every 44 seconds, another American dies from COVID-19. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/02/20 -- 1,158,000 confirmed cases; 67,000 deaths.
05/01/20 -- 1,129,000 confirmed cases; 65,500 deaths.
04/30/20 -- 1,094,000 confirmed cases; 63,600 deaths. The U.S. accounts for over a third of the world's cases, and over a quarter of COVID-19 deaths--despite possessing only 5% of the world's population. Yet--even now--we still lack the adequate testing capabilities that are critically needed to safely reopen the economy, and remain sorely lacking the necessary rational national leadership so vital to saving American lives and livelihoods.
04/29/20 -- 1,064,000 confirmed cases; 61,500 deaths. The U.S. now has as many COVID-19 deaths in just NINE WEEKS as there was for all TWELVE YEARS of the Vietnam War.
04/28/20 -- 1,034,000 confirmed cases; 59,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/27/20 -- 1,009,000 confirmed cases; 56,500 deaths.
04/26/20 -- 985,000 confirmed cases; 55,400 deaths.
04/25/20 -- 958,000 confirmed cases; 54,000 deaths.
04/24/20 -- 927,000 confirmed cases; 52,400 deaths.
04/23/20 -- 890,000 confirmed cases; 50,400 deaths.
04/22/20 -- 853,000 confirmed cases; 47,800 deaths (+2,674*)
04/21/20 -- 825,000 confirmed cases; 45,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/20/20 -- 788,000 confirmed cases; 43,200 deaths.
04/17/20 -- 702,000 confirmed cases; 37,000 deaths.
04/16/20 -- 671,000 confirmed cases; 33,100 deaths. Less COVID-19 testing performed this week than last, despite desperate need to ramp up volume to reopen economy.
04/15/20 -- 640,000 confirmed cases; 30,800 deaths. The United States recorded its first coronavirus fatality on Feb. 29. It took 38 days to reach 10,000 deaths and just nine more days to go from 10,000 fatalities to 30,000. An increase in fatalities over the last 48 hours was expected, but was also due to new CDC policy, starting on 04/14, to include probable COVID-19 deaths...finally.
04/14/20 -- 609,000 confirmed cases; 26,600 deaths (+2,364 - *New worst daily death toll)
04/13/20 -- 583,000 confirmed cases; 24,200 deaths
04/12/20 -- 558,000 confirmed cases; 22,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S. With just 4.25% of the world's population, the U.S. has 30% of the COVID-19 infections and 20% of the COVID-19 deaths. So far, the U.S. has the very WORST response of ANY nation, something formerly inconceivable, and inexcusable that it could now be allowed to happen here. In the U.S., we have 1.5 million seniors in 15,000 nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Despite forming only 0.45% of the U.S. population, they make up almost 10% of deaths, primarily because our federal government is not doing enough to protect them. Reported that many hospitals are no longer accepting COVID-19 patients from nursing homes, preferring they die there, instead. Our seniors, who helped build, grow and make America great, are being sacrificed, solely to ignorance.
04/11/20 -- 530,000 confirmed cases; 20,500 deaths.
04/08/20 -- 432,000 confirmed cases; 15,900 deaths. .
04/07/20 -- 400,000 confirmed cases; 13,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. Figures indicate a Covid-19 fatality rate for TESTED Americans at 3.25%.
04/06/20 -- 369,000 confirmed cases; 11,000 deaths.
04/02/20 -- 246,000 confirmed cases; 6,050 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/01/20 -- 217,000 confirmed cases; 5,150 deaths.
03/31/20 -- 190,000 confirmed cases; 4,200 deaths.
03/29/20 -- 143,000 confirmed cases; 2,450 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
(Update 5: Friday, 03/27/20, confirmed U.S. cases 105,000--which is 50% over NIH high-end estimate; deaths 1,700 by end of day. The perspective for cases is significantly skewed low and thus highly misleading, however, as just 0.17% of U.S. population has been tested to date.)
"As many as 70,000 Americans could be confirmed as infected with coronavirus by the end of next week, marking a “pretty dramatic” increase in the number of confirmed cases," the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, told his employees in an agency-wide conference call on 03/20/20.
Except 03/21/20 saw a 33% jump in U.S. cases, from 18,000 to over 24,000. If continuing at 33% every 24 hours, the number of confirmed cases is trending much higher than just 70,000 by 03/27/20. Suspect confirmed cases will be double that. Bear in mind, states hardest hit are not testing many people, saving the tests for those most in need. So the actual number of infected Americans is going to be far higher than just what limited testing of the population has so far confirmed. Don't think this fact is being given enough attention. More important than the number of cases confirmed is the number contracting the disease and not getting tested, spreading the disease, in many cases unknowingly. Hospital projections are for about 100 MILLION Americans to become infected, with about 500,000 dead from covid-19.
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This should not be seen as OK in any circumstance. Given the devastating information contained in the Mueller Report, the egregious and possible criminal behavior of A.G. Barr and his office in delivering and grossly distorting that report, the explosive, disturbing new revelations coming out with greater and greater frequency since the release of the report, and the President's desperation, lies, obstruction and other unethical behavior following that release, this should not be a difficult decision at all for anyone, regardless of political affiliation. This is a no-brainer. Even if the public hasn't yet quite fully caught on to the magnitude and scope of Trump's corruption and crimes, I expect members of Congress to have familiarized themselves with the Report and reach an objective analysis. There is ample cause contained in the Mueller Report any impartial analysis should bring about a Senate Select Committee or similar body to investigate in conjunction with the House, as was done with Nixon. In a critical situation like this, elected officials should be expected and trusted to uphold the rule of law, to be leaders, working together regardless of political affiliation. Let's not forget, there is little or no support for impeachment among Republicans in the Senate majority, and it takes a 2/3 majority in the Senate for impeachment. So far, it is looking like Mitch McConnell and other Republicans there are still playing out of Trump's playbook, which is sickening. The hope is that the House committee investigations will be able to get their work done quickly, so that a case can be made to the American people while holding impeachment proceedings in the House, a referral passed over to the Senate. However, Trump is obstructing any meaningful Congressional oversight, and legal issues involving access to evidence or other issues could get tied up in the courts, dragging the process out to the election or even beyond. If Trump were to win reelection, there may not be any justice, as the statute of limitations would have expired on many of the charges before he left office following his second term.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
Democrats, Independents, others: WTF?!?
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TRUMP: -- "I'm guilty! Impeach me!"
MIGHTY McCOVER-UP and his MENDACIOUS BAND OF MARAUDERS: -- "He's innocent, I tell you, innocent! Case cloooosed!"
MEDIA -- "Problem is Democrats not declaring impeachment when WE dictate!"
MEDIA SOLUTION -- Daily punishing public whippings of Pelosi and Dems striving for accountability, using a double-standard projection device absolving Republican shared responsibility for impeachment. Overtly overly politicize process. Help normalize Congressional Republican deceit, denialism, cover-up and gaslighting by largely ignoring. A solution working to insure guaranteed failure!
Let's not forget it was the media twisted around Trump's little finger, being willing used to promote a nutcase, helping get him elected, because it promoted their ratings. And it was the media that performed their own version of a Comey on Dems, playing up Democratic squabbles and Republican propaganda memes, mostly ignoring the bigger picture. Media's playing kingmaker hurt Dem candidate, too. The media played a significant role in creating--and share responsibility for--the current mess. Projecting fault onto Democrats can't change or diminish that. Democrats ARE holding this administration accountable and having quite a few successes. However, while media has done outstanding work helping to expose administration corruption, it is failing spectacularly to hold Congressional Republicans accountable to even basic standards expected of any public official. It is the media not fulfilling its end of the bargain, fulfilling its own basic journalistic obligations!
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Getting vaccinated and following CDC guidelines brings freedom from preventable illness or injury, and a senseless premature death, but the mindless fascist Republican cult only believes in freeDUMB. Just as they don't understand or would deny the Constitution is as much about the common good as personal liberties, and that those two things are intrinsically and inextricably intertwined.
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge." ~ Ben Franklin, from Poor Richard's Almanack
Those who scorn public health guidelines during a deadly global pandemic and confuse a grievous public health issue with "essential" liberty to kill and harm themselves and their fellow citizens--as well as their nation--sorely lack both care and knowledge. They are also sorely lacking in common sense, something else about which Mr. Franklin was quite keen. Mr. Franklin was also one our nation's first scientists--yet these modern-day knuckleheads who ought know better refute science! Were he alive today, he would be rather dismayed, disgruntled, and disgusted with the fascist anti-science Republican cult, that much is crystal clear.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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"We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Unknown source, a derivative of similar quotes by William Butler Yeats, Bertrand Russell, and Charles Bukowski
Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
~ How Fascism Works, The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(Reference also Father Charles E. Coughlin and Henry Ford in regards to the original America First movement.)
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
Malcolm Nance: We Are In A Neo-Fascist Era In American Politics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_RxUAe2zeM
Political Analyst Tells Joy Reid: Forget Trumpism, IT’s Neo-Fascism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IgNp84JA4A
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law?
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“I'm not scared of the Maos and the Stalins and the Hitlers.
I'm scared of the thousands of millions of people that hallucinate them to be "authority", and so do their bidding, and pay for their empires, and carry out their orders.
I don't care if there's one looney with a stupid moustache. He's not a threat if the people do not believe in "authority".” ― Larken Rose
Setting aside the sleazy immoral Reich-wing grifters at the top -- people like Trump, Congressional Republicans, Reich-wing demagogues and media -- the rank-and-file of the GOP has become a fascist cult. To be clear, Trump did not create the cult, it existed before him. He merely served as a unifying figure they chose to rally around and worship as their fool's gold god. Trump appealed to their basest nature and told them what they wanted to hear. Now, those Reich-wing grifters may have cultivated their cult to exploit for their own greed, power and vanity, but at least to some extent the Republican cult in turn seeks to exploit the GOP for their own various misguided purposes. They CHOOSE to be willfully ignorant, to believe or espouse the lies, because as a political calculus they shortsightedly see it as expedient to their ends.
What must also be taken into consideration are the characteristics of a cult. Why do people join a cult? Why do they choose to remain in a cult? No need to go into detail; the answers are largely common knowledge or easily researched. But it should be pointed out that in a complex world, the simplistic and rigid beliefs embraced by cults can be very alluring, no matter how fantastical and removed from reality. It should also be acknowledged that the Republican cult is not a monolithic entity, but an amalgamation of sects, including White supremacists, Christian nationalists, libertarians, sovereign nationals, anarchists, tax resistors, Qanon and other extremist fringe groups. Of course, not every Republican is an extremist, a fascist, or untethered from reality. But this latter more benign group is nevertheless part of the fascist Republican cult, complicit in their support of the whole, whether through their silent acquiescence and votes or willing assistance.
It's a very dangerous feedback loop, a vicious circle, one that as it sinks further into depravity its threat correspondingly rises, for as the Republican cult has over time been becoming increasingly more radicalized, we witness the election of more radical politicians to represent them, more radicalized Reich-wing media and demagogues to feed them propaganda. While some Republicans are leaving the GOP and some others are speaking out and trying to save their party, they constitute a weak minority, unfortunately.
In a normal, sane world, the Republican cult would have ended or been marginalized after the Mueller Report, after Trump's Ukraine shakedown and impeachment, after Trump's horrendous handling of a deadly global pandemic, after his election defeat, or after January 6th and his second impeachment. But that hasn't happened. Instead, the Republican cult continues to become increasingly more radicalized and extreme. As President Biden says, "We are in a battle for the soul of this nation." And that battle is far from over.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Republican cult placing greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, John Eastman and all other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed? If Garland doesn't stand up for the rule of law, justice and democracy, this nation is soon doomed.
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
18 U.S.C. §2383 -- Rebellion or insurrection
Whoever incites, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof … shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.
18 U.S.C. §2384 -- Seditious conspiracy
If two or more persons … in any place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof, … they shall each be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.
18 U.S.C. §2385 -- Advocating overthrow of Government
Whoever knowingly or willfully advocates, abets, advises, or teaches the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying the government of the United States or the government of any State … by force or violence, ... they shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.
18 U.S. Code § 2331 -- Domestic Terrorism (Supplemental penalty of up to 17 years imprisonment)
(5) the term “domestic terrorism” means activities that—
(A) involve acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State;
(B) appear to be intended—
(i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population;
(ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or
(iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and
(C) occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States
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** ~ Bad Vibration, Grave Reverberation ~ **
So much frustration and aggravation
Dispensation of exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Sick fascination, no reservation
Brutalization, victimization
Race relation identification
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cessation media manipulation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cooperation, collaboration
Restoration results in elation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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@tingleblade4274 ~ You don't seem to be an American, Doc, because you don't even understand how the voting system in this country works! Voting by mail has been around in the U.S. for a couple of centuries, was used extensively in the Civil War. Voting by mail is no different than the millions of Americans that vote by absentee ballot every election--which happens at least every two years, not four! Our military personnel vote by mail, as do all those U.S. citizens living and working in other nations, as do the elderly and infirm.
Voting by mail is safer for citizens AND poll workers during a deadly global pandemic, helping to limit the spread--which is currently out-of-control in the U.S. thanks to Toxic Trump's gross incompetence and homicidal criminal negligence, which has cost 234,000+ American lives. Many of us in the COVID-19 high-risk category don't go grocery shopping in the store (often because of REPUBLICAN morons not wearing masks). Even some not at high-risk choose delivery or pick-up for their groceries, rather than risk catching COVID-19, to protect not only themselves, but also to prevent inadvertently spreading it to those in their family or whom they live with who are at high-risk.
Every election, there already are certified observers at the polling places and polling processing places from each party. Trump sued to allow people from his campaign staff to observe. No big deal; let them observe if they don't trust the Republican observers already there. Moreover, Democrat and Republican poll workers operate in tandem, verifying each other's work, to prevent cheating and to insure the integrity of the vote.
Figure no American is that stupid to not know the basics of voting in America. Therefore, you must be a Russian bot, seeking to sow disinformation, discord, division in order to weaken America, kill Americans. #moreRussiasancitons
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian nationalism religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast would soon come to consume them.
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'Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America' by Kathleen Belew (Harvard University Press, 2018)
The movement “brought together members of the Klan, militias, radical tax resisters, white separatists, neo-Nazis, and proponents of white theologies such as Christian Identity, Odinism, and Dualism” (ix). What was it about the movement that brought these ideologies together?
The promise of violence — rather, the promise that members would get to inflict violence on other people. Belew writes that as the white power movement matured, it became more violent, and “[as] violence came to the fore of the movement, distinctions among white power factions melted away” (60). Belew calls this process “violent community formation” (34). Yet as a social movement, Belew makes a distinction between the white power movement’s “revolutionary violence” and the Ku Klux Klan’s “vigilante violence.”
Vigilante violence “served to constitute, shore up, and enforce systemic power” (106). Given that the U.S. government has a long history of “defending vigilante violence by refusing to enforce the law” (99), law enforcement inaction and vigilante violence may be understood together as a case of one hand washing the other. Revolutionary violence, however, sought to overthrow the state. It is the white power movement’s goal of overthrowing the federal government that sets it apart in the history of white supremacy in the U.S.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of crackpot conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of greed, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of plutocrats, the party of corruption, the party of anti-democracy, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their pact with the Devil.
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Taking the vaccination brings freedom from preventable illness or injury, and a senseless premature death, but the mindless fascist Republican cult only believes in freeDUMB. Just as they don't understand or would deny the Constitution is as much about the common good as personal liberties, and that those two things are intrinsically and inextricably intertwined.
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge." ~ Ben Franklin, from Poor Richard's Almanack
Those who scorn public health guidelines during a deadly global pandemic and confuse a grievous public health issue with "essential" liberty to kill and harm themselves and their fellow citizens--as well as their nation--sorely lack both care and knowledge. They are also sorely lacking in common sense, something else about which Mr. Franklin was quite keen. Mr. Franklin was also one our nation's first scientists--yet these modern-day knuckleheads who ought know better refute science! Were he alive today, he would be rather dismayed, disgruntled, and disgusted with the fascist anti-science Republican cult, that much is crystal clear.
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Had to smile learning of Toxic Trump's bullying threats against protestors. Very first thought was that little coward is quaking in his boots, filling them with piss, envisioning the guillotine! Well, there is a revolution happening, and it's certainly true that many want the head of this administration removed! Then, finding out the Coward-'n-Thief holed himself up in the White House underground bunker, hunkering down, howled with laughter! Now, after watching President Nero deploy hundreds of ACTIVE military on WHITE HOUSE grounds, then discovering they were used without warning to flash-bang, tear gas, rubber-bullet and physically shove the peaceful protesting crowd back--merely so that Toxic Trump could stage a photo op holding up a Bible in front of the church next door for his political campaign--am not feeling at all jovial, anymore.
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Freedoms can exist only up to the point they infringe upon the freedom of others. Religious tolerance can be practiced only up to the point it becomes intolerant of others. Our Constitution is a secular document, not a religious one, and it was certainly never intended to be a suicidal death pact. Getting vaccinated and following CDC guidelines brings freedom from preventable illness or injury, and a senseless premature death, but the mindless fascist Republican cult only believes in freeDUMB. Just as they don't understand or would deny the Constitution is as much about the common good as personal liberties, and that those two things are intrinsically and inextricably intertwined.
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge." ~ Ben Franklin, from Poor Richard's Almanack
Those who scorn public health guidelines during a deadly global pandemic and confuse a grievous public health issue with "essential" liberty to kill and harm themselves and their fellow citizens--as well as their nation--sorely lack both care and knowledge. They are also sorely lacking in common sense, something else about which Mr. Franklin was quite keen. Mr. Franklin was also one our nation's first scientists--yet these modern-day knuckleheads who ought know better refute science! Were he alive today, he would be rather dismayed, disgruntled, and disgusted with the fascist anti-science Republican cult, that much is crystal clear.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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***MEDIA FAIL*** -- Video is two different segments dealing with COVID-19. First part deals with the title, second part deals with pandemic impact on medical workers and patients. First segment could be a commercial for Delta airlines, advertising their pandemic response, touting safety measures. The segment, however, neglects to include the opinions of medical and scientific experts about the safety of their measures, or flying in general at a time when infection rates are soaring out of control in the majority of states around the nation. Its narrow focus on just one airline fails to inform the public what to expect when flying on so many other airlines. The fact remains that many airlines are packing too many people too near together for extended periods in the tightly enclosed space of an airplane. That was ignored in this segment. Why? While providing some good information, with 133,000 COVID-19 deaths already, and fatalities once again starting to soar, does the media really want to encourage travel on airplanes that is not absolutely essential, particularly when many airlines are NOT taking proper common-sense safety precautions? If airlines can not operate profitably keeping passengers socially distant and safe, then why isn't the media addressing that, instead of lulling people into a false sense of security about flying, which is irresponsible? Second segment demonstrates media knows how to do better, being informative, impactful, produced well, and more on point. Found this was one of those rare instance where having two disparate, but related, subjects lumped together was beneficial. However, there was no bridge to segue the two segments, and the news video title fails to inform viewers of the second subject addressed.
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Republicans care more about covering up Trump's COVID-19 bungling, making him look good--than they care about their own constituents and the American people! Mr. Roy (R-TX), was the notable exception in the House hearing Thursday, 03/12/20. It is Republicans actually politicizing this epidemic, projecting their own irresponsible, despicable behavior on to their opponents, as usual. They want to play games while Americans die. Congress and the public need answers, and this administration needs to be held accountable for its ongoing bungling, and its plans for dealing with this crisis. That's not politicization, that's how good government should operate. Republicans, unfortunately, have abandoned the principles of good government, purely for partisan and corrupt profit pursuits. Make no mistake: their ignorance and greed has cost American lives, and will cost many more before this pandemic has run its course.
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Merrick Garland: "Trump and Congressional Republicans screwed me out of a seat on the Supreme Court...that's why now as AG I can't prosecute them for the many crimes they've committed!"
Merrick Garland’s House Testimony Demonstrated the Failure of His Hyper-Cautious Approach to His Job
Despite Garland’s many efforts to not appear political by declining to investigate Trump and his cronies for possible crimes and by using DOJ resources to actively protect Trump from civil liability, Republicans are still portraying him as the most political attorney general in history.
The other weakness of Garland’s timid approach was on full view during his opening statement and responses to Democratic members of Congress. “The essence of the rule of law is that like cases are treated alike. That there not be one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans; one rule for friends, another for foes,” Garland stated grandly. But by declining to investigate Trump and his associates, Garland is enabling further attacks on our democracy. (While proving inequity by putting Republicans above the law.)
Crucially, the two parties are not the same. Garland’s standard sets up a false equivalency between the Democratic Party and a political party whose national leader, Donald Trump, incited and celebrated a violent assault on our nation’s Capitol to overthrow the results of a free and fair election and who continues to portray the insurrection as a glorious “protest.” To that end, in the middle of the attorney general’s testimony, Trump issued a statement highlighting Garland’s feebleness at failing to even investigate the organizers and leaders of the Jan. 6 events, declaring “the insurrection took place on November 3, Election Day. January 6 was the Protest!”
Garland’s efforts to depoliticize the DOJ have proved to be an abdication of his responsibility to protect the rule of law. Take just a few examples: Garland’s failure to reconsider the obstruction of justice case against the former president, his deferral of an investigation of possible financial crimes by Trump and his organization to local prosecutors in New York City and Westchester, his use of the DOJ to protect Trump from defamation allegations, and his deferral of a soliciting of voter fraud felony probe in Georgia to local prosecutors there. By abdicating his responsibility, Garland is also opening the door for Trump to commit these possibly criminal abuses all over again, this time with the full support of the Republican Party, and maybe ultimately return to power.
--Mark Stern
"Try as he may, Merrick Garland cannot perform boring independence fast enough to outrun GOP claims that he’s a wild-eyed, violent socialist. And while the GOP currently exists only to cast everything you thought you believed into doubt, the real endgame is vigilantism. The endgame is to ensure that people mistrust government, election systems, school boards, (teachers, health care officials) the media, and the justice system enough to lend a hand in their destruction."
--Dahlia Lithwick
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Meet the new ugly face of white supremacy in America! Funny--it looks just like the old ugly face. Except this time they got their Imperial Wizard installed as Chief Jester of the Supreme Court, where he magically declared racism somehow no longer a problem in America, paving the way for thousands of new Jim Crow laws and egregious gerrymandering suppressing and disenfranchising millions of American voters. Of course, harsh realities will continue to exist irrespective of any blind eye or pretentious, capricious edicts by some Supreme Court. And Roberts' conservative SCOTUS decisions only confirm how the white supremacist problem and its perpetual "fix" on the American judicial branch and justice system has never gone away, as America continues to struggle with overcoming a racist history of colonialism, slavery, and discrimination.
"...we must recognize that one of the two political parties is routinely engaged in sabotaging free elections with voter-suppression efforts aimed at the minority voters it cannot win over at the ballot box. These anti-democratic power grabs became a GOP staple decades before Donald Trump, culminating in the actions of a George W. Bush–anointed chief justice, John Roberts, whose Supreme Court shredded the Voting Rights Act of 1965. As Roberts famously put it in his 2007 opinion for the plurality, “The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.” Since then, discrimination on the basis of race has only expanded in states like Georgia and Florida, where Black voting rights have been cavalierly undermined and trashed."
~ Frank Rich, November 9, 2020 (Written well before the rash of new Jim Crow laws now being proposed and passed by Republicans in many states.)
Chief Justice Roberts and his fellow conservative SCOTUS justices: the architects of a new era of Jim Crow in America. Need to expand SCOTUS to 15 justices, do away with the filibuster, pass a new Voting Rights Act, and let Biden appoint six new justices to bring sanity and justice back to the Supreme Court.
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The Bankruptcy King, Putin's puppet-pie pawn Traitor-'n-Thief Toxic Trump, has bankrupted American standing globally; bankrupted American national security, bankrupted America morally, ethically, and financially. Something only made possible with corrupt GOP leadership, GOP Congressional members, and other GOP elected officials actively aiding and abetting, fully complicit. Before taking office, Toxic Trump had declared bankruptcy six times, while losing more money during the 80's boom cycle than anyone else. Surprised that his current business ventures are going bankrupt, too? You really shouldn’t be.
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We got Big Brag Daddy Baghdad Bob broadcasting direct from Washington, D.C. daily, with Toxic Trump and a revolving cast of his sycophantic minions! Happy talk, disinformation, empty promises, idle threats, vicious smears, bogus pandemic models, dog whistles, continuous crackpot conspiracies--they got it all, and more!
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Corrupt antidemocratic Congressional Republicans and fascist GOP cult are not upset about the horrific carnage resulting from Traitor-'n-Thief Trump's autogolpe and seditious terrorist insurrection on January 6th...only that it failed. Nor do they care about all the other related fraudulent attempts by Trump and Republicans to overturn a free and fair election, or about the undermining of our democracy and weakening of our nation that they have caused and continue causing.
It must be remembered that Republicans are still whipping up the crazies, still fomenting unfounded anti-government sentiment, violence and domestic terrorism. Not just the Republicans actively doing so like Greene, Gosar and Gaetz, but all those other Republicans who through their silent acquiescence aid and abet them. Unfortunately, because it has refused to clean up its act, the GOP has become rotten to the core, transformed into a fascist, nihilistic cult.
'Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America' by Kathleen Belew (Harvard University Press, 2018)
The movement “brought together members of the Klan, militias, radical tax resisters, white separatists, neo-Nazis, and proponents of white theologies such as Christian Identity, Odinism, and Dualism” (ix). What was it about the movement that brought these ideologies together?
The promise of violence — rather, the promise that members would get to inflict violence on other people. Belew writes that as the white power movement matured, it became more violent, and “[as] violence came to the fore of the movement, distinctions among white power factions melted away” (60). Belew calls this process “violent community formation” (34). Yet as a social movement, Belew makes a distinction between the white power movement’s “revolutionary violence” and the Ku Klux Klan’s “vigilante violence.”
Vigilante violence “served to constitute, shore up, and enforce systemic power” (106). Given that the U.S. government has a long history of “defending vigilante violence by refusing to enforce the law” (99), law enforcement inaction and vigilante violence may be understood together as a case of one hand washing the other. Revolutionary violence, however, sought to overthrow the state. It is the white power movement’s goal of overthrowing the federal government that sets it apart in the history of white supremacy in the U.S.
While the group claims to defend the Constitution, the entire Oath Keepers organization is based on a set of baseless conspiracy theories about the federal government working to destroy Americans’ liberties.
~ Southern Poverty Law Center
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Toxic Trump: "I'm the BEST, just absolutely CRUSHING the competition, with over TWO POINT THREE MILLION coronavirus cases and over 120--one-hundred and twenty!!!--THOUSAND deaths! They ALL got eighty-sixed, 'cause nobody else even comes close! With a third of the world's cases and a quarter of deaths--can you even imagine how truly great, how awesome, that achievement is, with only just FOUR PERCENT of the world's population to work with? Believe it or not, I accomplished in only FIVE WEEKS what it took the Vietnam War a whole TWELVE YEARS to do! PLUS, we're not even counting ALL the COVID-19 cases and deaths here in the U.S.! Those other weaklings and losers don't stand a chance, because we're going to keep right on winning--as long as I'm in charge! Now, vacation's over; time to get back to work on increasing those numbers, people! Let's keep America great, get rid of all the excess baggage! As wartime President, I am commanding all CIVILIANS to senselessly sacrifice their lives for my arrogance, stupidity, vanity, malevolence, and greed!"
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian nationalism religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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GOP cult: “Democracy is great…only so long as we can subvert it with lies, cheating, a multitude of Jim Crow voter suppression laws, egregious gerrymandering, obstruction, coups, election interference, sedition, and terrorism to gain power and maintain our corrupt, plutocratic, minority fascist rule!”
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Gee, didn't you know? Republicans don't care anything about protecting workers, public health, law, justice, or the environment...only about maximizing profits! That's how we got into this pickle in the first place, with 100,000 Americans dead in just three months; that's why other nations have stopped the spread, but we're STILL in the first wave, losing a 1,000 Americans daily, remember?
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One third of humanity under virus lockdown
AFP -- 03/25/20
More than one billion Indians went into lockdown Wednesday, leaving a third of the planet now under orders to stay at home, as the United States vowed to spend $2 trillion to counter the economic harm of the coronavirus.
Europe remains at the heart of the epidemic, with first Italy and now Spain's death toll overtaking that of China, while Britain's Prince Charles became the latest prominent figure to test positive for the COVID-19 disease.
Coronavirus cases are also spreading in the Middle East, where Iran's death toll topped 2,000 on Wednesday, and in Africa, where Mali joined all seven of its neighbours in declaring its first cases -- two nationals who arrived home recently from France.
Government policies and the capacity for virus testing vary widely around the world, so the true extent of the pandemic is difficult to estimate, but more than 404,000 cases have been declared in 175 countries and territories since the epidemic first emerged in China in December.
What is in less doubt is the number of deaths, with more than 19,000 attributed to the new coronavirus strain since the outbreak began.
India ordered its 1.3 billion people -- the world's second-biggest population -- to stay at home for three weeks.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "total lockdown" call doubled the number of people around the globe under some form of movement restriction to more than 2.6 billion people.
"To save India, to save its every citizen, you, your family... every street, every neighbourhood is being put under lockdown," Modi said in a televised address.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/one-third-of-humanity-under-virus-lockdown/ar-BB11Fk7V
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
~ "Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts."
~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans want competent leaders who speaks truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is receiving such high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating.
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@deejonhs5068 ~ The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected this pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Republican cult placing political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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@deejonhs5068 ~ As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth and justice--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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White House told federal health agency to classify coronavirus deliberations
WASHINGTON, March 11 (Reuters) - The White House has ordered federal health officials to treat top-level coronavirus meetings as classified, an unusual step that has restricted information and hampered the U.S. government’s response to the contagion, according to four Trump administration officials.
The officials said that dozens of classified discussions about such topics as the scope of infections, quarantines and travel restrictions have been held since mid-January in a high-security meeting room at the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), a key player in the fight against the coronavirus.
“We had some very critical people who did not have security clearances who could not go,” one official said. “These should not be classified meetings. It was unnecessary.”
The sources said the National Security Council (NSC), which advises the president on security issues, ordered the classification.“This came directly from the White House,” one official said.
The White House insistence on secrecy at the nation’s premier public health organization, which has not been previously disclosed, has put a lid on certain information - and potentially delayed the response to the crisis. COVID19, the disease caused by the virus, has killed about 30 people in the United States and infected more than 1,000 people.
HHS oversees a broad range of health agencies, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which among other things is responsible for tracking cases and providing guidance nationally on the outbreaks.
A high-level former official who helped address public health outbreaks in the George W. Bush administration said “it’s not normal to classify discussions about a response to a public health crisis.”
Attendees at the meetings included HHS Secretary Alex Azar and his chief of staff Brian Harrison, the officials said. Azar and Harrison resisted the classification of the meetings, the sources said.
China's ignorant, regressive reaction to the Wuhan coronavirus demonstrates exactly the kind of danger posed by authoritarian, corrupt governments--which is precisely what Traitor-'n-Thief Trump and Republicans are doing to American government. A very recent article published after this was written echoes the exact same warning: 'Tyranny is fueling the coronavirus pandemic'
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/tyranny-is-fueling-the-coronavirus-pandemic
Even after Beijing officially acknowledged the epidemic and sought to contain it by locking down millions of people, heavy censorship has persisted. In particular, on the popular messaging app WeChat, there have been widespread efforts to stifle discussion of the outbreak.
Lotus Ruan, a researcher with Citizen Lab, said such information controls can be particularly dangerous during a public health emergency, because they can prevent people from getting accurate information.
“The broad censorship of the coronavirus we found is significant because blocking general information during a health crisis can limit the public’s ability to be informed and protect themselves,” she said.
Trump’s coronavirus response puts his authoritarian instincts on full view
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/opinions-trumps-coronavirus-response-puts-his-authoritarian-instincts-on-full-view/ar-BB10KoIW
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It’s that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes have to KNOW at some level he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don’t care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn’t want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it’s more than hope—those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another two months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn’t really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
“The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.”
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump’s hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic hyper-partisan Republican cult placing political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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Pelosi urges stronger U.S. federal response to coronavirus
Reuters -- 03/31/20
WASHINGTON — U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday urged the Trump administration to do more to implement widespread testing for the coronavirus and deliver critical supplies to combat the outbreak, saying there needed to be a more coordinated response.
Pelosi told MSNBC that President Donald Trump should immediately leverage the Defense Production Act to spur production of ventilators for patients and personal protective equipment for healthcare workers coping with the outbreak, which has claimed more than 3,000 lives in the United States so far.
The Defense Production Act, which was passed in 1950, grants the president the power to expand industrial production of key materials or products for national security and other reasons.
"There's an overall appeal for him to do much, much more," Pelosi, a Democrat, told the network in an interview. "This is nothing that can be handled piecemeal. It has to be across the board."
"We haven't had the proper testing," Pelosi added.
The United States has ramped up testing after numerous setbacks but still lags behind other countries on a per capita basis. Trump, a Republican, said on Monday that more than 1 million Americans had been tested for coronavirus — less than 3% of the population.
Pelosi also said lawmakers needed to take up a fourth coronavirus-related bill to focus on recovery in the aftermath of the outbreak.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/u-s-house-speaker-pelosi-urges-stronger-federal-response-to-coronavirus/ar-BB11XHHf
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GOP cult: “Democracy is great…only so long as we can subvert it with lies, cheating, a multitude of Jim Crow voter suppression laws, egregious gerrymandering, obstruction, coups, election interference, election fraud, sedition, insurrection and terrorism to gain power and maintain our corrupt, plutocratic, minority fascist rule!”
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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The problem is really with Merrick Garland and the DOJ. Some Democrats in Congress have filed a civil suit against Trump for January 6. Democrats will refer a complaint for criminal contempt against Bannon to the DOJ, which is the correct route to go. If DOJ declines to prosecute, then Democrats will have to go the inherent contempt route, because taking the civil contempt route would take too long in the courts. But that shouldn't be necessary; the DOJ needs to enforce criminal contempt of Congress. Democrats brought two impeachments against Trump, and put forth an excellent case for conviction in both instances. It was Republicans who refused to hold him accountable, not Democrats.
But Democrats aren't responsible for prosecuting Trump and his cronies for their many crimes, the AG and DOJ is. While I understand to some extent Garland's reluctance, because Republicans are going to play victim and accuse the DOJ of being political, a label he doesn't want the DOJ to have under his watch, that is not sufficient excuse for not prosecuting criminals. Being apolitical means the DOJ going after those who break the law, regardless if they are politicians or politically connected, regardless of political affiliation. I understand also why Democrats are treading carefully, because while they may not be abusing their power to get to the bottom of January 6, Republicans have a history of abusing their power to go after their political opponents.
I don't think Democrats are necessarily being too soft, but I do think they need to be harder and there needs to be more urgency. Subpoenas should have been issued months ago, knowing that Trump and his minions would stall and try to run out the clock. I do fault Manchin and Sinema for not getting on board with other Democrats on Biden's agenda, because they are sinking Democrats chances for retaining majorities in the House and Senate. That urgency by the Democrats needs to extend to voting rights, eliminating or reforming the filibuster, expanding the Supreme Court, and passing legislation to protect women's reproductive health rights. If Democrats don't deliver for the American people and protect the franchise, they will be ceding power to Republicans, with likely disastrous results for our democracy and country.
Insofar as Biden nominated Garland to be AG, I don't think he picked him because he wanted to give Trump a pass. Like Obama and all good Presidents, Biden takes a hands-off approach when it comes to the DOJ. But I do think Garland is turning out to have been a poor choice to head the DOJ. Just when we most needed a strong and courageous AG, we got one who is weak and timid instead. Trump should have already been indicted and arrested: as Individual One by the SDNY Federal prosecutor; for the obstruction of justice counts laid out in the Mueller Report; for his Ukraine shakedown laid out in his first impeachment; for inciting sedition outlined in his second impeachment; and for the Federal crime of election interference, which is also being investigated and potentially prosecuted under state law in Fulton County, Georgia.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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The Great Owl ~~The highly-coveted Top Prize for our contestants today is an all-funeral-expenses-paid romantic getaway for two aboard the magnificent Corona Queen, taking you for an exclusive extended cruise, to a secluded stay on the exotic, remote, tropical Isle of Covid-19, where the fevered fun is SUPER-contagious, and you will luxuriously bask in fabulous face masks and rejuvenating oxygen respirators, with the wonderful scent of disinfectant surrounding you! Sure to be a lifetime experience for some lucky few! Just remember--the couple that dies together, stays together!
BONUS SPECIAL CASES: Providing accompanying entertainment is Chief Jester Roberts and the entire Trump comedy team, featuring the Clown Commander, for laughs and coughs! There just ain't no cure, for them ocean cruise blues! Bon voyage!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwE7EFyQDm0 (audio version)
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Who'd have ever equated voting in America with survival? But that's pretty much what it has boiled down to, hasn't it? Survival of ourselves, survival of our democracy, survival of our nation, and survival of our planet. The irony is that Republicans have always tried to falsely paint Democrats as an existential threat...but in doing so it is actually they who have become exactly that.
Democrat voters need an even greater turnout in '22 and '24, put the final fork in Trumpism! Republicans want to engage in Jim Crow voter suppression laws, voter intimidation, and egregious gerrymandering? Republicans want to engage in corruption, gaslight their corruption, coverup their corruption? Republicans want to turn a blind eye to Russian election interference and knowingly disseminate Russian propaganda for Putin? Republicans want to instigate and sanction Reich-wing domestic terrorist insurrection? Republicans want to live in delusion and denial about the major problems confronting the nation and planet? Let's just prove that's fuel for the fire, and make their fascist antidemocratic corruption backfire on them!
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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Deny, denigrate, distract, degrade, deflect, divide, dissemble, diminish, deceive, devolve, destroy = deranged, debased, dishonest, depraved, dysfunctional, disgusting, dupliticious, deplorable, demented, derelict, degenerate, dumb! That's the dirty doggone deal about the Republican cult. Nothing's changed except the slimy slugs slithered forth from under their rock, enabling their enabler, Racist and Rapist-in-Chief Trump. It's not rally around the flag; it's rally around their hate!
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Get to the root cause of the problem? The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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Goya fires employees for saying bad things about their company--even if true! So, Goya owner and CEO believes in consequences for your actions when it comes to free speech--except when it involves him and his cronies facing consequences from minority consumer base boycott blowback for company singing false praise to Toxic Trump, ignoring his racism! The old double-standard hypocrisy pervasive throughout the GOP, once again on full, prominent display, proudly waved by the weasels!
Republican clowns either clueless or careless of their own hypocrisy! They whine of being "victimized" for their speech by others exercising their free speech, think those in opposition to what they say shouldn't have that same right! They just want us to shut-up, shut out the truth, so they can live in their little delusional cult bubble world, with their knee on our necks, sucking the life out of us.
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***~Bad Vibration, Grave Reverberation~***
So much frustration and aggravation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Sick fascination, no reservation
Brutalization, victimization
Race relation identification
Zero toleration immigratio
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation, only stagnation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Abomination seeks domination
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cooperation, collaboration!!!
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Ignorant Republicans, Governors and Mayors:
DO YOU UNDERSTAND???
A virus can't think. But you can.
The real war isn't against this virus--it's against our own IGNORANCE and HUBRIS!
Restarting an economy REQUIRES first protecting public health in the midst of a deadly global pandemic. That's just plain, old-fashioned, common sense, fools! States, localities, and CITIZENS not fully on board with recommended protocols, guidelines--acting hastily and rashly in willful disregard of medical experts, the science, and the data--are PROLONGING isolation measures for EVERYONE, only DELAYING economic recovery in the U.S., while you are disabling and KILLING even more Americans.
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***MEDIA FAIL*** -- How many times is media going to keep regurgitating the same story? 2020 is NOT 2016, Biden is not Clinton, and Trump has a rotten track record, is no longer a beltway outsider--he's instead proven himself to be a corrupt, incompetent, unstable lunatic. This time around, most Democratic voters realize they can't be complacent, as evidenced by the unprecedented early voting, some lines stretching for blocks just to drop off their ballot. 2016 didn't have a failed COVID-19 response and BLM. This segment tells us nothing that wasn't already known, adds nothing to the discussion. Found it a disappointing waste of time, hyping the same old fearmongering, which may well turn out to be unjustified, based upon a freak anomaly. Not to be misunderstood, we should always encourage everyone to vote, and voters should never be influenced by polls. However, voters would likely be better served by a factual comparison between the two candidates, than by rehashing a story that's already been beaten well into the ground. Media BE better, WE be better.
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@jimreadey2743 ~ Again, you're still ignoring a key fact, thereby still chasing unicorns.
"FOUR CORNERS: An Australian current affairs documentary television programme, the longest running of its kind nationally, produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)."
In all probability, you happened upon this video the same way I did. Because of your interest in American politics and current affairs, the YouTube algorithms suggested the video. Because of the content of the video, you made the mistake of assuming that it was produced for an American audience. But it wasn't; it was produced for an Australian audience.
Aside from that, you are ignoring valid points made about the Republican cult as well. As I've said before, "Elmer Fudd is always telling me he want unity. What he really means is that he wants to eat me!" While there has always existed political differences in America, the radicalization and win at any and all costs mindset instilled in the Republican cult is a new, dangerous phenomenon. That warped mentality and what drives it can be observed very clearly in Sydney Powell.
Reporter: "You're not living in reality!"
Sydney Powell: "I'm not going to accept that fact."
Reporter: "Is that really your narrative?"
Sydney Powell: "My narrative is free of fact and devoid of reality!"
While the above is satirical, the liberties taken are to demonstrate a larger truth. A truth pointed out before, in conjunction with the Elmer Fudd anology:
"When the truth is divisive, then there can be no unity. Unity and compromise is a two-way street that only works if both parties operate in good faith. Republicans have a long history of failing to do that--or even trying. Recent history since Biden won the election shows no indication of them changing their divisive, destructive words, attitudes, obstruction and other acts. Tyrant Trump incited a terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol to overthrow an election, endangering his VP and members of Congress, sat by and gleefully reveled in watching it happen for hours, ignoring desperate pleas for help from Congressional Republicans forced to flee for their lives, and only a very few Republican were willing to speak out, impeach him, convict him, and prevent him from holding public office again? Then, Republican wouldn't even agree to a bipartisan January 6 commission formulated upon a plan in which all there demands were met? That's not loyal opposition--that's a dangerous terrorist political cult of fascists."
Consider this: The reporter's function is to expose the truth. The "acrimony in the room" isn't created by the reporter seeking truthful answers to straightforward questions. No, it was created by Sydney Powell, seeing to evade answering those straightforward question in a truthful manner, because they pointed out her deceit and folly. While reporters do seeek productive working relationships with sources to obtain information, confronting those guilty of lies or malfeasance with unpleasant truths is also a vital part of their job. Sydney Powell knew very well before the interview who the reporter worked for, and her question was merely an unscrupulous dodge. Her question didn't deserve an answer because to do so would lend relevance to the irrelevant question, validate Powell's uscrupuous ad hominem / red herring tactic, and further enable deflection. The reporter's job is to keep the interview on track, not allowing it to become diverted from exposing the truth. The reporter in this case remained civil throughout the interview. She is not responsible for, and can not be blamed for, Powell's dishonest behavior.
Unrelated to Powell's unscrupulous question, Powell's behavior in wanting to cut off the interview before being cajoled into continuing for a bit longer spoke volumes about her lack of integrity, which is why airing that part of the interview was important to informing viewers. It was not something staged by the reporter or included by the producers to create drama and increase viewership, even if those things resulted. It is simply reporting what happened during the interview, and is a telling part of the story that the news video would have been negligent or remiss to omit. Good journalism involves asking hard questions and pointing out inconvenient truths. Just because that instigated Powell to stop the interview is no excuse for blaming the reporter for practicing good journalism.
Shyster Sidney Powell's defense against the Dominion lawsuit: "Any reasonable person would have known I was lying!"
Which only proves what a hack lawyer Sidney Powell actually is, because she just handed Dominion the two key pillars for establishing its $1.3 billion defamation suit against her. One--her slanders against Dominion were untrue. Two--she knew the slanders to be untrue. But losing money isn't the only justice she should face; Sidney Powell needs to be disbarred and not allowed to practice law in any state. And if she was in any way involved with the Trump terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol January 6, she needs to be indicted for that, too.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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@jcoffey28
~ Both hilarious and deadly serious at the same time. Unlike Toxic Trump, Herbert Hoover was a man of character and integrity, well renowned as a humanitarian when elected President in a landslide. The comparison is not intended to be one of character, but of blind adherence to dubious, bankrupt, or failed ideology, leading to catastrophic failure highly damaging to America and lethal to Americans. The following should aid in understanding why our comparison is not only valid, but an astute, appropriate one:
Hoover saw the presidency as a vehicle for improving the conditions of all Americans by encouraging public-private cooperation—what he termed "volunteerism". He tended to oppose governmental coercion or intervention, as he thought they infringed on American ideals of individualism and self-reliance. ~Wikipedia
Hoover’s reputation as a humanitarian—earned during and after World War I as he rescued millions of Europeans from starvation—faded from public consciousness when his administration proved unable to alleviate widespread joblessness, homelessness, and hunger in his own country during the early years of the Great Depression. ~Brittanica
Why Trump Ended the Task Force and Put a Kook in Charge of the Coronavirus
Jonathan Chait -- October 20, 2020
The implosion of the last Republican administration was in large part the story of conservative ideology defeating empiricism. George W. Bush dismissed intelligence and foreign-policy professionals who questioned the Iraq weapons claims and pressed the need to plan for an occupation as small-minded bureaucrats disloyal to his grand vision.
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/trump-fauci-coronavirus-scott-atlas-herd-immunity-science-masks.html
Historian explains why Donald Trump’s COVID-19 response is remarkably similar to Herbert Hoover’s failed crisis leadership
April 14, 2020 -- History News Network
Robert Rupp is a professor of history and political science at West Virginia Wesleyan College.
On April 9, the New York Times reported more than 6 million new unemployment claims for the previous week, and nearly 17 million over the previous three weeks. As this massive unemployment has followed the coronavirus crisis, a comparison between Presidents Donald Trump and Herbert Hoover becomes more apt than ever. For both presidents failed to project candor or show leadership during an unprecedented national crisis.
President Hoover during his first year in office confronted an economic collapse. Unemployment soared to a record 25% at time when most Americans did not have access to unemployment benefits let alone health care. But as the nation sank into the Great Depression of the 1930s, Hoover radiated confidence. He was fond of saying that prosperity was just around the corner.
Hoover allegedly explained his optimistic proclamations by saying that “A doctor does not tell his patient how sick he is.” His lack of openness prompted a pushback as opponents during his administration labelled the slums built outside major cities as “Hoovervilles,” and encouraged people to call an empty pocket turned inside out as a “Hoover Flag.”
Like Hoover, Trump leans toward overconfidence rather than openness. According to the Washington Post, he had sought to downplay the coronavirus threat 33 times in February and March. At the start of the pandemic Trump appeared to dismiss the threat by highlighting low numbers (only 5 deaths and 15 cases). In the following months he repeatedly ignored Winston Churchill’s observation that “ There is no worse mistake in public leadership than to hold out false hope soon to be swept away.” On April 3, President Trump did warn Americans that this week “there’s going to be a lot of death.” But then he talked about “the light at the end of the tunnel.”
Another characteristic shared by the two presidents is an avoidance of strong presidential action; each proved reluctant to use the full power of the federal government.
Any discussion of presidential leadership must first recognize that Hoover was not a laissez-faire bystander as the depression worsened.
However, Hoover’s initiatives were constrained by his conservative political philosophy. He had strong ideological resistance to excessive federal intervention—a profound belief that such action would undermine initiative and responsibility. He expressed his strong views in his 1922 book American Individualism, which highlighted the danger of collectivism and a reliance too much on the federal government. In this regard he believed that assistance should be handled on a local, voluntary basis rather than on the federal level.
The American public would have to wait until President Franklin Roosevelt initiation of the New Deal and mobilization efforts during the World War II to witness dramatic model of full government intervention.
Like his overconfident pronouncements, Hoover’s principled resistance to extensive federal intervention did not serve him well as president and may have undermined his political future. Hoover was elected with 444 electoral votes winning all but 8 states in 1928. Four years later he received 59 electoral votes and carried just 6 states. Today no politician mentions him, except to compare their political opponent to him.
If history shows Hoover followed the wrong path for principled reasons, what will it say about Donald Trump, who has several tools that were not available to Hoover? Unlike Hoover, Trump could use such tools as War Production act and Defense Production act that date to World War II and the Korean War era, plus he has the precedent of the New Deal. All of these things happened after Hoover was president, and although available to Trump, he nonetheless is choosing not to use them as part of his action plan.
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/04/historian-explains-why-donald-trumps-covid-19-response-is-remarkably-similar-to-herbert-hoovers-failed-crisis-leadership/
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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Republican Rep. Gaetz wore a gas mask in Congress just five days ago, mocking COVID-19 as a hoax! This week, Republicans Sen. Cruz, Rep. Gosar, Rep. Doug Collins, AND Rep. Matt Gaetz all exposed to COVID-19 at CPAC and now are self-quarantining for two weeks. Also, Trump newly-appointed acting Chief of Staff, came into contact with the same individual and is now in isolation! Congressional Republicans and the CPAC organizer then interacted closely afterward with the President, including shaking hands! Rep. Gaetz was at a Mar-a-Lago party with Trump, then flew back to D.C. with Trump on Air Force One, finding out in-flight that he had been exposed, then quarantined on a separate part of the plane! And so, the wheel of karma grinds on, crushing GOP ignorance, to be ever born afresh. Trouble is, they may have infected a whole bunch of other people besides just the President along the way--innocent people. Moreover, Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert was also exposed, but CHOSE to return to work in Congress and NOT self-quarantine!! Toxic Typhoid Trump claims not to have been tested! Claims he feels fine, doesn't need testing despite close exposure! WTF is WRONG with these people?!?
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of crackpot conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of greed, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of plutocrats, the party of corruption, the party of anti-democracy, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their pact with the Devil.
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To those not wearing masks, social distancing, or following guidelines: Your willful ignorance does not mask your wanton disregard for human life, your appalling lack of humanity and humility, your supremely selfish inconsideration of others. Despite absolutely loathing wearing a mask, it's also the reason it's worn. The sooner we all start wearing masks, social distancing, and taking this deadly pandemic seriously, the sooner we get to take them off, the less time they'll need to be worn. Not to mention, the sooner we can go back to a normal that is more like normal, the sooner we can get our jobs back and our economy rolling, again. And, of course, most importantly, the more lives we can save--which might even be your own life, or the life of a friend or loved one.
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@supersidecar8901 ~ DONALD TRUMP’S CAMPAIGN to change the subject from the coronavirus pandemic took a bizarre turn May 21, 2020, as the president paused during a speech at a Ford Motor Company plant in Michigan to praise the “good bloodlines” of the family descended from the firm’s founder, Henry Ford, a notorious anti-Semite and favorite of Adolf Hitler.
In an apparent ad-lib, Trump looked up from his prepared remarks — which praised the firm for teaming up with General Electric to produce ventilators and face shields for medical workers — to observe that Henry Ford’s descendants, like the current chairman, Bill Ford, who had introduced the president, have “good blood.”
“The company founded by a man named Henry Ford,” Trump’s prepared text appeared to say, “teamed up with the company founded by Thomas Edison — that’s General Electric.” But when Trump came to Ford’s name, he looked up from the text and observed: “good bloodlines, good bloodlines — if you believe in that stuff, you got good blood.”
Trump has made no secret of his own belief that he inherited everything from intelligence to an ability to withstand pressure through the “great genes” passed on to him by his parents and grandparents. He has also frequently compared the importance of “good bloodlines” in humans to the breeding of champion racehorses, a view that overlaps in uncomfortable ways with those of eugenicists and racists like Ford.
“I’m proud to have that German blood,” Trump once told an interviewer. “You’ve all got such good bloodlines,” Trump reportedly told British business leaders at a dinner in 2018. “You’ve all got such amazing DNA.”
Trump also suggested that Ford and Edison were both in heaven, “looking down right now.” The president’s belief that Ford, the only American singled out for praise in Hitler’s “Mein Kampf,” should be in heaven was a stark contrast to his sarcastic comment during a visit to Michigan in December that the late Democratic congressman, John Dingell, might be “looking up” from hell.
Among the many reasons to believe that Henry Ford does not deserve a place in heaven is the fact that, as the writer Matthew Wills noted, starting in 1920, “Ford’s newspaper, the weekly Dearborn Independent, which was distributed through Ford dealers and sent free to schools and libraries around the country, published 90 anti-Semitic articles, later collected and distributed as a book called ‘The International Jew.'”
Victoria Saker Woeste, the author of “Henry Ford’s War on Jews and the Legal Battle Against Hate Speech,” explained that “the first article staked out the familiar anti-Semitic trope of ‘The Jew’ as ‘the world’s enigma. Poor in his masses, he yet controls the world’s finances,’ and was, ‘the power behind many a throne.'” The articles recapitulated and excerpted the notorious anti-Semitic forgery, “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” for nearly 700,000 readers.
The collected articles were sold as a pamphlet, which was subsequently translated into German, and inspired Hitler’s praise for Ford in “Mein Kampf.” “It is Jews who govern the stock exchange forces of the American Union,” Hitler claimed, “only a single great man, Ford, to their fury, still maintains full independence.”
The New York Times reported in 1922 that Ford’s importance to Hitler was very obvious. “The wall beside his desk in Hitler’s private office is decorated with a large picture of Henry Ford,” the newspaper’s Berlin correspondent observed. “In the ante-chamber there is a large table covered with books, nearly all of which are a translation of a book written and published by Henry Ford.”
Although Ford was eventually forced to sign a public apology for the articles in 1927, after being sued for libel in federal court by Aaron Sapiro, a Jewish-American activist smeared by his newspaper, he remained an anti-Semite and a favorite of the Nazis. In 1938, Ford accepted the Grand Cross of the German Eagle, the Nazi regime’s highest honor for foreigners, on the occasion of his 75th birthday. The two Nazi diplomats who pinned the medal on his chest also brought a personal message of congratulations from Hitler.
In 1940, Steven Watts recounted in “The People’s Tycoon: Henry Ford and the American Century,” Ford told the automobile editor of The Associated Press that he blamed the Jews, not Hitler, for the war in Europe. “I still think this is a phony war made by the international Jewish bankers,” Ford said, in remarks later reported by the automaker’s former personal secretary.
Trump’s praise of Ford on Thursday prompted Jonathan Greenblatt, the chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, to demand an apology from the president for hailing a man who was “an antisemite and one of America’s staunchest proponents of eugenics.” “If he doesn’t know why,” Greenblatt added, the president should read his organization’s history of Ford’s role as an anti-Jewish propagandist.
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AwakeAmericanow. ~ At first, your moniker called to mind one of the Republican cult, who always like to project, and claim they are "woke" when, in fact, they have only closed their mind to truth and reality. But, after reading your reply, grateful to find that wasn't so, that instead we think much alike. Here is another of our comments we have posted often over the last few weeks--indeed, believe it independently posted also to this video already:
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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"Peace is not a very big thing to ask for, is it?" ~ Fatima Gailani, Afghan activist and negotiator, pleading for continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan
It is when asking the Taliban, who do not seek peace or to bargain in good faith, but total domination once again. U.S. has spent 20 years and $2 trillion trying to achieve peace in Afghanistan, losing over 4000 American lives (military and civilian contractors), with tens of thousands of Americans wounded there.
"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials … have given Afghans little reason to support their government," Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the commander of U.S. forces in the country, wrote in a 2009 memorandum. "This crisis of confidence, coupled with a distinct lack of economic and educational opportunity, has created fertile ground for the insurgency."
That was 11 years ago, and little has changed since. Thought the invasion of Afghanistan by Bush was a mistake that would lead to a quagmire, and have been proven correct. Still, initially supported efforts to bring peace and stability there, along with basic human and civil-rights, because after invading felt we had an obligation to rebuild. However, while U.S. blunders there have contributed to a failure, Afghans are their own worst enemy, and no one can help them until enough of them are willing to help themselves.
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Setting aside the sleazy immoral Reich-wing grifters at the top -- people like Trump, Congressional Republicans, Reich-wing demagogues and media -- the rank-and-file of the GOP has become a fascist cult. To be clear, Trump did not create the cult, it existed before him. He merely served as a unifying figure they chose to rally around and worship as their fool's gold god. Trump appealed to their basest nature and told them what they wanted to hear. Now, those Reich-wing grifters may have cultivated their cult to exploit for their own greed, power and vanity, but at least to some extent the Republican cult in turn seeks to exploit the GOP for their own various misguided purposes. They CHOOSE to be willfully ignorant, to believe or espouse the lies, because as a political calculus they shortsightedly see it as expedient to their ends.
What must also be taken into consideration are the characteristics of a cult. Why do people join a cult? Why do they choose to remain in a cult? No need to go into detail; the answers are largely common knowledge or easily researched. But it should be pointed out that in a complex world, the simplistic and rigid beliefs embraced by cults can be very alluring, no matter how fantastical and removed from reality. It should also be acknowledged that the Republican cult is not a monolithic entity, but an amalgamation of sects, including White supremacists, Christian nationalists, libertarians, sovereign nationals, anarchists, tax resistors, Qanon and other extremist fringe groups. Of course, not every Republican is an extremist, a fascist, or untethered from reality. But this latter more benign group is nevertheless part of the fascist Republican cult, complicit in their support of the whole, whether through their silent acquiescence and votes or willing assistance.
It's a very dangerous feedback loop, a vicious circle, one that as it sinks further into depravity its threat correspondingly rises, for as the Republican cult has over time been becoming increasingly more radicalized, we witness the election of more radical politicians to represent them, more radicalized Reich-wing media and demagogues to feed them propaganda. While some Republicans are leaving the GOP and some others are speaking out and trying to save their party, they constitute a weak minority, unfortunately.
In a normal, sane world, the Republican cult would have ended or been marginalized after the Mueller Report, after Trump's Ukraine shakedown and impeachment, after Trump's horrendous handling of a deadly global pandemic, after his election defeat, or after January 6th and his second impeachment. But that hasn't happened. Instead, the Republican cult continues to become increasingly more radicalized and extreme. As President Biden says, "We are in a battle for the soul of this nation." And that battle is far from over.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and disturbing. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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TRUM_PLANNED_EMIC!
Given plenty of advance warnings about COVID-19, Toxic Trump chose not to heed the sound advice provided. We could have been Taiwan, with a comparative 100 deaths in the U.S.; or South Korea, with a comparative 1500 deaths here, after adjusted for population size. Taiwan had just seven deaths; South Korea less than 300. We got over 124,000 deaths already, with the count still rapidly rising, while we remain, still, firmly mired in the first wave of the disease. Even worse, after six months, we STILL lack the adequate testing and rational national response to contain the disease.
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@catherinesvbialosh7260 ~There was a time delay, which factored in somewhat. But reporters interrupting to reiterate a question is nothing new. It's called good reporting. Thought this was a good interview for everyone--the interviewer, Cuomo, and the public. Too bad some people can't appreciate that, looking for the negative, instead of the positive! Like you, for instance, Catherine!
Furthermore, since when is style more important than substance? Here you people are, senselessly wasting time critiquing the style of a news anchor, instead of focusing on the immediate problems of a global pandemic and a lunatic behind the wheel in America! Simply unbelievable, the ignorance! Your house is burning down, and you fools worried about what color to paint the baby's room!
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
― Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a serious threat to our very security.
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again." ― Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney
More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They have essentially become a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil. They are either actively or silently complicit in fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorist violence, Reich-wing insurrection, and Reich-wing undermining of our democracy and Constitution.
It's crystal clear that Trump, Boebert, Greene, Gosar and other Republicans like them are fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorism. The GOP has become radicalized to such an extent that it has essentially become a fascist terrorist organization, with members that fantasize and promote violence against their fellow Americans. While those Republican elected officials must be condemned and sanctioned, they are only a symptom of the disease poisoning a third of America, the most visible part of the cancer infecting our nation.
The GOP has been mainstreaming radicalization of their voter base for decades, ALLOWING Reich-wing media and Reich-wing demagogues to take over the party, to the point it has become a fascist, nihilistic cult. Because just as now, Republican politicians and their plutocratic masters have always seen it as the ends justifying whatever means to win power. Remember the Republican Tea Party? This catastrophe with the GOP didn't start with Trump, who just exploited what the Republicans had already built.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle for graft and to grift their voters and us taxpayers. You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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Republicans always cheat and lie
Then point fingers at the other guy
GOP cult: “Democracy is great…only so long as we can subvert it with lies, cheating, a multitude of Jim Crow voter suppression laws, egregious gerrymandering, obstruction, coups, election interference, election fraud, sedition, insurrection and terrorism to gain power and maintain our corrupt, plutocratic, minority fascist rule!”
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian nationalism religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast would soon come to consume them.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It’s that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don’t care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn’t want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it’s more than hope—those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another five months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn’t really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
“The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.”
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump’s hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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The highly-coveted Top Prize for our contestants today is an all-funeral-expenses-paid romantic getaway for two aboard the magnificent Corona Queen, taking you for an exclusive extended cruise, to a secluded stay on the exotic, remote, tropical Isle of Covid-19, where the fevered fun is SUPER-contagious, and you will luxuriously bask in fabulous face masks and rejuvenating oxygen respirators, with the wonderful scent of disinfectant surrounding you! Sure to be a lifetime experience for some lucky few! Just remember--the couple that dies together, stays together!
BONUS SPECIAL CASES: Providing accompanying entertainment is Chief Jester Roberts and the entire Trump comedy team, featuring the Clown Commander, for laughs and coughs! There just ain't no cure, for them ocean cruise blues! Bon voyage!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwE7EFyQDm0
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Contrary to Trump’s Claim, A Pandemic Was Widely Expected
At a White House briefing March 19, President Donald Trump said, “Nobody knew there’d be a pandemic or an epidemic of this proportion.” But that’s simply not the case.
Among others, the U.S. intelligence community warned in its annual threat report for 2019 that “that the United States and the world will remain vulnerable to the next flu pandemic or large-scale outbreak of a contagious disease that could lead to massive rates of death.”
[Also, U.S. Intelligence reports to White House contained five-alarm flashing warnings about covid-19 pandemic in January and February of 2020, when Trump and his administration were downplaying the threat.]
The president made his remarks at a coronavirus task force press briefing. Trump deflected the blame when asked about the lack of coronavirus tests and medical supplies to deal with the pandemic.
Trump, March 19: "They had an obsolete system, and they had a system, simultaneously, that was not meant for this. It wasn’t meant for this. Nobody knew there’d be a pandemic or an epidemic of this proportion. Nobody has ever seen anything like this before."
But experts have warned for years about the danger of a major, potentially catastrophic outbreak of global disease, and some have sounded the alarm that the United States was not prepared to cope with it.
“The threat of pandemic flu is the number one health security concern,” Luciana Borio, then-director of Medical and Biodefense Preparedness Policy at the National Security Council, said at a symposium at Emory University in Atlanta in 2018 marking the 100th anniversary of the devastating flu outbreak of 1918. “Are we ready to respond? I fear the answer is no.”
Jennifer Horney, professor and founding director of the epidemiology program at the University of Delaware, told CNN, “we’ve been planning for and anticipating a global event like this” at least since the 2005 avian influenza outbreak.
After the novel coronavirus appeared in Wuhan, China, last December and spread around the world, Trump consistently sought to downplay the danger to the United States, likening coronavirus to the flu and expressing confidence that it could go away once the weather warmed up. (See our story, “Trump’s Statements About the Coronavirus.”)
Only recently has the president begun referring to it as a major problem for the U.S. “This is a pandemic,” he said at a March 17 press conference. “I’ve felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic.”
Marc Lipsitch, an epidemiology professor at Harvard University, told us that there was plenty of evidence that a disease of this kind posed a serious threat and that the notion that it could not be foreseen is off base.
“Three years ago, experts were saying that bat coronaviruses could become a new pandemic,” he said in an email. “Almost two months ago, experts were saying that the new virus in Wuhan was potentially a global threat. One month ago, experts were saying that it was likely to be pandemic, and the White House’s response was that this was under control, despite the fact that the US’s lack of testing was demonstrably giving a false picture of the extent of infection. This was foreseeable, and foreseen, weeks and months ago, and only now is the White House coming out of denial and heading straight into saying it could not have been foreseen.”
The likelihood of a pandemic has been clear to experts for quite some time.
Back in 2012, the RAND Corp. issued a report called “Threats Without Threateners? Exploring Intersections of Threats to the Global Commons and National Security.” That report focused on five risks — nuclear proliferation, conflict in the Middle East, water scarcity, pandemics and climate change.
Of the five, it said, “In current circumstances, only pandemics seem to be an existential threat, capable of destroying America’s way of life.”
The report said that “a future pandemic may be virtually certain,” adding, “its timing and severity are not.” To underscore the need to focus on the subject right away, the document said, “Pandemics are a real possibility in the here and now; there is nothing future about them.”
A week before the Trump administration took office in January 2017, Obama administration officials focused on the dangers of a pandemic in a briefing for top Trump aides, according to Politico. One of the possible scenarios sketched out included a fast-spreading global disease leading some countries to impose travel bans.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/factcheck/contrary-to-trump-s-claim-a-pandemic-was-widely-expected-at-some-point/ar-BB11tTHl?pfr=1
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It's like rowing or paddling upstream, or into a stiff wind--if you ease-up too much or stop, you will only have to paddle twice as hard to make up all the previous hard-earned progress that was quickly lost. Failing to maintain isolation and other measures for sufficient time to stop the spread of COVID-19 transmission will cost U.S. more in time, effort, money, and LIVES. Reopening and relaxing measures too early in defiance of the science and data is the ultimate in colossal ignorance, greed, ruthlessness, and arrogance.
We have a segment of Republican cult willfully ignorant, who malevolently seek to sabotage containment efforts. But many do not grasp how important it is that we treat ourselves and everyone else as being infected.
This is because people know that is very unlikely, especially outside dense urban areas, where incidence rates are low. Because of the delay in onset of the disease and asymptomatic carriers, COVID-19 is a stealth killer that uses Americans against each other as its foot soldiers, transporting it, keeping the disease and its train of transmission alive. This is further complicated because people cannot see a virus, see it attacking, see it spreading, until it is too late. For many of us, seeing is believing, and people are incapable or reluctant to make that leap of logic required to keep them and everyone safe--even with the massive public education efforts.
Of course, the problem becomes greatly exacerbated when the President refuses to wear a mask, and his administration works against itself in fighting this deadly global pandemic, sending conflicting messages to the public. Toxic Trump, his administration, and all the Republicans who have aided and abetted him, are directly responsible in our view for the senseless deaths of tens and thousands of Americans. The dead are the worst of it, but there is also the tremendous needless suffering and economic loss accompanying their wanton criminal negligence.
No national testing, no rational national coordinated pandemic response. Republican governors reopening too quickly in defiance of CDC guidelines are only following the President's lead. Democratic governors in many states likewise being adversely pressured by Toxic Trump's pandemic disinformation and Republican opposition to requisite lockdowns. Problem starts at the top. Don't fault even the worst Republican governors as much as this President. The President needed to take the lead, take the hit for the hard decisions--not put all the weight on governors as he as.
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Gee, didn't you know? Republicans don't care anything about protecting workers, school children, public health, law, justice, or the environment...only about maximizing corrupt crony profits from partisan politics! That's how we got into this pickle in the first place, losing over 100,000 Americans to COVID-19 in just three months; that's why other nations have stopped the spread, but we're STILL the world's epicenter, still remain stuck in the first wave, killing thousands of Americans senselessly, remember?
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Dr. "Babbling" Birx is laying bricks, lying and dissembling! Says she trusts churches and churchgoers to make it safe, not go to church if sick--knowing asymptomatic people don't know they're sick, and can't be detected! Then, there's the fact that many religious people gather at religious shrines and places of worship hoping to be "healed" when sick. Moreover, she knows "Pastor" Tony Spelling in Louisiana was packing his megachurch during the middle of a severe outbreak, busing them in from a 50-mile radius; she knows all about the devastating spread in South Korea from religious services, she knows about the superspreader event at the church in Oregon defying state lockdown orders. Dr. Birx KNOWS how Toxic Trump has ignorantly politicized a global pandemic, sent conflicting messages to the public. Dr. Birx KNOWS a good proportion of Americans are NOT following basic CDC guidelines; NOT wearing masks, NOT social distancing. And she knows without detailed specific CDC federal guidelines, we got chaos, sickness, and MORE senseless deaths. Birx needs to have her medical license revoked. She can be the next SmellyAnne Con-Her-Way, that's what she wants.
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"Everybody that needs a test can get one!" Except, EVERYONE needs testing! It's not just about testing people who get sick, or even just those health care and other essential front-line workers, or those with a doctor referral. It's really all about RANDOMIZED testing, and testing for TRACKING and containment. THOSE are the testing capabilities desperately needed to safely reopen the economy--which the U.S. sorely lacks. Besides lying about virtually non-existent testing capabilities at the time, while also continually touting testing kits instead of actual testing ABILITIES, the dirty, dastardly, dynamic duo of Toxic TRUMP and Plague PENCE were moving the goal posts, hoping to "score" in a game with no winners. They scored big, alright...in dead bodies.
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GOP cult is NOT the party of law and order, NOT the party of the Constitution and patriots, NOT the party of "values," NOT the party of fiscal responsibility, NOT the party of clean government, NOT the party of freedom. It's the party of terrorism, lawlessness, corruption, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry, misogyny, Big Lies, socialized taxpayer payouts for plutocrats, sedition, traitors, and tyranny.
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"As many as 70,000 Americans could be confirmed as infected with coronavirus by the end of next week, marking a “pretty dramatic” increase in the number of confirmed cases," the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, told his employees in an agency-wide conference call on 03/20/20.
Except 03/21/20 saw a 33% jump in U.S. cases, from 18,000 to over 24,000. If continuing at 33% every 24 hours, the number of confirmed cases is trending much higher than just 70,000 by 03/27/20. Suspect confirmed cases will be double that. Bear in mind, states hardest hit are not testing many people, saving the tests for those most in need. So the actual number of infected Americans is going to be far higher than just what limited testing of the population has so far confirmed. Don't think this fact is being given enough attention. More important than the number of cases confirmed is the number contracting the disease and not getting tested, spreading the disease, in many cases unknowingly. Hospital projections are for about 100 MILLION Americans to become infected, with about 500,000 dead from covid-19.
(Update 5: Friday, 03/27/20, confirmed U.S. cases 105,000--which is 50% over NIH high-end estimate; deaths 1,700 by end of day. The perspective for cases is significantly skewed low and thus highly misleading, however, as just 0.17% of U.S. population has been tested to date.)
03/29/20 -- 143,000 confirmed cases; 2,450 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
03/30/20 -- 165,000 confirmed cases; 3,250 deaths.
03/31/20 -- 190,000 confirmed cases; 4,200 deaths.
04/01/20 -- 217,000 confirmed cases; 5,150 deaths.
04/02/20 -- 246,000 confirmed cases; 6,050 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/03/20 -- 278,000 confirmed cases; 7,150 deaths.
04/04/20 -- 312,000 confirmed cases; 9,400 deaths.
04/05/20 -- 338,000 confirmed cases; 9,700 deaths.
04/06/20 -- 369,000 confirmed cases; 11,000 deaths.
04/07/20 -- 400,000 confirmed cases; 13,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. Figures indicate a Covid-19 fatality rate for TESTED Americans at 3.25%.
04/08/20 -- 432,000 confirmed cases; 15,900 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S.
04/09/20 -- 466,000 confirmed cases; 16,700 deaths.
04/10/20 -- 502,000 confirmed cases; 18,800 deaths.
04/11/20 -- 530,000 confirmed cases; 20,500 deaths.
04/12/20 -- 558,000 confirmed cases; 22,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S. With just 4.25% of the world's population, the U.S. has 30% of the COVID-19 infections and 20% of the COVID-19 deaths. So far, the U.S. has the very WORST response of ANY nation, something formerly inconceivable, and inexcusable that it could now be allowed to happen here. In the U.S., we have 1.5 million seniors in 15,000 nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Despite forming only 0.45% of the U.S. population, they make up almost 10% of deaths, primarily because our federal government is not doing enough to protect them. Reported that many hospitals are no longer accepting COVID-19 patients from nursing homes, preferring they die there, instead. Our seniors, who helped build, grow and make America great, are being sacrificed, solely to ignorance.
04/13/20 -- 583,000 confirmed cases; 24,200 deaths
04/14/20 -- 609,000 confirmed cases; 26,600 deaths (+2,364* - New worst daily death toll)
04/15/20 -- 640,000 confirmed cases; 30,800 deaths (4,200*) The United States recorded its first coronavirus fatality on Feb. 29. It took 38 days to reach 10,000 deaths and just nine more days to go from 10,000 fatalities to 30,000. An increase in fatalities over the last 48 hours was expected, but was also due to new CDC policy, starting on 04/14, to include probable COVID-19 deaths...finally.
04/16/20 -- 671,000 confirmed cases; 33,100 deaths. Less COVID-19 testing performed this week than last, despite desperate need to ramp up volume to reopen economy.
04/17/20 -- 702,000 confirmed cases; 37,000 deaths.
04/18/20 -- 735,000 confirmed cases; 39,900 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/19/20 -- (Incomplete) 760,000 confirmed cases; 40,700 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/19/20 -- 760,000 confirmed cases; 40,700 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, along with Reich-wing demagogues and media, who were complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance, and in spreading disinformation and misinformation. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump left office, one out of every 800 Americans had died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 410,000 fatalities, as many American casualties as all of WWII. To put it into further perspective, throughout Trump's catastrophic mishandling of a deadly global pandemic, the U.S. led the world in cases and deaths, suffering nearly 25% of each, despite having only 4.25% of global population, despite having the advantage of being the richest and most advanced nation in the world.
The memorial would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure. Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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President Nero stoked racial animosities, igniting the embers, keeps feeding the flames. Lynching, murder of innocent civilians by law enforcement, followed by protests, riots, civil unrest, people hurt, property damaged--those were all inevitable with an arsonist in the Oval, even if COVID-19 wasn't presently so starkly highlighting the social and economic divides in this nation. You didn't see this coming, it's only because you refused to look.
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Republicans are willing to gain and hold power at any cost...even if the price is our democracy!
Farmer wakes up one morning, goes outside to milk his cows, and discovers his entire herd is missing! So, he then walks over nest door to where the Republican cult lives, notices them grinding a whole bunch of beef into hamburger, and asks them, "Did you see what happened to all my cows?"
Republican cult: "Yeah, they jumped over the moon."
Farmer: "Do you have any actual evidence of that?"
Republican cult: "No, because they landed on the dark side, and you can't see them over there. But we're conducting a bunch of investigations and fraudits, and we're confident evidence will soon emerge to prove it!"
Farmer: "You know, that sounds like a load of manure!"
Republican cult: "Well, that's what we all choose to believe!"
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law?
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Dr. Eugene R Livingston lll ~ Hell, Republicans have continued disseminating Russian propaganda even AFTER warned by the FBI of the source!
What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle to grift their voters and us taxpayers.
You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she says that "Republicans don't give a shit."
Who'd have ever equated voting in America with survival? But that's pretty much what it has boiled down to, hasn't it? Survival of ourselves, survival of our democracy, survival of our nation, and survival of our planet. The irony is that Republicans have always tried to paint Democrats as an existential threat...but in doing so it is actually they who have become exactly that.
Democrat voters need an even greater turnout in '22 and '24, put the final fork in Trumpism! Republicans want to engage in Jim Crow voter suppression laws, voter intimidation, and egregious gerrymandering? Republicans want to engage in corruption, gaslight their corruption, coverup their corruption? Republicans want to turn a blind eye to Russian election interference and knowingly disseminate Russian propaganda for Putin? Republicans want to live in delusion and denial about the major problems confronting the nation and planet? Let's just prove that's fuel for the fire, and make their fascist antidemocratic corruption backfire on them!
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
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The Molotov cocktail recipe:
Mix in equal parts of mental illness, willful ignorance, fear, hate, decades of 24/7 Reich-wing disinformation, misinformation, and crackpot conspiracy programming by Republican politicians, media and demagogues, add supplemental divisive Russian propaganda attacking and weakening America, stir well, garnish with COVID-19, and you have the mindless Republican cult descending into fascism, committing terrorism and sedition. Then, grab a stiff drink--you'll need it.
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#unfoxmycablebox Sorry to say, most of their revenue doesn't come from advertisers, but from the outrageous contracts they negotiate with cable providers. You really want to hit Faux News where it hurts, threaten cable TV providers that you will "drop the box" if they keep supporting and carrying Faux News. The good news is that cable TV providers have no desire to pay the outlandish sums Faux News demands, and would love to have us provide the excuse needed! There is already a non-profit organization out there pushing this, which can provide one more information if needed:
Pay for cable or satellite TV? You’re subsidizing Fox News whether you watch it or not.
Your cable or satellite TV provider pays a subscriber fee to carry Fox News. That cost is passed directly on to YOU.
Every network charges cable and satellite providers a small fee per subscriber; the one for Fox News is extraordinarily high. A typical household pays Fox News almost $2 per month—about $20 per year— via their cable or satellite provider, regardless of whether they actually watch the channel.
In 2021, a wave of big contracts between Fox News and TV providers for subscriber fees are set to expire. These contracts make up about 65% if Fox News’ subscriber fee revenue. If we want to stop paying the Fox News “tax,” now is the time to act.
Fox News makes approximately $1.8 billion per year from hidden subscriber fees–twice as much as CNN and three times as much as MSNBC.
The network's extra-high fees, which make up most of its revenue, protect Fox News from the advertisers that are quickly abandoning it.
https://unfoxmycablebox.com/
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If you hitched your wagon to a dying beast and got stranded, whose fault is that? And if you knew that dying beast was killing and sickening people, spewing poison into our air and water, but chose to hitch your wagon to it, anyway, what kind of person does that make you? One worthy of sympathy for losing that killer job? Besides, it isn't as if these people and communities are unable to learn new job skills, build a cleaner and more moral job base.
In addition to being one of the dirtiest hydrocarbon fuels to burn, contributing significantly to climate change and harmful air pollution, after coal is burned what remains in the ash includes lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium, arsenic, and selenium, all in levels that may threaten human health. In just 2014 alone, the U.S. produced 130 MILLION TONS of coal ash.
For decades, utilities have disposed of coal ash dangerously, dumping it in unlined ponds and landfills where the toxins leak into groundwater. According to the industry’s own data, more than 95% of the coal ash ponds in the United States are unlined. 738 coal ash units in 43 states and Puerto Rico have reported information in compliance with federal coal ash safeguards since 2015. More than 550 units — at 265 plants — reported groundwater monitoring data. Based on that data, 91% of these plants are contaminating groundwater with toxic substances at levels exceeding federal safe standards.
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“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-‘n-‘Thief, Toxic Trump, so much—although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages—as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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@immortalasirpa8117 ~ When grammar becomes more important than the substance, then maybe our democracy really is doomed. Moreover, is this comment critiquing grammar not itself using sloppy or incorrect grammar? The comment sentence does not constitute a compound predicate (although, in some cases, use of a comma in a compound predicate is proper), yet lacks a comma. Ironic, and kind of hypocritical, too, isn't it? Reminiscent of the old adage, "Remove the plank from thine own eye before removing the splinter from mine." Looking at many of the other replies here to this comment, there is little regard for proper grammar evidenced within them, either.
Unfortunately, grammar errors in titles and chyrons are all too common. The people hired to do them are probably often under time constraints and in a hurry, so it is somewhat understandable. From long experience, the people who are usually complaining about trivial details like this are those who seek to distract from the content and/or to discredit reputable media for ignoble purpose. That should also be of more concern than any rather obvious grammar mistakes, particularly where the intended meaning is not confused and still clearly understood despite the oversight.
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Toxic Trump: "I'm the BEST, just absolutely CRUSHING the competition, with over TWO POINT FIVE MILLION coronavirus cases and over 125--one-hundred and twenty-five!!!--THOUSAND deaths! Easy as 1-2-3! They ALL got eighty-sixed, 'cause nobody else even comes close! With a QUARTER of the world's cases AND deaths--can you even imagine how truly great, how awesome, that achievement is, with only just FOUR PERCENT of the world's population to work with? Believe it or not, I accomplished in only FIVE WEEKS what it took the Vietnam War a whole TWELVE YEARS to do! Not done with the fun--and not to be outdone--I then doubled down on the death toll from Vietnam in just FOUR MONTHS! PLUS, we're not even counting ALL the COVID-19 cases and deaths here in the U.S.! And, with only SEVEN PERCENT of the U.S. population already infected, we're just getting started with all the sickness and death; there's PLENTY more to come! Those other weaklings and losers don't stand a chance, because we're going to keep right on winning--as long as I'm in charge! Now, vacation's over; time to get back to work on increasing those numbers, people! Let's keep America great, get rid of all the excess baggage! As wartime President, I am commanding all CIVILIANS to senselessly sacrifice their lives for my arrogance, stupidity, vanity, malevolence, and greed!"
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It's that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don't care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another five months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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@asc6067 ~ Your arguments are disingenuous and ignorant. Finland has a mask mandate. All of the Scandinavian nations have higher vaccination rates than the U.S., despite a later start. Scandinavian nations have low population densities, and currently have very low rates of infection. The governments of Scandinavian nations haven't ruled out mask mandates if or when needed. Sweden's lax approach to Covid-19 resulted in the highest Covid-19 death rate among Scandinavian nations, prompting a reevaluation and new measures.
We're not free to drive drunk and kill others. Doesn't matter if the person killed was healthy or not. Neither should we be free to spread a deadly virus that can kill others. People have medical conditions through no fault of their own that make them especially vulnerable to permanent injury or death from Covid-19. They have a right to be free, too----free from senseless injury or death through what amounts to other's selfishness and criminal negligence. The same goes for other vulnerable people, regardless of the reason for their comorbidity factors. It's also true for perfectly healthy people, who are also at risk, because Coivd-19 isn't just an opportunistic killer; it's also a random killer.
Being kind to employees means providing them with a safe workplace. Having a workplace where people aren't vaccinated, masked, or otherwise following CDC guidelines is neither safe or "kind."
It's no surprise that you have a new YouTube account less than a year old and are spreading Covid-19 disinformation. Figure you for one of Putin's sock-puppet propaganda pawns. Even if you're not, you might just as well be. #moreRussiasanctions
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@HughJorgan1 ~ The only people insulted are those displaying bad faith. Typically, they are trolls and propagandists. They don't deserve any respect shown. They are a cancer upon civil discourse and deserve condemnation for their destructive ignorance. Unfortunately, the vast majority of Republicans that come to MSM sites like CNN and MSNBC don't come to learn and engage in honest debate of the issues. There are also present foreign malign actors getting into the act to sow discord, division, and disinformation. Ironically and sadly, it has become almost impossible at times to distinguish between domestic and foreign bad actors.
People are free to disagree with me, and are treated with respect, provided they remain honest and are acting in good faith. In fact, I welcome constructive input and value different perspectives, typically searching out all sides of an issue before forming my own opinions. But respect is a two-way street, and for those who would insult my intelligence with their willful ignorance and malign intent, they are unlikely to get any respect in return. One more thing. I've always been brutally frank with people, and that can be a turnoff for some. But people always know exactly where I stand and why. If people are being dishonest or stupid about something, I'm going to call them out on it. That isn't being insulting, though; it's just telling the plain truth. And it's done because what is sought is honest, intelligent discourse. Anything less, and people are just trying to waste my time, which is also another way of insulting me.
There are different kinds of polls, which can have different levels of accuracy. That doesn't necessarily mean they should be all be summarily discounted. The 2016 Presidential election may have erred in predicting the winner, but it wasn't all that far off, either----Clinton won the popular vote by over 3,000,000. The 2020 polling was more accurate and did correctly predict the winner. However, there is typically less of a margin of error with other kinds of polling, which is born out by real world results. At any rate, polls are useful as an indicator of public sentiment, nothing more, and there was no effort made here to represent them otherwise.
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@HughJorgan1 ~ The main problem with your rationale is that you're a hypocrite, a troll, a propagandist, and not interested in intellectual or honest discourse.
You're a hypocrite because you do not call out those sharing your political views for insulting others. Also, you're wrongly accusing me of ad hominem merely for calling out others deceit and trolling, while at the same time your attacks against CNN and me constitute ad hominem. You're merely trying to accuse others of that in which you engage, which is just more hypocrisy.
You're a troll and a propagandist for engaging in Whataboutism (thanks for pointing out your first reply in this thread, which formerly hadn't been associated with your previous reply). Didn't your parents ever teach you that two wrongs don't make a right? Moreover, your Whataboutism and ad hominem are logical fallacies and transparent attempts by you to deflect, distract, and divert the discussion away from the video and how my comment relates to it. That's dishonest, and all your sophistry can't hide your deceitfulness.
You're not interested in intellectual or honest discourse for the aforementioned reasons and because your reply ignores or evades virtually all of the points and arguments in my last reply.
The ironic thing here is you having the arrogance to presume yourself some kind of arbiter or advisor on convincing people when failing to present any convincing arguments! Your act to present yourself as being somewhat impartial is not convincing, either.
All of which is just speaking the truth, and if you find that insulting, then the problem lies solely with you, not anyone else.
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It's that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don't care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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We got Big Brag Daddy Baghdad Bob broadcasting direct from Washington, D.C. daily, with Toxic Trump and a revolving cast of his sycophantic minions! Happy talk, disinformation, empty promises, idle threats, vicious smears, bogus pandemic models, dog whistles, continuous crackpot conspiracies--they got it all, and more!
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Yes, it should be reported, but focusing so very much time on when Congress "officially" declares impeachment to the detriment of what's really important, and at the same time ignoring and refusing to shine the light on Congressional Republicans with even the same (or the deservedly more) scrutiny, is absurdly ridiculous! Media is not helping matters; this is misleading to the public about the real priorities, and helps feed Trump's false narrative.
Declaring impeachment is not some magic wand, it isn't going to change anything appreciably; the investigations, subpoenas, and court battles will continue, regardless. I favor Congress making that declaration, but also trust where this whole process is going and where it will lead.
No one wants this to be political, but the political component is integral to the process, and that needs to be recognized. We know the Dems will vote for impeachment, Republican partisanship is the problem. Putting Congressional Democrats, a number of whom represent swing districts, on the spot accomplishes nothing other than providing cover for Trump, Barr, and Congressional Republicans. Something one could expect from Fox news, not more objective sources that ought to know better.
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Taking the vaccination brings freedom from preventable illness or injury, and a senseless premature death, but the mindless fascist Republican cult only believes in freeDUMB. Just as they don't understand or would deny the Constitution is as much about the common good as personal liberties, and that those two things are intrinsically and inextricably intertwined.
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge." ~ Ben Franklin, from Poor Richard's Almanack
Those who scorn public health guidelines during a deadly global pandemic and confuse a grievous public health issue with "essential" liberty to kill and harm themselves and their fellow citizens--as well as their nation--sorely lack both care and knowledge. They are also sorely lacking in common sense, something else about which Mr. Franklin was quite keen. Mr. Franklin was also one our nation's first scientists--yet these modern-day knuckleheads who ought know better refute science! Were he alive today, he would be rather dismayed, disgruntled, and disgusted with the fascist anti-science Republican cult, that much is crystal clear.
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Let's just call January 6 what it actually was -- a Republican smash and grab, an act of violent larceny against democracy and sedition employing domestic terrorism right out in open sight.
"Without accountability, an attempted autogolpe and insurrection is just practice."
"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ― Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
So, why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. Because our democracy, our institutions, and our very security is seriously endangered. And because rule of law and justice for all really does matter.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
Democrats, Independents, others: WTF?!?
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Gee, who better than the amoral partisan hack, Dr. Torture Yoo, to analyze the amoral President Trump's bizarre obstruction and cover-up attempts?
Torture Yoo disingenuously claims both sides are rushing towards this Constitutional crisis, but that just isn't true. That ignores how Trump got a free pass for two years from Congressional Republicans, who were derelict in upholding their obligations to Oversight and their Oath. Dems haven't been given much time, and the clock is ticking on justice for the Mueller Report and election security for 2020. Does Torture Yoo have a better, realistic proposal for dealing with the situation caused directly by Trump, not Congress? Forget I asked--don't want Torture Yoo's opinions. But let's bear in mind who the subject of the Mueller Report is, Trump. Not any Congressional committee or chamber. The subject is the problem, not those confronting the subject out of necessity. Torture Yoo's inability to grasp that is why we don't need amoral commentators.
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Republican cult are corrupt LYING hypocrites. Dirty, disgusting, deplorable, despicable, deranged, disgraceful, demented, dishonorable, depraved, disingenuous, devious, diabolical, duplicitous...and that's just a partial tabulation of the 'D' words describing the GOP; the complete listing of their nasty traits is far too many to enumerate.
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As if Mr. Rogers could talk sense into Republicans! Wishing it were so won't make it so, thus this seems piece seems rather pointless. Personally, his show didn't air until starting school, and as a first-grader was a book-worm able to appreciate Plato, got taunted by older kids it was a put-on; that the book was carried around merely to pretend to be smart! Well, remember it hurting some, but understood even back then it was the tormenters who were the lesser. Anyway, the point being that found Mr. Rogers rather simplistic and stupid growing up, and it wasn't until more mature that respect for the man and his work grew. For Republicans, they may have loved him as a kid, but as political adults, many viewed him as an effeminate liberal seeking to overthrow traditional America--more someone to hate and be suspicious of than as any kind of hero. Complete nonsense, but for years, that is what passes for Republicanism in America. The GOP doesn't listen to Bill Nye, the science guy, much less Mr. Rogers!
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Donald Trump, at White House press conference on 04/07/20:
And we’re going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO. We’re going to put a very powerful hold on it, and we’re going to see.
Trump later at that same press conference:
Q: Thanks. A quick follow-up on that. So is the time to freeze funding to the WHO during a pandemic of this magnitude?
THE PRESIDENT: No, maybe not. I mean, I’m not saying I’m going to do it, but we’re going to look at it.
Q: You did say that you’re going to —
THE PRESIDENT: We give a tremendous —
Q: You said you’d put a hold on it.
THE PRESIDENT: No, I didn’t.
Toxic Trump, one week later, on 04/14/20: "I'm withholding WHO funding!"
WHO held a important meeting on COVID-19 vaccines at the beginning of May, with all nations attending...except no U.S. medical and scientific representatives sent by the Trump Administration, without any explanation. The absence particularly stunning in light that U.S. has half of world's cases and a quarter of the deaths, although possessing just 5% of the global population.
ME, US, the world: WTF?? Why in HELL is that raving lunatic STILL in charge during this major pandemic health crisis?!? Hasn't he KILLED enough Americans, ALREADY?!?
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To protect our health care and front-line workers, it is critical to protect ourselves and others! Protecting those most vulnerable groups among us--like the elderly, homeless, prisoners, minorities, and migrants--is one of the best ways of protecting ourselves! It's a win-win situation, folks--even without a global pandemic, but now especially! Conversely, it is actually Trump and the GOP's fear-mongering, stigmatization, bigotry, xenophobia, racism, cruelty and lack of compassion which endangers Americans. Ignorance kills.
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Congressional Republicans--conceited, clueless clowns, corrupt to their crappy, childish core, careless of crime and criminal, Constitution and country; contemptible, compassionless cretins who cravenly capitulated to Caesar, their Commander of Cheat and Chief Confabulator, and who can't condone, correct, or cross the cult creation they crazily constructed to compete, commencing to now coopted and conjoined at the cranium.
Currently conveniently--if contrary to courage, or common sense and cause--coldly calculating and crudely conflating control and creepy cash with contentment and continuity, commensurate with, and correspondent to, conspicuously cuckolding their contemporaneous citizens they constantly contrive to confuse and confound, using cunning, charades, and chicanery to ceaselessly convolute, cover-up and conceal their complicity, culpability, cowardice, and complete lack of character and conscience.
Commie comrades call-in condolences and chuckle, contain callous celebration or congratulatory claims, content to be coy with their calamitous conception conveying calumnious election cycle cyber contamination, continually concerned about consequences from certifying, corroborating, or confessing and coming clean to the cargo of crud they crafted; cognizant and convinced counterstrikes could certainly prove conducive to the collapse of their own censurable compendium of cancerous, cruel crackpots and crummy, conniving crooks.
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'Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America' by Kathleen Belew (Harvard University Press, 2018)
The movement “brought together members of the Klan, militias, radical tax resisters, white separatists, neo-Nazis, and proponents of white theologies such as Christian Identity, Odinism, and Dualism” (ix). What was it about the movement that brought these ideologies together?
The promise of violence — rather, the promise that members would get to inflict violence on other people. Belew writes that as the white power movement matured, it became more violent, and “[as] violence came to the fore of the movement, distinctions among white power factions melted away” (60). Belew calls this process “violent community formation” (34). Yet as a social movement, Belew makes a distinction between the white power movement’s “revolutionary violence” and the Ku Klux Klan’s “vigilante violence.”
Vigilante violence “served to constitute, shore up, and enforce systemic power” (106). Given that the U.S. government has a long history of “defending vigilante violence by refusing to enforce the law” (99), law enforcement inaction and vigilante violence may be understood together as a case of one hand washing the other. Revolutionary violence, however, sought to overthrow the state. It is the white power movement’s goal of overthrowing the federal government that sets it apart in the history of white supremacy in the U.S.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of crackpot conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of greed, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of plutocrats, the party of corruption, the party of anti-democracy, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their pact with the Devil.
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Trump pisses on American people, calls it rain. Republican cult drinks it up! The epitome of this is Mulvaney's GOP speech laying bare the Trump administration's lie about moving USDA science offices, an illegal, costly affair which serves no purpose other than to silence science, force out faithful public servants, and fill critical government science and technology posts with obeisant know-nothing partisan hack replacements. Or, this Republican administration will leave many vacant. Clearly, this Trump travesty is bad for farmers, bad for ALL Americans, and just plain bad for America, yet we see the Republican cult dupes cheering Mulvaney on, lapping up the piss like ambrosia! All recorded for history, so all the progeny from these treasonous Republican idiots--from their kids now to all of those kid's kids and their kids in the future--are going to see just what kind of ignorant monsters they had for parents, grandparents, relatives, and ancestors. Not that Republicans seem mindful or to care. The destructiveness of GOP politics on American government began under Nixon, but starting with Reagan it became a Republican selling point. Conservatism won't die, but Republicanism has become a zero-sum game for losers.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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Trump pisses on American people, calls it rain. Republican cult drinks it up! The epitome of this is Mulvaney's GOP speech laying bare the Trump administration's lie about moving USDA science offices, an illegal, costly affair which serves no purpose other than to silence science, force out faithful public servants, and fill critical government science and technology posts with obeisant know-nothing partisan hack replacements. Or, this Republican administration will leave many vacant. Clearly, this Trump travesty is bad for farmers, bad for ALL Americans, and just plain bad for America, yet we see the Republican cult dupes cheering Mulvaney on, lapping up the piss like ambrosia! All recorded for history, so all the progeny from these treasonous Republican idiots--from their kids now to all of those kid's kids and their kids in the future--are going to see just what kind of ignorant monsters they had for parents, grandparents, relatives, and ancestors. Not that Republicans seem mindful or to care. The destructiveness of GOP politics on American government began under Nixon, but starting with Reagan it became a Republican selling point. Conservatism won't die, but Republicanism has become a zero-sum game for losers.
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Confronted with a conundrum contrary or conflicting, the Republican cult instinct for self-preservation induces a cease of circulation to the cranium, causing confusion, chaos, crisis, corruption, and criminality! Cult for cult, con for con, convolution after convolution, corny concocted cockamamie crackpot conspiracy after corny concocted cockamamie crackpot conspiracy, cover-up after cover-up, the GOP is alone, in a league all its own!
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It's that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don't care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another five months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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GOP cult: “Democracy is great…only so long as we can subvert it with lies, cheating, a multitude of Jim Crow voter suppression laws, egregious gerrymandering, obstruction, coups, election interference, election fraud, sedition, insurrection and terrorism to gain power and maintain our corrupt, plutocratic, minority fascist rule!”
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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'Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America' by Kathleen Belew (Harvard University Press, 2018)
The movement “brought together members of the Klan, militias, radical tax resisters, white separatists, neo-Nazis, and proponents of white theologies such as Christian Identity, Odinism, and Dualism” (ix). What was it about the movement that brought these ideologies together?
The promise of violence — rather, the promise that members would get to inflict violence on other people. Belew writes that as the white power movement matured, it became more violent, and “[as] violence came to the fore of the movement, distinctions among white power factions melted away” (60). Belew calls this process “violent community formation” (34). Yet as a social movement, Belew makes a distinction between the white power movement’s “revolutionary violence” and the Ku Klux Klan’s “vigilante violence.”
Vigilante violence “served to constitute, shore up, and enforce systemic power” (106). Given that the U.S. government has a long history of “defending vigilante violence by refusing to enforce the law” (99), law enforcement inaction and vigilante violence may be understood together as a case of one hand washing the other. Revolutionary violence, however, sought to overthrow the state. It is the white power movement’s goal of overthrowing the federal government that sets it apart in the history of white supremacy in the U.S.
Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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Harris claims to be a progressive, but she was a law-and-order candidate whose policies as a DA and AG were, in fact, largely regressive. As attorney general, Harris opposed a bill requiring her office to investigate shootings involving police officers and threatened to imprison the parents of truant children, who are disproportionately poor and non-white. Her office fought a proposed parole program that would release prisoners early if they served half their sentences, arguing that “prisons would lose an important labor pool.”
"Time after time, when progressives urged her to embrace criminal justice reforms as a district attorney and then the state’s attorney general, Ms. Harris opposed them or stayed silent. Most troubling, Ms. Harris fought tooth and nail to uphold wrongful convictions that had been secured through official misconduct that included evidence tampering, false testimony and the suppression of crucial information by prosecutors."
"...a judge condemned Ms. Harris’s indifference to the systemic violation of the defendants’ constitutional rights." "Ms. Harris contested the ruling by arguing that the judge, whose husband was a defense attorney and had spoken publicly about the importance of disclosing evidence, had a conflict of interest. Ms. Harris lost. More than 600 cases handled by the corrupt technician were dismissed." [Disturbingly identical to Trump's attitude and behavior.]
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Sigkim Slow down there, Doc! You're really twisting yourself into a frenzy! So much so, you got up and down, front and back all sideways and tilted.
Sorry, Doc, not the way it works, and wishful thinking like some lovestruck adolescent girl with a crush just won't make it so. Mueller Report shows treason and felons of Trump, providing a road map to impeachment. Sitting President can't be indicted, so the only recourse is impeachment. No court is going to uphold current Trump obstructions, which each serve as further evidence to be used against Trump in his impeachment. The evidence of Trump treason and crimes will be made public through testimony in this Congressional investigatory phase, which is a necessary preliminary to determining whether to impeach. This can't be stopped, nor should it be stopped. Why would any true American patriot want a President -- Republican or Democrat -- that has betrayed democracy and his country consorting (even if not criminally conspiring) with our worst enemy to win an election, then lied and hid that from the public, committing numerous felonies obstructing justice, trampling our Constitution and the President's sworn oath? Are you a Trumputin patriot, or are you a true American patriot? Your choice.
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This Thanksgiving should be dedicated to all those medical and essential workers battling on the front line in this war against a deadly pandemic, selflessly working so hard to heal us, to keep us well, to keep us alive, at great personal cost and risk to themselves. And the best way to give them thanks is keeping ourselves and others around us safe from COVID-19. Those sacrifices we make are so trivial and miniscule in comparison to what they make, yet mean so very much. In this war, those small sacrifices we citizens make to wear a mask, socially distance, avoid gatherings, are so essential to success, so critical to our own well-being. To think of the years of much greater sacrifice Americans have had to make in past wars, and to compare that with these small sacrifices only being required for just one year or a bit more until vaccinations allow us to prevail in this war, it seems unimaginable that Americans would lack that minimal amount of common sense and patriotism.
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Republican cult morons rail against the very "elite" they keep voting for, who give tax cuts to the rich and have created the greatest income inequality and wealth disparity in American history.
Why? They are driven by the divisive fear and bigotry programmed into them 24/7 by the Reich-wing media and propaganda owned or funded by the plutocracy. It's absolutely Orwellian, and it began around 1984 in America. What is witnessed now is just the rotten results from the poisoned tree bearing fruition. It's the disease killing America that existed long before COVID-19, and which is likely to persist long after.
Republican cult going to believe what the Republican cult wants to believe, whatever the truth, whatever proof, whatever anybody says. "Healing" the country means deprogramming the 30-40% of Americans deep in cultdom. That needs to be recognized, acknowledged, and acted upon if we truly wish to revive the patient, America, and restore it to glory.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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The Bankruptcy King, Putin's puppet-pie pawn Traitor-'n-Thief Toxic Trump, has bankrupted American standing globally; bankrupted American national security, bankrupted America morally, ethically, and financially. Something only made possible with corrupt GOP leadership, GOP Congressional members, and other GOP elected officials actively aiding and abetting, fully complicit. Before taking office, Toxic Trump had declared bankruptcy six times, while losing more money during the 80's boom cycle than anyone else. Surprised that his current business ventures are going bankrupt, too? You really shouldn’t be.
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So, why do larger objects cause more downward force if not gravitational pull or theory of attraction? Isn't the moon accelerating through space faster than Earth, as it is revolving around Earth as Earth revolves around the Sun, as the Sun revolves around the galaxy, and as the galaxy moves through an expanding universe? So why is their less gravitational pull on the moon than Earth, if not that larger masses exert more gravitational pull? And if the sun with a much stronger gravitational pull than Earth is because of much greater acceleration, how is Earth able to keep up? Don't think this video adequately explains this phenomenon. I can picture the moon, the Earth, the Sun, and our galaxy as all being dimples within dimples in the space/time continuum, which could possibly require greater acceleration depending on the depth of each dimple to keep pace, with objects having greater mass having deeper dimples, which might work to explain and confirm the General Theory of Relativity's explanation of gravity, but am unsure if that's the correct explanation.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-‘n-‘Thief, Toxic Trump, so much—although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages—as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, homophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, divisive, anti-science, anti-democratic raving lunatic and his corruption, a man compromised by foreign nations, including our principle adversary, through his tremendous debt. Between that, his catastrophic, irresponsible handling of COVID-19, and his incitement of anti-democratic violent Reich-wing groups, Trump has made himself America's #1 most serious national security threat. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself, mental illness, and his upbringing, who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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Republicans can't handle reality, would rather traffic and believe in lies. The GOP is a fascist, nihilistic cult that would destroy democracy and America if given sufficient opportunity. And THAT, folks, is your reality check.
What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil. They are either actively or silently complicit in fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorist violence, Reich-wing insurrection, and Reich-wing undermining of our democracy and Constitution.
It's crystal clear that Trump, Boebert, Greene, Gosar and other Republicans like them are fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorism. The GOP has become radicalized to such an extent that it has essentially become a fascist terrorist organization, with members that fantasize and promote violence against their fellow Americans. While those Republican elected officials must be condemned and sanctioned, they are only a symptom of the disease poisoning a third of America, the most visible part of the cancer infecting our nation.
The GOP has been mainstreaming radicalization of their voter base for decades, ALLOWING Reich-wing media and Reich-wing demagogues to take over the party, to the point it has become a fascist, nihilistic cult. Because just as now, Republican politicians and their plutocratic masters have always seen it as the ends justifying whatever means to win power. Remember the Republican Tea Party? This catastrophe with the GOP didn't start with Trump, who just exploited what Republicans had already built.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle for graft and to grift their voters and us taxpayers. You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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@doncryer8803 ~ You're promoting domestic terrorism against America, Doc! You WANT totalitarianism! Besides, the ruling party doesn't vet our soldiers; the armed forces and our security agencies makes that call. Moreover, it's not even a partisan issue. EVERYONE in the U.S. armed forces is vetted, and goes through additional vetting whenever or wherever it may be required. SOP--Standard Operating Procedure, doofus. Having served, know that when you join the military, Uncle Sam owns you. They say jump, you say, how high? Needing a Top Secret clearance for my MOS, was subject to repeated vetting. Never had a problem with it, because I'm a patriot. You are quite obviously NOT a patriot. Cry us a river of crocodile tears.
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Confronted with a conundrum contrary or conflicting, the Republican cult instinct for self-preservation induces a cease of circulation to the cranium, causing confusion, chaos, crisis, corruption, and criminality! Cult for cult, con for con, convolution after convolution, corny concocted cockamamie crackpot conspiracy after corny concocted cockamamie crackpot conspiracy, cover-up after cover-up, the GOP is alone, in a league all its own!
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As Trump disgraces, demeans and diminishes the Oval Office and Presidency, threatening our elections, democracy, Constitution and country, he devalues and degrades America and all Americans. Cheapening all of us and what we all hold most dear as a WHOLE, not just cheapening our sacred vessel, himself, and those that would support such deviancy. Furthermore, his immoral actions and behaviors pose a grave threat to both well-being and security of society and nation. Sadly, Republicans who've lost their self-respect lost their ability to care.
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Only when law enforcement demonstrates nationally that it is capable of adequately policing and holding itself accountable can the public have the security and confidence they are there to PROTECT and serve ALL citizens. We're sick of the carnage and misery--we're not waiting, anymore, police, prosecutors, judges, mayors, councils, legislators, governors, Congress, Mr. President, SCOTUS. This is really a question of whether or not America wants to be a democracy, or something less.
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@alananderson4316 ~ You're still engaging in circular logic and still being dishonest by evading the points and arguments, Doc, making you more of a moron and a hypocrite than any kind of Christian. You do not repent your wicked ways, yet you would presume to preach to others?
You get a flat tire, are you going to just sit there and proselytize and pray, or are you going to use a little common sense, get the spare out and change it over? Well, Covid-19 is no different. Pray and proselytize all you want, Covid-19 don't care. But use a little common sense, and you could save some lives----maybe even your own! You would also be helping to prevent a lot of needless suffering. That's what Jesus would do and would have you do----not hide behind your misguided selfish, self-justifying, sanctimonious, and self-convenient ignorant misinterpretations of the Bible.
Not only are you proving the point of my comment, you're also simultaneously disproving so-called "intelligent design!" If you're capable, you might want to ponder on that a bit.
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@alananderson4316 ~ By the way, your "pondering" is short, narrow, and shallow, as no one knows the long-term effects of Covid-19, but there is already abundant evidence that the effects near and long-term of Covid-19 are highly likely far, far worse than any potential side-effects from the vaccine. Moreover, we know how vaccines in general work and even the MRNA vaccines are not significantly different than other vaccines which have proven their safety and efficacy over decades, saving countless millions of lives and untold human suffering. We also know that the vaccines have gone through extensive trials and both an internal and an external independent review before being approved by the FDA for emergency use.
Lots of people dying from Coivd-19, but the extremely rare few people who have died from various causes after getting the vaccine are no higher than the incidence rate of people dying from those same causes without the vaccine. But even were that not true, it's like that one-in-a-million person who was saved by not wearing a seatbelt. Which doesn't justify refusing to buckle-up, or make it smart. It only demonstrates a lack of common sense. The odds of staying safe and healthy are much greater for the vaccinated than the unvaccinated, even more so now with the Delta variant.
You're further showing your ignorance if you think my comment was about gloating. Regardless of race, creed, political ideology, ethnicity, or nationality, I really don't want to see other people dying and killing others senselessly out of pure ignorance. Christianity isn't about suicide or willful negligent homicide. Or, at least, it shouldn't be. The satirical comment is meant to provoke people to think and use a little common sense.
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@alananderson4316 ~ I recommend you follow the advice of reputable doctors, medical experts, and public health officials, all of whom advise those deemed able to get the vaccine, regardless of any previous contraction of Covid-19.
No, vaccines do not make us dependent upon them or weaken our immunological response. Rather, they boost our natural immune system by teaching it to recognize certain harmful and deadly pathogens, building antibodies so that our natural immune system is able to fight off those diseases. It does the same thing our bodies would do anyway if catching the disease, without us having to get sick and possibly die from it.
No, all the evidence does NOT point to the virus being man-made or manipulated. The vast majority of virologists, biologists, and epidemiologists still believe the most likely origin is from natural causes. No, the medical and scientific experts recommending the vaccines did NOT create the disease, nor do they profit from the vaccines.
Yes, medical and public health experts recommend annual flu vaccines, because they help prevent unnecessary hospitalizations and deaths, just as with Covid-19. They do not profit from the vaccines.
In case you didn't know, vaccines have a low profit margin for pharmaceutical companies, which is why a number of them got out of the business.
Lots of people in the stock market, whether working in or outside of government, who typically have diversified portfolios that invest in proven stocks that have a high rate of return----such as pharmaceutical companies. That doesn't automatically imply any nefarious motive.
We've all seen the negative side of unethical practices by some pharmaceutical companies, but that doesn't make all of them bad, nor does it make all medicines and vaccines produced bad. Are you going to stop buying food because some companies got a little too greedy, cut too many corners, and thereby produced unsafe product at some point? Don't be silly! Besides, producing unsafe products is generally not a good business model for companies wanting to stay in business.
Nobody has to sign a waiver to get the free Covid-19 vaccine. Where did you get that nonsense from? It is common practice for the government to waive liability for pharmaceuticals approved for emergency use, because it's for an EMERGENCY, for Pete's sake! Moreover, full FDA approval is projected to happen soon, in September.
I'm not preaching Darwin...I'm preaching common sense, Doc!
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A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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@levirichards7546 ~ Exactly! Especially in Republican areas. Live in a rural conservative town, in a conservative county, surrounded by other conservative counties, and very few have been taking this pandemic seriously since the beginning. Even in places where masks are required, often see people either not wearing them, or wearing them improperly. Little regard for social distancing or avoiding gatherings by Republicans throughout the area we live.
Yet, go into the nearest large city, which is largely Democratic, and CDC guidelines garner large adherence. Kept warning people that failing to take proper common sense precautions would lead to making our area a hotspot, but they didn't want to listen. Now, we have hospitals overflowing, resources getting stretched, lots of people getting sick and dying--senselessly. While there has been a gradual decrease of denialism over the months in the area, and more are just recently behaving more responsibly after seeing schools having to go to remote learning and their family, friends or coworkers getting sick and dying, there is still too many here being irresponsible.
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@timmartin5057 ~ Your passive-aggression does not fit you well...it only highlights your ignorance, Doc! Like you know more than the health care experts, when you have shown you actually know very little--even about how contact tracing works.
As far as cost goes, the mask-wearing, social distancing, testing and contact tracing that Toxic Trump and most of the Republican cult eschews--those things are actually among the most economical things we can do in combating the virus. Far more expensive are the hospitalizations, doctors, specialists, medical care, funeral expenses, lost workers, etc., etc. from NOT taking that approach.
But, go ahead, continue on with your willful ignorance; don't do the research, don't talk to your state and local health officials, don't talk with your doctor. Keep weakening America, sickening and killing your fellow Americans with disinformation and willful ignorance. By all means, be the fleeced sheep eager for sacrificial slaughter to your false Republican god.
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With so few coronavirus tests, America has been flying blind into a storm
Editorial Board 03/13/20 -- Washington Post
BARELY MENTIONED in President Trump’s Oval Office address on Wednesday night was the diagnostic testing fiasco. He said only that testing capability is “expanding rapidly day by day.” He should have addressed what has become a major failure in how the United States has responded to the coronavirus pandemic, leaving the country far behind other nations in testing for and controlling infection. With so few tests, the United States has been flying blind into a storm.
Why is this such a problem? We cannot expect a vaccine or cure for covid-19 in the immediate future. But widespread diagnostic testing could help dramatically.
As Jeremy Samuel Faust, an emergency physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, wrote in a Post op-ed, this is for two reasons. First, identifying even mild cases of the infection that are now going uncounted would yield a more accurate picture of the lethality of the disease. This in turn would likely reassure the public and financial markets.
Second, Dr. Faust explained, “the discovery of mild and symptom-free cases may lower the number of serious cases over the course of the outbreak, and might even save lives.” This is partly because treatment (short of cure) can be effective, and partly because isolation of asymptomatic patients would slow the spread of infection. But those patients aren’t going to self-quarantine if they don’t know they’re sick.
South Korea’s experience supports this argument. Regulators there approved a new diagnostic test by a private company in a week’s time. South Korea is testing 20,000 people a day, and it now has drive-through testing — and the infection rates are not climbing sharply.
The United States’ record is sadly different. The initial setback was a technical fault in the diagnostic kits created and sent to state public health labs by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in February. While the CDC rushed to troubleshoot, only about a dozen state labs could test, and all other samples had to be sent to the CDC in Atlanta. Test results took days. On top of this, the agency set very restrictive criteria for who would be tested: only individuals who showed respiratory symptoms and had either recently traveled to China or come in close contact with an infected person. On Feb. 29, facing a rising case count in the United States and a lack of testing, the Food and Drug Administration abruptly changed its rules to allow “high-complexity” laboratories to use diagnostic tests they designed in-house. This began to expand testing and allow hospitals and private firms to produce them — they are now the main hope of ramping up testing — although another looming glitch is a shortage of chemicals.
Not all the testing problems in the United States are political, but it certainly did not help that Vice President Pence repeatedly over-promised the availability of tests, touting millions when only thousands have been conducted. “Anybody that needs a test gets a test,” Mr. Trump declared on March 6 at the CDC headquarters. “They’re there. They have the tests. And the tests are beautiful.” For the sake of the ill and the healthy, we hope the reality will soon catch up to that idle boast.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/opinions-with-so-few-coronavirus-tests-america-has-been-flying-blind-into-a-storm/ar-BB1172Dg
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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Merrick Garland’s House Testimony Demonstrated the Failure of His Hyper-Cautious Approach to His Job
Despite Garland’s many efforts to not appear political by declining to investigate Trump and his cronies for possible crimes and by using DOJ resources to actively protect Trump from civil liability, Republicans are still portraying him as the most political attorney general in history.
The other weakness of Garland’s timid approach was on full view during his opening statement and responses to Democratic members of Congress. “The essence of the rule of law is that like cases are treated alike. That there not be one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans; one rule for friends, another for foes,” Garland stated grandly. But by declining to investigate Trump and his associates, Garland is enabling further attacks on our democracy. (While proving inequity by putting Republicans above the law.)
Crucially, the two parties are not the same. Garland’s standard sets up a false equivalency between the Democratic Party and a political party whose national leader, Donald Trump, incited and celebrated a violent assault on our nation’s Capitol to overthrow the results of a free and fair election and who continues to portray the insurrection as a glorious “protest.” To that end, in the middle of the attorney general’s testimony, Trump issued a statement highlighting Garland’s feebleness at failing to even investigate the organizers and leaders of the Jan. 6 events, declaring “the insurrection took place on November 3, Election Day. January 6 was the Protest!”
Garland’s efforts to depoliticize the DOJ have proved to be an abdication of his responsibility to protect the rule of law. Take just a few examples: Garland’s failure to reconsider the obstruction of justice case against the former president, his deferral of an investigation of possible financial crimes by Trump and his organization to local prosecutors in New York City and Westchester, his use of the DOJ to protect Trump from defamation allegations, and his deferral of a soliciting of voter fraud felony probe in Georgia to local prosecutors there. By abdicating his responsibility, Garland is also opening the door for Trump to commit these possibly criminal abuses all over again, this time with the full support of the Republican Party, and maybe ultimately return to power.
--Mark Stern
"Try as he may, Merrick Garland cannot perform boring independence fast enough to outrun GOP claims that he’s a wild-eyed, violent socialist. And while the GOP currently exists only to cast everything you thought you believed into doubt, the real endgame is vigilantism. The endgame is to ensure that people mistrust government, election systems, school boards, (teachers, health care officials) the media, and the justice system enough to lend a hand in their destruction."
--Dahlia Lithwick
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GOP cult: “Democracy is great…only so long as we can subvert it with lies, cheating, a multitude of Jim Crow voter suppression laws, egregious gerrymandering, obstruction, coups, election interference, sedition, and terrorism to gain power and maintain our corrupt, plutocratic, minority fascist rule!”
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GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over four decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, nihilistic, hyper-partisan fascist cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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President Nero stoked racial animosities, igniting the embers, keeps feeding the flames. Lynching, murder of innocent civilians by law enforcement, followed by protests, riots, civil unrest, people hurt, property damaged--those were all inevitable with an arsonist in the Oval, even if his gross criminal negligence with COVID-19 wasn't presently so starkly highlighting the social and economic divides in this nation. You didn't see this train wreck burning, it's only because you refused to look.
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Traitor-'n-Thief Toxic Trump is a compromised Russian asset who puts his own personal interests--legal, financial, and egotistical--ahead of the national interest in both domestic and foreign policy. A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
Merrick Garland’s House Testimony Demonstrated the Failure of His Hyper-Cautious Approach to His Job
Despite Garland’s many efforts to not appear political by declining to investigate Trump and his cronies for possible crimes and by using DOJ resources to actively protect Trump from civil liability, Republicans are still portraying him as the most political attorney general in history.
The other weakness of Garland’s timid approach was on full view during his opening statement and responses to Democratic members of Congress. “The essence of the rule of law is that like cases are treated alike. That there not be one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans; one rule for friends, another for foes,” Garland stated grandly. But by declining to investigate Trump and his associates, Garland is enabling further attacks on our democracy. (While proving inequity by putting Republicans above the law.)
Crucially, the two parties are not the same. Garland’s standard sets up a false equivalency between the Democratic Party and a political party whose national leader, Donald Trump, incited and celebrated a violent assault on our nation’s Capitol to overthrow the results of a free and fair election and who continues to portray the insurrection as a glorious “protest.” To that end, in the middle of the attorney general’s testimony, Trump issued a statement highlighting Garland’s feebleness at failing to even investigate the organizers and leaders of the Jan. 6 events, declaring “the insurrection took place on November 3, Election Day. January 6 was the Protest!”
Garland’s efforts to depoliticize the DOJ have proved to be an abdication of his responsibility to protect the rule of law. Take just a few examples: Garland’s failure to reconsider the obstruction of justice case against the former president, his deferral of an investigation of possible financial crimes by Trump and his organization to local prosecutors in New York City and Westchester, his use of the DOJ to protect Trump from defamation allegations, and his deferral of a soliciting of voter fraud felony probe in Georgia to local prosecutors there. By abdicating his responsibility, Garland is also opening the door for Trump to commit these possibly criminal abuses all over again, this time with the full support of the Republican Party, and maybe ultimately return to power.
--Mark Stern
"Try as he may, Merrick Garland cannot perform boring independence fast enough to outrun GOP claims that he’s a wild-eyed, violent socialist. And while the GOP currently exists only to cast everything you thought you believed into doubt, the real endgame is vigilantism. The endgame is to ensure that people mistrust government, election systems, school boards, (teachers, health care officials) the media, and the justice system enough to lend a hand in their destruction."
--Dahlia Lithwick
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The Blue Wall must end, or there can not be justice for all, nor can there exist public trust in law enforcement. Police unions must be reined in, so that there can be rational accountability for law enforcement. Allegations of police abuses must have independent prosecutors and investigators. More resources need to go to proactive crime prevention programs, so that we can spend less money on law enforcement, jails, prisons, courts, prosecutors, etc. Not only is it more cost-effective, but lives are saved, and everyone--including law enforcement--is better off.
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The law on this is quite unambiguous: Under Section 6103 of our tax code, Treasury officials “shall” turn over the tax returns “upon written request” of the chair of either congressional tax committee or the federal employee who runs Congress's Joint Committee on Taxation. No request has ever been refused. There are no qualifiers in Section 6103 that shield the IRS from delivering, in confidence, his tax returns to Congress. No wiggle room at all.
Another provision in our tax code, Section 7214(a), provides that “Any officer or employee of the United States acting in connection with any revenue law of the United States… who with intent to defeat the application of any provision of this title fails to perform any of the duties of his office or employment… shall be dismissed from office or discharged from employment and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $10,000, or imprisoned not more than 5 years or both.”
So, how is it that this process has been held up in the courts for years? If Congress wanted to see any American taxpayer's returns, could we hold up Congressional oversight for years by filing endless lawsuits? Why is the Judicial Branch effectively usurping the power of Congress and allowing it to be so degraded as to be rendered essentially meaningless? Why can't the Judicial Branch act with expedience where the law is so clear and unambiguous, and throw out such frivolous and meritless lawsuits? Why do we allow a two-tier justice system, one for the rich and powerful, and one for the common person; one for whites, and one for people of color? WTF is wrong with SCOTUS? This is an outrage and disgrace.
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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@LaFabrizia1983 ~ My rebuke was no sharper than your erroneous rebuke of the person uploading this CNN segment. Does that mean that you need a big hug because of your "frustration?"
~ It was done in a somewhat whimsical state of mind, half-jokingly, and am a naturally cheerful person.
~ I also tend to be rather frank about things, which can sometimes be taken the wrong way by people.
~ Of course, had no way of knowing previously that English was your third language.
~ Videos on YouTube are notorious for typos, grammar and spelling errors in their titles and descriptions. It's fairly commonplace, even on news channels. Places like CNN upload numerous videos every day, so mistakes once in a while should probably be expected. At any rate, such small mistakes are a trivial matter.
~ Of more concern, but unstated, was your focus on typos instead of the content of the video. Don't know if you're to be included among those that only come here to denigrate reputable media like CNN, but there are many such people like that, which played a part in prompting my rebuke.
~ I do respect that you have the integrity to admit your mistake publicly here and edit your comment. That not only is redeeming, but it shows you to be an honorable person. As I often tell people, I would rather be shown where wrong than proven right, because I want to know the truth, and I do not want to pass on false information to others. Peace and serenity to you!
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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Putin is posturing. He's not stupid, isn't about to kill the goose that lays the golden egg, which is the corrupt regime he runs that enriches him and appointed oligarchy friends. If he thought he could get away with taking Ukraine, he would do it, but he knows it would be too costly, and could well prove his downfall.
NATO nations border Russia now, just as they have since the days of the USSR. NATO is a defensive organization, as Putin well knows. The U.S. and other NATO allies have no intention or interest whatsoever of employing offensive military forces against Russia in aggression, as Putin also well knows. NATO was formed at the request of European nations in conjunction with the U.S. as a hedge against Russian aggression, another thing of which Putin is well aware.
And there's no mistaking that Russia is the aggressor, with its annexation of the Ukranian territory of Crimea, its military operation in eastern Ukraine, and its ongoing efforts to destabilize Ukraine.
Which is not because Ukraine poses any threat to Russia. It's because Putin promotes Russian nationalism and a return to the supposed "glory" of the former communist Soviet Union as a way to gain support to prop up his corrupt regime, much as Hitler did.
Putin runs a brutal, repressive regime, and while there is resistance and protests, they are met with harsh crackdowns by security forces and often heavy punishment handed down to those involved. What Putin fears is not the U.S. or NATO, but his fellow citizens.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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fuck google ~ GOP is the party of lies, the party of conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of corruption, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their deal with the Devil.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, along with Reich-wing demagogues and media, who were complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance, and in spreading disinformation and misinformation. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump left office, one out of every 800 Americans had died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 410,000 fatalities, as many American casualties as all of WWII. To put it into further perspective, throughout Trump's catastrophic mishandling of a deadly global pandemic, the U.S. led the world in cases and deaths, suffering nearly 25% of each, despite having only 4.25% of global population, despite having the advantage of being the richest and most advanced nation in the world.
The memorial would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure. Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of crackpot conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of greed, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of plutocrats, the party of corruption, the party of anti-democracy, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their pact with the Devil.
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GOP is NOT the party of law and order, NOT the party of the Constitution and patriots, NOT the party of "values." It's the party of terrorism, lawlessness, corruption, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry, misogyny, sedition, and traitors.
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@steveperreira5850 ~ You're not concerned about your dishonest Whataboutism, Doc? So, if your little girl gets raped by some child molester, the jury decides to let him go, because what about that other little girl that got raped before? Do you see the problem with your Whataboutism, and how wrong and dishonest it is? It's highly destructive to our society, whether you are willing to recognize and acknowledge it or not. It's actually a propaganda tool first used extensively in communist Russia a century ago. Do you care more about your political party than your country, than your character, your integrity, your morals? If so, I pity you, and fear for the future of America.
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For three years, Republicans have propped up and protected a racist, corrupt, sociopathic narcissistic menace to society, gaslighting and covering up Traitor Trump crimes, ineptness, and incompetence. Republicans don't really care about our country; time and again, for decades now, they have put their politics and greed for power above the welfare of this nation. The destructiveness of GOP politics on American government began under Nixon, but starting with Reagan it became a Republican selling point. Conservatism won't die, but Republicanism has become a zero-sum game for losers. This incarnation of the GOP needs to die, or it will be the end of American greatness.
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Instead of insuring adequate testing, contact tracing, surveillance testing, medical equipment, staff, and medical supplies like PPE -- as just as critically, if not more, public adherence to pandemic guidelines like wearing masks and social distancing -- Toxic Trump and Republican leaders pushed strongly for reopening the economy too soon, against CDC guidelines, despite the grave warnings of scientists, experts, and doctors; despite common sense. Most Republican governors took the Putin puppet President's lead, not taking a deadly global pandemic seriously. We need to shutdown, again, and stay that way until we have testing and other capabilities, and we have the current raging spread back under FIRM control. Which means back to isolation for the American public. No sea cruise. No airline flight. No theme park. No barber or beauty salon. No tattoo. No school. Just stay at home. Again. All only because of criminal negligence by Republican leaders and some Americans who just had to be stupid, inconsiderate, and heartless. The whole nation suffers and mourns; the innocents punished alongside the perpetrators of this insanity.
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Dr. "Babbling" Birx is laying bricks, lying and dissembling! Says she trusts churches and churchgoers to make it safe, not go to church if sick--knowing asymptomatic people don't know they're sick, and can't be detected! Then, there's the fact that many religious people gather at religious shrines and places of worship hoping to be "healed" when sick. Moreover, she knows "Pastor" Tony Spelling in Louisiana was packing his megachurch during the middle of a severe outbreak, busing them in from a 50-mile radius; she knows all about the devastating spread in South Korea from religious services, she knows about the super-spreader event at the church in Oregon defying state lockdown orders. Dr. Birx KNOWS the U.S. lacks the requisite testing capabilities to reopen safely. Dr. Birx KNOWS all the states are reopening in defiance of CDC guidelines. Dr. Birx KNOWS how Toxic Trump has ignorantly politicized a global pandemic, sent conflicting messages to the public. Dr. Birx KNOWS a good proportion of Americans are NOT following basic CDC guidelines; NOT wearing masks, NOT social distancing. And she knows without detailed specific CDC federal guidelines for businesses reopening, we got chaos, sickness, and MORE senseless deaths. Birx needs to have her medical license revoked. She can be the next SmellyAnne Con-Her-Way, that's what she wants.
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Hypocritical Republican cult whines about cancel culture...
--while making death threats against those disagreeing with them
--while conducting a terrorist attack against the nation's Capitol in insurrection, beating and killing police, intent on killing lawmakers and the Republican VP, attempting a coup to overthrow the results of a free and fair election...just because their candidate lost.
--while trying to cancel out the votes of millions of Democrats and minorities by objecting solely to their votes, enacting numerous voter suppression measures, and engaging in egregious gerrymandering.
--while labeling MSM "the enemy of the people."
--while censoring and moving to remove fellow Republicans of integrity who speak up for truth and decency, and against GOP lies, terrorism, and crackpot conspiracy theories.
--while Reich-wing media turns off comments yet rants against "censorship."
--while Faux News fires its news editor for truthfully reporting that Arizona had been called for Biden.
--while trying to run a Biden campaign bus off the road.
--while Rep. Marjorie Greene prevents press from covering town hall meetings where nobody wore a mask.
--after seriously injuring over 140 police officers and killing one in the Republican cult's seditious terrorist attack of insurrection against the nation's Capitol, Republican cult terrorists threaten to call the cops on reporters trying to get their side of the story.
--while canceling out the lives of hundreds of thousands of their fellow Americans by spreading lies about COVID-19, politicizing a deadly pandemic, and refusing to follow common sense health guidelines.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, along with Reich-wing demagogues and media, who were complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance, and in spreading disinformation and misinformation. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump left office, one out of every 800 Americans had died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 410,000 fatalities, as many American casualties as all of WWII. To put it into further perspective, throughout Trump's catastrophic mishandling of a deadly global pandemic, the U.S. led the world in cases and deaths, suffering nearly 25% of each, despite having only 4.25% of global population, despite having the advantage of being the richest and most advanced nation in the world.
The memorial would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure. Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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Wasn't expecting it, but Biden actually gave the best speech of the whole affair--against some really stiff competition! Next best, IMHO, Michelle, Barack, Jill, and Kamala (pre-convention). Also, surprisingly, felt this was the best Democratic Convention to date, despite (or, maybe even partly because of) being virtual. If one didn't feel the buzz and energy--check their pulse!
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White House Economists Warned in 2019 a Pandemic Could Devastate America
Jim Tankersley -- NY Times -- 03/31/20
WASHINGTON — White House economists published a study last September that warned a pandemic disease could kill a half million Americans and devastate the economy.
It went unheeded inside the administration.
In late February and early March, as the coronavirus pandemic began to spread from China to the rest of the world, President Trump’s top economic advisers played down the threat the virus posed to the U.S. economy and public health.
“I don’t think corona is as big a threat as people make it out to be,” the acting chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, Tomas Philipson, told reporters during a Feb. 18 briefing, on the same day that more than a dozen American cruise ship passengers who had contracted the virus were evacuated home. Public health threats did not typically hurt the economy, Mr. Philipson said. He suggested the virus would not be nearly as bad as a normal flu season.
The 2019 study warned otherwise — specifically urging Americans not to conflate the risks of a typical flu and a pandemic. The existence of that warning undermines administration officials’ contentions in recent weeks that no one could have seen the virus damaging the economy as it has. The study was requested by the National Security Council, according to two people familiar with the matter.
One of the authors of the study, who has since left the White House, now says it would make sense for the administration to effectively shut down most economic activity for two to eight months to slow the virus.
The coronavirus has spread rapidly through the United States and its economy, killing more than 3,000 Americans and plunging the country into what economists roundly predict will be a deep recession. A mounting number of governors and local officials have effectively shut down large amounts of economic activity and ordered people to stay in their homes in most situations, in hopes of slowing the spread and relieving pressure on hospitals.
Administration officials on Tuesday released public health models that have driven those decisions, including projections of when infection rates might peak nationally and in local areas. Government officials estimated Tuesday that the deadly pathogen could kill between 100,000 and 240,000 Americans.
As officials debate when they might begin to reopen the shuttered sectors of the country, it is unclear how the White House is tallying the potential benefits and costs — in dollar figures and human lives — of competing timetables for action.
Asked by Fox News on Sunday about the economic impact and whether the United States was in recession, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin declined to say. “Are we going to have reduced economic activity this quarter? Absolutely,” he said. “I think next quarter, a lot depends on how quickly the curve of the medical situation works.”
The director of the National Economic Council, Larry Kudlow, told ABC News on Sunday that “it could be four weeks, it could be eight weeks” before economic activity resumes. “I say that hopefully,” he said, “and I say that prayerfully.”
Outside economists have been pumping out analyses on the optimal length of a shutdown almost daily. One that has been shared with officials inside the White House comes from Anna Scherbina, an author of the 2019 study who is now an economist at Brandeis University and the American Enterprise Institute.
It seeks to determine the optimal length of a national suppression of economic activity, which Ms. Scherbina does not define precisely in the paper. In an interview, she said it would encompass school closures, shutting down many businesses and the sort of stay-at-home orders that many, but not all, states have imposed.
“What it entails is something as drastic as you can get,” Ms. Scherbina said. In the United States right now, she added, “we don’t have it everywhere.”
Ms. Scherbina’s paper evaluates the trade-offs involved in slowing the economy to fight the spread of the virus by, as the paper puts it, “balancing its incremental benefits against the enormous costs the suppression policy imposes on the U.S. economy.”
In a best-case scenario, Ms. Scherbina concludes, a national suppression of economic activity to flatten the infection curve must last at least seven weeks. In a worst case, where the shutdown proves less effective at slowing the rate of new infections, it would be economically optimal to keep the economy shuttered for nearly eight months.
Suppression efforts inflict considerable damage on the economy, reducing activity by about $36 billion per week, the study estimates. Ms. Scherbina said the optimal durations would remain largely unchanged even if the weekly damage was twice that high.
But the efforts would save nearly two million lives when compared with a scenario in which the government did nothing to suppress the economy and the spread of the virus, Ms. Scherbina estimates, because doing nothing would impose a $13 trillion cost to the economy — equal to about two-thirds of the amount of economic activity that the United States was projected to generate this year before the virus struck.
Ms. Scherbina based her estimates on the models she built when she was a senior economist at the Council of Economic Advisers and the lead author of the September paper, “Mitigating the Impact of Pandemic Influenza Through Vaccine Innovation,” which warned of potentially catastrophic death tolls and economic damage from a pandemic flu in the United States.
“I accumulated all this knowledge, and then coronavirus came up,” Ms. Scherbina said in a telephone interview. “So I thought, I should put it to use.”
The 2019 White House study called for new federal efforts to speed up the time it takes to develop and deploy new vaccines. It did not specifically predict the emergence of the coronavirus — instead, it modeled what would happen if the United States was hit with a pandemic influenza akin to the 1918 Spanish flu or the so-called swine flu of 2009. It projected deaths and economic losses depending on how contagious and deadly the virus turned out to be.
At even the highest rates it modeled, the pandemic flu in the exercise was still less contagious and less deadly than epidemiologists now say the coronavirus could be in the United States. The White House study estimated that a pandemic flu could kill up to half a million Americans and inflict as much as $3.8 trillion in damage on the economy. Those estimates did not account for any economic loss incurred by “healthy people avoiding work out of fear they will be infected by co-workers.”
The study’s top-end damage estimate would have been even larger than $3.8 trillion, Ms. Scherbina said, but the final version of the paper was changed inside the Council of Economic Advisers to discount the economic value assigned to the lives of older Americans. It assigned a value of $12.3 million per life for Americans between the ages of 18 and 49, compared with $5.3 million for those 65 and over.
Council officials said on Tuesday that Mr. Philipson was not available for an interview. He gave no indication this year that the study and its predictions had influenced administration officials in their early response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Mr. Philipson, whose academic specialty is health economics, was the acting head of the council when the September report was published. He told reporters in late February that the administration was taking a “wait and see” approach before it began any analysis of possible damage to the economy from the virus.
“If you look at the resilience of the economy to a public health threat,” he said, “certainly we have much bigger threats than the coronavirus.” He went on to recite the number of deaths each year from a typical flu strain.
The study published the previous fall had warned against such a comparison. “People may conflate the high expected costs of pandemic flu with the far more common, lower-cost seasonal flu,” the study said. “It is not surprising that people might underappreciate the economic and health risks posed by pandemic flu and not invest in ways to reduce these risks.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/white-house-economists-warned-in-2019-a-pandemic-could-devastate-america/ar-BB11YWHC
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"Without accountability, an attempted autogolpe or insurrection is just practice."
"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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Worst economic downturn in American history, catastrophically botched COVID-19 pandemic response with over 160,000 senseless American deaths. TWENTY straight weeks of over ONE MILLION new unemployment claims. Deaths projected to double by the end of year due to most corrupt, incompetent, racist, and ignorant President in U.S. history. A treasonous President that compromised himself with Russia, who refuses to hold the U.S. principle foreign adversary accountable for its attacks on America, who won't even speak out against Russian bounties on U.S. soldiers. Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy: "Toxic Trump is doing a helluva job!" Rabid right-wing cult media is DESTROYING America!
What's really confusing America is Newsmax, Faux News, and all the other rabid right-wing media outlets propagating and spreading disinformation. Without the supporting cast of willing supplicant proto-fascist right-wing media exploiting and profiting from them, the lies and distortions of Toxic Trump and Republicans would hold very little power, and could not persist.
Anyone really all that surprised that the CEO of Newsmax, Chris Ruddy, is a dishonest partisan hack with no character or integrity whatsoever? If so, that's only because you've never seen Newsmax.
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
― Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
Trump and Republicans are like Jack and his band of boys in 'Lord of the Flies.' Ralph, Simon, Piggy and the other group of boys represent the rest of us. Just as Jack and his band turned savage, killing and cannibalizing their fellow students on the deserted island they landed upon, Trump and Republicans have also turned savage, rejecting responsibility, reason, civility, morality, and science, killing their fellow Americans and cannibalizing our government. Except there will be no adults arriving to save those of us trying to do the right thing, like in the classic tale. It is strictly up to us to save ourselves and this country from the fascistic, nihilistic impulses of Trump and Republicans.
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It's like rowing or paddling upstream, or into a stiff wind--if you ease-up too much or stop, you will only have to paddle twice as hard to make up all the previous hard-earned progress that was quickly lost. Failing to maintain isolation and other measures for sufficient time to stop the spread of COVID-19 transmission will cost U.S. more in time, effort, money, and LIVES. Reopening and relaxing measures too early in defiance of the science and data is the ultimate in colossal ignorance, greed, ruthlessness, and arrogance.
We have a segment of Republican cult willfully ignorant, who malevolently seek to sabotage containment efforts. But many do not grasp how important it is that we treat ourselves and everyone else as being infected.
This is because people know that is very unlikely, especially outside dense urban areas, where incidence rates are low. Because of the delay in onset of the disease and asymptomatic carriers, COVID-19 is a stealth killer that uses Americans against each other as its foot soldiers, transporting it, keeping the disease and its train of transmission alive. This is further complicated because people cannot see a virus, see it attacking, see it spreading, until it is too late. For many of us, seeing is believing, and people are incapable or reluctant to make that leap of logic required to keep them and everyone safe--even with the massive public education efforts.
Of course, the problem becomes greatly exacerbated when the President refuses to wear a mask, and his administration works against itself in fighting this deadly global pandemic, sending conflicting messages to the public. Toxic Trump, his administration, and all the Republicans who have aided and abetted him, are directly responsible in our view for the senseless deaths of tens and thousands of Americans. The dead are the worst of it, but there is also the tremendous needless suffering and economic loss accompanying their wanton criminal negligence.
No national testing, no rational national coordinated pandemic response. Republican governors reopening too quickly in defiance of CDC guidelines are only following the President's lead. Democratic governors in many states likewise being adversely pressured by Toxic Trump's pandemic disinformation and Republican opposition to requisite lockdowns. Problem starts at the top. Don't fault even the worst Republican governors as much as this President. The President needed to take the lead, take the hit for the hard decisions--not put all the weight on governors as he as.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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@francispeter8169 ~ Republican cult always triggered by this comment, because it lays the truth bare. It isn't necessarily that their indoctrination prevents them from seeing the truth; it's that their indoctrination teaches them to vigorously reject any truth that is inconvenient or not favorable to them. So they typically resort to their routine dishonesties of logical fallacies like ad hominem, projectionism, Whataboutism, etc., etc. to deflect, divert, digress, disinform, and deny. Because propaganda is all they know, propaganda is all they got.
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U.S. hospitals brace for ‘tremendous strain’ from new virus
Mar 13, 2020
U.S. hospitals are setting up circus-like triage tents, calling doctors out of retirement, guarding their supplies of face masks and making plans to cancel elective surgery as they brace for an expected onslaught of coronavirus patients.
Depending on how bad the crisis gets, the sick could find themselves waiting on stretchers in emergency room hallways for hospital beds to open up, or could be required to share rooms with others infected. Some doctors fear hospitals could become so overwhelmed that they could be forced to ration medical care.
“This is going to be a fairly tremendous strain on our health system,” warned Dr. William Jaquis, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians.
The United States is still facing an active flu season, and many hospitals are already running at capacity caring for those patients. The new virus will only add to that burden, said Dr. Bruce Ribner an infectious-disease specialist at Emory University’s medical school.
Government health authorities are taking emergency steps to waive certain laws and regulations to help hospitals deal with the crisis. Hospitals, too, are getting ready.
To keep suspected coronavirus patients from mingling with others in the ER, the Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, Maine, set up a tent in the parking lot where people with respiratory symptoms are diverted for testing. Lexington Medical Center in West Columbia, South Carolina, did the same outside its emergency room.
In Seattle, hit by the nation’s biggest cluster of coronavirus deaths, most of them at a suburban nursing home, UW Medicine set up drive-thru testing in a hospital parking garage and has screened hundreds of staff members, faculty and trainees, with nurses reaching through car windows and using swabs to collect specimens from people’s nostrils . Drive-thru testing is expected to be offered to patients as soon as Monday.
This week, the American Hospital Association, American Medical Association and American Nurses Association asked for a presidential emergency declaration that would allow doctors and nurses to work across state lines and would waive certain rules to free up hospital beds. Similar declarations were issued during Hurricane Katrina and the swine flu outbreak.
On Friday, President Donald Trump responded by issuing an emergency declaration and said he was giving the U.S. health secretary authority to waive federal regulations and laws to give doctors and hospitals “flexibility” in treating patients.
Trump also announced a government partnership with major businesses to set up drive-thru testing centers and a website to help people who think they might have the virus. Those testing locations could include parking lots at Walmart, Target, Walgreens and other major chains.
The American Medical Association praised the action. In a statement, Dr. Patrice Harris, AMA’s president, said the emergency declaration is needed to help ensure that the U.S. health care system “has sufficient resources to properly respond to the ongoing outbreak, prevent further spread of illness and keep our communities safe.”
How bad U.S. hospitals will be hit is unclear, in part because mistakes on the part of the government in ramping up widespread testing for the virus have left public health officials uncertain as to how many people are infected.
Officially, the number of cases in the U.S. was put at around 1,300 Friday, with at least 41 deaths. But by some estimates, at least 14,000 people might be infected.
Experts fear that when the problems with testing are resolved, a flood of patients will hit the nation’s emergency rooms. But large-scale testing will also give health authorities a clearer picture of the outbreak, enabling them to allocate resources where they are needed.
“What’s most important now is that we get the testing done,” said Richard Pollack, president of the American Hospital Association.
In hard-hit Italy, doctors have been forced to make agonizing decisions about which critically ill patients receive care. Doctors fear that could happen in the United States, too.
“Studies predict that a moderate outbreak could result in 200,000 patients needing intensive care,” said Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency medicine specialist at George Washington University. “The U.S. only has 100,000 intensive care beds, and most are already occupied. If tens of thousands become sick at once, people will simply not receive the care that they need.”
That would affect not only coronavirus patients but also trauma victims and people suffering heart attacks or strokes, Wen said.
In Wuhan, China, where the outbreak originated in late December, patients died because they couldn’t access care. “We are at risk of that happening in the U.S., too,” Wen said.
Seattle-area scientists are working to estimate how soon infections will overwhelm hospital beds there. Under the worst-case scenario, the number of active infections will exceed the number of beds by a large margin in the next two weeks, the Institute for Disease Modeling in Bellevue, Washington, said in a report this week.
For most people, the virus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. Most people recover from the virus in a matter of weeks, as has happened in mainland China.
Reacting to reports of dwindling supplies of respirator masks, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted relaxed recommendations this week for protective gear and said looser-fitting surgical masks are OK for doctors and nurses to wear when treating patients who may be sick from the coronavirus.
In another change, the CDC said coronavirus patients can be cared for in single-patient rooms with the door closed and do not need to be placed in specialized airborne-infection isolation rooms.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/u-s-hospitals-brace-for-tremendous-strain-from-new-virus
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"As many as 70,000 Americans could be confirmed as infected with coronavirus by the end of next week, marking a “pretty dramatic” increase in the number of confirmed cases," the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, told his employees in an agency-wide conference call on 03/20/20.
Except 03/21/20 saw a 33% jump in U.S. cases, from 18,000 to over 24,000. If continuing at 33% every 24 hours, the number of confirmed cases is trending much higher than just 70,000 by 03/27/20. Suspect confirmed cases will be double that. Bear in mind, states hardest hit are not testing many people, saving the tests for those most in need. So the actual number of infected Americans is going to be far higher than just what limited testing of the population has so far confirmed. Don't think this fact is being given enough attention. More important than the number of cases confirmed is the number contracting the disease and not getting tested, spreading the disease, in many cases unknowingly. Hospital projections are for about 100 MILLION Americans to become infected, with about 500,000 dead from covid-19.
(Update 5: Friday, 03/27/20, confirmed U.S. cases 105,000--which is 50% over NIH high-end estimate; deaths 1,700 by end of day. The perspective for cases is significantly skewed low and thus highly misleading, however, as just 0.17% of U.S. population has been tested to date.)
03/29/20 -- 143,000 confirmed cases; 2,450 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
03/30/20 -- 165,000 confirmed cases; 3,250 deaths.
03/31/20 -- 190,000 confirmed cases; 4,200 deaths.
04/01/20 -- 217,000 confirmed cases; 5,150 deaths.
04/02/20 -- 246,000 confirmed cases; 6,050 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/03/20 -- 278,000 confirmed cases; 7,150 deaths.
04/04/20 -- 312,000 confirmed cases; 9,400 deaths.
04/05/20 -- 338,000 confirmed cases; 9,700 deaths.
04/06/20 -- 369,000 confirmed cases; 11,000 deaths.
04/07/20 -- 400,000 confirmed cases; 13,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. Figures indicate a Covid-19 fatality rate for TESTED Americans at 3.25%.
04/08/20 -- 432,000 confirmed cases; 15,900 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S.
04/09/20 -- 466,000 confirmed cases; 16,700 deaths.
04/10/20 -- 502,000 confirmed cases; 18,800 deaths.
04/11/20 -- 530,000 confirmed cases; 20,500 deaths.
04/12/20 -- 558,000 confirmed cases; 22,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S. With just 4.25% of the world's population, the U.S. has 30% of the COVID-19 infections and 20% of the COVID-19 deaths. So far, the U.S. has the very WORST response of ANY nation, something formerly inconceivable, and inexcusable that it could now be allowed to happen here. In the U.S., we have 1.5 million seniors in 15,000 nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Despite forming only 0.45% of the U.S. population, they make up almost 10% of deaths, primarily because our federal government is not doing enough to protect them. Reported that many hospitals are no longer accepting COVID-19 patients from nursing homes, preferring they die there, instead. Our seniors, who helped build, grow and make America great, are being sacrificed, solely to ignorance.
04/13/20 -- 583,000 confirmed cases; 24,200 deaths
04/14/20 -- 609,000 confirmed cases; 26,600 deaths (+2,364* - New worst daily death toll)
04/15/20 -- 640,000 confirmed cases; 30,800 deaths (4,200*) The United States recorded its first coronavirus fatality on Feb. 29. It took 38 days to reach 10,000 deaths and just nine more days to go from 10,000 fatalities to 30,000. An increase in fatalities over the last 48 hours was expected, but was also due to new CDC policy, starting on 04/14, to include probable COVID-19 deaths...finally.
04/16/20 -- 671,000 confirmed cases; 33,100 deaths. Less COVID-19 testing performed this week than last, despite desperate need to ramp up volume to reopen economy.
04/17/20 -- 702,000 confirmed cases; 37,000 deaths.
04/18/20 -- 735,000 confirmed cases; 39,900 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/19/20 -- (Incomplete) 760,000 confirmed cases; 40,700 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/19/20 -- 760,000 confirmed cases; 40,700 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
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@brittanylynch1358 ~ According to witnesses, it was another armed militia man who put out the dumpster fire. Witnesses did recount Rittenhouse carrying a fire extinguisher at another point, but he was walking down the sidewalk with it, passing by trash barrels on fire, not using it.
Rittenhouse was breaking the law by being there after curfew and by being a minor carrying a loaded assault rifle. A bank robber doesn't get to claim self defense if he shoots and kills a security guard trying to stop him, and I view this as little different. No need to "spin it."
When you say things like, "you lost," you're only demonstrating that you're a troll pervert with the puerile mind of a ten-year-old. What did I supposedly lose? You see, I would rather be proven wrong than shown right. Why? Because I want to know the truth, and I wouldn't want to inform or advocate something to others that is wrong. It's not about me personally winning or losing some debate; I could care less. It will be our society that wins or loses. So, if you have some valid arguments or points to present that would persuade me, I'm open-minded and willing to listen to them, consider them.
For me, this isn't about the Second Amendment, BLM, or politics. It's about common sense. I don't think Rittenhouse was necessarily a bad kid, but I do think he was insecure and immature, and consequently made some very poor judgments that proved costly.
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@diegocruz9080 - With Russian bots and their Republican cult clown helpers, it's always hyperbole to stoke fear.
You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It's that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don't care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another five months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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It's so selfish when people don't want to senselessly die or see others senselessly die. 835,000 American fatalities from Covid-19 not enough for you? The vast majority of teachers care deeply about the children they teach, they care that the children don't bring Covid-19 home to family and relatives who could be vulnerable. Should we wait until schools close down anyway because cases explode in schools because of the highly contagious Omicron variant, taking out children, teachers and school staff, while likely spreading Covid-19 further and faster, so that it can sicken, injure and kill more people, especially vulnerable people in the homes children come from?
We have an imperfect situation that requires imperfect solutions. Most of us understand that. We're all very concerned about children, want them to attend in-person schooling. Am especially concerned about minority children, who suffer the most. In Milwaukee 1,040 children and staff were out with Covid in just the last week. And only 8% of eligible school children 5-11 in the district are vaccinated. People want kids in school, then mandate that all children attending school be vaccinated fully for Covid-19, just as is already done for other contagious diseases. We got schools in Republican controlled states that don't even require masking in schools, which is just utterly insane. Consider that we will likely be through this Omicron wave in a couple of months, and children can once again go back to in-person learning. And what we should be considering is having summer classes offered for all school children, allowing them to regain ground in their studies.
Besides, you're blaming and bashing on teachers when in many cases it is school boards and administrators making the call to go to remote learning. Teachers, administrators, and school boards are like the canary in the coal mine; they see how Covid-19 is affecting and impacting their schools first. They shouldn't be faulted for doing what they think is best for everyone -- including the children.
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@FelixPfaltermann ~ You're being intellectually dishonest, Doc! Chicago is not the only place going to remote learning, and you're trying to use that to justify your blanket condemnation, which is factually wrong. You're just bashing on teachers with your spurious smears. And you're also ignoring most of the points and arguments presented.
There are no Omicron studies to support your position in what is a very fluid situation during this pandemic. But we can look to other nations suffering major Omicron outbreaks:
In Germany, where schools in some states have already closed, cases among the under 15s are running almost twice as high as the national average. The U.K. is seeing a similar trend, as are European Union countries including Austria and Ireland.
UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid said there's no certainty the government will be able to keep classrooms in England open.
In France, there were so many class closures last month that the government backtracked on a rule that classes would shut for a week as soon as one student was found to be positive, instead requiring the entire class to get tested. The rate of children under nine years old testing positive skyrocketed to 634 per 100,000 by Dec. 6, up from fewer than 100 in early November.
"Children are the biggest contamination pool at the moment," Karine Lacombe, who heads the infectious-disease department at Saint Antoine hospital in Paris, said on RTL radio Tuesday.
Denmark's government closed all primary schools on Tuesday, as much as a week ahead of schedule. That's also happened in the Netherlands and parts of Switzerland.
One reason for the spread within schools is the fact that young children are among the last group in the population to get vaccinated. Shots for 5-to-11-year-olds are in the early stages of rollout in Europe, and drugmakers are still conducting trials on preschool children and babies.
While children haven't directly suffered as much from Covid-19, often contracting the virus asymptomatically or mildly, they've not been completely spared.
A small number have developed multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children, or MIS-C, a sometimes deadly pediatric condition associated with Covid. A much larger number have long Covid -- symptoms such as fatigue and brain fog that persist long after the infection.
But beyond the immediate fallout, children are another means of transmission to vulnerable adults and grandparents. The arrival of winter has meant more time spent indoors in classrooms with closed windows.
Countries are now trying to address the vaccination gap. But if omicron takes hold, and authorities see schools as a key route for transmission, reopenings may be delayed.
*
And you're lying. So far, 823 children have died from Covid-19 in the U.S., some from Omicron. Far more have gotten sick, many seriously. Moreover, because Omicron is so much more contagious, it has the potential to cause more children to be severely ill, suffer long-term effects, or die, despite its lesser virulence in most cases. Most cases are not all cases. Children are NOT totally immune to severe disease and death from Covid-19, and there is still a significant amount of the Delta variant present in the U.S. Aside from that, the fact is that this administration has been promoting therapeutics, both publicly and through government efforts.
You seem to have the mistaken idea I'm a teacher. I'm not. But I am willing to be objective about this, unlike you. I see both sides of the issue, you only see one. Your way or the highway. But it's not case closed, and your proclamation can't make it so. We all wish we were done with Covid-19, but Covid-19 isn't done with us yet. We will continue to need to adapt as the situation unfolds and conditions change. The ability of humans to adapt to changing conditions is one of our greatest strengths, and we should be embracing that. And that should be done by doing whatever we can to keep everyone safe. 835,000 dead Americans is already far too many, don't you think? Or is it that you just don't care?
Let's make vaccinations mandatory for EVERYONE eligible, get ALL the kids able vaccinated so schools don't have to go to remote learning, have everyone wearing masks indoors, save as many American lives as possible, and get through this by working together. Problem is, we have a large number of people who don't want to work together, the vast majority of them Republicans, who want to row in the opposite direction, away from common sense and reason. That is where your ire should be directed -- not at teachers.
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@FelixPfaltermann ~ Still being intellectually dishonest, Doc! Still evading the points and arguments. Still lying. Somebody dies in a car accident that has Covid-19, the cause of death is listed as from the injuries they suffered directly responsible, not Coivd-19. I don't know where you got that crackpot conspiracy theory idea from, but it clearly wasn't from any reputable source.
I do consider and give great weight to the harm done to children from school closures, but you don't consider and are not giving any weight to how children act as disease vectors, or how many children are not yet vaccinated. Responsible people protect children with car seats and drive carefully when children are in the car, and your analogy is critically flawed in other respects as well. Besides, if you actually cared about children, you would not be trying to diminish the loss of those 823 who died from Covid-19, and you would not be ignoring all those who get severely ill and hospitalized and/or suffer long-term debilitating effects from Covid-19.
I look at the whole picture, while you cherry-pick only the facts that fit the narrative you wish to believe. I realize that schools are only trying to do what is best for the children and everyone, that these aren't easy decisions, accept that there are valid arguments to be made for and against school closures, while you just want to vilify teachers. Unfortunately, it appears your partisan bias prevents you from being objective about this.
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Dr. "Babbling" Birx is laying bricks, lying and dissembling! Says she trusts churches and churchgoers to make it safe, not go to church if sick--knowing asymptomatic people don't know they're sick, and can't be detected! Then, there's the fact that many religious people gather at religious shrines and places of worship hoping to be "healed" when sick. Moreover, she knows "Pastor" Tony Spelling in Louisiana was packing his megachurch during the middle of a severe outbreak, busing them in from a 50-mile radius; she knows all about the devastating spread in South Korea from religious services, she knows about the super-spreader event at the church in Oregon defying state lockdown orders. Dr. Birx KNOWS how Toxic Trump has ignorantly politicized a global pandemic, sent conflicting messages to the public. Dr. Birx KNOWS a good proportion of Americans are NOT following basic CDC guidelines; NOT wearing masks, NOT social distancing. And she knows without detailed specific CDC federal guidelines, we got chaos, sickness, and MORE senseless deaths. Birx needs to have her medical license revoked. She can be the next SmellyAnne Con-Her-Way, that's what she wants.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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President Nero stoked racial animosities, igniting the embers, keeps feeding the flames. Lynching, murder of innocent civilians by law enforcement, followed by protests, riots, civil unrest, people hurt, property damaged--those were all inevitable with an arsonist in the Oval, even if his gross criminal negligence with COVID-19 wasn't presently so starkly highlighting the social and economic divides in this nation. You didn't see this train wreck burning, it's only because you refused to look.
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@julesmasseffectmusic --Is America finally ready to concede that our antiquated, undemocratic electoral college serves no purpose, harms the nation, and urgently needs to be abolished?
These rotten GOP clowns know the score, they're just big hypocrites indoctrinated by the cult! Just imagine the apocalyptical cult reaction if Trump lost, but won the popular vote by the largest margin ever, like Hillary! Most Democrats would do away with the electoral college because it's the right thing to do, regardless of benefit or harm to them politically. Republicans generally lack that integrity.
The other thing here is Toxic Traitor Trump cheated to win even the electoral college--Total Loser IS an illegitimate President, forever toting an asterisk! Kind of nullifies the whole idiotic Republican rat argument, while making any debate over the point pointless, anyhow!
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@franksmith7419 -- Trumpettes riding that river in Egypt, denial, like a super chump, paddling furiously upstream--but the turds are getting flushed out to sea, unable to withstand or overcome the riptide of truth, progress, and enlightenment!! Trumpettes keep paddling that dinghy called denial! But they're losing headway, need to pick up the pace a bit! More lies and propaganda, more slimy deceit, more cheap, phony theatrics and sleazy stunts from the Trumpettes! Faster! Faster! More! More! Must continue to keep digging that hole bigger and deeper for the GOP coffin!
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@Mike-nl8pm -- Confronted with a conundrum contrary or conflicting, the Republican cult instinct for self-preservation induces a cease of circulation to the cranium, causing confusion, chaos, crisis, corruption, and criminality! Cult for cult, con for con, convolution after convolution, cockamamie concocted crackpot conspiracy after cockamamie concocted crackpot conspiracy, cover-up after cover-up, the GOP is alone, in a league all its own!
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Gonzo Kaporal --Trumpettes riding that river in Egypt, denial, like a super chump, paddling furiously upstream--but the turds are getting flushed out to sea, unable to withstand or overcome the riptide of truth, progress, and enlightenment!! Trumpettes keep paddling that dinghy called denial! But they're losing headway, need to pick up the pace a bit! More lies and propaganda, more slimy deceit, more cheap, phony theatrics and sleazy stunts from the Trumpettes! Faster! Faster! More! More! Must continue to keep digging that hole bigger and deeper for the GOP coffin!
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@Mike-nl8pm Apology graciously accepted, Doc! Respect is earned when wrongness is admitted and sincerely regretted. Differing viewpoints, conservative or otherwise, are appreciated and respected. Those who would deny obvious truths purely out of partisan tribalistic cult insanity are held in contempt. Sometimes the truth is just the truth, and the truth has always brought GOOD Americans together! That's what Bugs tries to do! Hamburger is hamburger, not some Republican cult Orwellian alternate universe, if you smell where we're stepping...let's not wreck a good thing we got going here!
Value greatly our two-party system, but it needs to be a LOYAL opposition, and the GOP is failing miserably in that regard, in ignoring the rule of law, Constitution, and country to protect this lawless joke of a President. Republicans need to admit their mistake and move on, earning them back some measure of respect again. And that's just the plain, unvarnished truth, Doc! Giving it to you as straight as can be!
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or "the Wall") is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle's name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called "leaders" in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 -- than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to--and a barrier against--our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It's design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge--and help teach--people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see...if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that generation.
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You don't get denialism without nihilism. As life-long conservative Bill Kristol astutely pointed our just recently in a tweet, the Republican party has embraced nihilism. Republicans still labeling COVID-19 a "hoax;" Republicans still refusing to wear masks or social distance after over half-a-million American fatalities from COVID-19; Congressional Republicans obstructing a COVID-19 stimulus bill certain to pass just to delay vital and urgently needed relief to Americans desperate for help; not one Congressional Republican in either chamber voting for the badly needed stimulus bill; Republican governors dropping mask mandates and all restrictions on businesses, heedless of rising case counts in their states and deadly new variants of the virus; and Republican leaders continuing to push the Big Lie that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen without evidence and in disregard of plentiful evidence and facts to the contrary, even AFTER their Big Lie incited a terrorist attack by a mindless Republican mob against the nation's Capitol in insurrection against the government, attempting to overturn a legitimate election, sieging, storming, sizing, sacking, defiling, defacing and disgracing America's citadel of, and temple to, democracy--these are all prime examples of nihilism.
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We got Big Brag Daddy Baghdad Bob broadcasting direct from Washington, D.C. daily, with Toxic Trump and a revolving cast of his sycophantic minions! Happy talk, disinformation, empty promises, idle threats, vicious smears, bogus pandemic models, dog whistles, continuous crackpot conspiracies--they got it all, and more!
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Trump excluded the Afghan government from his surrender negotiations with the Taliban, legitimizing the Taliban by making a separate peace deal with them and delegitimizing the government we worked so long and hard at so much cost to build and support, while releasing 5,000 Taliban prisoners which included the worst of the worst and allowed them to return to fight against Afghan and U.S. forces, while agreeing to withdraw all U.S. forces by May 1, 2021, guaranteeing failure. Previously, in 2018, Trump had Pakistan release the current leader of the Taliban, who had been their top military leader. Moreover, Trump eviscerated the refugee program for Afghan and Iraqi allies visa programs, creating a huge backlog over four years. A federal judge even ruled Trump's delaying of those visas illegal. Furthermore, Trump abandoned are Kurdish allies in Syria and Iraq. Trump and Pompeo could hardly have screwed up our foreign policy any worse, and the damage they did will take decades to repair. But the Republican cult morons are too stupid to know and too stupid to care; they'll just deny and try to shift blame, as usual.
Liz Cheney's right----it didn't have to happen this way: her father, Dick Cheney, and George Bush were responsible for the deterioration of affairs in Afghanistan by diverting troops and resources to conduct an illegal invasion of Iraq on the false premise of WMD and Iraq harboring terrorists. The situation in Afghanistan never recovered from that fatal mistake by Cheney and Bush; it allowed the Taliban to regroup and come back bigger and stronger than ever. Cheney and Bush's illegal war in Iraq also resulted in the emergence of ISIS.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Republicans are willing to gain and hold power at any cost...even if the price is our democracy!
Farmer wakes up one morning, goes outside to milk his cows, and discovers his entire herd is missing! So, he then walks over nest door to where the Republican cult lives, notices them grinding a whole bunch of beef into hamburger, and asks them, "Did you see what happened to all my cows?"
Republican cult: "Yeah, they jumped over the moon."
Farmer: "Do you have any actual evidence of that?"
Republican cult: "No, because they landed on the dark side, and you can't see them over there. But we're conducting a bunch of investigations and fraudits, and we're confident evidence will soon emerge to prove it!"
Farmer: "You know, that sounds like a load of manure!"
Republican cult: "Well, that's what we all choose to believe!"
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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Caught a bit of 'The View' on TV today, and the subject under discussion was Republican gaslighting and history revisionism of January 6. All of the panelists condemned what Congressional Republicans were engaging in, with Joy Behar saying that she and many people she knew were scared for our democracy and country by what the Republicans were doing----except for one, Meghan McCain. She started by saying that she was against Trump's Big Lie and the insurrection, but she did not condemn Congressional Republicans for their deceitful and dangerous behavior gaslighting the January 6 insurrection, perpetuating the Big Lie, and removing Rep. Cheney from her leadership role for telling the truth. Instead, McCain resorted to House Leader McCarthy's right-wing talking point that "we don't need to relitigate this, we need to look forward," trying to sweep Republican insurrection and domestic terrorism under the rug. Then, McCain proceeded to dishonestly engage in Whataboutism, trying to change the subject by attacking Biden and blaming the media for focusing on Republicans instead of Biden's supposed faults, like the cyberattack against the gas pipeline (which was already back online by then), which she claimed was scaring people.
WTF? How is January 6 being relitigated when most of the perpetrators are still at large, only several hundred apprehended charged, with all of those either awaiting trial or a plea bargain? How is it being relitigated when January 6 is still being investigated by authorities, with no commission yet established by Congress to investigate? How are we supposed to look forward when Republican leadership is trying to gaslight and revise history with January 6, won't publicly denounce the Big Lie, causing most Republican voters to still look back at the last election, refusing to accept Biden's win, the combination creating a severe domestic terrorism threat against the U.S.? McCain of all people should know better and taken Rep. Cheney's position, yet she is a perfect example of what is wrong with Republicans, who continue placing party before country.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
Democrats, Independents, others: WTF?!?
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Seems only fair that the least Toxic Trump could do, after slaughtering over 91,000 Americans already with his "greatest ever" ignorance, is to give the U.S. government his resort properties, to be quickly converted by the Army Corp of Engineers into public hospitals, medical facilities, and morgues. Too bad that's never going to happen--Turd Trump refuses to even sign order for FEMA to help fellow Americans out with OUR taxpayer money to bury their loved ones whom he killed, like they do in every other national emergency, despite repeated pleas to him, appealing for some shred of humanity, respect, and dignity be given for our dead.
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Extremely Stable Genius (TM) looking now to extort China to fabricate dirt on his political opponent, blissfully heedless how he's strung himself up by the balls for them, while they hold the prospects for his reelection and any trade deal--along with American's economy and security--in the palm of their gleeful, grateful hands, resting on the tightening winch he's using to elevate himself. He'll need to raise himself through the roof to pull off another election miracle, but the aperture appears a just a tad too narrow, sure to subject his scaly, sagging scrotum to tremendous, excruciating pressure. Look out below, then, because Toxic Traitor Trump's tiny tote won't tolerate the treatment, and it WILL be ugly, witnessing a novel form of castration!
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Meet the new ugly face of white supremacy in America! Funny--it looks just like the old ugly face. Except this time they got their Imperial Wizard installed as Chief Jester of the Supreme Court, where he magically declared racism somehow no longer a problem in America, paving the way for thousands of new Jim Crow laws and egregious gerrymandering suppressing and disenfranchising millions of American voters. Of course, harsh realities will continue to exist irrespective of any blind eye or pretentious, capricious edicts by some Supreme Court. And Roberts' conservative SCOTUS decisions only confirm how the white supremacist problem and its perpetual "fix" on the American judicial branch and justice system has never gone away, as America continues to struggle with overcoming a racist history of colonialism, slavery, and discrimination.
"...we must recognize that one of the two political parties is routinely engaged in sabotaging free elections with voter-suppression efforts aimed at the minority voters it cannot win over at the ballot box. These anti-democratic power grabs became a GOP staple decades before Donald Trump, culminating in the actions of a George W. Bush–anointed chief justice, John Roberts, whose Supreme Court shredded the Voting Rights Act of 1965. As Roberts famously put it in his 2007 opinion for the plurality, “The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.” Since then, discrimination on the basis of race has only expanded in states like Georgia and Florida, where Black voting rights have been cavalierly undermined and trashed."
~ Frank Rich, November 9, 2020 (Written even before the rash of new Jim Crow laws being proposed and passed by Republicans in many states.)
Chief Justice Roberts and his fellow conservative SCOTUS justices: the architects of a new era of Jim Crow in America.
Need to expand SCOTUS to 15 justices, do away with the filibuster, pass a new Civil Rights Act, and let Biden appoint six new justices to bring sanity and justice back to the Supreme Court.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth and justice--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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Wasn't expecting it, but Biden actually gave the best speech of the whole affair--against some really stiff competition! Next best, IMHO, Michelle, Barack, Jill, and Kamala (pre-convention). Also, surprisingly, felt this was the best Democratic Convention to date, despite (or, maybe even partly because of) being virtual. If one didn't feel the buzz and energy--check their pulse!
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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To protect our health care and front-line workers, it is critical to protect ourselves and others! Protecting those most vulnerable groups among us--like the elderly, homeless, prisoners, minorities, and migrants--is one of the best ways of protecting ourselves! It's a win-win situation, folks--even without a global pandemic, but now especially! Conversely, it is actually Trump and the GOP's fear-mongering, stigmatization, bigotry, xenophobia, racism, cruelty and lack of compassion which endangers Americans. Ignorance kills.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance.
In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump left office, one out of every 800 Americans had died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 410,000 fatalities, as many American casualties as all of WWII. It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law?
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
― Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a serious threat to our very security.
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again." ― Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney
More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They have essentially become a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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@marcuswardle3180 ~ Have responded before to that bot-poster spreading disinformation about vaccines, who copy-and-pastes the same reply in multiple COVID-19 news videos. Here is that response containing the facts:
~ What's up with the anti-vaxxer nonsense, "Lighttodark?" Pandemrix was just one of three 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccines, one never used in the U.S. It was only used for one season. Your 2014 newspaper article (as opposed to a peer-reviewed medical study) notably does NOT source a number of its claims. Moreover, actual medical studies indicate an association between Pandemrix and narcolepsy is unlikely and dubious at best:
In 2014, CDC published a study on the association between 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccines, 2010/2011 seasonal influenza vaccines, and narcolepsy. The study found that vaccination was not associated with an increased risk for narcolepsy.
In 2018, a study team including CDC scientists analyzed and published vaccine safety data on adjuvanted pH1N1 vaccines (arenaprix-AS03, Focetria-MF59, and Pandemrix-AS03) from 10 global study sites. Researchers did not detect any associations between the vaccines and narcolepsy. Pandemrix is manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline in Europe and was specifically produced for pandemic 2009 H1N1 influenza. It was not used before 2009, and has not been used since the influenza pandemic season (2009-2010).
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Toxic Trump: "I'm the BEST, just absolutely CRUSHING the competition, with over TWO POINT THREE MILLION coronavirus cases and over 120--one-hundred and twenty!!!--THOUSAND deaths! They ALL got eighty-sixed, 'cause nobody else even comes close! With a third of the world's cases and a quarter of deaths--can you even imagine how truly great, how awesome, that achievement is, with only just FOUR PERCENT of the world's population to work with? Believe it or not, I accomplished in only FIVE WEEKS what it took the Vietnam War a whole TWELVE YEARS to do! PLUS, we're not even counting ALL the COVID-19 cases and deaths here in the U.S.! Those other weaklings and losers don't stand a chance, because we're going to keep right on winning--as long as I'm in charge! Now, vacation's over; time to get back to work on increasing those numbers, people! Let's keep America great, get rid of all the excess baggage! As wartime President, I am commanding all CIVILIANS to senselessly sacrifice their lives for my arrogance, stupidity, vanity, malevolence, and greed!"
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Actual quotes about George Floyd protestors from Toxic Trump's rambling phone call with governors 05/31/20:
"And you can't do the deal where they get one week in jail--these are terrorists. These are terrorists! And, they're looking to do bad things to our country!"
"And, so, we will activate Bill Barr, and we will activate him very strongly!"
"You have to dominate! If you don't dominate, you're wasting your time! If you don't dominate, they're going to run over you, and they're going to dominate, you're going to look like a bunch of jerks! You have to dominate! You have to arrest people, and you have to try people! Now, they have to go to jail for long periods of time!"
"Those kids on camera, they're all wise guys. It's coming from the radical left--you know it, everybody knows it!"
"You have every one of these guys on the take, now, why, why aren't you prosecuting them?"
"We found out about it! It's a movement! It's a movement, and if you don't put them down, it gets worse and worse!"
"This is like Occupy Wall Street! It was a disaster! Until one day, someone said, "That's enough," and they just went in and wiped them out. And, that's the last time I heard of Occupy Wall Street! And, then, after that, everything was beautiful! But, these are the same people; these are radicals, these are anarchists!"
"I'm representing everybody--radical left, radical right--I'm representing everybody!"
"Washington D.C. was in very good control. But, we're going to have it under much more control. We're going to pour in thousands of more people! But, we're going to clamp down very, very strong! You have to arrest people, you have to try people, you have to jail them for ten years!"
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05/21/20 -- (Incomplete) 1,618,000+ confirmed cases; 96,200+ deaths.
05/20/20 -- 1,593,000 confirmed cases; 94,900 deaths.
05/19/20 -- 1,571,000 confirmed cases; 93,500 deaths.
05/18/20 -- 1,550,000 confirmed cases; 92,000 deaths.
05/17/20 -- 1,528,000 confirmed cases; 91,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/16/20 -- 1,497,000 confirmed cases; 89,400 deaths.
05/15/20 -- 1,473,000 confirmed cases; 88,200 deaths.
05/14/20 -- 1,448,000 confirmed cases; 86,500 deaths.
05/13/20 -- 1,421,000 confirmed cases; 84,800 deaths.
05/12/20 -- 1,400,000 confirmed cases; 83,000 deaths.
05/11/20 -- 1,379,000 confirmed cases; 81,500 deaths.
05/10/20 -- 1,364,000 confirmed cases; 80,600 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/09/20 -- 1,344,000 confirmed cases; 79,700 deaths.
05/08/20 -- 1,318,000 confirmed cases; 78,200 deaths.
05/07/20 -- 1,289,000 confirmed cases; 76,500 deaths.
05/06/20 -- 1,260,000 confirmed cases; 74,500 deaths.
05/05/20 -- 1,233,000 confirmed cases; 72,000 deaths.
05/04/20 -- 1,208,000 confirmed cases; 69,600 deaths. CDC projects cases increasing to 200,000 per day with deaths rising to 3,000 per day by June because of states, localities and people not following guidelines and reopening their economies too soon.
05/03/20 -- 1,184,000 confirmed cases; 68,300 deaths. Every 44 seconds, another American dies from COVID-19. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/02/20 -- 1,158,000 confirmed cases; 67,000 deaths.
05/01/20 -- 1,129,000 confirmed cases; 65,500 deaths.
04/30/20 -- 1,094,000 confirmed cases; 63,600 deaths. The U.S. accounts for over a third of the world's cases, and over a quarter of COVID-19 deaths--despite possessing only 5% of the world's population. Yet--even now--we still lack the adequate testing capabilities that are critically needed to safely reopen the economy, and remain sorely lacking the necessary rational national leadership so vital to saving American lives and livelihoods.
04/29/20 -- 1,064,000 confirmed cases; 61,500 deaths. The U.S. now has as many COVID-19 deaths in just NINE WEEKS as there was for all TWELVE YEARS of the Vietnam War.
04/28/20 -- 1,034,000 confirmed cases; 59,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/27/20 -- 1,009,000 confirmed cases; 56,500 deaths.
04/26/20 -- 985,000 confirmed cases; 55,400 deaths.
04/25/20 -- 958,000 confirmed cases; 54,000 deaths.
04/24/20 -- 927,000 confirmed cases; 52,400 deaths.
04/23/20 -- 890,000 confirmed cases; 50,400 deaths.
04/22/20 -- 853,000 confirmed cases; 47,800 deaths (+2,674*)
04/21/20 -- 825,000 confirmed cases; 45,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/20/20 -- 788,000 confirmed cases; 43,200 deaths.
04/19/20 -- 760,000 confirmed cases; 41,700 deaths.
04/18/20 -- 735,000 confirmed cases; 39,900 deaths.
04/17/20 -- 702,000 confirmed cases; 37,000 deaths.
04/16/20 -- 671,000 confirmed cases; 33,100 deaths. Less COVID-19 testing performed this week than last, despite desperate need to ramp up volume to reopen economy.
04/15/20 -- 640,000 confirmed cases; 30,800 deaths. The United States recorded its first coronavirus fatality on Feb. 29. It took 38 days to reach 10,000 deaths and just nine more days to go from 10,000 fatalities to 30,000. An increase in fatalities over the last 48 hours was expected, but was also due to new CDC policy, starting on 04/14, to include probable COVID-19 deaths...finally.
04/14/20 -- 609,000 confirmed cases; 26,600 deaths (+2,364 - *New worst daily death toll)
04/13/20 -- 583,000 confirmed cases; 24,200 deaths
04/12/20 -- 558,000 confirmed cases; 22,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S. With just 4.25% of the world's population, the U.S. has 30% of the COVID-19 infections and 20% of the COVID-19 deaths. So far, the U.S. has the very WORST response of ANY nation, something formerly inconceivable, and inexcusable that it could now be allowed to happen here. In the U.S., we have 1.5 million seniors in 15,000 nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Despite forming only 0.45% of the U.S. population, they make up almost 10% of deaths, primarily because our federal government is not doing enough to protect them. Reported that many hospitals are no longer accepting COVID-19 patients from nursing homes, preferring they die there, instead. Our seniors, who helped build, grow and make America great, are being sacrificed, solely to ignorance.
04/11/20 -- 530,000 confirmed cases; 20,500 deaths.
04/10/20 -- 502,000 confirmed cases; 18,800 deaths.
04/09/20 -- 466,000 confirmed cases; 16,700 deaths.
04/08/20 -- 432,000 confirmed cases; 15,900 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S.
04/07/20 -- 400,000 confirmed cases; 13,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. Figures indicate a Covid-19 fatality rate for TESTED Americans at 3.25%.
04/06/20 -- 369,000 confirmed cases; 11,000 deaths.
04/05/20 -- 338,000 confirmed cases; 9,700 deaths.
04/04/20 -- 312,000 confirmed cases; 9,400 deaths.
04/03/20 -- 278,000 confirmed cases; 7,150 deaths.
04/02/20 -- 246,000 confirmed cases; 6,050 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/01/20 -- 217,000 confirmed cases; 5,150 deaths.
03/31/20 -- 190,000 confirmed cases; 4,200 deaths.
03/30/20 -- 165,000 confirmed cases; 3,250 deaths.
03/29/20 -- 143,000 confirmed cases; 2,450 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
(Update 5: Friday, 03/27/20, confirmed U.S. cases 105,000--which is 50% over NIH high-end estimate; deaths 1,700 by end of day. The perspective for cases is significantly skewed low and thus highly misleading, however, as just 0.17% of U.S. population has been tested to date.)
"As many as 70,000 Americans could be confirmed as infected with coronavirus by the end of next week, marking a “pretty dramatic” increase in the number of confirmed cases," the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, told his employees in an agency-wide conference call on 03/20/20.
Except 03/21/20 saw a 33% jump in U.S. cases, from 18,000 to over 24,000. If continuing at 33% every 24 hours, the number of confirmed cases is trending much higher than just 70,000 by 03/27/20. Suspect confirmed cases will be double that. Bear in mind, states hardest hit are not testing many people, saving the tests for those most in need. So the actual number of infected Americans is going to be far higher than just what limited testing of the population has so far confirmed. Don't think this fact is being given enough attention. More important than the number of cases confirmed is the number contracting the disease and not getting tested, spreading the disease, in many cases unknowingly. Hospital projections are for about 100 MILLION Americans to become infected, with about 500,000 dead from covid-19.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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Worst economic downturn in American history, catastrophically botched COVID-19 pandemic response with over 160,000 senseless American deaths. TWENTY straight weeks of over ONE MILLION new unemployment claims. Deaths projected to double by the end of year due to most corrupt, incompetent, racist, and ignorant President in U.S. history. A treasonous President that compromised himself with Russia, who refuses to hold the U.S. principle foreign adversary accountable for its attacks on America, who won't even speak out against Russian bounties on U.S. soldiers. Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy: "Toxic Trump is doing a helluva job!" Rabid right-wing cult media is DESTROYING America!
What's really confusing America is Newsmax, Faux News, and all the other rabid right-wing media outlets propagating and spreading disinformation. Without the supporting cast of willing supplicant proto-fascist right-wing media exploiting and profiting from them, the lies and distortions of Toxic Trump and Republicans would hold very little power, and could not persist.
Anyone really all that surprised that the CEO of Newsmax, Chris Ruddy, is a dishonest partisan hack with no character or integrity whatsoever? If so, that's only because you've never seen Newsmax.
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We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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@kilgoringtroutless6295 ~GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
"The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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@oki7716 ~Well, careful you not let yourself get TOO sanctimonious. How's that multi-party system been working out for Israel? As well as the detrimental effect it has has in any number of situations with a number of European democracies? Our two-party system has worked better than most multi-party systems for over two hundred years, up until Republican cultdom and Toxic Trump, when one party abandoned the principle of LOYAL opposition. There are pros and cons to both systems--neither are perfect.
We actually do have multiple parties in the U.S., as well as Independents, although they tend to caucus with one of the major parties. Just to point out; if enough support existed among the U.S. electorate for a multi-party melee, then voters here would have chosen that route. That's democracy, like it or not, for good or bad. You're not against democracy, we take it.
All that said, not necessarily opposed to a more robust multi-party system in the U.S. or elsewhere. Would suggest a little more humbleness and objectivity on your part, as it too easy to be biased in favor of one's own national model, blinding oneself to its own inherent flaws.
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@oki7716 ~Forgot to mention before, but the U.S. has also long been considered a social democracy, although Republicans are loath to admit that. We had Teddy Roosevelt fighting for the people back in the early 1900's, and his nephew Franklin Roosevelt ushering in the New Deal before many European nations caught up with those progressive ideals.
As to your most recent reply, Democrats are not the hyper-partisan morons the Republican CULT has become. When the Nazis were coming to power, would it have been wrong for another party in Germany to have not reacted strongly to reject it? Sometimes, the evil is clear, and must be fought. As many objective American political commentators (from both sides) have observed, the Republican Party has devolved into creeping proto-fascist authoritarianism.
In case you weren't aware, we do have a fairly large number of swing voters in this nation, who routinely alternate between the two parties or other candidates. Moreover, if not aware of the BLM movement here, we have minorities and many people who have long fought for social and racial justice and equality, which is clearly supported by one party, and clearly rejected by the other. Plus you notably fail to mention any reason whatsoever why one shouldn't support Democrats. It appears you have fallen victim to some stereotypes of the American political system.
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@oki7716 ~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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@44excalibur ~All the Russian bots say that, Doc! Deny, deny, deny! What do we care? Besides, latest U.S. counterintelligence report just released the other day confirms Russian ongoing election interference. Moreover, real Republican cult Trumpette morons don't go to MSM to get informed...they might learn things they don't want to know!
Romney was the only Congressional Republican to vote for Trump impeachment. Romney wouldn't approve of your lies, distortions, and denigrations here. Romney is not representative anymore of the GOP, which has been consumed by a fascist cult. Romney should have done the honorable thing like Amash, but is too weak, too comfortable with being a plutocrat. If you were any kind of honorable Republican, you would be a former Republican, siding with Democrats to remove the evil of fascist Republican cultism. Instead, you defend, obscure, and deny the worst of it.
Quite obviously, you're not here to have any kind of constructive discussion; you're only here to heckle, confuse things, spread disinformation, and puke out Putin's propaganda piss, so as to divide and weaken America, kill Americans! Ipso facto, jumbo dumbo! #moreRussiasanctions
PS--Probably shouldn't give this away, but all you Russian bots got tells. We already gave you some of them, anyway, though. We'll keep secret the rest, let you try to figure it out...if you can.
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Trump excluded the Afghan government from peace negotiations with the Taliban, legitimizing the Taliban by making a separate peace deal with them and delegitimizing the government we worked so long and hard at so much cost to build and support, while releasing 5,000 Taliban prisoners and agreeing to withdraw all U.S. forces by May 1, 2021, guaranteeing failure. Moreover, Trump eviscerated the refugee program for Afghan and Iraqi allies visa programs, creating a huge backlog over several years. A federal judge even ruled Trump's delaying of those visas illegal. Furthermore, Trump abandoned are Kurdish allies in Syria and Iraq. Trump and Pompeo could hardly have screwed up our foreign policy any worse, and the damage they did will take decades to repair. But the Republican cult morons are too stupid to know and too stupid to care; they'll just deny and try to shift blame, as usual.
Liz Cheney's right----it didn't have to happen this way: her father, Dick Cheney, and George Bush were responsible for the deterioration of affairs in Afghanistan by diverting troops and resources to conduct an illegal invasion of Iraq on the false premise of WMD and Iraq harboring terrorists. The situation in Afghanistan never recovered from that fatal mistake by Cheney and Bush; it allowed the Taliban to regroup and come back bigger and stronger than ever. Cheney and Bush's illegal war in Iraq also resulted in the emergence of ISIS.
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Watched the hearing, saw this happen in real time. Was very gratifying to see Rep. Connelly striking back in righteous indignation! BTC breakdown here succinct, astute, and accurate, as expected. Republicans are simply projecting, and obfuscating, and deceiving, in typical fashion; it is Trump and the GOP whom are politicizing a national emergency health crisis. They care more about their political prospects than they do the lives of their fellow Americans--Republican, Democrat, or other. Will that change as Republicans--pols and voters--watch their loved ones die from this pandemic, when they are finally forced to confront their monumental ignorance and evil head-on? When they can't escape facing the destruction caused by such a pandemic? You really have to wonder.
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Farmer wakes up one morning, goes outside to milk his cows, and discovers his entire herd is missing! So, he then walks over nest door to where the Republican cult lives, notices them grinding a whole bunch of beef into hamburger, and asks them, "Did you see what happened to all my cows?"
Republican cult: "Yeah, they jumped over the moon."
Farmer: "Do you have any actual evidence of that?"
Republican cult: "No, because they landed on the dark side, and you can't see them over there. But we're conducting a bunch of investigations and fraudits, and we're confident evidence will soon emerge to prove it!"
Farmer: "You know, that sounds like a load of manure!"
Republican cult: "Well, that's what we all choose to believe!"
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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Got two American dead and more Americans dying from COVID-19, and who knows how many infected because this administration can't get its act together, still can't provide the requisite testing kits to keep the American people safe, still spreading extremely dangerous disinformation, dismissing a very real threat to public health as a "hoax."
But all that's important to Trump and his ilk are getting laughs with vituperative, vindictive partisan demagoguery at their annual gala of gluttony CPAC conference--sticking it to the other side to assuage insecurities, so these losers can claim to be "winning." Pathetic, sickening, shocking, enraging, and highly alarming. BTW, the Presidency shouldn't be a stand-up comedian routine. We got a bad joke played upon us, instead of a real President. Big trouble is, Republicans just don't have what it takes to admit their mistakes--prefer to be yellow weasels bringing the whole nation down.
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GOP and Trump administration: Where the hard reality of COV19 pierces the Republican cult bubble world of delusional fantasies, denialism, deceit, supreme ignorance, utter incompetence, and Orwellian governance, exposing them all as charlatans and frauds. Much as needed, we're hoping that doesn't happen; that America escapes the ravages of this disease, and we don't suffer thousands of American citizens dying, with many more becoming critically ill. Tragically, that doesn't seem very likely, and the Trump administration hardly inspires confidence, with all indications to date CONTRARY that they can capably handle such a catastrophe occurring here.
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Federal government not protecting its workers exposed to public from coronavirus
These federal workers were exposed to the coronavirus while serving the public. Now they’re quarantined.
By Kimberly Kindy
March 14, 2020 at 5:00 a.m. CDT
When Alexander Spain, a supervisor with the Transportation Security Administration, was told Tuesday to self-quarantine and not report to work at San Jose International Airport, he was not surprised.
A screener he supervises, who checks IDs and boarding passes, had been sick for weeks and then tested positive for the coronavirus. Spain, 58, was told to remain at home but said he was given no instructions for how to self-quarantine. So Spain said he “went out to grab food twice. I stopped at a Chinese food restaurant and got some quick bites from 7-Eleven.”
On Thursday, the day he was scheduled to return to work, Spain called his supervisors in the morning, asking how to get tested for the virus. “They acted like I was speaking French,” he said in an interview.
Spain’s experience mirrors what federal workers across the country who deal with the public are sayingabout the lack of direction, protocols and protective gear they need from their agencies. They fear these failures may cause them to become ill and spread the virus not only in the United States but across the globe.
The federal government has hundreds of thousands of workers who come in daily contact with the public — workplace inspectors, mail carriers, hospital workers, park rangers, passport processors, Social Security representatives, museum workers.
Workers and union representatives from six different agencies — including the Social Security Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — said in interviews, emails and text messages with The Washington Post that Spain’s experience is not unique. They or their co-workers also have been exposed to the virus and say their supervisors are not giving proper guidance or support.
The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 700,000 federal employees, has criticized the Trump administration.
“Agencies are not communicating with their workforces with enough information or to a degree that will allow them to protect themselves or the public in a timely manner to contain the spread of this virus,” union president Everett Kelley said recently during testimony before Congress.
The Trump administration has not publicly addressed the unions’ concerns. The White House’s coronavirus task force did not respond to requests for comment.
The federal government is not keeping a tally of the number of workers who have tested positive for the virus, nor does it have an estimate of how many federal workers have been exposed to the coronavirus, like Spain, the TSA supervisor. At least three other TSA screeners in the San Jose airport have AD tested positive for the virus.
Spain’s quarantine was short because the infected security screener’s last day at work — when Spain would have been last exposed — was two weeks ago. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends a self-quarantine of 14 days in such circumstances. Spain, who did not have symptoms as of Friday, said he will not return to work until he gets tested, something the Navy veteran is now seeking through the Department of Veterans Affairs. TSA representatives did not respond to requests for comment.
Wash hands, wear mask
Other workers are complaining about being exposed to the virus at work and finding out about it from colleagues, not their managers.
Jason Phillips, a technician who performs X-rays and CT scans at a Veterans Affairs hospital in Portland, Ore., filed a whistleblower complaint with the Office of Special Counsel on Thursday after he worked with a patient who later tested positive for the coronavirus.
Phillips said he helped the patient on and off a gurney and also helped him on and off of a CT scanner table. Phillips was wearing gloves, but no mask, and was with the patient for about 15 minutes, the sort of exposure that health officials say places people at heightened risk of infection.
“I learned he had coronavirus through a text message from a worker, not a supervisor, so I was panicking,” Phillips said in an interview, adding that he alerted his supervisors the next day. “They told me to come to work like normal. Wash my hands, wear a mask.”
Instead, Phillips, 47, contacted the Washington State Department of Health and the CDC, which told him to self-quarantine.
By then, Phillips had exposed his wife, their four children and his father-in-law. They are all now secluded in their home in Washougal, Wash. Phillips said he filed the whistleblower complaint because he was not notified by supervisors of the sick patient, but also because he said his supervisor tried to coach him to change his story about not wearing a mask and about the length of time he was exposed to the patient.
Daniel Herrigstad, a spokesman for the VA Portland Health Care System, said in a statement: “These are serious allegations and the department will look into them right away.”
Social Security Administration workers in Casa Grande, Ariz., wonder if they have been infected with the coronavirus.
On Monday, a colleague who returned from a cruise over the weekend reported to work “hacking and coughing” but remained on the job throughout the workday, said Ralph Dejuliis, national president for the union that represents SSA workers.'
On Tuesday, the worker called in sick. Coronavirus was suspected. Panic spread.
Information about the worker’s health, and what the rest of the office staff should do in response, has not been shared with the sick workers’ colleagues, Dejuliis said.
On any given workday, about 200 people come through that field office — one of about 160 across the country — with most of them particularly vulnerable to the virus. They are often seeking benefits because they are either elderly, disabled or both.
Nicole Tiggemann, a spokeswoman for the Social Security Administration, declined to comment on the ill employee but said in a statement: “We are implementing additional steps to protect our employees who may be most vulnerable to COVID-19” through expanded telework, social distancing and other measures.
Dejuliis said guidance has been vague. Workers are told to not report to work if they are sick, but the SSA did not outline which symptoms should be of concern until Friday. “We’ve been asking the administration for information about what is going on in that office — it’s been nothing but crickets,” Dejuliis said.
Short on hand sanitizer
TSA workers have similar complaints. A notice to TSA employees, obtained by The Washington Post, directs workers to stay home if they are ill.
However, the memo does not say what symptoms should prompt a worker to stay home. The notice also directed workers to wash their hands with warm soap and water if hand sanitizer and alcohol wipes are not available — something screeners can’t do without leaving their work station.
“They are running out of hand sanitizer and alcohol wipes at some of the larger airports,” said Hydrick Thomas, president of the union representing TSA workers. “They don’t have the right sized gloves at others. They are too big for some people and they are rolling off of their hands. It’s unacceptable.” The TSA did not respond to calls and emails seeking comment.
Some federal workers said that in the absence of clear safety protocols, they are proposing their own to their supervisors, but those requests are often ignored or have been rejected, they said.
In addition to the 160 Social Security field offices, the Social Security Administration has another 163 offices with hearing rooms, where sick and disabled people appeared before administrative law judges who rule on their requests for federal benefits.
Judge Melissa McIntosh, who works in Tampa and is also union president for the judges, said people are showing up in hearing offices and courtrooms across the country with respiratory problems and fevers. In a Feb. 27 email, McIntosh asked SSA officials to give judges the authority to ask those who show up with these symptoms to consider doing the hearing over the telephone. A week later, an associate commissioner rejected her request, saying only SSA management can make such a suggestion, according to an email obtained by The Post. SSA officials did not provide further comment.
“They show up sick because it can take months to get a hearing. Sometimes [they are] in the waiting room with other people for hours,” McIntosh said in an interview. “We would simply like the ability to give them the option so they don’t get other people sick, including us. It is stunning SSA refuses to respond to its judges and simply implement our common-sense suggestions.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/these-federal-workers-deal-with-the-public-theyve-been-exposed-to-the-coronavirus/2020/03/14/096a4400-647f-11ea-845d-e35b0234b136_story.html
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We got Big Brag Daddy Baghdad Bob broadcasting direct from Washington, D.C. daily, with Toxic Trump and a revolving cast of his sycophantic minions! Happy talk, disinformation, empty promises, idle threats, vicious smears, bogus pandemic models, dog whistles, continuous crackpot conspiracies--they got it all, and more!
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The Case Against Donald Trump
The president of the United States poses a threat to our collective existence. The choice voters face is spectacularly obvious.
OCTOBER 22, 2020 — Jeffrey Goldberg, on behalf of the editors of The Atlantic
In 1973, a United States Air Force officer, Major Harold Hering, asked a question that the Air Force did not want asked. Hering, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, was then in training to become a Minuteman-missile crewman. The question he asked one of his instructors was this: “How can I know that an order I receive to launch my missiles came from a sane president?”
The writer Ron Rosenbaum would later call this the “forbidden question.” Missile officers are allowed to ask certain sorts of questions—about the various fail-safe systems built to prevent the accidental launching of nuclear weapons, for instance. But the Air Force would not answer Hering’s question, and it moved to discharge him after determining that officers responsible for launching nuclear weapons did not “need to know” the answer. “I have to say I feel I do have a need to know because I am a human being,” Hering said in response.
Hering’s question was taboo because the national defense strategy of the United States is built on the unstated assumption that the American people will not allow a lunatic to become president. If that assumption is wrong, then no procedural, legal, or technological mechanisms exist that are able to fully protect the human race from such a lunatic. Hering discovered a catastrophic flaw in U.S. nuclear doctrine, and for this he was driven from the Air Force.
In most matters related to the governance and defense of the United States, the president is constrained by competing branches of government and by an intricate web of laws and customs. Only in one crucial area does the president resemble, in the words of the former missile officer and scholar Bruce Blair, an absolute monarch—his control of nuclear weapons. Richard Nixon, who was president when Major Hering asked his question, was reported to have told members of Congress at a White House dinner party, “I could leave this room and in 25 minutes, 70 million people would be dead.” This was an alarming but accurate statement.
When contemplating their ballots, Americans should ask which candidate in a presidential contest is better equipped to guide the United States through a national-security crisis without triggering a nuclear exchange, and which candidate is better equipped to interpret—within five or seven minutes—the ambiguous, complicated, and contradictory signals that could suggest an imminent nuclear attack. These are certainly not questions that large numbers of voters asked themselves in 2016, when a transparently unqualified candidate for president won the support of 63 million Americans.
At the time, Donald Trump had not yet served in public office, so concerns about his ability to protect the United States from harm were hypothetical, though grounded in his long and terrible record as a human being. As The Atlantic stated in its October 2016 endorsement of his opponent, Hillary Clinton, Trump “traffics in conspiracy theories and racist invective; he is appallingly sexist; he is erratic, secretive, and xenophobic; he expresses admiration for authoritarian rulers, and evinces authoritarian tendencies himself … He is an enemy of fact-based discourse; he is ignorant of, and indifferent to, the Constitution; he appears not to read.”
What we have learned since we published that editorial is that we understated our case. Donald Trump is the worst president this country has seen since Andrew Johnson, or perhaps James Buchanan, or perhaps ever. Trump has brought our country low; he has divided our people; he has pitted race against race; he has corrupted our democracy; he has shown contempt for American ideals; he has made cruelty a sacrament; he has provided comfort to propagators of hate; he has abandoned America’s allies; he has aligned himself with dictators; he has encouraged terrorism and mob violence; he has undermined the agencies and departments of government; he has despoiled the environment; he has opposed free speech; he has lied frenetically and evangelized for conspiracism; he has stolen children from their parents; he has made himself an advocate of a hostile foreign power; and he has failed to protect America from a ravaging virus. Trump is not responsible for all of the 220,000 COVID-19-related deaths in America. But through his avarice and ignorance and negligence and titanic incompetence, he has allowed tens of thousands of Americans to suffer and die, many alone, all needlessly. With each passing day, his presidency reaps more death.
But let us lay all of this aside for the moment. Let us even lay aside the extraordinary fact that Donald Trump has been credibly accused of rape. Compelling evidence suggests that his countless sins and defects are rooted in mental instability, pathological narcissism, and profound moral and cognitive impairment. Which returns us to the subject of Major Hering.
Trump’s opponent, Joe Biden, is in many ways a typically imperfect candidate, but if we judge these men on two questions alone—Who is a more trustworthy steward of America’s nuclear arsenal? Which man poses less of a threat to our collective existence?—the answer is spectacularly obvious.
The Atlantic has endorsed only three candidates in its 163-year history: Abraham Lincoln, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Hillary Clinton. The latter two endorsements had more to do with the qualities of Barry Goldwater and Donald Trump than with those of Johnson and Clinton. The same holds true in the case of Joe Biden. Biden is a man of experience, maturity, and obvious humanity, but had the Republican Party put forward a credible candidate for president, we would have felt no compulsion to state a preference. Donald Trump, however, is a clear and continuing danger to the United States, and it does not seem likely that our country would be able to emerge whole from four more years of his misrule. Two men are running for president. One is a terrible man; the other is a decent man. Vote for the decent man.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/10/atlantics-endorsement-against-donald-trump/616815/
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Worst economic downturn in American history, catastrophically botched COVID-19 pandemic response with over 160,000 senseless American deaths. TWENTY straight weeks of over ONE MILLION new unemployment claims. Deaths projected to double by the end of year due to most corrupt, incompetent, racist, and ignorant President in U.S. history. A treasonous President that compromised himself with Russia, who refuses to hold the U.S. principle foreign adversary accountable for its attacks on America, who won't even speak out against Russian bounties on U.S. soldiers. Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy: "Toxic Trump is doing a helluva job!" Rabid right-wing cult media is DESTROYING America!
What's really confusing America is Newsmax, Faux News, and all the other rabid right-wing media outlets propagating and spreading disinformation. Without the supporting cast of willing supplicant proto-fascist right-wing media exploiting and profiting from them, the lies and distortions of Toxic Trump and Republicans would hold very little power, and could not persist.
Anyone really all that surprised that the CEO of Newsmax, Chris Ruddy, is a dishonest partisan hack with no character or integrity whatsoever? If so, that's only because you've never seen Newsmax.
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05/18/20 -- (Incomplete) 1,550,000+ confirmed cases; 92,000+ deaths.
05/17/20 -- 1,528,000 confirmed cases; 91,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/16/20 -- 1,497,000 confirmed cases; 89,400 deaths.
05/15/20 -- 1,473,000 confirmed cases; 88,200 deaths.
05/14/20 -- 1,448,000 confirmed cases; 86,500 deaths.
05/13/20 -- 1,421,000 confirmed cases; 84,800 deaths.
05/12/20 -- 1,400,000 confirmed cases; 83,000 deaths.
05/11/20 -- 1,379,000 confirmed cases; 81,500 deaths.
05/10/20 -- 1,364,000 confirmed cases; 80,600 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/09/20 -- 1,344,000 confirmed cases; 79,700 deaths.
05/08/20 -- 1,318,000 confirmed cases; 78,200 deaths.
05/07/20 -- 1,289,000 confirmed cases; 76,500 deaths.
05/06/20 -- 1,260,000 confirmed cases; 74,500 deaths.
05/05/20 -- 1,233,000 confirmed cases; 72,000 deaths.
05/04/20 -- 1,208,000 confirmed cases; 69,600 deaths. CDC projects cases increasing to 200,000 per day with deaths rising to 3,000 per day by June because of states, localities and people not following guidelines and reopening their economies too soon.
05/03/20 -- 1,184,000 confirmed cases; 68,300 deaths. Every 44 seconds, another American dies from COVID-19. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/02/20 -- 1,158,000 confirmed cases; 67,000 deaths.
05/01/20 -- 1,129,000 confirmed cases; 65,500 deaths.
04/30/20 -- 1,094,000 confirmed cases; 63,600 deaths. The U.S. accounts for over a third of the world's cases, and over a quarter of COVID-19 deaths--despite possessing only 5% of the world's population. Yet--even now--we still lack the adequate testing capabilities that are critically needed to safely reopen the economy, and remain sorely lacking the necessary rational national leadership so vital to saving American lives and livelihoods.
04/29/20 -- 1,064,000 confirmed cases; 61,500 deaths. The U.S. now has as many COVID-19 deaths in just NINE WEEKS as there was for all TWELVE YEARS of the Vietnam War.
04/28/20 -- 1,034,000 confirmed cases; 59,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/27/20 -- 1,009,000 confirmed cases; 56,500 deaths.
04/26/20 -- 985,000 confirmed cases; 55,400 deaths.
04/25/20 -- 958,000 confirmed cases; 54,000 deaths.
04/24/20 -- 927,000 confirmed cases; 52,400 deaths.
04/23/20 -- 890,000 confirmed cases; 50,400 deaths.
04/22/20 -- 853,000 confirmed cases; 47,800 deaths (+2,674*)
04/21/20 -- 825,000 confirmed cases; 45,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/20/20 -- 788,000 confirmed cases; 43,200 deaths.
04/19/20 -- 760,000 confirmed cases; 41,700 deaths.
04/18/20 -- 735,000 confirmed cases; 39,900 deaths.
04/17/20 -- 702,000 confirmed cases; 37,000 deaths.
04/16/20 -- 671,000 confirmed cases; 33,100 deaths. Less COVID-19 testing performed this week than last, despite desperate need to ramp up volume to reopen economy.
04/15/20 -- 640,000 confirmed cases; 30,800 deaths. The United States recorded its first coronavirus fatality on Feb. 29. It took 38 days to reach 10,000 deaths and just nine more days to go from 10,000 fatalities to 30,000. An increase in fatalities over the last 48 hours was expected, but was also due to new CDC policy, starting on 04/14, to include probable COVID-19 deaths...finally.
04/14/20 -- 609,000 confirmed cases; 26,600 deaths (+2,364 - *New worst daily death toll)
04/13/20 -- 583,000 confirmed cases; 24,200 deaths
04/12/20 -- 558,000 confirmed cases; 22,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S. With just 4.25% of the world's population, the U.S. has 30% of the COVID-19 infections and 20% of the COVID-19 deaths. So far, the U.S. has the very WORST response of ANY nation, something formerly inconceivable, and inexcusable that it could now be allowed to happen here. In the U.S., we have 1.5 million seniors in 15,000 nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Despite forming only 0.45% of the U.S. population, they make up almost 10% of deaths, primarily because our federal government is not doing enough to protect them. Reported that many hospitals are no longer accepting COVID-19 patients from nursing homes, preferring they die there, instead. Our seniors, who helped build, grow and make America great, are being sacrificed, solely to ignorance.
04/11/20 -- 530,000 confirmed cases; 20,500 deaths.
04/10/20 -- 502,000 confirmed cases; 18,800 deaths.
04/09/20 -- 466,000 confirmed cases; 16,700 deaths.
04/08/20 -- 432,000 confirmed cases; 15,900 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S.
04/07/20 -- 400,000 confirmed cases; 13,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. Figures indicate a Covid-19 fatality rate for TESTED Americans at 3.25%.
04/06/20 -- 369,000 confirmed cases; 11,000 deaths.
04/05/20 -- 338,000 confirmed cases; 9,700 deaths.
04/04/20 -- 312,000 confirmed cases; 9,400 deaths.
04/03/20 -- 278,000 confirmed cases; 7,150 deaths.
04/02/20 -- 246,000 confirmed cases; 6,050 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/01/20 -- 217,000 confirmed cases; 5,150 deaths.
03/31/20 -- 190,000 confirmed cases; 4,200 deaths.
03/30/20 -- 165,000 confirmed cases; 3,250 deaths.
03/29/20 -- 143,000 confirmed cases; 2,450 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
(Update 5: Friday, 03/27/20, confirmed U.S. cases 105,000--which is 50% over NIH high-end estimate; deaths 1,700 by end of day. The perspective for cases is significantly skewed low and thus highly misleading, however, as just 0.17% of U.S. population has been tested to date.)
"As many as 70,000 Americans could be confirmed as infected with coronavirus by the end of next week, marking a “pretty dramatic” increase in the number of confirmed cases," the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, told his employees in an agency-wide conference call on 03/20/20.
Except 03/21/20 saw a 33% jump in U.S. cases, from 18,000 to over 24,000. If continuing at 33% every 24 hours, the number of confirmed cases is trending much higher than just 70,000 by 03/27/20. Suspect confirmed cases will be double that. Bear in mind, states hardest hit are not testing many people, saving the tests for those most in need. So the actual number of infected Americans is going to be far higher than just what limited testing of the population has so far confirmed. Don't think this fact is being given enough attention. More important than the number of cases confirmed is the number contracting the disease and not getting tested, spreading the disease, in many cases unknowingly. Hospital projections are for about 100 MILLION Americans to become infected, with about 500,000 dead from covid-19.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, John Eastman and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed? If Garland doesn't stand up for justice and democracy, this nation is soon doomed.
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
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It's like rowing or paddling upstream, or into a stiff wind--if you ease-up too much or stop, you will only have to paddle twice as hard to make up all the previous hard-earned progress that was quickly lost. Failing to maintain isolation and other measures for sufficient time to stop the spread of COVID-19 transmission will cost U.S. more in time, effort, money, and LIVES. Reopening and relaxing measures too early in defiance of the science and data is the ultimate in colossal ignorance, greed, ruthlessness, and arrogance.
We have a segment of Republican cult willfully ignorant, who malevolently seek to sabotage containment efforts. But many do not grasp how important it is that we treat ourselves and everyone else as being infected.
This is because people know that is very unlikely, especially outside dense urban areas, where incidence rates are low. Because of the delay in onset of the disease and asymptomatic carriers, COVID-19 is a stealth killer that uses Americans against each other as its foot soldiers, transporting it, keeping the disease and its train of transmission alive. This is further complicated because people cannot see a virus, see it attacking, see it spreading, until it is too late. For many of us, seeing is believing, and people are incapable or reluctant to make that leap of logic required to keep them and everyone safe--even with the massive public education efforts.
Of course, the problem becomes greatly exacerbated when the President refuses to wear a mask, and his administration works against itself in fighting this deadly global pandemic, sending conflicting messages to the public. Toxic Trump, his administration, and all the Republicans who have aided and abetted him, are directly responsible in our view for the senseless deaths of tens and thousands of Americans. The dead are the worst of it, but there is also the tremendous needless suffering and economic loss accompanying their wanton criminal negligence.
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Sorry, Cheney, Sasse, Romney...while it is good you and a few other Republican leaders are FINALLY standing up for truth, justice, and the Constitution, it comes too little, too late. Because for too long you were complicit with Toxic Trump's lies, crimes, and malfeasance, thereby enabling, aiding and abetting grievous harm to our institutions and country. You chose to ride the tiger, heedless what harm the tiger caused and that the tiger would soon come to consume you.
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Let's be clear; Congressional Republicans have been pointing a gun at the heart of legitimate self-government for four years, now. The only exception is FORMER Republican Rep. Justin Amash, who was essentially ejected from the GOP--solely for his honesty and integrity. Even Republican Sen. Mitt Romney over his two years in Congress has only made half-steps in rejecting Trump's authoritarianism, corruption, and lawlessness, demonstrating how he, too, cares more about his ambition and raw partisan power than he does his country. And it hasn't been just Congressional Republicans; nearly the entire GOP has been complicit in aiding and abetting what is clearly the most criminal, despotic, rotten, and incompetent President and administration in U.S. history.
Which is why it is felt the only good Republican is a former Republican. The GOP no longer stands for any rational ideology. Instead, it has become a mindless political cult, based upon hate, delusions, denials, and the blind lust for power at any cost.
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@erk409 ~ Not your search assistant, Doc! If you're too lazy or stupid to Google it or check a reference source, that's your own fault. Besides, if you really wanted that information, you would consult a reliable source, and not be asking some anonymous person in a YouTube comment thread. But, you don't really want to know the truth, you just want to believe what you want to believe.
Besides, it was already obvious from your strawman comment that you're only here as a propagandist for the NRA and gun manufacturer's lobby, just regurgitating their same old worn-out talking points, while Wayne Lapierre goes and hides out on his mega-million dollar yacht he grifted off of suckers like you every time there is another mass shooting of innocents.
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Biggest Loser shreds Iran nuclear deal for no good reason, other than blind malice and pure ignorance. Feeling neglected by the Clown-in-Chief, Boo Boo Bolton mounts massive Iran operation to help boss distract the public from the Mueller Report and impending impeachment, while satisfying fetish for bloody wars. But Coward-in-Chief not want war -- cuts into golf time too much -- so whole operation called off, to tremendous relief of nation. To relieve increasing pressure, Cheater-in-Chief takes a dump on Congress, releasing 12-page turd declaring Constitution invalid. Boo Boo Barr and Republicans continue chipping away at foundation, our Constitution, and sacred institutions, simultaneously multitasking undermining both justice and American security. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court remains out to lunch, likely to distance itself from the overripe, corrupt stench permeating the White House.
Just another close call in a terrifying rollercoaster ride, with America passenger to a lunatic, narcissistic, power-drunk driver.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of corruption, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their deal with the Devil.
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Mj light ~ You clearly don't understand the issue. Why should the millions of Republican votes in California, New York, all the other Blue states not count? Why should only the Purple swing states--like mine--get a disproportionate share of Federal dollars, campaign convention dollars, and campaign advertising dollars, to woo the only voters that really matter under our current flawed system? You don't understand how fickle are the winds of political vicissitude, how quickly they can change. You don't understand that abolishment likely couldn't happen until 2028, at the soonest, when the electoral map may well look very different than now, and the popular vote benefit Republicans, the Electoral College disadvantage them. You don't understand that the Senate already wields considerable and sufficient power for the States in our Federal government. You don't understand that it isn't a partisan issue, that both Republicans and Democrats who have studied this support abolishment of the Electoral College. You don't understand how a President that loses the popular vote lacks legitimacy and is weak, which is bad for the nation, bad for everyone. You don't understand that what may benefit me and my State in the moment isn't what's best for the nation going forward. You only know Reich-wing talking points from other people who don't really understand the issue.
You can choose to be ignorant, or you can choose to more informed. That's your choice. But choosing to be willfully ignorant doesn't make you any kind of patriot.
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Doc 'Babbling' Brix: "I'm very scrupulous about washing hands, social distancing, protecting the most vulnerable amongst us. That's why we don't wear masks or social distance amongst ourselves or the President! Which is why so MANY Americans, states, counties, and municipalities are following my excellent example! Which is why we have EXPLODING coronavirus cases and deaths!"
First, it was President Trump's personal valet testing positive for COVID-19; now, it's V.P. Pence's press secretary with COVID-19--who is also the wife of Presidential advisor Stephen Miller! Plus, at least ELEVEN Secret Service agents and several other staff infected. Plus, heads of NAIC, FDA, CDC and VP Pence all exposed, isolating. Been watching those coronavirus "breeding" sessions by the White House with increasing incredulity and alarm, like a terrible train wreck about to happen, speeding towards inevitable doom. Only now, five months after learning of this deadly pandemic, with the White House becoming an epicenter of disease, does the Trump administration FINALLY start taking this crisis seriously, following its own guidelines issued months ago, wearing masks, social distancing, teleconferencing, rigorous testing, and telecommuting for non-essential work and workers.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
Democrats, Independents, others: WTF?!?
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Very kind and extremely moving words for Elijah Cummings, Rep. Norton, spoken so true! As does ring so true that this was the worst time for this nation to lose one of its greatest public servants to ever grace its sacred chambers of Congress, when needed most! It is with deep respect and admiration, and great regret not to have known him personally, that the loss of Elijah Cummings is sorely felt. This nation suffers, already missing his unifying force, compassion, quiet patience and dignity, and honest, eloquent voice for justice. He is succeeded by some very capable Democrats in Congress, the very best and finest group of Democrats as a whole to ever represent and serve their constituents in the history of this nation, IMHO, and I'm extremely proud of all of them. May they keep his flame alive and burning bright for future generations! You will not be forgotten, Elijah!
Suspect the thing that really killed Elijah Cummings is the same thing slowly killing Robert Mueller and those rare few other sane conservatives like him, and all the rest of us fighting against a Republican cult hellbent on betrayal of everything for which America stands, that thing slowly but ever so surely killing America, too.
These are sad times in America, but for some inexplicable reason the passing away of Elijah Cummings strikes particularly hard upon the heart, in a way not thought possible. I am, however, grateful and enriched to have gained greater appreciation of him in these last months of his distinguished and accomplished life.
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It's like rowing or paddling upstream, or into a stiff wind--if you ease-up too much or stop, you will only have to paddle twice as hard to make up all the previous hard-earned progress that was quickly lost. Failing to maintain isolation and other measures for sufficient time to stop the spread of COVID-19 transmission will cost U.S. more in time, effort, money, and LIVES. Reopening and relaxing measures too early in defiance of the science and data is the ultimate in colossal ignorance, greed, ruthlessness, and arrogance.
We have a segment of Republican cult willfully ignorant, who malevolently seek to sabotage containment efforts. But many do not grasp how important it is that we treat ourselves and everyone else as being infected.
This is because people know that is very unlikely, especially outside dense urban areas, where incidence rates are low. Because of the delay in onset of the disease and asymptomatic carriers, COVID-19 is a stealth killer that uses Americans against each other as its foot soldiers, transporting it, keeping the disease and its train of transmission alive. This is further complicated because people cannot see a virus, see it attacking, see it spreading, until it is too late. For many of us, seeing is believing, and people are incapable or reluctant to make that leap of logic required to keep them and everyone safe--even with the massive public education efforts.
Of course, the problem becomes greatly exacerbated when the President refuses to wear a mask, and his administration works against itself in fighting this deadly global pandemic, sending conflicting messages to the public. Toxic Trump, his administration, and all the Republicans who have aided and abetted him, are directly responsible in our view for the senseless deaths of tens and thousands of Americans. The dead are the worst of it, but there is also the tremendous needless suffering and economic loss accompanying their wanton criminal negligence.
No national testing, no rational national coordinated pandemic response. Republican governors reopening too quickly in defiance of CDC guidelines are only following the President's lead. Democratic governors in many states likewise being adversely pressured by Toxic Trump's pandemic disinformation and Republican opposition to requisite lockdowns. Problem starts at the top. Don't fault even the worst Republican governors as much as this President. The President needed to take the lead, take the hit for the hard decisions--not put all the weight on governors as he as.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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"Without accountability, an attempted autogolpe or insurrection is just practice."
"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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Trump is incapable of being reassuring. Or leading. His feeble, phony pretenses at both instead invoke distrust, disgust, alarm, and terror. When we needed a Lincoln, FDR, or JFK, Republicans choked America with a Herbert Hoover. Republican ignorance kills.
U.S. response to covid-19 pandemic should have been forward-thinking like San Francisco's response to Spanish Flu, allowing it to escape the worst ravages of that pandemic. Instead, Toxic Trump and Republicans have bungled it horribly, much like with Philadelphia's horrendous, tragic response back in 1918.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law?
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Instead of insuring adequate testing, contact tracing, surveillance testing, medical equipment, staff, and medical supplies like PPE -- as just as critically, if not more, public adherence to pandemic guidelines like wearing masks and social distancing -- Toxic Trump and Republican leaders pushed strongly for reopening the economy too soon, against CDC guidelines, despite the grave warnings of scientists, experts, and doctors; despite common sense. Most Republican governors took the Putin puppet President's lead, not taking a deadly global pandemic seriously. We need to shutdown, again, and stay that way until we have testing and other capabilities, and we have the current raging spread back under FIRM control. Which means back to isolation for the American public. No sea cruise. No airline flight. No theme park. No barber or beauty salon. No tattoo. No school. Just stay at home. Again. All only because of criminal negligence by Republican leaders and some Americans who just had to be stupid, inconsiderate, and heartless. The whole nation suffers and mourns; the innocents punished alongside the perpetrators of this insanity.
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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Trumpettes riding that river in Egypt, denial, like a super chump, paddling furiously upstream--but the turds are getting flushed out to sea, unable to withstand or overcome the mighty riptide of truth, progress, and enlightenment!! Trumpettes keep paddling that dinghy called denial! But they're losing headway, need to pick up the pace a bit! More lies and propaganda, more slimy deceit, more cheap, phony theatrics and sleazy stunts from the Trumpettes! Faster! Faster! More! More! Must continue to keep digging that hole bigger and deeper for the GOP coffin!
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President Nero stoked racial animosities, igniting the embers, keeps feeding the flames. Lynching, murder of innocent civilians by law enforcement, followed by protests, riots, civil unrest, people hurt, property damaged--those were all inevitable with an arsonist in the Oval, even if his gross criminal negligence with COVID-19 wasn't presently so starkly highlighting the social and economic divides in this nation. You didn't see this train wreck burning, it's only because you refused to look.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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Despite knowing of the emergence of COVID-19 in December, and it threat to world health shortly thereafter, Trump did virtually nothing to prepare for the inevitable coming health crisis of a pandemic. Trump administration has had MONTHS to get its act together, yet public health system and hospital networks are NOT prepared for the kind of outbreaks seen in China, South Korea and Italy. We do NOT have the respirators and ventilators needed for the expected numbers. We do NOT have enough oxygen equipment and medications stockpiled. We do NOT have enough medical personnel to handle the expected numbers. We do NOT have enough medical facilities for those kinds of numbers. We do NOT yet even have the training programs in place to handle this epidemic for either health professionals or the public. There should have been a massive national mobilization by our Federal government started months ago to begin preparation of needed medical equipment, supplies, and drugs. Instead, Trump has peddled delusions and denials of the realities, wasting weeks, which will result in the senseless, unforgivable loss of more American lives due directly to his gross ignorance and incompetence.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, along with Reich-wing demagogues and media, who were complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance, and in spreading disinformation and misinformation. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump left office, one out of every 800 Americans had died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 410,000 fatalities, as many American casualties as all of WWII. To put it into further perspective, throughout Trump's catastrophic mishandling of a deadly global pandemic, the U.S. led the world in cases and deaths, suffering nearly 25% of each, despite having only 4.25% of global population, despite having the advantage of being the richest and most advanced nation in the world.
The memorial would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure. Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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Get big money out of politics, and get corrupt politicians like Manchin and Sinema sucking up to the corporate trough voted out.
• A summer sting operation by Greenpeace had an Exxon Mobil lobbyist reveal that he met with Manchin weekly to try to persuade him to weaken Biden’s climate agenda (and he’s not the only rich guy who gets Manchin regularly on the line). Manchin has received more donations than any other Senator from oil, gas, and coal industry.
• An August piece in Harper’s noted that the West Virginia Democratic Party, which the senator played no small role in gutting, remains entirely under Manchin’s influence and control. It also mentions how Manchin leveraged his influence within the Senate to get plush government appointments for people close to him, including his wife.
• A September report from Type Investigations and the Intercept revealed that Manchin is currently invested in multiple coal companies that are run by his son, and that, even though the elder Manchin’s investments are in a blind trust, he has personally made $4.5 million from them during the time he has spent in the Senate (11 years to date).
• This is likely the Manch’s last term. In this remaining time, he seems to be simply looking out for his sources of wealth, including the ones that come from his son’s coal incinerators. It wouldn’t be the first time a Manchin family member used conflicts of interest to their advantage. Joe’s wife, Gayle, previously served as head of the West Virginia Board of Education and used her position to try to require the state’s schools to purchase EpiPens. EpiPens are manufactured by the Big Pharma juggernaut Mylan, whose former CEO was Heather Bresch—Manchin’s daughter, who stepped down after it was revealed she helped fix the prices of EpiPens in collusion with Pfizer. Family helping family: It’s a highly lucrative graft.
• While Manchin and Sinema worked to delay and reduce the Democrats’ budget bill, they were raising campaign money from wealthy Republican donors, according to a Sludge review of campaign finance data from Code for Democracy. For many of these donors, their contributions to Manchin or Sinema this year have been only their first or second donations to any Democrats in recent election cycles.
• Twenty years ago, when Kyrsten Sinema was a Green Party activist running for the Phoenix City Council, she likened the practice of raising campaign cash to “bribery.” Now that she's a U.S. senator, she no longer seems to have such qualms. So far this year, she's raised nearly $500,000 in donations from the financial and pharmaceutical sector at a time when the Arizona Democrat was using her power in a narrowly divided Senate to force President Joe Biden to scale down his spending agenda. Her actions are closely aligned with the priorities of donors who have much at stake in how Biden's initiatives turn out.
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The Molotov cocktail recipe:
Mix in equal parts of mental illness, willful ignorance, fear, hate, greed, decades of 24/7 Reich-wing disinformation, misinformation, and crackpot conspiracy programming by Republican politicians, plutocrats, media and demagogues, add supplemental divisive Russian propaganda attacking and weakening America, stir well, garnish with COVID-19, and you have the mindless Republican cult descending into fascism, committing terrorism and sedition. Then, grab a stiff drink--you'll need it.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth and justice--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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War against a foreign country only happens when the moneyed classes think they are going to profit from it. ~ George Orwell
"Peace is not a very big thing to ask for, is it?" ~ Fatima Gailani, Afghan activist and negotiator, pleading for continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan
It is when asking the Taliban, who do not seek peace or to bargain in good faith, but total domination once again. U.S. has spent 20 years and over $2 trillion trying to achieve peace in Afghanistan, losing over 4000 American lives (military and civilian contractors), with tens of thousands of Americans wounded there.
"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials … have given Afghans little reason to support their government," Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the commander of U.S. forces in the country, wrote in a 2009 memorandum. "This crisis of confidence, coupled with a distinct lack of economic and educational opportunity, has created fertile ground for the insurgency."
That was 11 years ago, and little has changed since. Thought the invasion of Afghanistan by Bush was a mistake that would lead to a quagmire, and have been proven correct. Still, initially supported efforts to bring peace and stability there, along with basic human and civil-rights, because after invading felt we had an obligation to rebuild. However, while U.S. blunders there have contributed to a failure, Afghans are their own worst enemy, and no one can help them until enough of them are willing to help themselves.
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We got Big Brag Daddy Baghdad Bob broadcasting direct from Washington, D.C. daily, with Toxic Trump and a revolving cast of his sycophantic minions! Happy talk, disinformation, empty promises, idle threats, vicious smears, bogus pandemic models, dog whistles, continuous crackpot conspiracies--they got it all, and more!
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There has never been a graceful exit for the losing side in any war.
Truth is, our hasty withdrawal from Vietnam was even worse if you look at the numbers and the whole picture. Only 7,000 were evacuated from Vietnam during the fall of Saigon, with many more left behind, including two dead American soldiers----the last to die in the Vietnam War----left behind in a hospital and not returned until a year later by the Vietnamese. That evacuation occurred under hostile NVA and Vietcong fire. Since August 14, over 120,000 have already been evacuated from Afghanistan despite the complete capitulation of the Afghan government and Afghan Army, with no hostile fire upon American troops by the Taliban so far. Over 125,000 have been evacuated since the end of July. Moreover, the January 27, 1973 peace agreement signed by the Americans with the North Vietnamese ended all direct U.S. military involvement in Vietnam, and provided sixty days for troop removal. Just as with Afghanistan, all troops were removed. However, it was over two years later, on April 30, 1975, when the fall of Saigon occurred. So, the U.S. had nearly two-and-a-half years to evacuate everyone else before the fall of the South Vietnamese government and armed forces, instead of just the two weeks like in Afghanistan so far.
The other thing in stark contrast between Vietnam and Afghanistan is that no Democrats----including Carter, who was running against Ford for President----tried to use the situation for political gain like Republicans are so desperately and depravedly doing now. That, despite the fact that it was the previous Trump administration which bears the brunt of the blame for the current situation.
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@coda821 ~ You're not making any sense, Doc! So, if 99% of thunderstorms do not have a tornado, and the reporter stands in front of a town wiped out by a tornado and reports that fact, that most thunderstorms don't produce tornadoes, then the media must be lying? You do realize that sensationalism sells, right? You never heard the phrase, "If it bleeds, it leads?" It doesn't matter if the media is left, right, or center. So, yeah, all the media showed video of the fires burning, over and over again. Doesn't mean that they were wrong about most of the protests being peaceful.
Fact is, a study showed that 93% of BLM protests were peaceful. It was probably closer to 99%, because the thousands of peaceful protests like the ones that occurred in my small town never got reported in larger media outlets. We even had police officers marching WITH various peaceful protests around the nation. So, you saw fires burning, and you just ASSUMED that all BLM protests were out-of-control rioters committing arson, looting, and vandalism, then decided that all the MSM was in on some kind of grand conspiracy to lie to you? Really?
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America's enemies don't need to spread disinformation, doubt, discord, and division to weaken America, kill Americans--Republican politicians, Reich-wing demagogues, Faux News, OAN, Newsmax, Breitbart and the rest of the Reich-wing media do that so effectively for them, already. More Americans need to realize that the GOP has abdicated it's duty as loyal opposition, and that its prioritization of party over country diminishes both our government and our national security, endangering ALL Americans, as well as weakening and endangering America itself.
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These Russian and Republican cult propagandists with their sock puppets get paid extra for eliciting responses. They call MSM "fake news" while peddling lies. But if fake news, why do they come to MSM? Know plenty of actual Republicans, live among a whole town full of them, none of them (other than former Republicans) straying outside of their safe and secure delusional Reich-wing media bubble. Obviously, from their ridiculous denials, denigrations, deflections, and deceits these propagandists aren't really here to convince anyone, only to crap in the pool of truth and decency, turn people off, blowing a stench of hot flaming gas out their ass to obfuscate and bully. The more outrageous and ludicrous their trolling, the more responses they hope to generate, so the more $$$$$ they can pocket.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion,. obstruction of justice, and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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You don't get denialism without nihilism. As life-long conservative Bill Kristol astutely pointed our just recently in a tweet, the Republican party has embraced nihilism. Republicans still labeling COVID-19 a "hoax;" Republicans still refusing to wear masks or social distance after over half-a-million American fatalities from COVID-19; Congressional Republicans obstructing a COVID-19 stimulus bill certain to pass just to delay vital and urgently needed relief to Americans desperate for help; not one Congressional Republican in either chamber voting for the badly needed stimulus bill; Republican governors dropping mask mandates and all restrictions on businesses, heedless of rising case counts in their states and deadly new variants of the virus; and Republican leaders continuing to push the Big Lie that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen without evidence and in disregard of plentiful evidence and facts to the contrary, even AFTER their Big Lie incited a terrorist attack by a mindless Republican mob against the nation's Capitol in insurrection against the government, attempting to overturn a legitimate election, sieging, storming, sizing, sacking, defiling, defacing and disgracing America's citadel of, and temple to, democracy--these are all prime examples of nihilism.
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med folket för fosterlandet ~ In that regard, Toxic Trump couldn't have done much less. No one is suggesting that he could have actually stopped a pandemic, just as the vast majority of epidemiologists agree China couldn't have prevented it from likely spreading. So you're engaging in a strawman argument, a logical fallacy that is intellectually dishonest.
Both China and Toxic Trump were guilty of a lack of transparency, making things worse. Unlike China, Toxic Trump recognized the threat right away, however. Unlike China, the U.S. was given a huge amount of time to prepare. Unlike China, Toxic Trump failed to mobilize all of the tremendous resources available to him, continues to make that same mistake, continues to downplay this deadly virus, continues to promote and engage in risky behavior such as holding super-spreader rallies and not mandating masks be worn and social distancing be adhered to, in the erroneous belief that it will personally benefit him financially and politically.
By the way, had you tagged for a Russian bot trying to divide and weaken America, kill more Americans, from the get-go. Just so you know, you're not fooling anyone. You're not helping Russia, and is the money you're paid REALLY worth selling your soul to the Devil? #moreRussiasanctions
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@toja5329 ~ The largest sponsor of terrorist groups in the world has been the U.S., Doc. Am an American who detests terrorism, cares little for Iran's government, but you can't accept that ugly truth because you got the blinders on with your bias. Moreover, it wasn't Iran attacked the U.S on 9/11, and Iran had nothing to do with ISIS, either.
If Iran wanted nuclear weapons, they already have that capability. In fact, they could build enough dirty bombs to make all of Israel a nuclear wasteland for centuries. They don't need missiles to deliver them, either, just as Israel didn't use missiles to assassinate, maim, and wound those non-combatant civilians in a terrorist act. You might want to think on that some.
Do you want any country to have undeclared nuclear arsenals, not subject to treaties and inspections like the rest of the world, as Israel does? Did you seriously think the nuclear imbalance in the Middle East would last with Israel's nuclear arsenal pointed at its neighbors? If you say yes, we won't believe you.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or "the Wall") is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle's name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called "leaders" in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 -- than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to--and a barrier against--our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It's design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge--and help teach--people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see...if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that generation.
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We got Big Brag Daddy Baghdad Bob broadcasting direct from Washington, D.C. daily, with Toxic Trump and a revolving cast of his sycophantic minions! Happy talk, disinformation, empty promises, idle threats, vicious smears, bogus pandemic models, dog whistles, continuous crackpot conspiracies--they got it all, and more!
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As of 03/02/20 in the U.S.A., we still don't have the testing kits we need yet; just announced yesterday that test kits for 75,000 will be released over the next two weeks, with 50,000 more following. Reported 15,000 sent out over weekend. Reliable testing protocol absolutely vital to assessing and containment of COVID-19! Health experts and American public both in the dark without massive testing about which Americans, how many Americans have COVID-19--and where--so they can be isolated and treated before infecting others. Health experts have criticized Trump administraiton for inexplicably not adopting W.H.O. test much earlier. In the U.S. the CDC has conducted just 500 tests for COVID-19 to date, with 88 cases now known in the U.S. For perspective, compare to the U.K., with a much smaller population, who already tested 10,400 people, finding 23 COVID-19 cases.
~03/02/20 Stock future drop 110 points on volatile overnight trading, indicating another rough week for Wall St. There are now new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus or presumptive cases in California, Massachusetts, Washington state, Arizona, Illinois, Wisconsin, Oregon, Rhode Island, New York and Florida.
~State of Washington announes sencond death from COVID-19 in U.S. 03/01/20. First presumptive death in U.S. also from King County on 02/29/20; a 50-year-old man with health conditions. Deceased had unknown origin of contact with virus. Long-term health care facility there with many sick elderly residents suspected to have outbreak of COVID-19. In response, Trump finally vows to screen travelers entering the U.S., but only from certain areas in a few select nations. No details as to when screening will begin, what the screening process is or how effective, or how many travelers will be affected.
~Number of confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases in U.S. has jumped from 64, to 71 reported morning of 03/01/20, now 88 reported morning of 03/02/20. Business and individuals starting to cancel travel plans due to COVID-19, both global and domestic, impacting airlines, hotels and many other businesses in a cascading effect.
~First case in NY state confirmed. Three new cases in Oregon reported 02/28/20, one believed to be from community spread. Now three from community spread in California; one in Washington, and one in Oregon state. Third case in Illinois announced in Chicago 02/29/20, first two have recovered.
~03/01/20 Two new cases were confirmed in Washington state in King County on Sunday, bringing that state’s total to ten. Governor declares state emergency. Rhode Island also announced its first probable case. Florida announced two cases.
~03/01/20 The White House has scrambled to gain control of a rudderless response defined by bureaucratic infighting, confusion and misinformation. “It’s complete chaos,” one senior administration official said.
~03/01/20 The FDA expanded coronavirus testing by speeding up hospitals’ abilities to test, though some worried that the changes fell short. The number of confirmed cases is likely to increase given the expansion in testing. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said Sunday that the administration is watching for possible drug shortages from disruptions to the pharmaceutical supply chain in China.
~03/01/20 Coronavirus has also caused significant supply-chain disruptions affecting toys, medical equipment, auto parts and smartphones from China, none of which will be easy to smooth out, even if the virus ebbs within a month or two. The twin blows to consumer confidence and supply chains have significantly raised the chance of a recession, according to economists.
~Trump administration ignored and went against the advice of CDC top medical experts, brought infected patients back to the U.S. from Wuhan, China on the same plane as uninfected evacuees.
~U.S. workers WITHOUT protective gear assisted coronavirus evacuees, HHS whistleblower report states. Workers received Wuhan evacuees at two military bases in California without proper training or appropriate protective gear, alongside CDC in full hazmat attire. Whistleblower claims they were potentially exposed to COVID-19.
~First suspected community-spread case in N. California was untested for DAYS after disease contracted. CDC acknowledged Thursday that a California woman with coronavirus was made to wait days before she was tested for the disease because of the agency’s restrictive criteria about who may get tested. As a result of this case, CDC announces a whole new testing criteria is needed.
~On 02/28/20, we learned that there is a second SEPARATE COVID-19 case identified in California. Indications are that we have community spread from the unprotected government workers Trump administration sent to receive the Wuhan evacuees--once again, against the advice of medical experts.
~On 02/29/20, two new cases of COVID-19 in California and Oregon announced. Total cases in U.S. now stands at 64. Trump continues to lie about the epidemic, insisting only 15 Americans are infected.
~Trump places science-denier V.P. Pence--who also has no medical expertise--in charge of Federal response to COVID-19.
~Trump continues spreading misinformation on COVID-19, overly downplaying risk and danger, contradicting his own administration's health experts.
~DOW loses almost 1,200 in biggest single day loss EVER. Follows two previous day market losses around 1,000--$3.6 TRILLION from the American stock market ERASED for the week.. After the week, total market loss now stands at over 12%, ERASING all gains made in the market under Trump over three years in just one WEEK..
~Face masks--which unless surgical-grade N95--have limited effectiveness and are impractical for extended wear. Recommended for those exhibiting any flu or cold-like symptoms; not yet recommended for those healthy at this point.
~CDC: "People should understand that their lives may be significantly disrupted."
~The American workplace isn't ready for an epidemic. Many Americans have no insurance, many others can ill-afford deductibles, still more can't afford to take off work when not feeling well; more than a third of jobs don't offer sick days, and even where available, they may have been already used, or employees try saving them for more serious illness--all making us extremely vulnerable to epidemics such as COVID-19. Many jobs in America involve low-paying work in the service industry, where employees are in constant contact with, and exposed to, a huge swath of the public on a daily basis. These folks typically don't get sick days or insurance benefits, and can ill-afford to miss any work because of loss of money and the threat of losing their job. Many are ill-educated, and may not pay sufficient heed to health warnings, further exacerbating the spread of the epidemic facing us all.
~In plausible worst-case-scenarios given the pattern of the outbreak thus far, the country could experience acute shortages not just in ventilators but also health workers to operate them and care for patients; hospital beds; and masks and other protective equipment. Trump administration facing increasing criticism for not using these many weeks after learning of COVID-19 to prepare increased hospital capacity, stockpile medications, obtain adequate amounts of respirators and other equipment that will be vitally needed in the U.S..
“Even during mild flu pandemics, most of our I.C.U.s are filled to the brim with severely ill patients on mechanical ventilation,” said Dr. Eric Toner, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and an expert on health care preparedness. “I hope and pray Covid-19 turns out to be a moderate pandemic, but if not, we’re in serious trouble,” he said, referring to the name given the disease caused by the virus.
~“The Chinese bought us a month of time to prepare ourselves by imposing these astonishing and draconian measures,” said J. Stephen Morrison, senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, which last year issued a report that identified flaws in the nation’s health security. “Unfortunately, we didn’t make good use of that time and now we’re heading into a very dangerous situation.”
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GOP cult: “Democracy is great…only so long as we can subvert it with lies, cheating, a multitude of Jim Crow voter suppression laws, egregious gerrymandering, obstruction, coups, election interference, sedition, and terrorism to gain power and maintain our corrupt, plutocratic, minority fascist rule!”
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@shawntelmonroe3338 ~ Figure most of these trolls are Russian bots, so typically just ignore them, rather than encourage them or play into their hands. You're of course correct about Toxic Trump being the President, the person having the most influence in America, setting the wrong tone and a bad example. However, Toxic Trump is just the latest glaring symptom in the long-running disease of Republican deceit and demagoguery, which goes back to the Reagan era. The Republican cult didn't originate with Trump, and it unfortunately is unlikely to end with him.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic hyper-partisan Republican cult placing political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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@jasoncray6433 ~ So you already died fighting for this country? How can that be, Doc? Are you speaking from the grave, are you some kind of zombie? Must be, because all you're doing is spewing right-wing talking points, not thinking for yourself. You certainly didn't fully read or comprehend our reply to another here to which you responded--either that, or you're simply just in denial.
None of the people who we've served with ever use their military service to promote themselves or their political beliefs. Which makes one wonder about you. Talking about hoping you don't have to spill American blood--what kind of nonsense is that, anyway? Are you contemplating a civil war, doofus? Who thinks that way?
We can already see you're not truthful by your words, claiming some bogus "extreme left" is promoting riots, civil injustice, and hatred towards America. Besides, as a great American patriot once said, "'Tis not, 'my country, right or wrong;' 'tis, 'my country, that which is right to be kept right, that which is wrong to be set right.'" So, you see, a quintessential, vital part of being American is being able to criticize our government, and ourselves. It doesn't mean one hates America--just the opposite. It demonstrates care and love for one's country.
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There has never been a graceful exit for the losing side in any war.
Truth is, our hasty withdrawal from Vietnam was even worse if you look at the numbers and the whole picture. Only 7,000 were evacuated from Vietnam during the fall of Saigon, with many more left behind, including two dead American soldiers----the last to die in the Vietnam War----left behind in a hospital and not returned until a year later by the Vietnamese. That evacuation occurred under hostile NVA and Vietcong fire. Since August 14, over 70,000 have already been evacuated from Afghanistan despite the complete capitulation of the Afghan government and Afghan Army, with no hostile fire upon American troops by the Taliban so far. 75,000 have been evacuated since July. Moreover, the January 27, 1973 peace agreement signed by the Americans with the North Vietnamese ended all direct U.S. military involvement in Vietnam, and provided sixty days for troop removal. Just as with Afghanistan, all troops were removed. However, it was over two years later, on April 30, 1975, when the fall of Saigon occurred. So, the U.S. had nearly two-and-a-half years to evacuate everyone else before the fall of the South Vietnamese government and armed forces, instead of just the two weeks like in Afghanistan so far.
The other thing in stark contrast between Vietnam and Afghanistan is that no Democrats----including Carter, who was running against Ford for President----tried to use the situation for political gain like Republicans are so desperately and depravedly doing now. That, despite the fact that it was the previous Trump administration which bears the brunt of the blame for the current situation.
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Avenging Demon No person is "illegal." Not illegal when we let them in, Doc! Not illegal to seek asylum, either. Stupid not to let them in; the population is aging and our population growth is flat. We need the workers, and they are the ones who will be paying many people's Social Security and Medicaid before long. Also, the other taxes and the additional tax revenue from the economic expansion created helps pay down our debt.
We're not talking open borders here. Just common sense. Those asylum seeker can be granted temporary refuge until condition improve in their respective home countries. It's costing us hundreds of millions to detain these migrants when they could be working and paying taxes.
Quite clearly, Trump's immigration policy is all about the cruelty and racism. That's no secret. But it's also about the corruption; Trump cronies like former administration official Kelly are raking in millions off the government running private detention facilities.
The only thing we can't figure out is if Trump is purposefully earning his Russian paycheck weakening America, or is it just that he is that inept, incompetent, senile, and corrupt? Either way, Biggest Loser is a compromised hot mess that needs to go!
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@tjwallis7948 ~ Not to insult, but you apparently aren't too informed about our government. We have three branches of government. The Judicial Branch is directed by SCOTUS, which also has the final say on any legal matter, and has a conservative (Republican) majority. The Executive Branch is controlled by Democrats. The Legislative Branch has two chambers, the House and the Senate, which are *nominally* under control of Democrats. However, with a very slim majority in the House and an even number of Republicans and Democrats in the Senate, they do not have very effective control of the Legislative Branch. This is made even more so because of Republican obstructionism, lack of bipartisanship, and unwillingness to act in good faith. Democrats aren't to blame for the gridlock----Republicans are. And Republican voters are the ones that chose lies, corruption, and gridlock over common sense and the good of the nation. At any rate, your erroneous assertion here would earn you five Pinocchio's from the fact checker.
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To those not wearing masks, social distancing, or following guidelines: Your willful ignorance does not mask your wanton disregard for human life, your appalling lack of humanity and humility, your supremely selfish inconsideration of others. Despite absolutely loathing wearing a mask, it's also the reason it's worn. The sooner we all start wearing masks, social distancing, and taking this deadly pandemic seriously, the sooner we get to take them off, the less time they'll need to be worn. Not to mention, the sooner we can go back to a normal that is more like normal, the sooner we can get our jobs back and our economy rolling, again. And, of course, most importantly, the more lives we can save--which might even be your own life, or the life of a friend or loved one.
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Conservatism--the endless, futile quest to justify greed. For many in the tribalistic partisan Republican cult, it's a blind faith in capitalism and liberty that deliberately ignores the limitations and responsibilities involved with each, often driven by ignorant anarchist impulses, which are in turn rooted in ignorance such as greed, bigotry, racism, xenophobia, and religion. They reject societal norms that places reasonable restrictions on those things in benefit of the common good.
You see the well-dressed, well-fed pandemic lock-down protestors, most driving newer, expensive vehicles. You KNOW these people are nowhere near destitute, that they got money and time to waste. Then, you think about all the African-Americans being very disproportionately affected in inner cities, who ARE suffering greatly, yet continue to give selflessly on the front lines of this war against COVID-19, and abide by guidelines despite the hardships affecting low-income and poverty sectors far worse. Many of them feel FORCED to work to pay the bills, WISHING they had a non-essential job where they could receive unemployment, be on vacation at home with family, and not be put at risk in general society, where they have typically been ill-protected by their employers. They are put at greater increased risk by protestors.
You also think about ALL the other essential medical and front-line workers being put at greater increased risk by ignorant protestors--and about the suffering and deaths you KNOW will result from their ignorance. From their continued rejection of truth, reason, facts, science, and even common sense. We have to wonder at the willful ignorance, despite knowing the reasons, appalled at their irrationalism, and fearful for our nation, our families and friends, and ourselves.
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Let's be clear; Congressional Republicans have been pointing a gun at the heart of legitimate self-government for four years, now--including Sen. Ben Sasse. The only exception is FORMER Republican Rep. Justin Amash, who was essentially ejected from the GOP--solely for his honesty and integrity. Even Republican Sen. Mitt Romney over his two years in Congress has only made half-steps in rejecting Trump's authoritarianism, corruption, and lawlessness, demonstrating how he, too, cares more about his ambition and raw partisan power than he does his country. And it hasn't been just Congressional Republicans; nearly the entire GOP has been complicit in aiding and abetting what is clearly the most corrupt, criminal, despotic, rotten, and incompetent President and administration in U.S. history.
Which is why it is felt the only good Republican is a former Republican. The GOP no longer stands for any rational ideology. Instead, it has become a mindless political cult, based upon hate, lies, delusions, denials, and the blind lust for power at any cost.
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People like to think they're done with Covid-19, but Covid-19 isn't done with us. We're at war with an invisible enemy, and we should be treating it as a war, willing to make sacrifices, to do whatever it takes to save lives. Too many don't seem to comprehend that, and hundreds of thousands of Americans have senselessly died already. That's appalling and deeply disturbing, as is the level of ignorance being displayed by those refusing to listen to common sense, doctors, experts and science. Instead of all being on the same side against a common enemy, Republicans have chosen to betray their country and their fellow citizens, taking the side of Covid-19, costing 845,000 Americans their lives already while sickening and injuring many more.
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Governors plead for medical equipment from federal stockpile plagued by shortages and confusion
Toluse Olorunnipa, Josh Dawsey, Chelsea Janes, Isaac Stanley-Becker -- Washington Post -- 03/31/20
As states across the country have pleaded for critical medical equipment from a key national stockpile, Florida has promptly received 100 percent of its first two requests — with President Trump and Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis both touting their close relationship.
States including Oklahoma and Kentucky have received more of some equipment than they requested, while others such as Illinois, Massachusetts and Maine have secured only a fraction of their requests.
It’s a disparity that has caused frustration and confusion in governors’ offices across the country, with some officials questioning whether politics is playing a role in the response.
Governors are making increasingly frantic requests to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for materials. State and congressional leaders are flooding FEMA with letters and calls seeking clarity about how it is allocating suddenly in-demand resources such as masks, ventilators and medical gowns.
“Frustration level is high,” Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) said of the struggle to find ventilators for patients infected by the novel coronavirus. “We’re hoping we’ll be able to get them. The federal government needs to help us with that. There’s no question.”
Governors and state officials have become increasingly frustrated by what they describe as a byzantine and unsteady process for distributing medical supplies from the Strategic National Stockpile. As they try to combat a worsening pandemic, several have complained about chaos and disarray within the system and a lack of guidance about how they can secure lifesaving supplies, according to interviews and documents from officials in more than a dozen states.
Evers told FEMA on Friday that Wisconsin still needs 190,000 nonsurgical masks, adding that he thought some of the supplies were stuck in a bureaucratic queue. Oklahoma received 120,000 face shields despite requesting only 16,000, according to the state’s health department. North Carolina, by contrast, requested 500,000 medical coveralls and received 306, state records show.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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05/12/20 -- 1,400,000 confirmed cases; 83,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/11/20 -- 1,379,000 confirmed cases; 81,500 deaths.
05/10/20 -- 1,364,000 confirmed cases; 80,600 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/09/20 -- 1,344,000 confirmed cases; 79,700 deaths.
05/08/20 -- 1,318,000 confirmed cases; 78,200 deaths.
05/07/20 -- 1,289,000 confirmed cases; 76,500 deaths.
05/06/20 -- 1,260,000 confirmed cases; 74,500 deaths.
05/05/20 -- 1,233,000 confirmed cases; 72,000 deaths.
05/04/20 -- 1,208,000 confirmed cases; 69,600 deaths. CDC projects cases increasing to 200,000 per day with deaths rising to 3,000 per day by June because of states, localities and people not following guidelines and reopening their economies too soon.
05/03/20 -- 1,184,000 confirmed cases; 68,300 deaths. Every 44 seconds, another American dies from COVID-19. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/02/20 -- 1,158,000 confirmed cases; 67,000 deaths.
05/01/20 -- 1,129,000 confirmed cases; 65,500 deaths.
04/30/20 -- 1,094,000 confirmed cases; 63,600 deaths. The U.S. accounts for over a third of the world's cases, and over a quarter of COVID-19 deaths--despite possessing only 5% of the world's population. Yet--even now--we still lack the adequate testing capabilities that are critically needed to safely reopen the economy, and remain sorely lacking the necessary rational national leadership so vital to saving American lives and livelihoods.
04/29/20 -- 1,064,000 confirmed cases; 61,500 deaths. The U.S. now has as many COVID-19 deaths in just NINE WEEKS as there was for all TWELVE YEARS of the Vietnam War.
04/28/20 -- 1,034,000 confirmed cases; 59,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/27/20 -- 1,009,000 confirmed cases; 56,500 deaths.
04/26/20 -- 985,000 confirmed cases; 55,400 deaths.
04/25/20 -- 958,000 confirmed cases; 54,000 deaths.
04/24/20 -- 927,000 confirmed cases; 52,400 deaths.
04/23/20 -- 890,000 confirmed cases; 50,400 deaths.
04/22/20 -- 853,000 confirmed cases; 47,800 deaths (+2,674*)
04/21/20 -- 825,000 confirmed cases; 45,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/20/20 -- 788,000 confirmed cases; 43,200 deaths.
04/19/20 -- 760,000 confirmed cases; 41,700 deaths.
04/18/20 -- 735,000 confirmed cases; 39,900 deaths.
04/17/20 -- 702,000 confirmed cases; 37,000 deaths.
04/16/20 -- 671,000 confirmed cases; 33,100 deaths. Less COVID-19 testing performed this week than last, despite desperate need to ramp up volume to reopen economy.
04/15/20 -- 640,000 confirmed cases; 30,800 deaths. The United States recorded its first coronavirus fatality on Feb. 29. It took 38 days to reach 10,000 deaths and just nine more days to go from 10,000 fatalities to 30,000. An increase in fatalities over the last 48 hours was expected, but was also due to new CDC policy, starting on 04/14, to include probable COVID-19 deaths...finally.
04/14/20 -- 609,000 confirmed cases; 26,600 deaths (+2,364 - *New worst daily death toll)
04/13/20 -- 583,000 confirmed cases; 24,200 deaths
04/12/20 -- 558,000 confirmed cases; 22,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S. With just 4.25% of the world's population, the U.S. has 30% of the COVID-19 infections and 20% of the COVID-19 deaths. So far, the U.S. has the very WORST response of ANY nation, something formerly inconceivable, and inexcusable that it could now be allowed to happen here. In the U.S., we have 1.5 million seniors in 15,000 nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Despite forming only 0.45% of the U.S. population, they make up almost 10% of deaths, primarily because our federal government is not doing enough to protect them. Reported that many hospitals are no longer accepting COVID-19 patients from nursing homes, preferring they die there, instead. Our seniors, who helped build, grow and make America great, are being sacrificed, solely to ignorance.
04/11/20 -- 530,000 confirmed cases; 20,500 deaths.
04/10/20 -- 502,000 confirmed cases; 18,800 deaths.
04/09/20 -- 466,000 confirmed cases; 16,700 deaths.
04/08/20 -- 432,000 confirmed cases; 15,900 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S.
04/07/20 -- 400,000 confirmed cases; 13,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. Figures indicate a Covid-19 fatality rate for TESTED Americans at 3.25%.
04/06/20 -- 369,000 confirmed cases; 11,000 deaths.
04/05/20 -- 338,000 confirmed cases; 9,700 deaths.
04/04/20 -- 312,000 confirmed cases; 9,400 deaths.
04/03/20 -- 278,000 confirmed cases; 7,150 deaths.
04/02/20 -- 246,000 confirmed cases; 6,050 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/01/20 -- 217,000 confirmed cases; 5,150 deaths.
03/31/20 -- 190,000 confirmed cases; 4,200 deaths.
03/30/20 -- 165,000 confirmed cases; 3,250 deaths.
03/29/20 -- 143,000 confirmed cases; 2,450 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
(Update 5: Friday, 03/27/20, confirmed U.S. cases 105,000--which is 50% over NIH high-end estimate; deaths 1,700 by end of day. The perspective for cases is significantly skewed low and thus highly misleading, however, as just 0.17% of U.S. population has been tested to date.)
"As many as 70,000 Americans could be confirmed as infected with coronavirus by the end of next week, marking a “pretty dramatic” increase in the number of confirmed cases," the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, told his employees in an agency-wide conference call on 03/20/20.
Except 03/21/20 saw a 33% jump in U.S. cases, from 18,000 to over 24,000. If continuing at 33% every 24 hours, the number of confirmed cases is trending much higher than just 70,000 by 03/27/20. Suspect confirmed cases will be double that. Bear in mind, states hardest hit are not testing many people, saving the tests for those most in need. So the actual number of infected Americans is going to be far higher than just what limited testing of the population has so far confirmed. Don't think this fact is being given enough attention. More important than the number of cases confirmed is the number contracting the disease and not getting tested, spreading the disease, in many cases unknowingly. Hospital projections are for about 100 MILLION Americans to become infected, with about 500,000 dead from covid-19.
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Who'd have ever equated voting in America with survival? But that's pretty much what it has boiled down to, hasn't it? Survival of ourselves, survival of our democracy, survival of our nation, and survival of our planet. The irony is that Republicans have always tried to paint Democrats as an existential threat...but in doing so it is actually they who have become exactly that.
Democrat voters need an even greater turnout in '22 and '24, put the final fork in Trumpism! Republicans want to engage in Jim Crow voter suppression laws, voter intimidation, and egregious gerrymandering? Republicans want to engage in corruption, gaslight their corruption, coverup their corruption? Republicans want to live in delusion and denial about the major problems confronting the nation and planet? Let's just prove that's fuel for the fire, and make their fascist antidemocratic corruption backfire on them!
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast would soon come to consume them.
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Who'd have ever equated voting in America with survival? But that's pretty much what it has boiled down to, hasn't it? Survival of ourselves, survival of our democracy, survival of our nation, and survival of our planet. The irony is that Republicans have always tried to paint Democrats as an existential threat...but in doing so it is actually they who have become exactly that.
Democrat voters need an even greater turnout in '22 and '24, put the final fork in Trumpism! Republicans want to engage in Jim Crow voter suppression laws, voter intimidation, and egregious gerrymandering? Republicans want to engage in corruption, gaslight their corruption, coverup their corruption? Republicans want to turn a blind eye to Russian election interference and knowingly disseminate Russian propaganda for Putin? Republicans want to instigate and sanction Reich-wing domestic terrorist insurrection? Republicans want to live in delusion and denial about the major problems confronting the nation and planet? Let's just prove that's fuel for the fire, and make their fascist antidemocratic corruption backfire on them!
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
― Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again." ― Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney
More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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The Case Against Donald Trump
The president of the United States poses a threat to our collective existence. The choice voters face is spectacularly obvious.
OCTOBER 22, 2020 — Jeffrey Goldberg, on behalf of the editors of The Atlantic
In 1973, a United States Air Force officer, Major Harold Hering, asked a question that the Air Force did not want asked. Hering, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, was then in training to become a Minuteman-missile crewman. The question he asked one of his instructors was this: “How can I know that an order I receive to launch my missiles came from a sane president?”
The writer Ron Rosenbaum would later call this the “forbidden question.” Missile officers are allowed to ask certain sorts of questions—about the various fail-safe systems built to prevent the accidental launching of nuclear weapons, for instance. But the Air Force would not answer Hering’s question, and it moved to discharge him after determining that officers responsible for launching nuclear weapons did not “need to know” the answer. “I have to say I feel I do have a need to know because I am a human being,” Hering said in response.
Hering’s question was taboo because the national defense strategy of the United States is built on the unstated assumption that the American people will not allow a lunatic to become president. If that assumption is wrong, then no procedural, legal, or technological mechanisms exist that are able to fully protect the human race from such a lunatic. Hering discovered a catastrophic flaw in U.S. nuclear doctrine, and for this he was driven from the Air Force.
In most matters related to the governance and defense of the United States, the president is constrained by competing branches of government and by an intricate web of laws and customs. Only in one crucial area does the president resemble, in the words of the former missile officer and scholar Bruce Blair, an absolute monarch—his control of nuclear weapons. Richard Nixon, who was president when Major Hering asked his question, was reported to have told members of Congress at a White House dinner party, “I could leave this room and in 25 minutes, 70 million people would be dead.” This was an alarming but accurate statement.
When contemplating their ballots, Americans should ask which candidate in a presidential contest is better equipped to guide the United States through a national-security crisis without triggering a nuclear exchange, and which candidate is better equipped to interpret—within five or seven minutes—the ambiguous, complicated, and contradictory signals that could suggest an imminent nuclear attack. These are certainly not questions that large numbers of voters asked themselves in 2016, when a transparently unqualified candidate for president won the support of 63 million Americans.
At the time, Donald Trump had not yet served in public office, so concerns about his ability to protect the United States from harm were hypothetical, though grounded in his long and terrible record as a human being. As The Atlantic stated in its October 2016 endorsement of his opponent, Hillary Clinton, Trump “traffics in conspiracy theories and racist invective; he is appallingly sexist; he is erratic, secretive, and xenophobic; he expresses admiration for authoritarian rulers, and evinces authoritarian tendencies himself … He is an enemy of fact-based discourse; he is ignorant of, and indifferent to, the Constitution; he appears not to read.”
What we have learned since we published that editorial is that we understated our case. Donald Trump is the worst president this country has seen since Andrew Johnson, or perhaps James Buchanan, or perhaps ever. Trump has brought our country low; he has divided our people; he has pitted race against race; he has corrupted our democracy; he has shown contempt for American ideals; he has made cruelty a sacrament; he has provided comfort to propagators of hate; he has abandoned America’s allies; he has aligned himself with dictators; he has encouraged terrorism and mob violence; he has undermined the agencies and departments of government; he has despoiled the environment; he has opposed free speech; he has lied frenetically and evangelized for conspiracism; he has stolen children from their parents; he has made himself an advocate of a hostile foreign power; and he has failed to protect America from a ravaging virus. Trump is not responsible for all of the 220,000 COVID-19-related deaths in America. But through his avarice and ignorance and negligence and titanic incompetence, he has allowed tens of thousands of Americans to suffer and die, many alone, all needlessly. With each passing day, his presidency reaps more death.
But let us lay all of this aside for the moment. Let us even lay aside the extraordinary fact that Donald Trump has been credibly accused of rape. Compelling evidence suggests that his countless sins and defects are rooted in mental instability, pathological narcissism, and profound moral and cognitive impairment. Which returns us to the subject of Major Hering.
Trump’s opponent, Joe Biden, is in many ways a typically imperfect candidate, but if we judge these men on two questions alone—Who is a more trustworthy steward of America’s nuclear arsenal? Which man poses less of a threat to our collective existence?—the answer is spectacularly obvious.
The Atlantic has endorsed only three candidates in its 163-year history: Abraham Lincoln, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Hillary Clinton. The latter two endorsements had more to do with the qualities of Barry Goldwater and Donald Trump than with those of Johnson and Clinton. The same holds true in the case of Joe Biden. Biden is a man of experience, maturity, and obvious humanity, but had the Republican Party put forward a credible candidate for president, we would have felt no compulsion to state a preference. Donald Trump, however, is a clear and continuing danger to the United States, and it does not seem likely that our country would be able to emerge whole from four more years of his misrule. Two men are running for president. One is a terrible man; the other is a decent man. Vote for the decent man.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/10/atlantics-endorsement-against-donald-trump/616815/
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over four decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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Let's face it; this American fall towards fascism didn't just happen overnight. Since before the '70s Republicans have engaged in dog whistles and pursued a racist agenda, hidden behind various facades. Reagan helped Goldwater using dog-whistles; Nixon was infamous for his use of them. Roger Ailes micromanaged Nixon's appearances, and stoked racial fears and resentments. Reagan employed them getting elected governor of California. Lee Atwater, who greatly admired Nixon's 'Southern strategy,' worked on Reagan's Presidential campaign, teaming up with Ailes. A year after Reagan's victory, Atwater gave what was then an anonymous interview, and perhaps lulled by the anonymity, he offered an unusually candid response to a question about Reagan, the Southern strategy, and the drive to attract the Wallace voters:
"You start out in 1954 by saying, "N------, N------, N-------." By 1968 you can't say "N-------," that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states' rights and all that stuff. You're getting so abstract now, you're talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you're talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is, blacks get hurt worse than whites. And subconsciously maybe that is part of it. I'm not saying that. But I'm saying that if it is getting that abstract, and that coded, that we are doing away with the racial problem one way or the other. You follow me; because obviously sitting around saying, "We want to cut taxes and we want to cut this," is much more abstract than even the busing thing, and a hell of a lot more abstract than "N------, N------." So anyway you look at it, race is coming on the back burner."
Humiliated and stunned by Nixon's forced resignation, Republicans anointed Reagan their hero, and have long insisted on regarding him as such, despite his repeated use of racial dog-whistles and his mediocre record. In 1980, Reagan characterized food stamp recipients as, "That strapping young buck in front of you at the checkout buying T-bone steak, while you wait in line to buy hamburger," and kicked off his campaign outside Philadelphia, Mississippi--notorious for the KKK lynching of four volunteer civil rights workers just 16 years earlier--by delivering the promise that, "I believe in state's rights!" Reagan returned in 1984 to another cheering crowd, this time endorsing the neo-Confederate slogan, "The South shall rise again!"
Lee Atwater went on to work with Roger Ailes on George H.W. Bush's Presidential campaign, which shamelessly stoked racial fear through the infamous Willie Horton political ad and other means. Roger Ailes would go on to head Fox News for Rupert Murdoch, until numerous allegations of sexual harassment and improprieties, along with related lawsuits against Fox, forced his removal. Ailes was a polarizing influence, who has been called the most destructive force in American politics in 50 years.
Conservative plutocrats and the GOP created the beast over decades with round-the-clock propaganda, but were swallowed whole by their own mutated creations of daily outrage, white grievance politics, and phony populism; first by the Tea Party, then by Trump. Unable to go back, and clearly having no way forward, they remain planted in their own muck and mire, trapped by the cult of their own making. The pundits and conservatives rejecting Trump are trying to salvage their party, but any person of principle and sense ought to know enough to defect the rotten machine.
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As someone who lived for years in Texas and still has family there, can testify to the veracity of this comment. Racist attitudes are not benign; they result in discrimination and violent hate crimes against minorities.
A section of this recent book details the discrimination and violent hate crimes against Vietnamese refugees in Texas:
'Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America' by Kathleen Belew (Harvard University Press, 2018)
The movement “brought together members of the Klan, militias, radical tax resisters, white separatists, neo-Nazis, and proponents of white theologies such as Christian Identity, Odinism, and Dualism” (ix). What was it about the movement that brought these ideologies together?
The promise of violence — rather, the promise that members would get to inflict violence on other people. Belew writes that as the white power movement matured, it became more violent, and “[as] violence came to the fore of the movement, distinctions among white power factions melted away” (60). Belew calls this process “violent community formation” (34). Yet as a social movement, Belew makes a distinction between the white power movement’s “revolutionary violence” and the Ku Klux Klan’s “vigilante violence.”
Vigilante violence “served to constitute, shore up, and enforce systemic power” (106). Given that the U.S. government has a long history of “defending vigilante violence by refusing to enforce the law” (99), law enforcement inaction and vigilante violence may be understood together as a case of one hand washing the other. Revolutionary violence, however, sought to overthrow the state. It is the white power movement’s goal of overthrowing the federal government that sets it apart in the history of white supremacy in the U.S.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and disturbing. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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Meet the new ugly face of white supremacy in America! Funny--it looks just like the old ugly face. Except this time they got their Imperial Wizard installed as Chief Jester of the Supreme Court, where he magically declared racism somehow no longer a problem in America, paving the way for thousands of new Jim Crow laws and egregious gerrymandering suppressing and disenfranchising millions of American voters. Of course, harsh realities will continue to exist irrespective of any blind eye or pretentious, capricious edicts by some Supreme Court. And Roberts' conservative SCOTUS decisions only confirm how the white supremacist problem and its perpetual "fix" on the American judicial branch and justice system has never gone away, as America continues to struggle with overcoming a racist history of colonialism, slavery, and discrimination.
"...we must recognize that one of the two political parties is routinely engaged in sabotaging free elections with voter-suppression efforts aimed at the minority voters it cannot win over at the ballot box. These anti-democratic power grabs became a GOP staple decades before Donald Trump, culminating in the actions of a George W. Bush–anointed chief justice, John Roberts, whose Supreme Court shredded the Voting Rights Act of 1965. As Roberts famously put it in his 2007 opinion for the plurality, “The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.” Since then, discrimination on the basis of race has only expanded in states like Georgia and Florida, where Black voting rights have been cavalierly undermined and trashed."
~ Frank Rich, November 9, 2020 (Written well before the rash of new Jim Crow laws now being proposed and passed by Republicans in many states.)
Chief Justice Roberts and his fellow conservative SCOTUS justices: the architects of a new era of Jim Crow in America.
Need to expand SCOTUS to 15 justices, do away with the filibuster, pass a new Voting Rights Act, and let Biden appoint six new justices to bring sanity and justice back to the Supreme Court.
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"Peace is not a very big thing to ask for, is it?" ~ Fatima Gailani, Afghan activist and negotiator, pleading for continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan
It is when asking the Taliban, who do not seek peace or to bargain in good faith, but total domination once again. U.S. has spent 20 years and over $2 trillion trying to achieve peace in Afghanistan, losing over 4000 American lives (military and civilian contractors), with tens of thousands of Americans wounded there.
"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials … have given Afghans little reason to support their government," Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the commander of U.S. forces in the country, wrote in a 2009 memorandum. "This crisis of confidence, coupled with a distinct lack of economic and educational opportunity, has created fertile ground for the insurgency."
That was 11 years ago, and little has changed since. Thought the invasion of Afghanistan by Bush was a mistake that would lead to a quagmire, and have been proven correct. Still, initially supported efforts to bring peace and stability there, along with basic human and civil-rights, because after invading felt we had an obligation to rebuild. However, while U.S. blunders there have contributed to a failure, Afghans are their own worst enemy, and no one can help them until enough of them are willing to help themselves.
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Donald Trump, at White House press conference on 04/07/20:
And we’re going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO. We’re going to put a very powerful hold on it, and we’re going to see.
Trump later at that same press conference:
Q: Thanks. A quick follow-up on that. So is the time to freeze funding to the WHO during a pandemic of this magnitude?
THE PRESIDENT: No, maybe not. I mean, I’m not saying I’m going to do it, but we’re going to look at it.
Q: You did say that you’re going to —
THE PRESIDENT: We give a tremendous —
Q: You said you’d put a hold on it.
THE PRESIDENT: No, I didn’t.
Toxic Trump, one week later, on 04/14/20: "I'm withholding WHO funding!"
WHO held a important meeting on COVID-19 vaccines at the beginning of May, with all nations attending...except no U.S. medical and scientific representatives sent by the Trump Administration, without any explanation.
ME, US, the world: WTF?? Why in HELL is that raving lunatic STILL in charge during this major pandemic health crisis?!? Hasn't he KILLED enough Americans, ALREADY?!?
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Our "President" is compromised by Russia, as clearly demonstrated in the Mueller Report! People don't seem to understand that for the vast majority of Democrats, it really isn't about politics. It's about the rule of law, democracy, our very SECURITY! We'd impeach a Democrat without second thought, based upon just what is contained in the Mueller Report alone. Congressional Democrats are no different, they feel the same way! The whole stupid, misguided idea ignores that Pence, another Republican, fills the Presidency if Trump impeached, finishing out his term, running for the 2020 election, the presumed GOP candidate. So, it obviously can't be some coup or seizure of power by Democrats, anyway. Disruptive, harmful to GOP election chances? Maybe, but it also has the potential to be a blessing in disguise for Republicans. Besides, there should be some price to be paid by any party electing to public office a treasonous crook with the morals of a slug.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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America's enemies don't need to spread disinformation, doubt, discord, and division to weaken America, kill Americans--Republican politicians, Reich-wing demagogues, Faux News, OAN, Newsmax, Breitbart and the rest of the Reich-wing media do that so effectively for them, already. More Americans need to realize that the GOP has abdicated it's duty as loyal opposition, and that its prioritization of party over country and welcoming embrace of violent radical Reich-wing extremists diminishes both our government and our national security, endangering ALL Americans, as well as weakening and endangering America itself.
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'Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America' by Kathleen Belew (Harvard University Press, 2018)
The movement “brought together members of the Klan, militias, radical tax resisters, white separatists, neo-Nazis, and proponents of white theologies such as Christian Identity, Odinism, and Dualism” (ix). What was it about the movement that brought these ideologies together?
The promise of violence — rather, the promise that members would get to inflict violence on other people. Belew writes that as the white power movement matured, it became more violent, and “[as] violence came to the fore of the movement, distinctions among white power factions melted away” (60). Belew calls this process “violent community formation” (34). Yet as a social movement, Belew makes a distinction between the white power movement’s “revolutionary violence” and the Ku Klux Klan’s “vigilante violence.”
Vigilante violence “served to constitute, shore up, and enforce systemic power” (106). Given that the U.S. government has a long history of “defending vigilante violence by refusing to enforce the law” (99), law enforcement inaction and vigilante violence may be understood together as a case of one hand washing the other. Revolutionary violence, however, sought to overthrow the state. It is the white power movement’s goal of overthrowing the federal government that sets it apart in the history of white supremacy in the U.S.
Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast would soon come to consume them.
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Trump Fan Network Sorry, Doc, not the way it works, and wishful thinking like some lovestruck adolescent girl with a crush just won't make it so. Mueller Report shows treason and felons of Trump, providing a road map to impeachment. Sitting President can't be indicted, so the only recourse is impeachment. No court is going to uphold current Trump obstructions, which each serve as further evidence to be used against Trump in his impeachment. The evidence of Trump treason and crimes will be made public through testimony in this Congressional investigatory phase, which is a necessary preliminary to determining whether to impeach. This can't be stopped, nor should it be stopped. Why would any true American patriot want a President -- Republican or Democrat -- that has betrayed democracy and his country consorting (even if not criminally conspiring) with our worst enemy to win an election, then lied and hid that from the public, committing numerous felonies obstructing justice, trampling our Constitution and the President's sworn oath? Are you a Trumputin patriot, or are you a true American patriot? Your choice.
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So, if somebody causes the murder of Alyssa Farah like the Traitor-'n-Thief did with Capitol Police officer Sicknick, Alyssa Farah thinks there shouldn't be a trial, "the country needs to move on from this moment," that "we don't benefit from relitigating over and over what happened that day" when she got murdered??? How is this initial impeachment trial for Toxic Trump's incitement to terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol to overthrow an election "relitigating," anyway? Alyssa Farah is just another disgusting, lying Republican cult moron putting party before country, Constitution, accountability, justice, and common decency.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or "the Wall") is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle's name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called "leaders" in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 -- than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to--and a barrier against--our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It's design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge--and help teach--people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see...if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of crackpot conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of greed, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of plutocrats, the party of corruption, the party of anti-democracy, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their pact with the Devil.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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You know what REALLY pisses me off most? It’s that all these Toxic Trump sycophants and acolytes KNOW he is a grave security threat to the U.S. But, they don’t care, play dumb. They would sell out their country and souls for filthy lucre, fleeting fame that quickly turns to infamy, and empty promises. They lie, deny, deceive, divide, denigrate, diminish, and work to destroy our cherished Republic.
GOP has gone rogue, doesn’t want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it’s more than hope—those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another five months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn’t really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
“The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated.”
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump’s hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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The cruelty and appealing to the basest of the base have been the point of Republican politics for a long time.
Republicans didn't just flush the GOP down the toilet...they turned it into a sewer!
It's a race to the bottom for the GOP, and they're already slimy, deep in the muck.
No mistaking how fascist Republicans are fomenting terrorism, and how the vast majority of Republican leadership and Republican voters who are not actively involved are still silently complicit, continuing to enable them.
While the group claims to defend the Constitution, the entire Oath Keepers organization is based on a set of baseless conspiracy theories about the federal government working to destroy Americans’ liberties.
~ Southern Poverty Law Center
'Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America' by Kathleen Belew (Harvard University Press, 2018)
The movement “brought together members of the Klan, militias, radical tax resisters, white separatists, neo-Nazis, and proponents of white theologies such as Christian Identity, Odinism, and Dualism” (ix). What was it about the movement that brought these ideologies together?
The promise of violence — rather, the promise that members would get to inflict violence on other people. Belew writes that as the white power movement matured, it became more violent, and “[as] violence came to the fore of the movement, distinctions among white power factions melted away” (60). Belew calls this process “violent community formation” (34). Yet as a social movement, Belew makes a distinction between the white power movement’s “revolutionary violence” and the Ku Klux Klan’s “vigilante violence.”
Vigilante violence “served to constitute, shore up, and enforce systemic power” (106). Given that the U.S. government has a long history of “defending vigilante violence by refusing to enforce the law” (99), law enforcement inaction and vigilante violence may be understood together as a case of one hand washing the other. Revolutionary violence, however, sought to overthrow the state. It is the white power movement’s goal of overthrowing the federal government that sets it apart in the history of white supremacy in the U.S.
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What you are calling for is extreme sanctions. Besides, the incentives are already there, because dictators and authoritarian regimes do not want sanctions, and they want increased trade. This is also rather simplistic and naive. It would be great if the world's democracies that are committed strongly to human and civil rights could only trade amongst themselves, but that is unrealistic. Trade is based upon supply and demand, which can't just be transferred wholesale to different nations lacking vital resources.
It actually wasn't Reagan who ended the Cold War, it was Gorbachev, and it was due as much to years of pressure by the West as it was to their flawed system of government.
Am largely sympathetic to your views; I applauded Jimmy Carter's strategy for the U.S. to take a stronger stand for human and civil rights in our foreign policy and remain supportive of that. I wish there was easy solutions for dealing with people like Putin, that if we just offered Kim Jong Un a trade deal he couldn't refuse then he would destroy all North Korea's nuclear capabilities and make North Korea a free and open society where North Koreans have full rights. But it's not that simple.
In the current situation with Russia vis-a-vis Ukraine, a measured response reflective of Russia's actions is appropriate, which would include stronger sanctions and continued strong economic and military support for Ukraine, with the threat of crippling sanctions imposed for increasing Russian aggression. As Blinken points out, Putin is shooting himself in the foot with his actions in Ukraine, driving Ukraine away from the Soviet Union. Will Putin continue to hurt Russian interests, will he choose to make things even worse for Russia? Those are the choices he faces.
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Tucker Carlson and Faux News: mainstreaming American fascism purely for profit.
FAUX News is happy to push Russian propaganda for Putin and disinformation for plutocrats and fascists, but the truth is verboten on Reich-wing media! Sad, pathetic, disgusting and dangerous.
America's enemies don't need to spread disinformation, doubt, discord, and division to weaken America, kill Americans--Republican politicians, Reich-wing demagogues, Faux News, OAN, Newsmax, Breitbart and the rest of the Reich-wing media do that so effectively for them, already. More Americans need to realize that the GOP has abdicated it's duty as loyal opposition, and that its prioritization of party over country and welcoming embrace of violent radical Reich-wing extremists diminishes both our government and our national security, endangering ALL Americans, as well as weakening and endangering America itself.
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Donald Trump, at White House press conference on 04/07/20:
And we’re going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO. We’re going to put a very powerful hold on it, and we’re going to see.
Trump later at that same press conference:
Q: Thanks. A quick follow-up on that. So is the time to freeze funding to the WHO during a pandemic of this magnitude?
THE PRESIDENT: No, maybe not. I mean, I’m not saying I’m going to do it, but we’re going to look at it.
Q: You did say that you’re going to —
THE PRESIDENT: We give a tremendous —
Q: You said you’d put a hold on it.
THE PRESIDENT: No, I didn’t.
Toxic Trump, one week later, on 04/14/20: "I'm withholding WHO funding!"
WHO held a important meeting on COVID-19 vaccines at the beginning of May, with all nations attending...except, unbelievably, no U.S. medical and scientific representatives sent by the Trump Administration, without any explanation. The absence particularly stunning in light that U.S. has half of world's cases and a quarter of the deaths, although possessing just 4% of the global population. Then, on May 29, Toxic Trump announced the U.S. was completely withdrawing from the World Health Organization!
ME, US, the world: WTF?? Why in HELL is that raving lunatic STILL in charge during this major pandemic health crisis?!? Hasn't he KILLED enough Americans, ALREADY?!?
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Merrick Garland: "Trump and Congressional Republicans screwed me out of a seat on the Supreme Court...that's why now as AG I can't prosecute them for the many crimes they've committed!"
Merrick Garland’s House Testimony Demonstrated the Failure of His Hyper-Cautious Approach to His Job
Despite Garland’s many efforts to not appear political by declining to investigate Trump and his cronies for possible crimes and by using DOJ resources to actively protect Trump from civil liability, Republicans are still portraying him as the most political attorney general in history.
The other weakness of Garland’s timid approach was on full view during his opening statement and responses to Democratic members of Congress. “The essence of the rule of law is that like cases are treated alike. That there not be one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans; one rule for friends, another for foes,” Garland stated grandly. But by declining to investigate Trump and his associates, Garland is enabling further attacks on our democracy. (While proving inequity by putting Republicans above the law.)
Crucially, the two parties are not the same. Garland’s standard sets up a false equivalency between the Democratic Party and a political party whose national leader, Donald Trump, incited and celebrated a violent assault on our nation’s Capitol to overthrow the results of a free and fair election and who continues to portray the insurrection as a glorious “protest.” To that end, in the middle of the attorney general’s testimony, Trump issued a statement highlighting Garland’s feebleness at failing to even investigate the organizers and leaders of the Jan. 6 events, declaring “the insurrection took place on November 3, Election Day. January 6 was the Protest!”
Garland’s efforts to depoliticize the DOJ have proved to be an abdication of his responsibility to protect the rule of law. Take just a few examples: Garland’s failure to reconsider the obstruction of justice case against the former president, his deferral of an investigation of possible financial crimes by Trump and his organization to local prosecutors in New York City and Westchester, his use of the DOJ to protect Trump from defamation allegations, and his deferral of a soliciting of voter fraud felony probe in Georgia to local prosecutors there. By abdicating his responsibility, Garland is also opening the door for Trump to commit these possibly criminal abuses all over again, this time with the full support of the Republican Party, and maybe ultimately return to power.
--Mark Stern
"Try as he may, Merrick Garland cannot perform boring independence fast enough to outrun GOP claims that he’s a wild-eyed, violent socialist. And while the GOP currently exists only to cast everything you thought you believed into doubt, the real endgame is vigilantism. The endgame is to ensure that people mistrust government, election systems, school boards, (teachers, health care officials) the media, and the justice system enough to lend a hand in their destruction."
--Dahlia Lithwick
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Why America is so vulnerable to coronavirus
Ryan Cooper
All over the world, governments are scrambling to defend their citizenry from COVID-19, the disease caused by the outbreak of novel coronavirus. So far it seems levels of success have varied; countries like Italy and Iran have struggled so far, while Vietnam and Taiwan have seemingly put forth an efficient and effective response.
The United States, where a major outbreak is clearly developing, however, is in a class by itself. America's atrociously inadequate welfare state makes it by far the most vulnerable rich country to a viral pandemic, and the vicious, right-wing ideology of the Republican Party has wrecked the government's ability to manage crises of any kind.
The national health care system is of course the most important tool for any country trying to fight off an epidemic — all citizens need to be able to get tested, receive treatment, or be quarantined if necessary. If and when a vaccine is developed, the system needs to distribute it to everyone as fast as possible. That means handing it out for free in locations across the country, and perhaps making
The American health care system fails at every one of these tasks. Nearly 30 million Americans are uninsured, and a further 44 million are underinsured — meaning they will likely hesitate to go to the doctor if they start developing COVID-19 symptoms. This problem is seriously exacerbated by the rampant predatory profiteering that infects every corner of the health care system. Indeed, responsible citizens who have gone in for tests have already started getting slammed with multi-thousand dollar bills. A father and daughter who were evacuated from China and then forcibly quarantined for several days (luckily they were not infected) went home to find $3,918 in bills.
If you are working-class person with a $10,000 deductible (not at all uncommon), going to the doctor simply because you have flu-like symptoms (which is how most cases of COVID-19 are experienced) could very easily send you into bankruptcy. If infected, millions of Americans are likely going to take their chances — and keep spreading the virus.
Indeed, U.S. health care is not only by far the worst system among rich countries, it is much worse than that of many middle-income or poorer countries when it comes to confronting a fast-moving epidemic. Distributing a vaccine is not that difficult of a task — World Health Organization workers managed it with smallpox even in desperately poor African countries in the 1970s. You just round up everyone, and give out the shot. But that will be a heavy lift indeed with a health care system geared above all to price-gouge sick people out of as much money as possible. While in theory the government could stand up a one-time free (or cheap) vaccination program, the administration has already ruled that out. "We can’t control that price because we need the private sector to invest," said HHS Secretary Alex Azar. That very likely means an eyewateringly-expensive vaccine that tens of millions can't get — we've seen what rapacious pharma companies do with insulin. (Speaking of vaccines, as Ryan Grim points out at The Intercept, Joe Biden voted against a Bernie Sanders amendment to force drug companies to provide drugs funded by public research at a reasonable price.)
It's worth pointing out again that if we had Medicare-for-all, these concerns would vanish at a stroke. People experiencing symptoms would feel free to seek medical care without worrying about breaking the bank, and a vaccine could be distributed by the government through hospitals and clinics at no cost to patients.
But there are still further problems. The United States is one of only a handful of countries (almost all of them desperately poor) with no national sick leave program, which means many workers who come down with COVID-19 will be forced to choose between starving or spreading the disease. Food service workers are especially unlikely to have sick leave from their employers, and are generally not paid well either. So-called "gig economy" companies naturally provide no sick leave either. In China, food delivery services have been critical for feeding cities under lockdown, but in America they are likely to become just another vector of infection.
Finally, there is conservative ideology. As I have written, the Trump administration — under the influence of conservative fanatics like Mick "The Knife" Mulvaney — has deliberately devastated the government's pandemic response capacity. He's cut key personnel, slashed funding, and made sure thousands more Americans have been thrown off their insurance. And while Trump is certainly the most incompetent president in American history, his style of government is not at all out of keeping with typical Republican rule. As Thomas Frank writes in his book The Wrecking Crew, for decades GOP rule has meant rampant corruption and disastrous incompetence. When a Republican is in the White House, unqualified cronies end up in charge of federal emergency management, and American cities and towns end up ruined. Even today, the Trump regime is doing its level best to kick as many people off their health insurance as possible — the Supreme Court just announced it would hear the latest Republican attempt to destroy the Affordable Care Act through judicial rule-by-decree.
The conservative movement has served like a bath of hydrofluoric acid on the quality, competence, and basic decency of American institutions. Republicans have all but posted up signs everywhere saying "epidemics welcome here." So now they are resorting to the only thing they know how to do really well — lying, concocting conspiracy theories and blaming Democrats and the media for any bad news. It does not bode well.
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'IMMIGRATION FOR DUMMIES' -- by Activated Head of Fatherland Security, Kevin K. McAleenan
"So...What I did was I worked really hard with Trump administration to make draconian changes to immigration policies that creates bottlenecks, backlogs, and a HUGE increase in detention rates. So...We did this despite knowing that our lack of capabilities could only lead to greatly overcrowded facilities (concentration camps, if you prefer); poor conditions; human rights abuses against children, refugees, and migrants of color; lasting traumatic damage done to the children; vastly increased costs to the American taxpayer; the demoralization, desensitization, destabilization, depletion and destruction of our vital government workforce securing our borders and dealing with immigration. So...Just to be clear here, at the end of the day, the only goal was to extort money from Congress by torturing children and innocent people we hold hostage. Call it kidnapping if you want. So...Then we take the money and hand it over to our crony friends running the "detention centers" that they may profit from all this misery! So...You can see how our diabolical plan worked to perfection, we got our ransom money for CBP. So...That's why I'm working with my Republican cohorts in Congress to run the same scam again for ICE! So...Yes, we were experiencing difficulties achieving the profit margins anticipated with our wall street, but that open-ended venture continues to pay dividends for our money men and sycophants, as well!"
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of crackpot conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of greed, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of plutocrats, the party of corruption, the party of anti-democracy, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their pact with the Devil.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance.
In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump left office, one out of every 800 Americans had died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 400,000 fatalities, as many American casualties as WWII. It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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@billyrubin2001 ~ Agree. Republicans are all about wrecking government, making it work for themselves and their wealthy elite cronies, instead of making it work for the American people.
GOP = Grifters Over People
Republican use obstructionism as a means to gain power, and power as a means to further their corruption. The Republicans party is composed of grifters, grafters, white supremacists, Christian nationalists, lunatics, assorted bigots, and the gullible sheep they prey upon. It's ideology is no longer conservatism, but fascism and nihilism. It traffics in lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy.
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
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In a 10-Day Span, ICE Flew This Detainee Across the Country — Nine Times
Even as the Trump administration discouraged the public from flying, Sirous Asgari was shuttled from Louisiana to Texas, New Jersey and back on chartered flights full of migrants. He still hasn’t been deported.
by Yeganeh Torbati, Dara Lind and Jack Gillum March 27, 10:33 a.m. EDT
Less than two weeks ago, the Trump administration urged Americans to avoid nonessential travel to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Major airlines slashed their routes. All the while, Sirous Asgari took nine different flights around the country.
None of them was by choice.
Asgari bounced around on chartered jets from Louisiana to Texas to New Jersey — a circuitous journey arranged by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which has custody of the 59-year-old Iranian man. The federal agency continues to shuffle detainees around the nation, exposing them and others to possible infection.
As panic grows inside ICE facilities over the potential spread of the virus, some immigration attorneys said they were promised by local ICE officials last week that detainee transfers would halt temporarily. But the government has continued the practice anyway, data and interviews show.
In fact, two air charter companies known to be used by ICE continue to fly between airports known for detainee transfers, a ProPublica analysis of flight records shows. The charter companies, Swift Air and World Atlantic Airlines, have operated at least 16 flights between those locations since March 16 — the date when U.S. officials implored travelers to avoid discretionary travel and not gather in groups larger than 10 people. Asgari boarded at least one commonly used Swift Air passenger jet, a Boeing 737.
ProPublica’s findings raise new concerns as health experts urge minimizing travel. Once a coronavirus infection takes hold in a detention center — often a cramped facility with limited health care — experts and detainees alike worry that its spread becomes inevitable. (ICE has announced two confirmed cases of COVID-19 among those in its custody, both in facilities in New Jersey, and three cases among ICE detention staff, in New Jersey, Colorado and Texas. Late on Thursday, a federal judge ordered the release of 10 ICE detainees held in New Jersey jails where COVID-19 cases had been confirmed.)
The risk goes beyond the 38,000-plus ICE detainees. It extends to detention center guards, people at local jails used for ICE detention and pretrial detainees who haven’t been convicted of a crime.
“It’s quite dangerous” to fly detainees around while much of the country is locked down, said Dr. Robert Greifinger, a New York physician who used to inspect ICE facilities as a Department of Homeland Security contractor. “In many states, particularly the states along the coasts, there are stay-at-home rules, and for ICE to be moving people to those areas or from those areas is dangerous not just for the detainees but for the staff and the communities into which the detainees are brought.”
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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'Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America' by Kathleen Belew (Harvard University Press, 2018)
The movement “brought together members of the Klan, militias, radical tax resisters, white separatists, neo-Nazis, and proponents of white theologies such as Christian Identity, Odinism, and Dualism” (ix). What was it about the movement that brought these ideologies together?
The promise of violence — rather, the promise that members would get to inflict violence on other people. Belew writes that as the white power movement matured, it became more violent, and “[as] violence came to the fore of the movement, distinctions among white power factions melted away” (60). Belew calls this process “violent community formation” (34). Yet as a social movement, Belew makes a distinction between the white power movement’s “revolutionary violence” and the Ku Klux Klan’s “vigilante violence.”
Vigilante violence “served to constitute, shore up, and enforce systemic power” (106). Given that the U.S. government has a long history of “defending vigilante violence by refusing to enforce the law” (99), law enforcement inaction and vigilante violence may be understood together as a case of one hand washing the other. Revolutionary violence, however, sought to overthrow the state. It is the white power movement’s goal of overthrowing the federal government that sets it apart in the history of white supremacy in the U.S.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth and justice--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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Instead of insuring adequate testing, contact tracing, surveillance testing, medical equipment, staff, and medical supplies like PPE -- as just as critically, if not more, public adherence to pandemic guidelines like wearing masks and social distancing -- Toxic Trump and Republican leaders pushed strongly for reopening the economy too soon, against CDC guidelines, despite the grave warnings of scientists, experts, and doctors; despite common sense. Most Republican governors took the Putin puppet President's lead, not taking a deadly global pandemic seriously. We need to shutdown, again, and stay that way until we have testing and other capabilities, and we have the current raging spread back under FIRM control. Which means back to isolation for the American public. No sea cruise. No airline flight. No theme park. No barber or beauty salon. No tattoo. No school. Just stay at home. Again. All only because of criminal negligence by Republican leaders and some Americans who just had to be stupid, inconsiderate, and heartless. The whole nation suffers and mourns; the innocents punished alongside the perpetrators of this insanity.
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TRUM_PLANNED_EMIC!
Given plenty of advance warnings about COVID-19, Toxic Trump chose not to heed the sound advice provided. We could have been Taiwan, with a comparative 100 deaths in the U.S.; or South Korea, with a comparative 1500 deaths here, after adjusted for population size. Taiwan had just seven deaths; South Korea less than 300. We got over 130,000 deaths already, with the count still rapidly rising, while we remain, still, firmly mired in the first wave of the disease. Even worse, after six months, we STILL lack the adequate testing and rational national response to contain the disease.
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You don't get denialism without nihilism. As life-long conservative Bill Kristol astutely pointed our just recently in a tweet, the Republican party has embraced nihilism. Republicans still labeling COVID-19 a "hoax;" Republicans still refusing to wear masks or social distance after over half-a-million American fatalities from COVID-19; Congressional Republicans obstructing a COVID-19 stimulus bill certain to pass just to delay vital and urgently needed relief to Americans desperate for help; Republican governors dropping mask mandates and all restrictions on businesses, heedless of rising case counts in their states and deadly new variants of the virus; and Republican leaders continuing to push the Big Lie that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen without evidence and in disregard of plentiful evidence and facts to the contrary, even AFTER their Big Lie incited a terrorist attack by a mindless Republican mob against the nation's Capitol in insurrection against the government, attempting to overturn a legitimate election, sieging, storming, sizing, sacking, defiling, defacing and disgracing America's citadel of, and temple to, democracy--these are all prime examples of nihilism.
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"How you choose to take my affirmative answer is beyond anyone else's control." Bustos did repeatedly respond in the affirmative to the second question. The first question was also answered if you were following along. Trump's illegally using the AUMF as a basis for the authorization. Doesn't matter if we repeal the AUMF, if Trump is only going to break the law, anyway. Do you not get that?
As a progressive, very much want the AUMF repealed, but these are sticky, complicated issued involving national security that could hinder future Presidents from protecting us. This is something that needs to be examined closely and thoughtfully debated, not just 'yes' or 'no' answers in a rush to judgment to please some TV anchor.
***MEDIA FAIL*** -- Questions were answered, just not with a 'yes' or 'no.' CNN making mountains out of molehills, trying to stir controversy, jack ratings, mesmerize the masses for more mega-moola. It's all about the "SOUND BITE," right, CNN, not the substance of the issue here? Fact is, DCCC and AOC may have their differences, but the common ground between them is vast, far more than any petty disagreements. We all know that, but CNN not going to let the truth get in the way of fabricating a fiction for followers of such foolery.
DCCC's Bustos didn't do herself any favors, either. We expect politicians to speak diplomatically and to parse their words to please the largest proportion of people. However, here the affirmative admission was made in both instances, anyway, so a simple straightforward 'yes' answer to both questions would be appropriate, reflecting both on her and Democrats favorably. Instead, Bustos comes off as being less than honest, reflecting poorly on both herself and Democrats--pointlessly, for no good reason, whatsoever! In fact, she was being honest, if also reserved and reticent, in her answers.
The bottom line here is the reporter kept redundantly asking the same questions, despite being supplied the same AFFIRMATIVE answers each time. That's on the reporter, not the DCCC chair. Doggedly determined to dig dirt and dominate, but denied going down in the ditch, diatribe dip at the CNN desk deserved to be dangled and dissed.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or "the Wall") is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle's name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called "leaders" in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. has ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 -- than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to--and a barrier against--our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It's design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge--and help teach--people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see...if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
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Before U.S. gun manufacturers bought off the NRA and the GOP to create a bogus political issue and instill fear, mass shootings weren't a thing in America and schools were much safer. Today, over 393 MILLION guns are owned by citizens, which translates to about 120 guns for every 100 citizens. A record number, 40 MILLION, were sold in 2020 alone. However, over 2/3 of Americans do NOT own ANY firearm; less than a third of U.S. citizens own all the firearms, which amounts to a whopping third of all civilian firearms owned in the world are in the U.S. The sheer number of firearms present in the U.S. makes accidental gun injury and death, rampant gun violence, and mass shootings a certainty. Ironically, the inescapable truth is that those purchasing and owning guns, mostly for self defense, are making America less safe for everyone.
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Republicans can't handle reality, would rather traffic and believe in lies. The GOP has become a fascist, nihilistic cult that would destroy democracy and America if given sufficient opportunity. And THAT, folks, is your reality check.
What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil. They are either actively or silently complicit in fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorist violence, Reich-wing insurrection, and Reich-wing undermining of our democracy and Constitution.
It's crystal clear that Trump, Boebert, Greene, Gosar and other Republicans like them are fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorism. The GOP has become radicalized to such an extent that it has essentially become a fascist terrorist organization, with members that fantasize and promote violence against their fellow Americans. While those Republican elected officials must be condemned and sanctioned, they are only a symptom of the disease poisoning a third of America, the most visible part of the cancer infecting our nation.
The GOP has been mainstreaming radicalization of their voter base for decades, ALLOWING Reich-wing media and Reich-wing demagogues to take over the party, to the point it has become a fascist, nihilistic cult. Because just as now, Republican politicians and their plutocratic masters have always seen it as the ends justifying whatever means to win power. Remember the Republican Tea Party? This catastrophe with the GOP didn't start with Trump, who just exploited what Republicans had already built.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle for graft and to grift their voters and us taxpayers. You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A quarter of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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@trueblue9480 ~ Freedom of speech is a right in America, insofar that the government may not restrict an individual's free speech. But your employer or any other private entity may. As with all rights, restrictions and responsibilities are attached to it. We do well to protect it, by not taking it for granted, and by not abusing it. For example, it can be abused by spreading falsehoods, unwarranted fears, and hatred.
As oft said, opinions are like assholes--everyone has them. But opinions are not all equal. There are informed opinions, there are ignorant opinions, and some that are of varying combination. Yes, opinions can be right or wrong, but should we not change our opinions when and where shown wrong? Should we not all strive to hold well-reasoned opinions, based upon fact and evidence? Is it not wise to withhold opinion when not sufficiently knowledgeable about a matter?
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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Dr. Fauci is being disingenuous and misleading, at times dissembling. That's very, very worrisome. 'Unfortunate' is not a word that helps anyone. It doesn't produce testing capabilities, ventilators, facilities, medical equipment and personnel that will be in very short supply. Crowded airports spreading disease, exacerbating pandemics are completely preventable by the government. You don't blame the passengers, shirking his own administration's responsibility for that fatal fiasco or this continuing deadly Trump and Republican debacle. Dr. Fauci is not telling us anything other experts outside the federal government haven't telling us already--he is following, not leading. Dr. Fauci keep preaching social distancing and being smart, but fails to set the appropriate examples for the American people--that's not a leader, nor does it inspire respect for him, or confidence his message will be taken seriously. If you're an epidemologist, you're not allowing yourself to be regularly broadcast appearing in a crowded cluster in the middle of a sweeping pandemic ignoring your own sound advice--going against your Hippocratic Oath.
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The Molotov cocktail recipe:
Mix in equal parts of mental illness, willful ignorance, fear, hate, decades of 24/7 Reich-wing disinformation, misinformation, and crackpot conspiracy programming by Republican politicians, media and demagogues, add supplemental divisive Russian propaganda attacking and weakening America, stir well, garnish with COVID-19, and you have the mindless Republican cult descending into fascism, committing terrorism and sedition. Then, grab a stiff drink--you'll need it.
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--Instead of striving to bring out the best in people, Toxic Trump reveled in bringing out the very worst.
--Instead of uniting the country, Toxic Trump sought to divide us.
--Instead of abiding by and honoring our Constitution and the rule of law, Toxic Trump held them in disdain, disregarded them, and degraded them, running the most corrupt administration in U.S. history.
--Instead of strengthening democracy and our cherished institutions, Toxic Trump worked to diminish and destroy them, inciting a terrorist insurrection against his own government, attempting a coup to steal an election.
--Instead of insuring a peaceful transfer power after losing the election, Toxic Trump kept insisting against all evidence that he won, continuously repeating the Big Lie that resulted in the terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol.
--Instead of confronting a serious threat to Americans with a deadly global pandemic, Toxic Trump lied to the American people about it, ignored it, and refused to take any responsibility for his gross homicidal criminal negligence that resulted in one out of every 800 Americans dying from COVID-19--over 400,000 American lives in just ten months, as many casualties as all of WWII.
--Instead of confronting the ever-increasing existential crisis from climate change and its harmful effects, Toxic Trump gutted regulations and withdrew from the voluntary Paris climate accords, exacerbating the problem and poisoning citizens.
--Instead of creating jobs, Toxic Trump was the first President since the Great Depression to preside over a net loss of jobs over his tenure.
--Instead of lowering the national deficit, Toxic Trump increased it from 19.2 trillion to 27 trillion----the highest rate of increase of ANY President, ever.
--Instead of helping out the least among us, Toxic Trump widened the wealth and income disparity gap. 50% of his $1.9 trillion tax cut went to the top 5%; 65% went to the top 20%, with the top 40% benefiting next most, and the bottom 20% only receiving 1%. Moreover, his huge tax cut for big corporations and the wealthy left a legacy adding $1,000,000,000,000 a year to the federal deficit while lowering federal revenue.
--Instead of building bridges, humane immigration reform, and infrastructure, Toxic Trump built walls, cages, and concentration camps, separated children from mothers, allowed American infrastructure to decline and deteriorate, rejected economic opportunity.
--Instead of raising our standing and security in the world, Toxic Trump lowered and weakened it.
--Instead of draining the swamp, Toxic Trump turned it into a noxious overflowing sewer of Republican corruption.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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Trump excluded the Afghan government from his surrender negotiations with the Taliban, legitimizing the Taliban by making a separate peace deal with them and delegitimizing the government we worked so long and hard at so much cost to build and support, while releasing 5,000 Taliban prisoners which included the worst of the worst and allowed them to return to fight against Afghan and U.S. forces, while agreeing to withdraw all U.S. forces by May 1, 2021, guaranteeing failure. Previously, in 2018, Trump had Pakistan release the current leader of the Taliban, who had been their top military leader. Moreover, Trump eviscerated the refugee program for Afghan and Iraqi allies visa programs, creating a huge backlog over four years. A federal judge even ruled Trump's delaying of those visas illegal. Furthermore, Trump abandoned are Kurdish allies in Syria and Iraq. Trump and Pompeo could hardly have screwed up our foreign policy any worse, and the damage they did will take decades to repair. But the Republican cult morons are too stupid to know and too stupid to care; they'll just deny and try to shift blame, as usual.
Liz Cheney's right----it didn't have to happen this way: her father, Dick Cheney, and George Bush were responsible for the deterioration of affairs in Afghanistan by diverting troops and resources to conduct an illegal invasion of Iraq on the false premise of WMD and Iraq harboring terrorists. The situation in Afghanistan never recovered from that fatal mistake by Cheney and Bush; it allowed the Taliban to regroup and come back bigger and stronger than ever. Cheney and Bush's illegal war in Iraq also resulted in the emergence of ISIS.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Republican cult morons rail against the very "elite" they keep voting for, who give tax cuts to the rich and have created the greatest income inequality and wealth disparity in American history.
Why? They are driven by the divisive fear and bigotry programmed into them 24/7 by the Reich-wing media and propaganda owned or funded by the plutocracy. It's absolutely Orwellian, and it began around 1984 in America. What is witnessed now is just the rotten results from the poisoned tree bearing fruition. It's the disease killing America that existed long before COVID-19, and which is likely to persist long after.
Republican cult going to believe what the Republican cult wants to believe, whatever the truth, whatever proof, whatever anybody says. "Healing" the country means deprogramming the 30-40% of Americans deep in cultdom. That needs to be recognized, acknowledged, and acted upon if we truly wish to revive the patient, America, and restore it to glory.
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TRUM_PLANNED_EMIC!
Given plenty of advance warnings about COVID-19, Toxic Trump chose not to heed the sound advice provided. We could have been Taiwan, with a comparative 100 deaths in the U.S.; or South Korea, with a comparative 1500 deaths here, after adjusted for population size. Taiwan had just seven deaths; South Korea less than 300. We got over 125,000 deaths already, with the count still rapidly rising, while we remain, still, firmly mired in the first wave of the disease. Even worse, after six months, we STILL lack the adequate testing and rational national response to contain the disease.
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You don't get denialism without nihilism. As life-long conservative Bill Kristol astutely pointed our just recently in a tweet, the Republican party has embraced nihilism. Republicans still labeling COVID-19 a "hoax;" Republicans still refusing to wear masks or social distance after over half-a-million American fatalities from COVID-19; Congressional Republicans obstructing a COVID-19 stimulus bill certain to pass just to delay vital and urgently needed relief to Americans desperate for help; Republican governors dropping mask mandates and all restrictions on businesses, heedless of rising case counts in their states and deadly new variants of the virus; and Republican leaders continuing to push the Big Lie that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen without evidence and in disregard of plentiful evidence and facts to the contrary, even AFTER their Big Lie incited a terrorist attack by a mindless Republican mob against the nation's Capitol in insurrection against the government, attempting to overturn a legitimate election, sieging, storming, sizing, sacking, defiling, defacing and disgracing America's citadel of, and temple to, democracy--these are all prime examples of nihilism.
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Republican SCOTUS, Republican politicians and Republican voters want to pretend systemic racism doesn't exist in America....so they can keep perpetuating it!
Meet the new ugly face of white supremacy in America! Funny--it looks just like the old ugly face. Except this time they got their Imperial Wizard installed as Chief Jester of the Supreme Court, where he magically declared racism somehow no longer a problem in America, paving the way for thousands of new Jim Crow laws and egregious gerrymandering suppressing and disenfranchising millions of American voters. Of course, harsh realities will continue to exist irrespective of any blind eye or pretentious, capricious edicts by some Supreme Court. And Roberts' conservative SCOTUS decisions only confirm how the white supremacist problem and its perpetual "fix" on the American judicial branch and justice system has never gone away, as America continues to struggle with overcoming a racist history of colonialism, slavery, and discrimination.
"...we must recognize that one of the two political parties is routinely engaged in sabotaging free elections with voter-suppression efforts aimed at the minority voters it cannot win over at the ballot box. These anti-democratic power grabs became a GOP staple decades before Donald Trump, culminating in the actions of a George W. Bush–anointed chief justice, John Roberts, whose Supreme Court shredded the Voting Rights Act of 1965. As Roberts famously put it in his 2007 opinion for the plurality, “The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.” Since then, discrimination on the basis of race has only expanded in states like Georgia and Florida, where Black voting rights have been cavalierly undermined and trashed." ~ Frank Rich, November 9, 2020 (Written well before the rash of new Jim Crow laws now being proposed and passed by Republicans in many states.)
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of conspiracy theories, the party of hate, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of corruption, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, don't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their deal with the Devil.
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@adiinbar993 ~ All those words to defend your reply, and you are still miscomprehending my comment, even after it was explained to you. It appears you are being deliberately obtuse and choosing to argue for arguments sake.
The comment is about the contrast between the conduct of the judges who presided over the two trials. Apparently you wish to blind yourself to that, refusing to acknowledge it, which only demonstrates your own twisted mindset.
Both trials involved people getting shot and claims of self defense by the defendants. Both trials are topical and have been receiving national attention. The particulars in any two cases are never exactly the same. My comment would still apply had the two criminal trials not shared any similarities as far as charges, defenses, and particulars, which is another thing you are either incapable of or unwilling to comprehend, based upon your inability or unwillingness to understand the plain meaning of my comment.
It was a valid observation how most of the same people trying to make Rittenhouse a hero were defending the McMichaels and casting Arbery as the villain and in the wrong. Understandably, you don't wish to talk about that.
Aside from the comparison of judges in the two trials, nearly all of those defending Rittenhouse and the McMichaels are clearly doing so out of political interests. For me, this isn't about any political issue, but about justice and what is right and wrong. I watched both trials, saw all the evidence, and am familiar enough with the case law in each state to draw my own considered judgment. Now, you may think that what Rittenhouse did was proper and the verdict reached the correct one, but to many people, Rittenhouse is the new O.J. Simpson. You don't have to agree with that, you don't have to like it, but that's just the way it's going to be. Personally, am quite confident that history will concur with my own views on these matters.
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To those not wearing masks, social distancing, or following guidelines: Your willful ignorance does not mask your wanton disregard for human life, your appalling lack of humanity and humility, your supremely selfish inconsideration of others. Despite absolutely loathing wearing a mask, it's also the reason it's worn. The sooner we all start wearing masks, social distancing, and taking this deadly pandemic seriously, the sooner we get to take them off, the less time they'll need to be worn. Not to mention, the sooner we can go back to a normal that is more like normal, the sooner we can get our jobs back and our economy rolling, again.
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'IMMIGRATION FOR DUMMIES' -- by Activated Head of Fatherland Security, Kevin K. McAleenan
"So...What I did was I worked really hard with Trump administration to make draconian changes to immigration policies that creates bottlenecks, backlogs, and a HUGE increase in detention rates. So...We did this despite knowing that our lack of capabilities could only lead to greatly overcrowded facilities (concentration camps, if you prefer); poor conditions; human rights abuses against children, refugees, and migrants of color; lasting traumatic damage done to the children; vastly increased costs to the American taxpayer; the demoralization, desensitization, destabilization, depletion and destruction of our vital government workforce securing our borders and dealing with immigration. So...Just to be clear here, at the end of the day, the only goal was to extort money from Congress by torturing children and innocent people we hold hostage. Call it kidnapping if you want. So...Then we take the money and hand it over to our crony friends running the "detention centers" that they may profit from all this misery! So...You can see how our diabolical plan worked to perfection, we got our ransom money for CBP. So...That's why I'm working with my Republican cohorts in Congress to run the same scam again for ICE! So...Yes, we were experiencing difficulties achieving the profit margins anticipated with our wall street, but that open-ended venture continues to pay dividends for our money men and sycophants, as well!"
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Stopping the issues? So we should stop immigration? Stop health care? Stop addressing climate change? What she was talking about was addressing the root causes of some of the problems, which has long been a central tenet of progressive policies. Williamson is hardly the only progressive candidate in the race for 2020, so you would be wrong on that point. She does articulate the issues intelligently and passionately (as do some of the others), but the problem with Williamson is her New Age snake oil beliefs, which do not inspire confidence in her judgment. In recent interviews, she tried to play it coy, having it both ways, but people with depression don't get cured by just thinking positive thoughts. She enabled anti-vaxxers, and she continues to lend credence to their dangerous, illogical beliefs. No thanks! Plenty of true progressives to choose from who dedicated their lives to helping the disadvantaged, not selling crystals to gullible people for a living like Williamson.
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Republicans are willing to gain and hold power at any cost...even if the price is our democracy!
Farmer wakes up one morning, goes outside to milk his cows, and discovers his entire herd is missing! So, he then walks over nest door to where the Republican cult lives, notices them grinding a whole bunch of beef into hamburger, and asks them, "Did you see what happened to all my cows?"
Republican cult: "Yeah, they jumped over the moon."
Farmer: "Do you have any actual evidence of that?"
Republican cult: "No, because they landed on the dark side, and you can't see them over there. But we're conducting a bunch of investigations and fraudits, and we're confident evidence will soon emerge to prove it!"
Farmer: "You know, that sounds like a load of manure!"
Republican cult: "Well, that's what we all choose to believe!"
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For three years, Republicans have propped up and protected a racist, corrupt, sociopathic narcissistic menace to society, gaslighting and covering up Traitor Trump crimes, ineptness, and incompetence. Republicans don't really care about our country; time and again, for decades now, they have put their politics and greed for power above the welfare of this nation. The destructiveness of GOP politics on American government began under Nixon, but starting with Reagan it became a Republican selling point. Conservatism won't die, but Republicanism has become a zero-sum game for losers. This incarnation of the GOP needs to die, or it will be the end of American greatness.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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@optoms1178 ~ If you are using "institution" to mean those serving the Royal family and its titular head, then would disagree, and ask for evidence. If by "institution" you mean the national government--Parliament and the Prime Minister it selects, which in ceremonial language ostensibly serves the monarch, but in actual practice serves for and at the pleasure of the nation's citizens--then you would be mostly correct, and would agree.
Queen Elizabeth has little power over the government, in which she serves a largely ceremonial role, albeit even in government, she does wield a great deal of influence. In political affairs, Queen Elizabeth has chosen to take a neutral hands-off approach over her long tenure, preferring to let the political parties and government sort things out for themselves. Over several sovereign reigns, the UK government has seized power for itself, and successive sovereign heads have essentially willingly acquiesced, accepting a ceremonial role and granting the real power to govern to the voters and their elected officials. I consider that admirable and a good thing, a win for democracy.
Conversely, have seen no evidence that the Queen does not have any control over staffing and direction of Royal family affairs. If an employee serving the Royal family is disrespectful, abrasive, unruly, incompetent, makes poor decisions, and/or commits untoward acts either on or off the job, then a Queen or King has no power or influence to discipline, demote, or fire them? For example, if employees or family members exhibited racist behavior or attitudes, there is nothing the Queen can do? If an employee, the Queen couldn't terminate their services? If a family member, the Queen couldn't council them, and if recalcitrant, continuing to engage in bad behavior, publicly discredit them?
In such matters, I suspect the Queen has much more power and influence than you are willing to give credit. But I remain always open to being corrected and, in fact, encourage it, welcome it. So, look forward to any factual evidence being presented to the contrary. If the problem is the "institution" rather than the titular head of the monarchy, then we should focus on how it can be improved, or how more power can be shifted back to the Queen that it can be held properly to account. If responsibility lies with the Queen--as I believe it does--then blame must be laid squarely at her feet.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of conspiracy theories, the party of hate, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of corruption, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their deal with the Devil.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law?
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Trump and Republicans are like Jack and his band of boys in 'Lord of the Flies' who went native and turned barbaric. Ralph, Simon, Piggy and the other group of boys represent the rest of us who value civilization and order. Just as Jack and his band turned savage, killing and cannibalizing their fellow students on the deserted island they landed upon, Trump and Republicans, manically obsessed with power, money and vanity, have also turned savage, rejecting responsibility, reason, civility, morality, and science, killing their fellow Americans and cannibalizing our government. Except there will be no adults arriving to save those of us trying to do the right thing, like in the classic tale. We are the adults, and it is strictly up to us to save ourselves and this country from the fascistic, nihilistic impulses of Trump and Republicans.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
― Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again." ― Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney
More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Tucker Carlson and Faux News: mainstreaming American fascism and deadly lies, killing America and Americans purely for profit.
America's enemies don't need to spread disinformation, doubt, discord, and division to weaken America, kill Americans--Republican politicians, Reich-wing demagogues, Faux News, OAN, Newsmax, Breitbart and the rest of the Reich-wing media do that so effectively for them, already. More Americans need to realize that the GOP has abdicated it's duty as loyal opposition, and that its prioritization of party over country and welcoming embrace of violent radical Reich-wing extremists diminishes both our government and our national security, endangering ALL Americans, as well as weakening and endangering America itself.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over four decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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Whataboutism, projectionism, obfuscations, deflections, deceptions, ad hominem, Big Lies, disinformation, misinformation and other assorted deceits have been a hallmark of the Republican cult for decades, now. Therefore, the latest example from Republicans should come as no surprise--but S.E. Cupp is right in calling it out, as we all must every time Republicans engage in such dishonest, highly destructive behavior.
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“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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With the Trump administration's immigration policy, it was always about the cruelty. Nevertheless, the title of this VICE piece is misleading and lacks objectivity. While ashamed of the way America has treated migrants, the responsibility for the massacre of these migrants lies with those who did the killings in Mexico, not any immigration enforcement action in the U.S. This VICE title is also picking out an arbitrary point in a chain of events during this Guatemalan's life that ignores earlier and later decisions made by the man that were illegal and which were equally or greater causality of his death. Furthermore, he was apparently the only victim in the massacre there because of the Mississippi ICE raid.
Overall, this piece as a whole was also found to be somewhat slanted in its presentation, designed more to appeal to emotion than reason. It conflated a number of things together, selective in choosing some things for emphasis and largely ignoring other aspects. This story would have been better had it been about the complete life of the one migrant father, Edgar Lopez, or about all the lives affected by the massacre, or all the lives affected by the ICE raid. Instead, it is presented as a menagerie of bits and pieces of all three that doesn't fully do justice to any of them. Was left conflicted, because was both appreciative of the coverage and disappointed in it.
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
― Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a serious threat to our very security.
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again." ― Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney
More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They have essentially become a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Because humans have neglected to take aggressive action to curb our hydrocarbon usage and emissions, have refused to take climate change seriously, now what we are witnessing is a snowball effect, where the problem is exacerbated by fires burning in the Amazon, in Greece, in the western U.S. and Canada, raising temperatures and adding more CO2 and other greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. As the frozen tundra thaws, methane gases are being released, and as water bodies warm, methane hydrates formerly trapped at the bottom rise into the air, releasing even more methane gas. As more and more surface ice is lost on land and in the ocean, less sunlight is reflected back into space, causing more heat gain. Humans have set into motion a self-perpetuating loop; a cycle which we may well be powerless to stop, and which will destroy life on Earth as it has existed for millions of years.
What we are witnessing and experiencing is only just the beginning of the reckoning for human stupidity, greed, apathy, and short-sightedness. Pretty soon, with so many suffering, empathy will be in short supply. I fear what is to come for the human race, for our children, for their children, and all who follow after, and the sorrow I feel for them and our planet, for all that will be lost, overwhelms. Because this didn't have to happen. We knew decades ago that we were creating our own apocalypse, and took no more than token measures to stop it. And humans continue to dawdle, fiddling while the planet burns.
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@lbburgett ~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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@lbburgett ~The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or "the Wall") is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle's name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called "leaders" in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 -- than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to--and a barrier against--our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It's design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge--and help teach--people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see...if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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Rep. Cheney gave a powerful and defiant speech speaking truth to the dysfunctional Republican party to which she belongs, which has abdicated its duty to be LOYAL opposition----except for one thing. Republicans did not end communism in the former USSR or cause its dissolution. A consistent foreign policy by both Democratic and Republican leaders in the Executive Branch and Congress (and our NATO allies, as well) over decades played a role, but it was the work and decisions of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev that were the decisive factor and which deserve most credit. He instituted policies of glasnost and perestroika, changed Soviet law to allow other parties to compete against the Communist Party, motivated because he saw clearly that Russia was dysfunctional, its costly imperialism, political and economic structure moribund and detrimental to Russia's progress. For his courage and actions, for speaking the truth to the Russian people, Gorbachev paid a much higher price politically than is Liz Cheney currently, who is displaying the same kind of courage as he did.
Gorbachev received the Nobel Peace prize in 1990 for all that he did for Russia and ending the Cold War, and it is wrong for Cheney to falsely attribute all credit to her Republican party for the results largely due to his independent decisions, engaging in history revisionism for the benefit of her political party. Isn't that exactly why the GOP----and Liz Cheney----find themselves in their present predicament in the first place? So, it is heavily ironic that Cheney does not extend the same due for his bravery and patriotism in telling the truth to the Russian people that she is exhibiting telling the truth about the 2020 election to the American people. It is also heavily ironic that the credit she is falsely attributing to the Republican party for the USSR becoming more democratic comes at a time when the Republican party is corroding democracy and actively working to make America less democratic.
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Let's just call January 6 what it actually was -- a Republican smash and grab, an act of violent larceny against democracy and sedition employing domestic terrorism right out in open sight.
"Without accountability, an attempted autogolpe and insurrection is just practice."
"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ― Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
So, why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. Because our democracy, our institutions, and our very security is seriously endangered. And because rule of law and justice for all really does matter.
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You heard it here, folks...Trump hates himself! Publicly confesses his problems...that he's "a negative force, not a positive force." And, if you look at what he said, "he hurts the people of this great country." Furthermore, he acknowledges, "he should actually focus on his job, it would be a lot better if he did that he could straighten out some of the problems he has, and probably some of the problems he's caused." (Trump, answering questions, June 4. 2019)
Republican leadership: A contradiction in terms. See also, 'graft and corruption.'
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@alexseioo610 ~ So much ignorance about the UN, either fearing it as some kind of NWO boogeyman, or assigning it powers it does not have, disparaging and dismissive of it when it can't magically solve all of the world's problems. Tend to agree with your assessment, but find it somewhat cynical and overly broad. It is easy to feel helpless, fearful, dismissive and cynical. It is much harder to work together to build coalitions of righteous-minded people and nations, to strengthen the UN, so that we may more effectively treat and cure the maladies in the world where they exist, and when and where they should arise. The problems are complex, so we would do well to also keep in mind that there are often no easy answers, no quick, easy solutions. Not to sound like some guru, but the answer ultimately begins with each of us.
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It's good that Julius Jones, an innocent man, won't be executed, but the Republican Oklahoma governor refused to grant clemency, so he could still face decades behind bars, which is a travesty. It's also good that the prosecution is presenting a solid case against the three white men who lynched Ahmaud Arbery, but the fact that it even happened, that the defense lawyer is making racist arguments and using dog whistles, and that it took a video tape, public outcry, and months before deciding to prosecute is terrible. What is obvious from both cases is the systemic racism which still pervades America, which Republican leaders and Republican SCOTUS justice try to deny. What we have is a two-tier justice system----one for minorities and the poor, and one for Whites and the wealthy----that breeds injustice.
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GOP cult: “Democracy is great…only so long as we can subvert it with lies, cheating, a multitude of Jim Crow voter suppression laws, egregious gerrymandering, obstruction, coups, election interference, election fraud, sedition, insurrection and terrorism to gain power and maintain our corrupt, plutocratic, minority fascist rule!”
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"Peace is not a very big thing to ask for, is it?" ~ Fatima Gailani, Afghan activist and negotiator, pleading for continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan
It is when asking the Taliban, who do not seek peace or to bargain in good faith, but total domination once again. U.S. has spent 20 years and $2 trillion trying to achieve peace in Afghanistan, losing over 4000 American lives (military and civilian contractors), with tens of thousands of Americans wounded there.
"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials … have given Afghans little reason to support their government," Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the commander of U.S. forces in the country, wrote in a 2009 memorandum. "This crisis of confidence, coupled with a distinct lack of economic and educational opportunity, has created fertile ground for the insurgency."
That was 11 years ago, and little has changed since. Thought the invasion of Afghanistan by Bush was a mistake that would lead to a quagmire, and have been proven correct. Still, initially supported efforts to bring peace and stability there, along with basic human and civil-rights, because after invading felt we had an obligation to rebuild. However, while U.S. blunders there have contributed to a failure, Afghans are their own worst enemy, and no one can help them until enough of them are willing to help themselves.
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Worst economic downturn in American history, catastrophically botched COVID-19 pandemic response with over 160,000 senseless American deaths (at the time) . TWENTY straight weeks of over ONE MILLION new unemployment claims. Deaths projected to double by the end of year due to most corrupt, incompetent, racist, and ignorant President in U.S. history. A treasonous President that compromised himself with Russia, who refuses to hold the U.S. principle foreign adversary accountable for its attacks on America, who won't even speak out against Russian bounties on U.S. soldiers. Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy: "Toxic Trump is doing a helluva job!" Rabid right-wing cult media is DESTROYING America!
What's really confusing America is Newsmax, Faux News, and all the other rabid right-wing media outlets propagating and spreading disinformation. Without the supporting cast of willing supplicant proto-fascist right-wing media exploiting and profiting from them, the lies and distortions of Toxic Trump and Republicans would hold very little power, and could not persist.
Anyone really all that surprised that the CEO of Newsmax, Chris Ruddy, is a dishonest partisan hack with no character or integrity whatsoever? If so, that's only because you've never seen Newsmax.
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Because humans have neglected to take aggressive action to curb our hydrocarbon usage and emissions, have refused to take climate change seriously, now what we are witnessing is a snowball effect, where the problem is exacerbated by fires burning in the Amazon, in Greece, in the western U.S. and Canada, raising temperatures and adding more CO2 and other greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. As the frozen tundra thaws, methane gases are being released, and as water bodies warm, methane hydrates formerly trapped at the bottom rise into the air, releasing even more methane gas. As more and more surface ice is lost on land and in the ocean, less sunlight is reflected back into space, causing more heat gain. Humans have set into motion a self-perpetuating loop; a cycle which we may well be powerless to stop, and which will destroy life on Earth as it has existed for millions of years.
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@_loss_ ~ No, actually it is you who is being misled, Doc! Billionaires pay a fraction of the rate of taxes ordinary people do. You don't seem to understand how ordinary people spend most of their money on living expenses, while the super wealthy have far, far more disposable income. You don't seem to understand, either, how greater income equality benefits everyone----including the wealthy. Our economy would be stronger and more resilient were the wealthy to pay their fair share, including raising estate taxes.
Maybe you like how the wealthy and big corporations can move their money earned in the U.S. out of the U.S. to evade taxes, which weakens our own economy and forces ordinary citizen to pay more taxes. Personally, I think it's a crock. We are long overdue to get big money, corporate money and dark money out of politics, because it is corrupting and weakening our government, making it less responsive to the American people, and detrimental to all of our well-being in a myriad of ways.
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@WhoIsJohnGaltt ~ Your erroneous premise is that people are only motivated by greed, when that isn't true for everyone, and it may be just one motivating factor involved, and not necessarily even the predominating driving force. When too much is never enough, than unmitigated greed is detrimental to a society. It's OK to want a better life for yourself and your family. It's not OK to try to get out of paying your fair share of taxes when you're super wealthy.
Sen. Warren makes an excellent point. No person gets wealthy on their own. Some inherit wealth. Others attain wealth through inventions, investments and businesses, which rely upon the work of many others. Ordinary folks paid for most of the roads and all the other infrastructure that makes it possible for a relatively small few to attain great wealth. It is only just that ordinary folks are given their due.
Without question, Albert Einstein contributed far more to society than has Elon Musk. His net worth when he died would be equivalent to only $1 million in 2021 dollars. Others have also contributed greatly to society, without becoming super wealthy. Most people couldn't name the most wealthy people in the world from a couple of centuries ago. But we remember Edgar Allan Poe, who died penniless. We remember Thomas Jefferson, whose daughter had to sell off most of his estate to pay his debts. We remember many famous artists, musicians, and writers whose works still inspire people to this day who died paupers or with very little money. What inspired Einstein was not money, but a love of science. What inspired Rembrandt was not money, but a love of art.
~ "Conservatism is the endless, futile quest to justify greed." — Unknown author, evidently a derivative of this quote: "The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness." — John Kenneth Galbraith
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@WhoIsJohnGaltt ~ Gee, Doc, four replies from you, and not one of them actually refutes anything I said. Do you REALLY think that simplistic, ignorant, fallacious Reich-wing talking points are going to convince me, like "gubmint bad; billionaires good," that the super wealthy and large multinational corporations shouldn't pay their far share of taxes? If so, then you're not thinking, at all.
Apparently, you never had a family to support, so you spent your whole life just working for your own selfish interest. Apparently, you don't give anything to people on their birthdays or at Christmas, because you are all about greed, don't believe in thinking about or giving back to others. Apparently, you aren't Christian or much of a humanist, don't believe in helping out others in need. Apparently, you support no causes to benefit society. Apparently, you'd never occasionally help an old lady across the street, shovel the snow off the sidewalk off your neighbor's sidewalk who is old and infirm, etc., etc., because you're too much of a Scrooge and there is no money in it for you, since you're only motivated by greed. Have to feel kind of sorry for you, because there is something fundamentally missing in people like you.
Because you're apparently so greedy, selfish, and self-centered, you don't seem to understand that the government is all of us, not just you. That we all get a voice in deciding what we want government to do for us, not just the super wealthy making it work for them but not for the rest of us.
“Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a President and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country.” ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt
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@rockwithyou2006 ~ The 400 richest families in the U.S. — worth between $2.1 billion and $160 billion and representing the top 0.0002% of all taxpayers — paid an effective tax rate of just 8.2% between 2010 and 2018 (covering a period before the Trump tax cut for the rich), according to a new 2021 analysis. The average overall tax rate is 14%.
Yes, everyone pays capital gains, not just the wealthy. I sell my house and buy a new one that costs less, I pay tax on those capital gains. However, the rich receive a preferred rate on capital gains taxes, a rate lower than for other income. However, they don't pay taxes on capital gains until they sell those investments, so they can just hold onto blue chip stocks, for example, increasing their income while never paying a cent in taxes on any of it.
Moreover, they utilize loopholes in the tax laws to evade paying their fair share of taxes. Sure, in our progressive tax system, the rich are supposedly being taxed at a higher rate. But the real story is the EFFECTIVE tax rate, which provides the TRUE figure of how much the wealthy pay, which is often less than their employees, as some billionaires have already frankly admitted.
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@rockwithyou2006 ~ Sure, Doc, but first you got to explain, in explicit detail, why you're shilling for the ultra-wealthy, when you're obviously not in that class (because if you were in that class, you wouldn't need to ask such ignorant questions, you would know the answers already). The less taxes they pay, the more ordinary folks have to take up the slack. Why is it OK for billionaires to pay an effective tax rate of just 8.2%, when the average person is paying an effective tax rate of 14%? You're arguing against your own economic interests, and against the economic interests of the vast majority of Americans. And how does a system where the rich get richer, the middle class shrinks, and the poor get poorer benefit America? How does having billionaires and multinational corporation corrupting our government and getting an outsized voice over ordinary Americans benefit us?
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@rockwithyou2006 ~ So your argument is "don't make the ultra-wealthy pay their fair share of taxes because "gubmint." That has to be one of the stupidest excuses ever heard, and I don't think you're THAT stupid. I'm not buying that malarkey, so that doesn't explain why you're shilling for the ultra-wealthy and big corporation.
And, no, it doesn't follow that just because the ultra-wealthy and big corporations have to pay their fair share that automatically every one else's taxes get raised, too. In fact, just the opposite. You're engaging in fuzzy math. A lot of ordinary people will benefit from the reconciliation package, which is to be financed from making the ultra-wealthy and corporations pay their fair share of taxes. And that spending, as with the infrastructure package, adds jobs, boosts the economy, and increases quality of life overall for Americans. Over 2/3 of Americans support the programs in the reconciliation package. Most people understand the benefit to themselves and the country. When the economy rises and everyone is paying their fair share, government revenue increases, which allows taxes to remain stable or even be decreased for everyone. You seem to be arguing for Republican trickle-down economics, which has been tried several times now, and is a thoroughly discredited scam that mostly benefits only the ultra-wealthy and large corporations.
No, money is not not the "power" of ordinary folks living paycheck to paycheck; money is the "power" of the ultra-wealthy and big corporations that can buy off politicians. The real power of ordinary people is their vote.
We the people are the government. We choose who to represent us, who to lead us. It is we and our fellow citizens who make up the government. Choosing our representatives and leaders wisely would lead to reforms, an overturning of the horrendous Citizen's United SCOTUS decision, an end to the corrupting influence of big money in politics. Nothing wrong with groups of people, organizations, industries lobbying government; that is normal and we don't need to abolish it. They just can't be allowed to buy influence, corrupting our government and having an outsized voice that nullifies the voices of the American people.
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@apep7188 ~ Gee, Doc, the best you got is Whataboutism, using grossly inflated and fabricated allegations? That's only a tacit admission of defeat on your part, whether or not you're intelligent enough to grasp that fact. It appears you've been too programmed by the fascist Republican cult and Reich-wing media to think independently and objectively, sadly.
"As the filibuster has evolved from a rare practice that required holding the floor for extended periods into a routine 60-vote supermajority requirement, Senate leaders have increasingly used cloture motions as a regular tool to manage the flow of business, often even in the absence of a threatened filibuster. Thus, the presence or absence of cloture attempts is not necessarily a reliable indicator of the presence or absence of a threatened filibuster. Because filibustering does not depend on the use of any specific rules, whether a filibuster is present is always a matter of judgment."
"Use of the filibuster leveled off in the 1990s, then exploded in the final few years of George W. Bush's presidency when Democrats regained control of the Senate. And following Obama's election, Republicans kept right on filibustering again and again and again."
In fact, contrary to your bogus claim of only 240 filibusters until Toxic Trump, there were 248 filibuster / cloture motions due to Republicans in just Obama's first term, alone. And, while Democrats did away with the filibuster for judicial and administrative appointments because of Senate Republicans gross obstruction efforts under Obama, it was Republicans themselves who did away with the filibuster on Supreme Court nominations.
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@chanelnumba_5 ~ If you actually care, then why aren't you responding to the points and arguments presented to you? What is your solution? You don't offer any when asked. Why is that? Is it because it is a complex problem requiring a flexible, multi-tiered approach that doesn't punish immigrants and asylum seekers unjustly, that treats them humanely, and that addresses the root causes? How we treat immigrants and asylum seekers reflects on what America is as a nation, and who we Americans are as a people. Under Trump, that reflection was quite ugly.
Immigration is "illegal" to the same degree that traffic offenses are "illegal." In fact, most of those who have come seeking asylum (the vast bulk of immigration over the past several years) have followed the legal process. Moreover, it is not illegal to cross into the United States seeking asylum.
Do you seriously believe all those asylum seekers are safer in Mexico across the border among the coyotes and corrupt police there? Above the law is morality and humanity. But Trump didn't follow our immigration laws, which is why he was rebuked by the courts. Nor did he exercise morality and humanity in dealing with this issue. Trump's policy was to punish people of color seeking asylum here, to discourage them from exercising their legal right. Is that what you wish to defend, to perpetuate?
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@blazeroranger ~ No, we all know what Republicans did, Doc! You Elmer Fudd types are all alike: ignorant to the end, and proud of it. I'm not your enemy. Like it or not, you are your own worst enemy, but your ignorance prevents you from recognizing that fact. You're too stupid to even realize that the President of the U.S. does not control global commodities markets like oil, where prices can and do fluctuate widely depending upon numerous variables and factors outside of any U.S. politician's control. So, when the price of copper drops or rises, do you also ignorantly blame whomever is President? Thought that Republicans were for free markets, but you don't even know how the markets work!
"When President Bush – regarded as a pro-drilling and oilman – first took office in 2001, the US field production of crude oil stood at 5.8 million barrels per day (bpd). At the end of his first term in 2005, the production stood at 5.4 million bpd, with a low of 3.8 million bpd in August 2005. In 2008, at the end of his second term, the average production was around 5 million bpd.
President Obama, in contrast, presided over rising oil production in his first 7 years in office (from 2009 to 2016), an increase from 4.9 million bpd, when he took office, to 9.4 million bpd.
When President Bush started his first term, the benchmark price of Brent ranged around 30 dollars/barrel, which eventually decreased in the first few months. The WTI crude oil price ranged around $50-75 per barrel till the end of his first term. His second term witnessed a continued increase, with prices crossing $100 per barrel. During Obama’s first term, the prices increased further until the global financial crisis. In January 2009, it was $48 per barrel and touched $124 in April 2011. In the past few years, crude oil prices have experienced a free fall. From $110 per barrel in June 2014, prices dropped to around $29 in January 2016."
You do know that the price of gasoline is directly tied to the price of crude, don't you? January 2016 was the beginning of Obama's last year in office, and the price of gasoline had already dropped down well before Trump ever took office. So, Trump does not get credit for cheap gasoline, because it happened before he became President. The main reason that gasoline prices have stayed low over the past four years is that there is a glut of oil supply, along with lower demand, thanks in good part to the expanded use of green energy around the world. You do know how supply and demand works in the free market, don't you? Global inventory levels of crude have been at record highs, with many oil-producing nations trying to reduce that level.
But there is a cost to U.S. companies in the oil industry for that cheap gasoline, too. Over the past four years, a number of smaller oil and oil-related companies have gone under, with larger producers shutting down some wells that are no longer profitable to run, because it costs more to extract the oil than to leave it in the ground. And the precipitous drop in oil prices have also slashed profit margins for U.S. oil companies. Now, may personally like cheap gas and think that U.S. oil companies have for too long been gouging U.S. consumers to fatten their profits, but I also recognize that there are drawbacks to cheap oil that hurt the U.S., which is a major energy producer.
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation—only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regurgitation
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump’s COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration…
Now reaching vacation destination!
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“I'm not scared of the Maos and the Stalins and the Hitlers.
I'm scared of the thousands or millions of people that hallucinate them to be "authority", and so do their bidding, and pay for their empires, and carry out their orders.
I don't care if there's one looney with a stupid moustache. He's not a threat if the people do not believe in "authority".” ― Larken Rose
Setting aside the sleazy immoral Reich-wing grifters at the top -- people like Trump, Congressional Republicans, Reich-wing demagogues and media -- the rank-and-file of the GOP has become a fascist cult. To be clear, Trump did not create the cult, it existed before him. He merely served as a unifying figure they chose to rally around and worship as their fool's gold god. Trump appealed to their basest nature and told them what they wanted to hear. Now, those Reich-wing grifters may have cultivated their cult to exploit for their own greed, power and vanity, but at least to some extent the Republican cult in turn seeks to exploit the GOP for their own various misguided purposes. They CHOOSE to be willfully ignorant, to believe or espouse the lies, because as a political calculus they shortsightedly see it as expedient to their ends.
What must also be taken into consideration are the characteristics of a cult. Why do people join a cult? Why do they choose to remain in a cult? No need to go into detail; the answers are largely common knowledge or easily researched. But it should be pointed out that in a complex world, the simplistic and rigid beliefs embraced by cults can be very alluring, no matter how fantastical and removed from reality. It should also be acknowledged that the Republican cult is not a monolithic entity, but an amalgamation of sects, including White supremacists, Christian nationalists, libertarians, sovereign nationals, anarchists, tax resistors, Qanon and other extremist fringe groups. Of course, not every Republican is an extremist, a fascist, or untethered from reality. But this latter more benign group is nevertheless part of the fascist Republican cult, complicit in their support of the whole, whether through their silent acquiescence and votes or willing assistance.
It's a very dangerous feedback loop, a vicious circle, one that as it sinks further into depravity its threat correspondingly rises, for as the Republican cult has over time been becoming increasingly more radicalized, we witness the election of more radical politicians to represent them, more radicalized Reich-wing media and demagogues to feed them propaganda. While some Republicans are leaving the GOP and some others are speaking out and trying to save their party, they constitute a weak minority, unfortunately.
In a normal, sane world, the Republican cult would have ended or been marginalized after the Mueller Report, after Trump's Ukraine shakedown and impeachment, after Trump's horrendous handling of a deadly global pandemic, after his election defeat, or after January 6th and his second impeachment. But that hasn't happened. Instead, the Republican cult continues to become increasingly more radicalized and extreme. As President Biden says, "We are in a battle for the soul of this nation." And that battle is far from over.
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~ It's actually much, much worse. Republicans have been active participants in racist policies for decades, while willingly or silently complicit with dog whistles and courting of white supremacist voters. The whole GOP political machine has long been based upon exploiting fear and hate-mongering--and continues to rely upon racism, homophobia, misogyny, xenophobia, bigotry and other assorted ignorance.
It's not a rational or acceptable excuse, but it's one thing when a person in the majority has minority friends and genuinely didn't understand or realize how their attitude or words they've expressed can be taken as racist. It can be difficult and uncomfortable for someone opposed to racism who doesn't think of themselves as racist to discover and confront that they themselves have been infected with racism simply by growing up and living in a racist society. For such people, it's not the initial reflex denial that is of concern so much as if they then afterward use the opportunity to improve themselves--not just refraining from again using the same racist tropes, but acknowledging, accepting, and examining the basis within society and themselves, the thought process which provoked it, tackling the root of the problem.
It's a whole different thing when someone who is knowingly involved in perpetuating and promoting systemic racism denies the problem even exists. And the Senator from South Carolina, Lying Seed Graham Cracker, is certainly aware of the persistence of systemic racism in our society to which he has helped contribute and exacerbated. Graham Cracker is providing cover for racists and racism the same way Toxic Trump did, for the same reasons. Besides which, it was the Republican's own dirty playbook that Trump appropriated, anyway.
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@stephenfgdl ~ Had already seen how you conceded that there was systemic racism in America, Paul. Which was appreciated! However, systemic racism goes beyond any laws promoting or discouraging racism. In fact, racist or discriminatory laws and policies are a product or result of the systemic racism that had already existed, a manifestation or symptom of the disease. So, to insist on some kind of legal requirement to qualify as systemic racism is like putting the cart before the horse.
Not sure where you sourced your definition, which appear to be cherry-picked, because as commonly used, the term 'systemic' is a general word having a wide variety of applications, and is hardly constrained to only use involving the law or legal matters, with the term 'systemic racism' having its own specific derivative meaning:
systemic -- adjective -- relating to or involving a whole system ~ Oxford-Cambridge Dictionary
systemic racism -- noun -- policies and practices that exist throughout a whole society or organization, and that result in and support a continued unfair advantage to some people and unfair or harmful treatment of others based on race. ~ Oxford-Cambridge Dictionary
Unsure how you misread and misunderstood our comment, which was intended to provide you with additional perspective in the hope of enabling greater understanding. The point with Hitler was that systemic racism can exist legally in a society, NOT to suggest in ANY way that "anti-discrimination laws are wrong." Laws promoting civil equality are indeed helpful, but they aren't a cure, making systemic racism somehow magically disappear, because the problem is rooted much deeper than in just our laws; it's also entrenched in our society. You stated that "if you have laws that promote civil equality" then "there is no systemic racism," while conceding that the "U.S. is racist and has a long way to go...to catch up to its laws." Which is self-contradictory and unwittingly underscores the point about how systemic racism can exist even in the presence of civil rights laws.
The Jim Crow-era voter suppression laws being considered and/or passed by Republican legislatures in a whole slew of states--not just Georgia--are just one symptom of the disease that has existed since America began, not to be confused as a deciding factor or basis upon determining whether or not systemic racism still exists. Your analogy using crime is flawed because, for example, while bribery and graft can be illegal in a country, systemic corruption can still exist. Merely because the U.S. has laws against shooting people unless in self-defense doesn't negate the systemic problem with gun violence here. The presence of laws combatting a systemic problem is actually as much or more evidence that the systemic problem exists--rather than an indicator to be arbitrarily taken that the systemic problem is solved.
Am encouraged and heartened by your open mind and curiosity, and hope that you go beyond the initial defensiveness to which we are all prone to give thoughtful time, consideration, and an open mind to our responses here. And, just to reemphasize--nothing said was to diminish or downplay the impact and importance of laws on systemic racism--whether promoting or preventing it. Strongly support HR-1, the new voting rights act Democrats are hoping to pass; strongly oppose the numerous Jim Crow voter-suppression legislative efforts by Republicans.
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@stephenfgdl ~ True that you gave a response, but were then shown what was wrong with that response, such as your definition of the word 'systemic,' for example. You have no answers to that response. But, it's all good! Wasn't really expecting immediate recognition or acknowledgement of the truth, trusting that your open-mindedness, good will, intellect, and curiosity would land you in the right place sooner than later.
Our lives are a journey of discovery and understanding of that surrounding us--a journey that has never been completed by any human, because precious life is so short, and the discoveries and understandings keep coming, changing; too immense, complex, and infinite for our feeble human capabilities to perhaps ever fully grasp. Not to be condescending here, but we all progress along that path of discovery and understanding at different rates, with people advancing to various points along the path, some not so far along because of age or experience, some not so far along because they lack the desire to progress. Even though older, don't consider myself particularly enlightened, for instance, realizing that despite all that humans have learned collectively or as individuals, it is still just a trivial fraction of the whole, with the recognition that my own journey of discovery and understanding has still not traversed all that far in the grand scheme of things.
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@stephenfgdl ~ Think you got it pretty much right in this last response of yours. Personally, as a rabbit, don't see colors, just see people. Although we jest a bit there, when that philosophy is more universally adopted is when we start to see an end to systemic racism. Because we can't always know the character of the people we meet, yet we should treat them with the same respect, dignity, and humanity that we would wish to receive, regardless.
Unfortunately, WWII did not put an end to, or save the world from, bigotry, racism, hate crimes, ethnic cleansing, or genocide. It only stopped those manifestations present at that time in certain places. It did result in somewhat greater awareness about the evil of those things around the world, an awakening of sorts, if you will, albeit in some nations more so than others. Western nations abandoned their racist colonization of other lands with two notable exceptions: French colonization of Vietnam, and Jewish colonization of Palestine--and we have witnessed the long, bloody conflicts that have ensued because of those exceptions. What Russia did in Eastern Europe and China did in Tibet following WWII were no better.
If referring to the current federal administration and majorities in both chambers of Congress, one might argue that our government is not racist. However, our government doesn't just consist of the federal branches where, at any rate, one could point to the racist decision by a Republican SCOTUS still in effect that gutted portions of the Civil Rights Act, claiming that systemic racism was no longer a problem, allowing states to once again discriminate with little legal recourse for those harmed or legal repercussion for those states enacting discriminatory laws. Moreover, there is no guarantee that Biden wins reelection or that Democrats maintain control in Congress, which could mean one step forward followed by two steps back, as seen with Obama followed by Trump. Nor did electing Biden/Harris and a Democratic majority automatically cause decades of discriminatory policies and laws already in place to suddenly disappear, though they will surely work towards ending as many of them as possible.
A fair determination of racism in our government should look at the whole of government, which includes the present Republican minority in Congress, the Republican majority at the Supreme Court and some other federal courts, as well as government at the state and local levels. Law enforcement is part of government, and it should be clear that systemic racism resides within it to some extent. Taken as a whole, it can't truthfully be said that our government is not racist. Racism in parts of America or its government reflect upon, and affect, the whole of government and all Americans.
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@debnelson5522 ~ Your opinion is racist ignorance. First thing, Kamala Harris does not have any "white parentage." Her father was black, her mother was from India, making her an Asian person of color, not "white." Kamala was raised mostly by her mother, whom she greatly respected and admired. She talks about her all the time. Obama was likewise raised by his white mother, and holds her in high regard. Neither is disrespecting or ignoring in any way the race of the non-Black parent. So, your racist opinion is founded upon racist lies and racist presumptions.
Secondly, many mixed race people (about 40%) identify simply as "mixed race." It is not uncommon for mixed race people to suffer an identity crisis at some point in their lives. How mixed race people identify can have as much to do with how other people identify them as with how they view themselves. It is their prerogative to choose how to identify themselves, and that choice should be accepted and respected, not questioned or criticized.
Now, before you get all angry and defensive, in my book just having a racist opinion or voicing a racist thought doesn't necessarily make a person overtly racist. It would have been better had you asked questions about what you don't know rather than stating an ignorant racist opinion--just something you may want to keep in mind for the future. Many of my fellow whites in America are largely ignorant on racial issues. While that is lamentable, what is far worse is refusing to learn or educate oneself about those issues. To that end, provided for you are two excellent resources for you to learn more about multiracial people and how they identify, one an article, and the other a YouTube video:
Multiracial in America
JUNE 11, 2015 -- Pew Research Center
https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2015/06/11/multiracial-in-america/
Being mixed-race in America: Experts explain the meaning of identity
September 18, 2020 -- ABC7 News Bay Area
Why is it that we have this fascination with labeling those of mixed-race as one way or another? Tiger Woods was often referred to only as a "Black golfer" not an Asian one? This prompted ABC7 News Anchor Dion Lim to dive deeper into the meaning of identity. Not only how we perceive it but how it should be accepted.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-woJuS8TK4
Last, but not least, you might ask yourself why you should care or judge how multiracial people identify? What difference does it really make? As we like to jest, us rabbits don't see colors--we just see people! Isn't that really all that's important, that they are fellow human beings?
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@stephenfgdl ~ Just "a few bad apples," right? Where have we heard that before? And, you're back to denying systemic racism, again, after conceding it did exist. You're all over the map! You proffer your opinions and arguments, but then are non-responsive to many of the points and counter-arguments in rebuttal.
You say you're not from America, but don't disclose what country you're from and live. And, you presume to know more about systemic racism in America than those of us who have lived their whole lives here, many of us suffering under it. You display your lack of knowledge about American affairs by not knowing about Georgia's voter-suppression laws, and by continually referring to Georgia as if it was the only such example--even after you were informed that there is simultaneously a whole slew of states with Republican-controlled legislatures which are in the process of enacting similar legislation. The number of such states numbers 42 out of the 50 in the U.S., and some of those voter suppression measures being legislated are even more egregious than the Georgia laws.
Taken altogether, your responses demonstrate a lack of good faith, a lack of honesty, and no real sincere desire to seek truth. Don't know what your game is, whether you just like to argue for arguments sake, or what, but it's a game few people will want to play with you.
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@nlawson2004 ~ Largely agree. The Republican argument seems to be that racism exists in America, but it's just "a few bad apples," while denying systemic racism. Which are lies, of course, and certainly people with many years in public office, like Graham Cracker (from South Carolina, no less), well know better.
If America ends systemic racism and elects five Black Presidents in a row, does that mean that America is no longer racist? After all, it would still be 45 White Presidents to just 5 Black and 1 multiracial Presidents. The problem with your comparison is that we can't undo the racism that occurred in the past, we can only try to eradicate it in the present for our future. Using such a statistic presents a distorted picture, and even very few Republicans try denying past racism in America--although many do try to diminish it and its impact.
A good majority of Americans gave the boot to the most racist President in modern American history this past election cycle. However, Trump did obtain over 70 million votes, including a good number of minority votes. It is simplistic to think that all of those votes from Whites and minorities alike for Trump were cast to perpetuate racism. While a proportion of voters are racist, what we have is also a lot of rather uninformed voters, who do not always cast their votes wisely--both Whites and minorities. Conversely, minority and White voters may choose a more moderate White candidate over a more progressive White or minority candidate who would do more for minorities and addressing racism, because strategically the more moderate candidate has a better chance of winning over the racist candidate from the racist party, as was evidenced with Biden.
In America--or any democracy--citizens get the government they deserve. Part of the problem is that not enough Americans fulfill their duty and privilege to vote in elections (and not just Presidential elections). Just 78,000 votes spread among three states would have handed Trump a defeat in 2016. I believe we can eradicate systemic racism in America, but it will require more consistent effort and work. As I advised my son, you can march in 50 BLM protests, but it still isn't as powerful as your one vote. So, for right-minded people--be they Black, White, or other--we need to work together and all do our part: VOTE in every election, get out the VOTE, communicate one's views to their elected officials with persistence, and seek to better educate our fellow citizens so that they, too, vote more wisely.
Yes, Obama is biracial. But he identifies as Black, and has been widely embraced across the racial spectrum as our first Black President. Should we not respect how multiracial people identify themselves?
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@noyopacific ~ So, why did you misrepresent Graham Cracker's answer? That doesn't really add up. Moreover, your posting your objection here to this comment rather than as a general comment to the video smacks of Whataboutism, which is a logical fallacy.
As a practical matter, find an insignificant difference between denying the systemic racism that exists in America and denying the racism that exists in America. Additionally, you fail to respond to the arguments posed as questions to you. Just so you know, am sympathetic to calling out the media, as routinely post ***MEDIA FAIL*** comments where appropriate to news videos, objecting to shoddy journalism on reputable MSM.
If the journalist showed a pattern of knowingly distorting things, then wouldn't give them the benefit of a doubt. Here, it's possible the reporter misspoke. Alternatively, he could have been displaying some bias by being sarcastic. But that doesn't really bother me so much, either. Why? Because for many years we have watched Republicans not operating in good faith like Graham Cracker manipulate the MSM, who stuck to their ethics and principles, allowing it to happen, and it has cost our nation dearly. There is a critical need for our MSM to take the gloves off when dealing with such scum, which we have started to see them do, and it should have happened much sooner. View such journalistic bias not as against Republicans, but as a bias for informing the public about the truth. Somewhat similar is cops telling the little lie to a suspect in order to catch the pedophile committing multiple sexual assaults against children. Few condemn the police for doing that. And we shouldn't necessarily fault journalists for slightly bending the ethics once in a while to gain or impart the greater truth.
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation—only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regurgitation
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump’s COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration…
Now reaching vacation destination!
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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Let's be clear; Congressional Republicans have been pointing a gun at the heart of legitimate self-government for four years, now. The only exception is FORMER Republican Rep. Justin Amash, who was essentially ejected from the GOP--solely for his honesty and integrity. Even Republican Sen. Mitt Romney over his two years in Congress has only made half-steps in rejecting Trump's authoritarianism, corruption, and lawlessness, demonstrating how he, too, cares more about his ambition and raw partisan power than he does his country. And it hasn't been just Congressional Republicans; nearly the entire GOP has been complicit in aiding and abetting what is clearly the most criminal, despotic, rotten, and incompetent President and administration in U.S. history.
Which is why it is felt the only good Republican is a former Republican. The GOP no longer stands for any rational ideology. Instead, it has become a mindless political cult, based upon hate, delusions, denials, and the blind lust for power at any cost.
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-‘n-‘Thief, Toxic Trump, so much—although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages—as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, homophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, divisive, anti-democratic raving lunatic and his corruption, a man compromised by foreign nations, including our principle adversary, through his tremendous debt. Between that, his catastrophic, irresponsible handling of COVID-19, and his incitement of anti-democratic violent Reich-wing groups, Trump has made himself America's #1 most serious national security threat. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself, mental illness, and his upbringing, who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Republicans refused to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance.
In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump leaves office, the one out of every 800 Americans will have died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 400,000 fatalities, about as many American casualties as WWII. It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth and justice--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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Scott Robinson ~ You're engaging in Whataboutism, false equivalency, dishonest deflection, and Big Lies, Doc! That's more than three strikes--you're out, side retired, next batter!
BLM is a non-partisan grass-roots civil-rights movement, with members and supporters reaching across the political spectrum, enjoying broad support not just in the U.S., but around the globe. BLM protests were primarily peaceful, and those that turned violent and destructive were roundly condemned by victim's families, BLM leaders, and political leaders from all sides of the political spectrum.
Get a clue, not fascist Republican cult of seditious terrorists.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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GOP cult is NOT the party of law and order, NOT the party of the Constitution and patriots, NOT the party of "values," NOT the party of fiscal responsibility, NOT the party of clean government, NOT the party of freedom. It's the party of terrorism, lawlessness, corruption, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry, misogyny, Big Lies, socialized taxpayer payouts for plutocrats, sedition, traitors, and tyranny.
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According to Open Secrets organization, which tracks PAC money (dark money), for the 2020 cycle it was Republicans in the Senate who were the top recipients of PAC money, with those at the top typically receiving more than twice as much as anyone in the House, Democrat or Republican. Even in the House, despite Pelosi's position as Speaker, there were a number of others who received more PAC money in 2020 than she did. This comment ignores that Pelosi and Democrats are pushing to get rid of dark money with HR1, the For the People Act (as Pelosi is advocating in this very news interview). It ignores that because of Citizens United and other corrupt decisions made by Republicans on SCOTUS, Democrats are forced to accept PAC money to compete with Republicans or face obliteration. It ignores that some of the PAC money going to Democrats comes from progressive, environmental, and labor organizations working for better government and better policies for Americans.
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@Tessmage_Tessera ~ Who is this "we" of which you speak? Isn't "we" just you speaking for yourself?
--Your reply does not actually rebut any of the points and arguments presented to you.
--Your accusation against Pelosi was made without providing any source for verification, and without any context, such as when or what time frame is covered.
--This video IS talking about the Republicans, as plainly evidenced by the title on this news segment.
--Maybe you don't want to talk about Republicans, but I AM talking about the Republicans, since they are the ones who enabled dark money and unlimited campaign finance through their appointments of Reich-wing ideologues on the Supreme Court, forcing Democrats to either compete within the corrupting structure they erected or get out of the game. At least Pelosi and House Democrats passed HR1 to the Senate to do something about the problem.
--But, hey, let's attack those doing something to fix the problem, shoot ourselves in the foot! Brilliant strategy!
--"We" can be certain all the fascist Republicans looking to tear down our democracy, who think dark money helps their side and are opposed to HR1, will surely approve and upvote your comment!
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
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Great to see good 'ol Torture Yoo put under the bright lights and given a little taste of his own medicine! However, as Torture Yoo proves, torture victims will say anything to make the torture stop, making it useless for intelligence gathering, good only for perverted gratification, used by sadistic, ignorant brutes like Trump, Cheney, and Torture Yoo!
It's "Torture" Yoo! Never forget--this is the clown that wrote specious opinions at OLC to provide legal cover for Dubya's torture regime! Still pissed Princeton took him on as a professor afterward, giving him a plush, prestigious job, a position he still holds, lending credibility when he deserves to be thoroughly discredited! Still pissed at Obama for not investigating torture, too--leaving the door open for another joker like Trump to torture.
Torture Yoo is a weasel. Always has been, so this is really nothing new for those who knew. Typical Republican.
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@alioucisse1548 ~ Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-‘n-‘Thief, Toxic Trump, so much—although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages—as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, homophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, divisive, anti-science, anti-democratic raving lunatic and his corruption, a man compromised by foreign nations, including our principle adversary, through his tremendous debt. Between that, his catastrophic, irresponsible handling of COVID-19, and his incitement of anti-democratic violent Reich-wing groups, Trump has made himself America's #1 most serious national security threat. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself, mental illness, and his upbringing, who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.4
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and disturbing. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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Tucker Carlson and Faux News: mainstreaming American fascism and deadly lies killing Americans purely for profit.
FAUX News is happy to push Russian propaganda for Putin and disinformation for plutocrats and fascists, but the truth is verboten on Reich-wing media! Sad, pathetic, disgusting and dangerous.
America's enemies don't need to spread disinformation, doubt, discord, and division to weaken America, kill Americans--Republican politicians, Reich-wing demagogues, Faux News, OAN, Newsmax, Breitbart and the rest of the Reich-wing media do that so effectively for them, already. More Americans need to realize that the GOP has abdicated it's duty as loyal opposition, and that its prioritization of party over country and welcoming embrace of violent radical Reich-wing extremists diminishes both our government and our national security, endangering ALL Americans, as well as weakening and endangering America itself.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, John Eastman and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
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@hugejackedman7423 ~ "The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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@westberryjim ~ There's freedom...and then there's free DUMB. There's a critical distinction that needs to be made between the two.
It is not unusual to have martial law put into place and drastic measures taken to force citizen's compliance with measures to insure the security of America and Americans when threatened by war. Well, we are at war now, with the security of America and Americans threatened----not against any foreign power, but against a deadly global pandemic. This is a special situation that needs to be taken seriously, and the freedoms asked to be sacrificed would only be temporary, in the interests of the common collective good.
Of course, those with medical conditions unable to get the vaccine should not be forced to do so. And there are ways of mandating vaccines that impose restrictions as a way of encouraging rather than forcing people to get them. The same with wearing masks and other CDC guidelines. People want to refuse to wear masks, they can stay at home, or face stiff penalties for endangering public health.
As pointed out in my previous reply, in a sane America none of that should be necessary, because virtually all citizens would want to do their part. However, we must face and deal with the reality that America is suffering from a sickness greater than Covid-19 presently, which is the willful ignorance of a fascist Republican cult.
Freedoms can exist only up to the point they infringe upon the freedom of others. Religious tolerance can be practiced only up to the point it becomes intolerant of others. Our Constitution is a secular document, not a religious one, and it was certainly never intended to be a suicidal death pact. Getting vaccinated and following CDC guidelines brings freedom from preventable illness or injury, and a senseless premature death, but the mindless fascist Republican cult only believes in freeDUMB. Just as they don't understand or would deny the Constitution is as much about the common good as personal liberties, and that those two things are intrinsically and inextricably intertwined.
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge." ~ Ben Franklin, from Poor Richard's Almanack
Those who scorn public health guidelines during a deadly global pandemic and confuse a grievous public health issue with "essential" liberty to kill and harm themselves and their fellow citizens--as well as their nation--sorely lack both care and knowledge. They are also sorely lacking in common sense, something else about which Mr. Franklin was quite keen. Mr. Franklin was also one our nation's first scientists--yet these modern-day knuckleheads who ought know better refute science! Were he alive today, he would be rather dismayed, disgruntled, and disgusted with the fascist anti-science Republican cult, that much is crystal clear.
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Let's just call January 6 what it actually was -- a Republican smash and grab, an act of violent larceny against democracy and sedition employing domestic terrorism right out in open sight.
"Without accountability, an attempted autogolpe and insurrection is just practice."
"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ― Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
So, why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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GOP cult is NOT the party of law and order, NOT the party of the Constitution and patriots, NOT the party of "values," NOT the party of fiscal responsibility, NOT the party of clean government, NOT the party of freedom. It's the party of terrorism, lawlessness, corruption, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry, misogyny, Big Lies, socialized taxpayer payouts for plutocrats, sedition, traitors, and tyranny.
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Syman ATL ~Your "friend," Captain Morgan there, is probably more likely a Russian bot or apparatchik than GOP cult Trumpette moron, Putin's puppet-pie pawns. Can't distinguish between the two, anymore, anyway, so why bother wasting one's time trying? Seems they both like to waste people's time now in the replies, disseminating, sowing division, disinformation and American deaths. Unwise to feed them wedge issues to exploit. Instead, ignore them, or exploit them. For a while now been tagging any replies we do make to these inane Russian-Republican posts with the hashtag #moreRussiasanctions to call-out and deter. Somewhat effective, actually. Got the idea from another user here.
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The highly-coveted Top Prize for our contestants today is an all-funeral-expenses-paid romantic getaway for two aboard the magnificent Corona Queen, taking you for an exclusive extended cruise, to a secluded stay on the exotic, remote, tropical Isle of Covid-19, where the fevered fun is SUPER-contagious, and you will luxuriously bask in fabulous face masks and rejuvenating oxygen respirators, with the wonderful scent of disinfectant surrounding you! Sure to be a lifetime experience for some lucky few! Just remember--the couple that dies together, stays together!
BONUS SPECIAL CASES: Providing accompanying entertainment is Chief Jester Roberts and the entire Trump comedy team, featuring the Clown Commander, for laughs and coughs! There just ain't no cure, for them ocean cruise blues! Bon voyage!
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Republican cult placing greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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@dortheschelhaas7356 ~ First of all, we're supposed to know someone has OCD in an online platform how? Or, are we supposed to just assume everyone has OCD, is a raving lunatic, a homicidal schizophrenic, etc., etc.??? If you had explained your problem in your comment initially, it would be different, but you didn't do that. That's on you, not us.
Secondly, how does making a truthful observation have anything to do with ego? Whether you have OCD or not, it's still a shallow comment. You could have easily supplemented your statement about blinking with something actually relevant about the substance of the video, but you didn't. That makes it shallow. Which has nothing to do with our ego--or your OCD.
Third, we assumed your hearing was just fine, which is why it was questioned why you didn't just look away and listen. So, your accusation in that regard is baseless.
Fourth, it is highly hypocritical to complain about Jon Mecham's blinking problem, then expect respect, sympathy, or understanding for your own problem. You claim you were just joking, but without informing people about your OCD, you were making fun of another's problem, not your own.
Finally, judging a person's words or deeds is not the same as being judgmental of a person. Just because someone does or says something shallow doesn't necessarily make them a shallow person. Criticism from others can make us better people, and we should be open to that where valid. Live and learn. We were not angry at you before, and we aren't angry with you now. It's all good. We weren't--and are not now--trying to be rude or insulting, just being frank with you--a kind of Achille's heel of our own, because we don't sugarcoat things to grease the wheels. We don't apologize for that, but we do sincerely regret when others, like yourself, become unnecessarily offended by it.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, John Eastman and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again." ― Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney
More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Gee, didn't you know? Republicans don't care anything about protecting workers, public health, law, justice, or the environment...only about maximizing profits! That's how we got into this pickle in the first place, with 100,000 Americans dead in just three months; that's why other nations have stopped the spread, but we're STILL in the first wave, losing more than a 1,000 Americans daily, remember?
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What we are witnessing from so-called Republican "leaders" is just pure evil. They are either actively or silently complicit in fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorist violence, Reich-wing insurrection, and Reich-wing undermining of our democracy and Constitution.
It's crystal clear that Trump, Boebert, Greene, Gosar and other Republicans like them are fomenting Reich-wing domestic terrorism. The GOP has become radicalized to such an extent that it has essentially become a fascist terrorist organization, with members that fantasize and promote violence against their fellow Americans. While those Republican elected officials must be condemned and sanctioned, they are only a symptom of the disease poisoning a third of America, the most visible part of the cancer infecting our nation.
The GOP has been mainstreaming radicalization of their voter base for decades, ALLOWING Reich-wing media and Reich-wing demagogues to take over the party, to the point it has become a fascist, nihilistic cult. Because just as now, Republican politicians and their plutocratic masters have always seen it as the ends justifying whatever means to win power. Remember the Republican Tea Party? This catastrophe with the GOP didn't start with Trump, who just exploited what Republicans had already built.
Republican politicians are only interested in helping themselves, sadly. It's not even really placing party before country, because they don't really care about the GOP, either, which is evidenced by their destruction of it; they only use that as a convenient vehicle for graft and to grift their voters and us taxpayers. You don't get denialism without nihilism, and Sen. Hirono hits the nail on the head when she said that "Republicans don't give a shit."
GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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Republican cult are corrupt LYING hypocrites. Dirty, disgusting, deplorable, despicable, deranged, disgraceful, demented, dishonorable, depraved, disingenuous, devious, diabolical, duplicitous...and that's just a partial tabulation of the 'D' words describing the GOP; the complete listing of their nasty traits is far too many to enumerate.
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Republicans: "Got this fantastic idea: let's cook the planet to make the wealthy even richer! What could possibly go wrong?"
Republicans: "Regulations, a healthy environment, healthy people, and visionary sustainable policies for our children and future generations bad! Greed, selfish short-sightedness, pollution, climate change, cancer, sick people, dead people good!"
Because capitalism and consumerism brought about Anthropological Global Warming, Republicans either deny and downplay the problem or prescribe more of the same poison. If a Republican is young and smart enough to realize AGW is killing their future, why are they not smart enough to realize they shouldn't vote Republican?
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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Trump excluded the Afghan government from his surrender negotiations with the Taliban, legitimizing the Taliban by making a separate peace deal with them and delegitimizing the government we worked so long and hard at so much cost to build and support, while releasing 5,000 Taliban prisoners which included the worst of the worst and allowed them to return to fight against Afghan and U.S. forces, while agreeing to withdraw all U.S. forces by May 1, 2021, guaranteeing failure. Previously, in 2018, Trump had Pakistan release the current leader of the Taliban, who had been their top military leader. Moreover, Trump eviscerated the refugee program for Afghan and Iraqi allies visa programs, creating a huge backlog over four years. A federal judge even ruled Trump's delaying of those visas illegal. Furthermore, Trump abandoned are Kurdish allies in Syria and Iraq. Trump and Pompeo could hardly have screwed up our foreign policy any worse, and the damage they did will take decades to repair. But the Republican cult morons are too stupid to know and too stupid to care; they'll just deny and try to shift blame, as usual.
Liz Cheney's right----it didn't have to happen this way: her father, Dick Cheney, and George Bush were responsible for the deterioration of affairs in Afghanistan by diverting troops and resources to conduct an illegal invasion of Iraq on the false premise of WMD and Iraq harboring terrorists. The situation in Afghanistan never recovered from that fatal mistake by Cheney and Bush; it allowed the Taliban to regroup and come back bigger and stronger than ever. Cheney and Bush's illegal war in Iraq also resulted in the emergence of ISIS.
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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@bobblum5973 ~ I think the context of "unfiltered" here is the ability to speak freely, particularly the truth----not that literally anything goes. One is not expecting (or would want) to see SE Cupp delivering her commentary in the buff while committing sexual acts of bestiality, for instance. Of course, there's always a few perverts out there, but, please, spare me, perish the thought!
Conversely, one might reasonably expect words to be truthfully quoted without being filtered on a show that prides itself on being '_Unfiltered.'_ Therein lies one part of the irony. Not that it mattered much to me either way, but consider how quoting the profanity faithfully could have made the point even more effectively. Don't think SE Cupp has the talent to pull that off well, though. Understand also that CNN wants families to tune in to their news without worry, but then maybe don't call the show 'Unfiltered,' especially when the truth is filtered through SE Cupp's oftentimes partisan Republican prism. Which are the other ironies at work. With all that irony, opportunity is golden for mining some humor!
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Welcome to war. This is what war is. It's terrible, it's tragic, it stinks, it's unfair, it's sad, it's wasteful, it's hell, innocents die, and things always go wrong. You think we'd have learned that by now, but no, it's a lesson that has to be repeatedly learned, evidently. The consensus is that nobody foresaw the Afghan government and its armed forces completely capitulating so quickly as they did. Some say there should have been a contingency plan for this, but even though hindsight is 20/20, have yet to hear any rational plan that could have dealt with this situation. Shit happens, and Biden got handed a turd with Afghanistan. Instead of allowing the crap to continue, Biden made the hard, responsible decision to pull the U.S. out of another country's civil war. Fallout was inevitable, and people need to deal with that.
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Bush v. Gore, Citizens United, Chief Jester Roberts smiling and nodding along while presiding over sham Senate impeachment trial, Assassination Goon B.S. Barr butchering the law, slaughtering justice, politicizing and weaponizing the DOJ. It's why we lost all respect for the Supreme Court, the law, and the justice system in this country. Congratulations, Republicans, on turning our nation into a banana Republic, making America an object lesson to the world on how to destroy democracy!
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Worst economic downturn in American history, catastrophically botched COVID-19 pandemic response with over 160,000 senseless American deaths. TWENTY straight weeks of over ONE MILLION new unemployment claims. Deaths projected to double by the end of year due to most corrupt, incompetent, racist, and ignorant President in U.S. history. A treasonous President that compromised himself with Russia, who refuses to hold the U.S. principle foreign adversary accountable for its attacks on America, who won't even speak out against Russian bounties on U.S. soldiers. Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy: "Toxic Trump is doing a helluva job!" Rabid right-wing cult media is DESTROYING America!
What's really confusing America is Newsmax, Faux News, and all the other rabid right-wing media outlets propagating and spreading disinformation. Without the supporting cast of willing supplicant proto-fascist right-wing media exploiting and profiting from them, the lies and distortions of Toxic Trump and Republicans would hold very little power, and could not persist.
Anyone really all that surprised that the CEO of Newsmax, Chris Ruddy, is a dishonest partisan hack with no character or integrity whatsoever? If so, that's only because you've never seen Newsmax.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, and politicians created a mindless Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
Democrats, Independents, others: WTF?!?
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@jonahex8463 ~ Sounds like you've been drinking the Reich-wing Kool-Aid, Doc! You're not thinking for yourself, you're just regurgitating fallacious Reich-wing talking points you've been spoon-fed. And you're just trying to project your own TDS, triggered by my criticism of Trump and the gullible morons who worship him as their fool's gold god.
You're obviously incapable of being objective, or you'd be able to accept and acknowledge the truth of my comment. Historians have already placed Trump near or at the bottom as the worst President, and not out of any partisan bias, but rather through a careful and critical assessment of his record. In ten years, twenty years, fifty years, that historical assessment of Trump won't change, it will only be further confirmed.
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GOP is the party of lies, the party of crackpot conspiracy theories, the party of gross hypocrisy, the party of fear, the party of hate, the party of cowards, the party of pollution, the party of plutocrats, the party of corruption, the party of anti-democracy, the party of sedition, the party of terrorists, the party of fascism, the party of tyranny, the party of evil, the party of Satan. Republican cult doesn't care about America and ALL Americans, doesn't want to bargain in good faith...because they already made their pact with the Devil.
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TRUM_PLANNED_EMIC!
Given plenty of advance warnings about COVID-19, Toxic Trump chose not to heed the sound advice provided. We could have been Taiwan, with a comparative 100 deaths in the U.S.; or South Korea, with a comparative 1500 deaths here, after adjusted for population size. Taiwan had just seven deaths; South Korea less than 300. We got over 150,000 deaths already, with the count still rapidly rising, while we remain, still, firmly mired in the first wave of the disease. Even worse, after six months, we STILL lack the adequate testing and rational national response to contain the disease.
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"As many as 70,000 Americans could be confirmed as infected with coronavirus by the end of next week, marking a “pretty dramatic” increase in the number of confirmed cases, the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, told his employees in an agency-wide conference call on 03/20/20."
Except 03/21/20 saw a 33% jump in U.S. cases, from 18,000 to over 24,000. If continuing at 33% every 24 hours, the number of confirmed cases is trending much higher than just 70,000 by 03/27/20. Suspect confirmed cases will be double that. Bear in mind, states hardest hit are not testing many people, saving the tests for those most in need. So the actual number of infected Americans is going to be far higher than just what limited testing of the population has so far confirmed. Don't think this fact is being given enough attention. More important than the number of cases confirmed is the number contracting the disease and not getting tested, spreading the disease, in many cases unknowingly. Hospital projections are for about 100 MILLION Americans to become infected, with about 500,000 dead from covid-19.
(Update 5: Friday, 03/27/20, confirmed U.S. cases 105,000--which is 50% over NIH high-end estimate; deaths 1,700 by end of day. The perspective for cases is significantly skewed low and thus highly misleading, however, as just 0.17% of U.S. population has been tested to date.)
03/29/20 -- 143,000 confirmed cases; 2,450 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
03/30/20 -- 165,000 confirmed cases; 3,250 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
03/31/20 -- 190,000 confirmed cases; 4,200 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
04/01/20 -- 217,000 confirmed cases; 5,150 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
04/02/20 -- 246,000 confirmed cases; 6,050 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/03/20 (incomplete) -- 278,000 confirmed cases; 7,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
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--Instead of striving to bring out the best in people, Toxic Trump reveled in bringing out the very worst.
--Instead of uniting the country, Toxic Trump sought to divide us.
--Instead of abiding by and honoring our Constitution and the rule of law, Toxic Trump held them in disdain, disregarded them, and degraded them.
--Instead of strengthening democracy and our cherished institutions, Toxic Trump worked to diminish and destroy them.
--Instead of confronting a serious threat to Americans with a deadly global pandemic, Toxic Trump lied to the American people about it, ignored it, and refused to take any responsibility for his gross homicidal negligence.
--Instead of creating jobs, Toxic Trump was the first President since the Great Depression to preside over a net loss of jobs over his tenure.
--Instead of raising our standing and security in the world, Toxic Trump lowered and weakened it.
--Instead of draining the swamp, Toxic Trump turned into a noxious overflowing sewer.
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-‘n-‘Thief, Toxic Trump, so much—although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages—as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, homophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, divisive, anti-democratic raving lunatic and his corruption, a man compromised by foreign nations, including our principle adversary, through his tremendous debt. Between that, his catastrophic, irresponsible handling of COVID-19, and his incitement of anti-democratic violent Reich-wing groups, Trump has made himself America's #1 most serious national security threat. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself, mental illness, and his upbringing, who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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“I'm not scared of the Maos and the Stalins and the Hitlers.
I'm scared of the thousands or millions of people that hallucinate them to be "authority", and so do their bidding, and pay for their empires, and carry out their orders.
I don't care if there's one looney with a stupid moustache. He's not a threat if the people do not believe in "authority".” ― Larken Rose
Setting aside the sleazy immoral Reich-wing grifters at the top -- people like Trump, Congressional Republicans, Reich-wing demagogues and media -- the rank-and-file of the GOP has become a fascist cult. To be clear, Trump did not create the cult, it existed before him. He merely served as a unifying figure they chose to rally around and worship as their fool's gold god. Trump appealed to their basest nature and told them what they wanted to hear. Now, those Reich-wing grifters may have cultivated their cult to exploit for their own greed, power and vanity, but at least to some extent the Republican cult in turn seeks to exploit the GOP for their own various misguided purposes. They CHOOSE to be willfully ignorant, to believe or espouse the lies, because as a political calculus they shortsightedly see it as expedient to their ends.
What must also be taken into consideration are the characteristics of a cult. Why do people join a cult? Why do they choose to remain in a cult? No need to go into detail; the answers are largely common knowledge or easily researched. But it should be pointed out that in a complex world, the simplistic and rigid beliefs embraced by cults can be very alluring, no matter how fantastical and removed from reality. It should also be acknowledged that the Republican cult is not a monolithic entity, but an amalgamation of sects, including White supremacists, Christian nationalists, libertarians, sovereign nationals, anarchists, tax resistors, Qanon and other extremist fringe groups. Of course, not every Republican is an extremist, a fascist, or untethered from reality. But this latter more benign group is nevertheless part of the fascist Republican cult, complicit in their support of the whole, whether through their silent acquiescence and votes or willing assistance.
It's a very dangerous feedback loop, a vicious circle, one that as it sinks further into depravity its threat correspondingly rises, for as the Republican cult has over time been becoming increasingly more radicalized, we witness the election of more radical politicians to represent them, more radicalized Reich-wing media and demagogues to feed them propaganda. While some Republicans are leaving the GOP and some others are speaking out and trying to save their party, they constitute a weak minority, unfortunately.
In a normal, sane world, the Republican cult would have ended or been marginalized after the Mueller Report, after Trump's Ukraine shakedown and impeachment, after Trump's horrendous handling of a deadly global pandemic, after his election defeat, or after January 6th and his second impeachment. But that hasn't happened. Instead, the Republican cult continues to become increasingly more radicalized and extreme. As President Biden says, "We are in a battle for the soul of this nation." And that battle is far from over.
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media, Christian nationalism religious leaders, and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-‘n-‘Thief, Toxic Trump, so much—although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages—as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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Division, distraction, distortion, denial, projectionism, Whataboutism are what the Republican cult is all about, what they hide behind--along with the Bible and the flag--to mask their selfishness, their greed, their hate, their sedition, and their blind lust for corrupt power.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over four decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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Republican cult morons rail against the very "elite" they keep voting for, who give tax cuts to the rich and have created the greatest income inequality and wealth disparity in American history.
Why? They are driven by the divisive fear and bigotry programmed into them 24/7 by the Reich-wing media and propaganda owned or funded by the plutocracy. It's absolutely Orwellian, and it began around 1984 in America. What is witnessed now is just the rotten results from the poisoned tree bearing fruition. It's the disease killing America that existed long before COVID-19, and which is likely to persist long after.
Republican cult going to believe what the Republican cult wants to believe, whatever the truth, whatever proof, whatever anybody says. "Healing" the country means deprogramming the 30-40% of Americans deep in cultdom. That needs to be recognized, acknowledged, and acted upon if we truly wish to revive the patient, America, and restore it to glory.
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Gothen Mosphars ~ Republican cult morons don't care about a Republic or democracy. When the Electoral College favors Democrats more than Republicans, the hypocrites will start squealing and whining about democracy! They're just a sick joke. Sure, we're a Constitutional republic. But we're also a representative democracy; a democratic republic, a social democracy. Everyone knows that without democracy, our republic ceases to exist. It isn't that Republican cult is ignorant so much as it is they're willfully ignorant .
As for SCOTUS, Democrats need to expand the court to 15 justices. No more Bush v. Gore, Citizens United, abortion TRAAP laws, Shelby County v. Holder, Rucho v. Common Cause and other rotten Republican laughably contorted decisions grounded not in the law, but in Republican hyper-partisan politics.
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**MEDIA FAIL** -- So, Krystal Ball is now universally declaring that Republicans are the elite! Remember, most big corporations run by Republicans, Republicans control Executive, Senate, and Judiciary in federal government, hold majority of states governorships and legislatures! Wow! Interesting! That is quite the assertion for Ms. Ball to make! Kind of agree, though why is she hiding behind a bunch of sophistry; why didn't she just come out and say so in plain English to make that point "Krystal clear" (TM)?
Taking a look below at the definition of elite(s) and the context, we find that Ms. Ball's usage shows she is using the fourth description in the first definition of the word (1. d). Obviously, it is really Republicans holding power in this country, they are the TRUE elite! Which is precisely why Ms. Ball would be wise to refrain from carelessly throwing out words meaninglessly, mindlessly parroting right-wing propaganda, adding to the confusion and problem! In truth, the reality is that all of America is the elite--from richest to poorest--and we all need to change! Blaming the politicians when it is we who elected them (setting aside for a moment the antiquated, undemocratic electoral college which should have been abolished long ago!) is not correctly identifying the problem, meaning the solution proposed is therefore likely to be unproductive, too.
Some words--such as elite--are easy to misuse and abuse, and it seems proper care should be taken when using them. Not all elites are necessarily part of the problem, either--no matter how elite is defined below, many can actually be a valued part of the solution! Moreover, there will always be a 'ruling' elite in any organized society, so just throwing the word out there means little or nothing on its own. Are they good rulers; good elected officials; altruistic public servants; dedicated to honoring human rights, the rule of law, and our Constitution? Or, are they bad?
Definition of elite (noun)
1. a) singular or plural in construction : the choice part : cream
Example: the elite of the entertainment world
b) singular or plural in construction : the best of a class
Example: superachievers who dominate the computer elite
c) singular or plural in construction : the socially superior part of society
Example: how the French-speaking elite … was changing
d) a group of persons who by virtue of position or education exercise much power or influence:
Example: members of the ruling elite
e) a member of such an elite —usually used in plural:
Example: the elites …, pursuing their studies in Europe
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**MEDIA FAIL** -- Krystal Ball: "Because Joe Biden isn't real people suffering real harm to himself and his son (another non-human, Krystal?) from this lunatic occupying the Oval and the Republicans enabling, aiding, and abetting him!" Why is Joe Biden considered an elite, anyway? Because people like him enough he continually is able to hold office and serve the public? That's simply terribly intolerable, right, Krystal? How does abiding in the democratic process make someone an elite, anyway Krystal? Who, exactly, are these "elite" institutions of which you constantly speak, Krystal? You been looking in your crystal ball, again? Not a Joe Biden fan, but Krystal is cracked! Likes to denigrate the media, when she works and writes for what many consider the most "elite" of media, the NY Times, in effect declaring herself irrelevant! Not only that, but here she is, agreeing to appear on CNN, considered by the right-wing crowd to be the "elite" of the elite! How stupid and hypocritical do you have to be? There are some valid criticisms to be made about the media, but Krystal hasn't quite learned yet how to interpret what she views in her crystal ball, thinks the little picture is the big picture!
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***MEDIA FAIL**** -- The "good" German soldier: "I didn't leave the Nazi party, it left me!" Sounds just like some Republicans, doesn't it? Problem for them is, no matter how they might pride themselves on being right in opposing Trump, they're still supporting the machine supporting him. They're still enabling Trump, in the mistaken belief the GOP represents their values, when it never really did in the first place. This Republican reporter from the Daily Beast points to his strong conviction in the rule of law, no less! Gee, as if that was only a Republican trait, instead of the expectation of any good American, irrespective of partisan affiliation! He doesn't understand his own brainwashing, how he is part of the problem!
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over four decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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"The best way we can show respect for the voters who are upset...IS BY TELLING THEM THE TRUTH!" Sen. Romney calls out the complicity of Congressional Republicans in aiding and abetting Toxic Trump's willful incitement of armed insurrection, causing the attack, overrunning, and desecration of the citadel of our democracy, the Capitol building. And, yet, after the seditious Republican cult mob terrorist attack against our nation's Capitol, over 130 House Republicans and 6 Senate Republicans unbelievably continued to pour fuel on the fire, continuing to promulgate abhorrent lies and crackpot conspiracy theories about the 2020 election; traitors to the truth, to the Constitution, and to the country.
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@skaybaltimore ~ Fauci has been telling us the truth, but the problem is that he hasn't always told us the whole truth, especially at the beginning of this pandemic. While understandable to some extent, have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, thought that people with integrity like Fauci should have resigned en masse. On the other hand, there's the very real possibility that would have left the nation in even worse shape than where we are--something quite difficult to even contemplate. Hard to fault too much those who are selfless and altruistic, if having little respect for those like Bolton, who put ideology, ego, and greed before their integrity.
Bannon's heads on a pike comment referenced both Fauci and FBI Director Wray. As former head of Reich-wing media outlet Breitbart news, Bannon knew he was within his First Amendment rights. It was no less offensive that that spoken before by other Reich-wing demagogues like Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter. Of course it was irresponsible, reprehensible, vile, an incitement to violence. However, the problem isn't so much the First Amendment as is the missing universal public rejection and condemnation of Bannon and his words. Bannon's lawyer representing him against federal fraud charges did immediately resign, but that is small consolation.
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GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
In short, the GOP has become proto-fascist, bound by the ignorant Republican cult they created, and the fear, bigotry and hate they cultivated and nourished for decades. Fortunately, the cult is not the majority, so there is hope yet for America!
The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by plutocrats, the GOP, and right-wing media. Those Americans elected this pitiful, puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he commits! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated."
Conservatism as always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it's what they peddle, it's what they traffic in, it's what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear to hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It's the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone--unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
The only thing been stopping the GOP cult from turning America fascist has been the long-held universal repulsion and rejection of Toxic Trump's hero, Adolf Hitler, by Americans. Fortunately, the majority of Americans still remember that painful historical lesson many Republicans choose to ignore. There is hope that good will once again triumph over evil; love prevail over hate; common sense outweigh blind faith, mindless tribalism, and silly superstitions.
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"Without accountability, an attempted autogolpe or insurrection is just practice."
"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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Beginning to think that President Biden needs to declare martial law to get Covid-19 under control. It's appalling and sad that it's gotten to this point because of corrupt Republican leaders who care only about their political ambitions and nothing about their constituent's health or lives, and a bunch of anti-science morons lacking basic decency and even a modicum of common sense.
In a sane America----one where a third of the population wasn't programmed into a mindless, fascist Republican cult----we would have universal Covid-19 vaccine passports, masks and social distancing required wherever and whenever deemed necessary by public health officials, and mandatory vaccinations for all those able to receive it. Actually, in a sane America, none of that would be necessary, because everyone able would be voluntarily getting vaccinated, and everybody would be faithfully following CDC guidelines like wearing masks and socially distancing. They would be doing so because it is in there own best interest; because it is the moral and ethical thing to do to protect our fellow citizens; because we need to prevent the creation of new, more deadly variants; because it is the best way to recover the economy; because it is the best way to get things back to normal; because it is the civic, patriotic thing to do; and because it is just plain old-fashioned common sense.
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@rql8543 ~ You're apparently oblivious to the fact that you are voicing racist attitudes, thereby not doing any favors to the institution of the monarchy, while discrediting your opinions on this matter.
Meghan's mother is African-American, her father of European descent. They divorced when she was six, and has always identified and been much closer with her mother. She identifies herself as a person of color--albeit she wants to be seen first and foremost as just a human being, an actress, a mother, etc.--and that should be all that is needed for anyone to accept.
It was to Harry that racist comments were made, Harry whom afterwards disclosed them to his wife, and Harry and Meghan who both supported the allegation. Notably, you mention none of that, instead engaging in vile smears against Meghan--smears that have little or no evidence in support outside of the innuendo and yellow journalism from British tabloids.
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@rql8543 ~ Funny how you accuse others of getting on their high horse. As you judge others, so, too, will you be judged. Except there is much more evidence of your racist attitudes here than there is anywhere of your cheap allegations against Meghan. You doubling down by saying, "she's not even Black?" Either you don't know what racist attitudes are, or you just don't care. Apparently in your view Obama wasn't Black then, or countless others like him and Meghan, who identify as people of color., whether through African heritage or some other.
No one is suggesting that a woman of color should be immune from criticism, so that's just a strawman argument. It's also you contradicting yourself, as it stands as a tacit admission that Meghan IS a woman of color.
Nobody cares about what nationality you claim to be or where you claim to be in the political spectrum, so those are non-sequiturs, as well as evasions from the point made. Where is the actual evidence for your cheap allegations, besides in your seemingly racially biased mind or the yellow journalism of the British tabloids? And the "internal family incident," as you so quaintly put it, is part and parcel of the whole affair, not to be just set aside and ignored. If anyone is a fraud, Doc, it would appear to be you.
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@rql8543 ~ You didn't make any points, Doc. All you have is cheap allegations, for which you can't provide any actual evidence. Based upon my own unbiased observations and your lack of anything other than baseless smears, your assessment was found flawed. That's not evasion. You're just projecting your own evasions upon another, while you continue to evade the points and arguments presented to you. For instance, is Obama Black? If so, then how is Meghan any different? Just because Obama had a Black father and a White mother, while Meghan had a Black mother and White father? Just because one has a lighter tone of skin than the other? You provide no answers, only sophistry to evade.
It seems most Americans don't think Meghan is being "manipulative," or "trying to play the victim." Neither do most people of color in the U.K. Yet, you falsely claim "everyone" can see it.
The "real racism" is society is perpetuated by the very kind of racist attitudes you espouse. Like the racist attitudes to which Harry and Meghan both attested, they are all part and parcel of the problem, and your denialism on both counts can't and won't change that for either.
You reveal yourself to be a fraud. Leftists don't rail against PC culture; they view it as a matter of tolerance and respect for minorities, be it people of color, people with physical deformities, handicaps or mental limitations, or people of different sexual orientation. It's not about being politically correct; it's about pointing out racist and bigoted attitudes to put an end to destructive, poisonous discrimination and hate. Personally, more intent on educating people than shaming, and have no interest in destroying anyone. In this case, have no strong feelings for or against either side, but when observing the level of your unwarranted vitriol against Meghan in combination with the racist attitude expressed, it indicates the latter is what is coloring your judgment.
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@rql8543 ~ Before you said she wasn't Black, now you say you don't care how she identifies herself? But obviously, you did care, or you wouldn't have said that before.
“The reason I talk to myself is because I’m the only one whose answers I accept.” ~ George Carlin
"If you can't beat them, arrange to have them beaten." ~ George Carlin
Gee, that doesn't sound very liberal, does it? Love George Carlin, but he was a counterculture comedian, so that's the context that should be used in evaluating his words. Also, none of the people mentioned are, or were, against speaking out against racism or racist attitudes. You're moving the goal posts again by labeling it "exaggerated" PC culture. George Carlin is dead, but I'd bet my bottom dollar that if any of those people mentioned were asked if saying that Meghan "was not Black" despite knowing of her Black mother was a racist attitude, every single one of them would say yes.
You apparently think that if a Black person doesn't look the way you think a Black person is supposed to look, they work hard and become successful, and they come from California, then they're "entitled" and they don't qualify to be Black. That's just another racist attitude, and her appearance is irrelevant besides. Most Brits knew of her African heritage, because if they hadn't known before, it's been splashed all over the British tabloids since she entered the picture with Harry years back.
You seem to think you know more about British culture than other people who disagree with you, and than do the people of color in the UK who have to deal with racist attitudes from their White fellow UK citizens. What arrogance and ignorance you display! It fits well with the racist attitudes you display. Since you like rendering verdicts so much, you're pronounced GUILTY as charged, Doc!
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@adamfrost3139 ~ Her crybaby act served as confirmation. Bipolar disorder also causes people to be destructive, self-destructive, and self-serving. The rationales she has given for blocking BBB and Voting Rights are disingenuous, inconsistent, and illogical.
And Silly "Surrender" is raking in cash from Republican donors and special interests. But Republican voters aren't going to be voting for her, her opposition to the bills will likely lose many Independents, and she has made herself a reviled figure among Democrats, drawing a strong candidate to primary her. So, as a purely political calculus, her approach makes little sense, either. Another indication of a troubled, sick mind.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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Dindu ~ "The Nazi gun control argument is a belief that gun regulations in the Third Reich helped to facilitate the rise of the Nazis and the Holocaust. The majority of historians and fact-checkers have described the argument as "dubious," "questionable," "preposterous," "tendentious," or "problematic." This argument is frequently employed by opponents of gun control in debates on U.S. gun politics. Questions about its validity, and about the motives behind its inception, have been raised by scholars. Proponents in the United States have used it as part of a "security against tyranny" argument, while opponents have referred to it as a form of reductio ad Hitlerum.
Few German citizens owned, or were entitled to own firearms in Germany in the early 1930s, the Weimar Republic having strict gun control laws. When the Nazi party gained power, some aspects of gun regulation were loosened, such as allowing firearm ownership for Nazi party members and the military. The laws were tightened in other ways. Nazi laws systematically disarmed so-called "unreliable" persons, especially Jews, but relaxed restrictions for "ordinary" German citizens. The policies were later expanded to include the confiscation of arms in occupied countries."
The plain truth is that the Nazis put far more weapons into the hands of Germans----particularly Nazis----than were possessed previously. The plain truth is that you're still making a pathetic attempt to project the fascism existing within the Republican party. The plain truth is that Americans from across the political spectrum support common sense gun control, not just Democrats. Get a clue----not some fascist Republican cult of seditious terrorists, Dildo!
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Dindu ~ Hypocritical Republican cult whines about cancel culture...
--while making death threats against those disagreeing with them
--while censuring any Republican leaders daring to speak the truth about January 6.
--while conducting a terrorist attack against the nation's Capitol in insurrection, viciously beating police, intent on killing lawmakers and the Republican VP, attempting a coup to overthrow the results of a free and fair election...just because their candidate lost.
--while trying to cancel out the votes of millions of Democrats and minorities by objecting solely to their votes, enacting numerous voter suppression measures, and engaging in egregious gerrymandering.
--while labeling MSM "the enemy of the people."
--while censoring and moving to remove fellow Republicans of integrity who speak up for truth and decency, and against GOP lies, terrorism, and crackpot conspiracy theories.
--while Reich-wing media turns off comments yet rants against "censorship."
--while Faux News fires its news editor for truthfully reporting that Arizona had been called for Biden.
--while trying to run a Biden campaign bus off the road.
--while Rep. Marjorie Greene prevents press from covering town hall meetings where nobody wore a mask.
--after seriously injuring over 140 police officers in the Republican cult's seditious terrorist attack of insurrection against the nation's Capitol, Republican cult terrorists threaten to call the cops on reporters trying to get their side of the story.
--after canceling out millions of American's jobs under George W. Bush's recession and the largest loss of jobs since the great Depression under Toxic Trump due to his gross incompetence, lies, and willful criminal negligence in responding to a global pandemic.
--while canceling out the lives of hundreds of thousands of their fellow Americans by spreading lies about COVID-19, politicizing a deadly pandemic, and refusing to follow common sense health guidelines.
--while threatening to cancel baseball's anti-trust exemption for exercising their right to free speech
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@squidanimegirl2k1 ~ So we shouldn't judge or ridicule jaywalkers, burglars, exhibitionists, rapists, child molesters, and murderers simply because they are groups of people assigned into different categories? They should all be treated the same?
You are conflating things that people shouldn't be judged upon with things that people can be judged upon. No, we shouldn't judge people based merely upon skin pigmentation. Yes, we should judge people being willfully ignorant about common sense public health measures in the midst of a deadly global pandemic.
You're also ignoring nuances. For instance, people's religious beliefs should be tolerated, but only up until the point they become intolerant of others. People's freedoms should be tolerated, but only up to the point they encroach upon the freedoms of others. People's political affiliations should be tolerated, up until the point they no longer constitute loyal opposition. Don't fault people unable to get the vaccine due to legitimate medical conditions they have. Do fault people for not getting recommended vaccines that protect themselves and those unable to get vaccines----especially during the midst of a deadly global pandemic, when the unvaccinated are enabling the creation of deadly new strains of a disease that place everyone at greater risk, and when the unvaccinated are detrimental to everyone's freedoms and well-being.
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Trump administration: An incompetent, cruel, criminal, festering fiasco where no justice and injustice reign, corruption rules, foreign policy dies, national security is degraded and imperiled, American patriots are demeaned and devalued, and a nation is torn asunder under the deranged auspices of an immoral, sociopathic, misogynistic, narcistic, racist, puerile, vindictive, bigoted, and supremely ignorant megalomaniac.
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Hypocritical Republican cult whines about cancel culture...
--while making death threats against those disagreeing with them
--while censuring any Republican leaders daring to speak the truth about January 6.
--while conducting a terrorist attack against the nation's Capitol in insurrection, beating and killing police, intent on killing lawmakers and the Republican VP, attempting a coup to overthrow the results of a free and fair election...just because their candidate lost.
--while trying to cancel out the votes of millions of Democrats and minorities by objecting solely to their votes, enacting numerous voter suppression measures, and engaging in egregious gerrymandering.
--while labeling MSM "the enemy of the people."
--while censoring and moving to remove fellow Republicans of integrity who speak up for truth and decency, and against GOP lies, terrorism, and crackpot conspiracy theories.
--while Reich-wing media turns off comments yet rants against "censorship."
--while Faux News fires its news editor for truthfully reporting that Arizona had been called for Biden.
--while trying to run a Biden campaign bus off the road.
--while Rep. Marjorie Greene prevents press from covering town hall meetings where nobody wore a mask.
--after seriously injuring over 140 police officers and killing one in the Republican cult's seditious terrorist attack of insurrection against the nation's Capitol, Republican cult terrorists threaten to call the cops on reporters trying to get their side of the story.
--after canceling out millions of American's jobs under George W. Bush's recession and the largest loss of jobs since the great Depression under Toxic Trump due to his gross incompetence, lies, and willful criminal negligence in responding to a global pandemic.
--while canceling out the lives of hundreds of thousands of their fellow Americans by spreading lies about COVID-19, politicizing a deadly pandemic, and refusing to follow common sense health guidelines.
--while threatening to cancel baseball's anti-trust exemption for exercising their right to free speech
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@aaronvallejo8220 ~Oddly enough, what gives me hope is the noticeably cleaner air from all the shut-down industries in the state, the nation, and the world--which is, of course, due solely to this deadly pandemic. We know industries are already reopening, so our relief will be short-lived, but it gives the world's population an idea of what is possible, and a taste of the sweet benefits of tackling pollution and climate change.
Like you, believe we may have reached a tipping point, and the genie won't go back in the bottle so easily. CO2 levels are already causing rising natural methane hydrate emissions in the world's seas, and the melting of frozen tundra around the globe is releasing more. Methane is twenty times more powerful as a greenhouse gas than CO2, and while it does not persist as long in the atmosphere as CO2, it still stays in our atmosphere for an extensive enough period to precipitate drastic climate change. Moreover, the amount of methane available that can be released into the atmosphere is staggering, which should be raising alarm, invoking action.
We've caused an avalanche, and the fear is that humans are caught in this avalanche of our own design which can't be arrested without tremendous sacrifice and cost. The problem can no longer be ignored as the effects are already being felt, and those sacrifices and costs can't be avoided as they are now; they will have to be paid in full at some point in the very near future. As with this pandemic, the sooner we act, the less sickness and death to not just humans, but all life; the less economic pain; the less disruption to daily lives; and the less wasted time and effort correcting past mistakes.
The election of a Republican climate-denier as U.S. President in 2016 may have been the final straw that broke the camel's back, unleashing the vagaries of climate change out-of-control, as the U.S. had an opportunity to lead a global effort that could have avoided much of the increased pain we will most certainly have to face now, going forward. Another opportunity, squandered, with U.S. standing in the world becoming greatly diminished under the dim bulb of Trump's non-leadership. We can do better. Indeed, we MUST do better, if we are to survive.
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~POLL -- PUBLIC PLEASE PARTICIPATE~
How many think Republicans rigging 2020, won't have fair elections in 2020?
1. --Trump claims innocence despite publicly asking foreign nations for help.
2. --Republicans gaslighting high crimes and felonies, covering-up for Trump.
3. --Trump crime spree is ongoing.
4. --Republicans vote unanimously against impeachment in House Judiciary despite public crimes and voluminous highly incriminating evidence; obvious unfitness for office; clear and present danger to upcoming elections and national security; contempt for our Constitution; and unprecedented, total wall-to-wall obstruction of Congress.
5. --Legislation for strengthening our electoral systems being held hostage by Republicans in Senate.
6. --Russian attacks constant and ongoing; ramping up its attacks against American electoral systems again in aiding Trump.
7. --Republicans work seamlessly with Russia to divide and weaken America as they continue spreading Putin's poisonous propaganda for purely partisan purpose.
8. --Trump's pathetic failure to rebuke Russia for it's ongoing attacks against the U.S.
9. --Rampant Republican voter suppression and gerrymandering.
10. --Trump and Republicans attacks and threats against, intimidating American intelligence agencies and FBI seeking to protect and keep all of us secure.
11. --Trump administration willfully negligent in protecting our electoral systems.
12. --Massive Russian election interference influenced 2016 election.
13. --Republican voter fraud in 2016.
14. --The likelihood that Trump will ask more nations for election interference if not impeached.
15. --Critical lacking of an independent, impartial Attorney General and Department of Justice.
16. --Trump administration's failure to demonstrate good faith interacting with Judiciary and Legislative branches.
17. --Republican Senate rigging upcoming expected Senate impeachment trial; GOP jurors consulting with defendant Trump on how best to turn into kangaroo court.
18. Trump fixer Giuliani's thugs, owners of 'Fraud, Inc.' linked to Russia by prosecutors.
19. Justice delayed is justice denied. Chief Justice Roberts, who will preside over Senate trial, has blocked House Democrats from receiving financial information from Mazars and others vital to impeachment efforts by accepting a well-ruled case favoring Democrats for appeal to SCOTUS, despite Trump farcical legal arguments, and the fact the subpoenas are related to personal financial data prior to his presidency.
20. Abject failure of SCOTUS and Federal Courts to work with House to expedite extremely important legal matters of a most urgent and severely dire nature, allowing Congress to function properly in its oversight responsibilities, and maintain its standing as a coequal branch of government. SCOTUS and courts well-aware DOJ no longer functioning properly, no longer an independent, impartial arbiter of justice, and that this is a lawless administration. Where is Judicial Branch, laying down the law? Hiding. Enabling and protecting criminals. Helping a lawless President run out the clock, abuse the judicial system, and escape justice. Worst SCOTUS ever.
21. A useless, antiquated, undemocratic electoral college.
22. Republican Senators pledging to betray their Impeachment Oath, Oath of Office.
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“I'm not scared of the Maos and the Stalins and the Hitlers.
I'm scared of the thousands of millions of people that hallucinate them to be "authority", and so do their bidding, and pay for their empires, and carry out their orders.
I don't care if there's one looney with a stupid moustache. He's not a threat if the people do not believe in "authority".” ― Larken Rose
Setting aside the sleazy immoral Reich-wing grifters at the top -- people like Trump, Congressional Republicans, Reich-wing demagogues and media -- the rank-and-file of the GOP has become a fascist cult. To be clear, Trump did not create the cult, it existed before him. He merely served as a unifying figure they chose to rally around and worship as their fool's gold god. Trump appealed to their basest nature and told them what they wanted to hear. Now, those Reich-wing grifters may have cultivated their cult to exploit for their own greed, power and vanity, but at least to some extent the Republican cult in turn seeks to exploit the GOP for their own various misguided purposes. They CHOOSE to be willfully ignorant, to believe or espouse the lies, because as a political calculus they shortsightedly see it as expedient to their ends.
What must also be taken into consideration are the characteristics of a cult. Why do people join a cult? Why do they choose to remain in a cult? No need to go into detail; the answers are largely common knowledge or easily researched. But it should be pointed out that in a complex world, the simplistic and rigid beliefs embraced by cults can be very alluring, no matter how fantastical and removed from reality. It should also be acknowledged that the Republican cult is not a monolithic entity, but an amalgamation of sects, including White supremacists, Christian nationalists, libertarians, sovereign nationals, anarchists, tax resistors, Qanon and other extremist fringe groups. Of course, not every Republican is an extremist, a fascist, or untethered from reality. But this latter more benign group is nevertheless part of the fascist Republican cult, complicit in their support of the whole, whether through their silent acquiescence and votes or willing assistance.
It's a very dangerous feedback loop, a vicious circle, one that as it sinks further into depravity its threat correspondingly rises, for as the Republican cult has over time been becoming increasingly more radicalized, we witness the election of more radical politicians to represent them, more radicalized Reich-wing media and demagogues to feed them propaganda. While some Republicans are leaving the GOP and some others are speaking out and trying to save their party, they constitute a weak minority, unfortunately.
In a normal, sane world, the Republican cult would have ended or been marginalized after the Mueller Report, after Trump's Ukraine shakedown and impeachment, after Trump's horrendous handling of a deadly global pandemic, after his election defeat, or after January 6th and his second impeachment. But that hasn't happened. Instead, the Republican cult continues to become increasingly more radicalized and extreme. As President Biden says, "We are in a battle for the soul of this nation." And that battle is far from over.
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PROTESTORS: Black lives matter! That's why it's VITALLY important that EVERYONE wear masks and social distance ten feet apart! That saves not only Black-minority-vulnerable people from death and suffering, but you're saving yourself and everyone else, too! Moreover, wearing masks responsibly shows that protestors demonstrating really DO care about human life, lending credibility and enduring impact towards this movement for justice and equality...AND, social distancing properly would greatly enhance the appearance of the protests, magnifying the presence of demonstrators, making them more effective! While the cause is worth fighting and even dying, senseless death from friendly fire, killing ourselves--due solely to a lack of common sense--is both just plain stupid and counterproductive to achieving our common goals. FEEL the emotion, USE your brain!
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or "the Wall") is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle's name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called "leaders" in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 -- than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to--and a barrier against--our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It's design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge--and help teach--people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see...if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
― Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a serious threat to our very security.
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again." ― Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney
More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They have essentially become a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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This "seems" like the thoughts of a simpleton, who takes a rather uninformed, simplistic view of American politics. It ignores Republican obstructionism and gridlock in our state and federal governments. It ignores Republican blocking Merrick Garland, a moderate SCOTUS nominee, nine months before the election, than ramming through Covid Barrett, a radical, activist, extremist right-wing SCOTUS nominee, TWO WEEKS before the election, during the midst of early voting. It ignores how voters give each side a mandate on which they are expected to act. While it is expected that each side hold the other accountable to keep them honest, it ignores how Republicans created and exploit the bitter partisan divide with rampant deceit, demagoguery, and demonization against their opponents. It ignores how one side operates an inclusive big tent that represents the views of the vast majority of Americans, while the other engages in egregious voter suppression and gerrymandering, represents minority views and a minority of Americans, and seeks to cling to power no matter how destructive to the national interest.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic hyper-partisan Republican cult placing political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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@bernventer5949 ~ OK, what have the Democrats broken? On the other hand, there's a long list of Republicans tearing down, or trying to tear down, Democrat's accomplishments. It isn't called the Republican wrecking-ball crew for nothing. The current Trump administration is a prime example, probably the worst example, but only the latest example.
Sure, we should expect that there will be a shift in policy direction under different leadership--that's true for any level of government, any nation--but before this President there was also at least some general continuum in foreign policy, defense, and major domestic programs--some degree of respect held for the work of previous Presidents.
One party is reactionary and rearward looking; the other is progressive and forward looking. One party used to be ideologically blinded, but has descended into a mindless inward cult; the other party operates a big inclusive tent with many diverse views.
People who equivocate the two parties like to pride themselves as being above the fray, somehow superior, more sophisticated. Personally find them to be insecure and not very knowledgeable about the political landscape.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and disturbing. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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“I'm not scared of the Maos and the Stalins and the Hitlers.
I'm scared of the thousands or millions of people that hallucinate them to be "authority", and so do their bidding, and pay for their empires, and carry out their orders.
I don't care if there's one looney with a stupid moustache. He's not a threat if the people do not believe in "authority".” ― Larken Rose
Setting aside the sleazy immoral Reich-wing grifters at the top -- people like Trump, Congressional Republicans, Reich-wing demagogues and media -- the rank-and-file of the GOP has become a fascist cult. To be clear, Trump did not create the cult, it existed before him. He merely served as a unifying figure they chose to rally around and worship as their fool's gold god. Trump appealed to their basest nature and told them what they wanted to hear. Now, those Reich-wing grifters may have cultivated their cult to exploit for their own greed, power and vanity, but at least to some extent the Republican cult in turn seeks to exploit the GOP for their own various misguided purposes. They CHOOSE to be willfully ignorant, to believe or espouse the lies, because as a political calculus they shortsightedly see it as expedient to their ends.
What must also be taken into consideration are the characteristics of a cult. Why do people join a cult? Why do they choose to remain in a cult? No need to go into detail; the answers are largely common knowledge or easily researched. But it should be pointed out that in a complex world, the simplistic and rigid beliefs embraced by cults can be very alluring, no matter how fantastical and removed from reality. It should also be acknowledged that the Republican cult is not a monolithic entity, but an amalgamation of sects, including White supremacists, Christian nationalists, libertarians, sovereign nationals, anarchists, tax resistors, Qanon and other extremist fringe groups. Of course, not every Republican is an extremist, a fascist, or untethered from reality. But this latter more benign group is nevertheless part of the fascist Republican cult, complicit in their support of the whole, whether through their silent acquiescence and votes or willing assistance.
It's a very dangerous feedback loop, a vicious circle, one that as it sinks further into depravity its threat correspondingly rises, for as the Republican cult has over time been becoming increasingly more radicalized, we witness the election of more radical politicians to represent them, more radicalized Reich-wing media and demagogues to feed them propaganda. While some Republicans are leaving the GOP and some others are speaking out and trying to save their party, they constitute a weak minority, unfortunately.
In a normal, sane world, the Republican cult would have ended or been marginalized after the Mueller Report, after Trump's Ukraine shakedown and impeachment, after Trump's horrendous handling of a deadly global pandemic, after his election defeat, or after January 6th and his second impeachment. But that hasn't happened. Instead, the Republican cult continues to become increasingly more radicalized and extreme. As President Biden says, "We are in a battle for the soul of this nation." And that battle is far from over.
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Toxic Trump: "I'm the BEST, just absolutely CRUSHING the competition, with over one-and-a-half MILLION coronavirus cases and 91--ninety-one!!!--THOUSAND deaths! They ALL got eighty-sixed, 'cause nobody else even comes close! More than a third of the world's cases and a quarter of deaths--can you even imagine how truly great, how awesome, that achievement is, with less than FIVE PERCENT of the world's population to work with? Believe it or not, I accomplished in less than TWO MONTHS what it took the Vietnam War a whole TWELVE YEARS to do! Those other weaklings and losers don't stand a chance, because we're going to keep right on winning--as long as I'm in charge! Now, vacation's over; time to get back to work on increasing those numbers, people! Let's keep America great, get rid of all the excess baggage! As wartime President, I am commanding all CIVILIANS to senselessly sacrifice their lives for my arrogance, stupidity, vanity, malevolence, and greed!"
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and disturbing. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, and our country.
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It's like rowing or paddling upstream, or into a stiff wind--if you ease-up too much or stop, you will only have to paddle twice as hard to make up all the previous hard-earned progress that was quickly lost. Failing to maintain isolation and other measures for sufficient time to stop the spread of COVID-19 transmission will cost U.S. more in time, effort, money, and LIVES. Reopening and relaxing measures too early in defiance of the science and data is the ultimate in colossal ignorance, greed, ruthlessness, and arrogance.
We have a segment of Republican cult willfully ignorant, who malevolently seek to sabotage containment efforts. But many do not grasp how important it is that we treat ourselves and everyone else as being infected.
This is because people know that is very unlikely, especially outside dense urban areas, where incidence rates are low. Because of the delay in onset of the disease and asymptomatic carriers, COVID-19 is a stealth killer that uses Americans against each other as its foot soldiers, transporting it, keeping the disease and its train of transmission alive. This is further complicated because people cannot see a virus, see it attacking, see it spreading, until it is too late. For many of us, seeing is believing, and people are incapable or reluctant to make that leap of logic required to keep them and everyone safe--even with the massive public education efforts.
Of course, the problem becomes greatly exacerbated when the President refuses to wear a mask, and his administration works against itself in fighting this deadly global pandemic, sending conflicting messages to the public. Toxic Trump, his administration, and all the Republicans who have aided and abetted him, are directly responsible in our view for the senseless deaths of tens and thousands of Americans. The dead are the worst of it, but there is also the tremendous needless suffering and economic loss accompanying their wanton criminal negligence.
No national testing, no rational national coordinated pandemic response. Republican governors reopening too quickly in defiance of CDC guidelines are only following the President's lead. Democratic governors in many states likewise being adversely pressured by Toxic Trump's pandemic disinformation and Republican opposition to requisite lockdowns. Problem starts at the top. Don't fault even the worst Republican governors as much as this President. The President needed to take the lead, take the hit for the hard decisions--not put all the weight on governors as he as.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
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Republican cult are corrupt LYING hypocrites. Dirty, disgusting, deplorable, despicable, deranged, disgraceful, demented, dishonorable, depraved, disingenuous, devious, diabolical, duplicitous...and that's just a partial tabulation of the 'D' words describing the GOP; the complete listing of their nasty traits is far too many to enumerate.
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@shadesilverwing0 ~ Actually, did not realize this was referencing some video game until it was just mentioned that this was a reference, and researched the source. But then, it would take a HUGE chunk of my life playing the thousands upon thousands of video games available out there, when there are other far more worthwhile and productive pursuits. So, don't think that's a bad thing, or a knock against anyone who didn't get your esoteric reference.
Regardless of whether anyone understood it was a reference to some video game, what was the relevance, meaning, and application to this science video that you intended? Care to explain, and why the use of those specific quotes from the game?
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@shadesilverwing0 ~ Fair enough. Few points, though. I think people could take your comment a number of different ways, even those people familiar with the video game Portal.
Wasn't suggesting that video games are not worthwhile, per se, just that spending all one's time learning about them or learning to play all the myriad of video games available out there is not a particularly worthwhile way to spend all the time required. Indeed, some video games can challenge one to think logically, to help retain or sharpen memory, or even to learn skills, such as learning to type or learning how to fly an airplane, as with a simulator. However, as with most things, moderation is key, and there's a whole wide world out there beyond digital devices and video screens that offers so much more. My warning would be for folks not to lose themselves in virtual reality, which will never equal actually experiencing reality.
While perhaps the bacteria in the video experiment can be equated with the human experiment in the game, in reality they are in many respects unequal. We are not reliant (or, perhaps more accurately, no longer reliant) upon gene mutations to better ourselves or the societies in which we choose to live, for instance.
In reality, 30 years is a mere blink of the eye in evolutionary time, so although the experiment involved many, many generations of the same bacteria, in terms of time their evolution was relatively swift. Which is something that has been observed in nature, as species may stay relatively the same with few adaptations for many millennium, but a sudden burst of transformative changes and new species in a relatively short period of time has been observed in fossil records.
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The hospitality industry is dead as was formerly known for a while--maybe even a long while. Accept it, get used to it, make the best of it. Nearly all will be forced to operate at such reduced capacity as to be unprofitable, anyway. That's true for hair salons, tattoo parlors, massage joints, bars, and the like, as well. What we should be doing is putting such businesses and their employees on life support until a return to normalcy that allows safety and profitability. That takes national leadership, which Toxic Trump has repeatedly demonstrated himself incapable of providing, unfortunately.
Instead, we have businesses trying to reopen half-assed with a fraction of employees who will probably still lose money--while their efforts only help facilitate the spread of a deadly pandemic, sickening and killing Americans, thus hindering and delaying that return to normalcy so desperately desired for economic recovery and profitability. What we are witnessing and feeling is an ongoing train wreck, from the vantage point of the passengers. The lunatic conductor of the LOCO-motive, Toxic Trump, knew the end-of-the-line was coming, yet kept increasing acceleration, anyway. He's still trying to pump the gas, even with the train off the track! We on the HELL bound train, now, Lucifer's demented and depraved minion absolutely determined, dedicated, DEVOTED to getting us all there on time!
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Ignorant Republicans, Governors and Mayors:
DO YOU UNDERSTAND???
A virus can't think. But you can.
The real war isn't against this virus--it's against our own IGNORANCE and HUBRIS!
Restarting an economy REQUIRES first protecting public health in the midst of a deadly global pandemic. That's just plain, old-fashioned, common sense, fools! States, localities, and CITIZENS not fully on board with recommended protocols, guidelines--acting hastily and rashly in willful disregard of medical experts, the science, and the data--are PROLONGING isolation measures for EVERYONE, only DELAYING economic recovery in the U.S., while you are disabling and KILLING even more Americans.
Colorado bought hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 tests from South Korea, hiding it from the Toxic Trump administration, lest they steal it! While exercising far more prudence than many Republican governors, Colorado's governor is still jumping the gun, asking for trouble, putting health and lives unnecessarily at risk. Isn't Gov. Polis to blame so much, here, when it is really the lack of national leadership at fault.
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@timscott3892 ~Either you're a Russian bot trying to kill MORE Americans, or you're another Republican cult Trumpette moron trying to kill MORE Americans with your ignorance and arrogance. You think you know more than all the scientists and medical experts, who are in virtual harmonious agreement?
Truth is, Doc--whichever you are--you don't THINK! Moreover, you don't LEARN, since you're not very observant, either, given how a number of other nations have had great success against COVID-19 using the same strategies now being recommended by our own experts. There is no more "normal" until COVID-19 is beaten, fool, nor is killing another 83,000 Americans with your ignorance anything near approaching "normal." Although, it is precisely what is expected from Russian bots. About 95% of them posting here are; safe bet that you're one of them. #moreRussiasanctions
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Gee, didn't you know? Republicans don't care anything about protecting workers, public health, law, justice, or the environment...only about maximizing profits! That's how we got into this pickle in the first place, with 100,000 Americans dead in just three months; that's why other nations have stopped the spread, but we're STILL in the first wave, losing a 1,000 Americans daily, remember?
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
~ "Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts."
~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating.
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"Everybody that needs a test can get one!" Except, EVERYONE needs testing! It's not just about testing people who get sick, or even just those health care and other essential front-line workers, or those with a doctor referral. It's really all about RANDOMIZED testing, and testing for TRACKING and containment. THOSE are the testing capabilities desperately needed to safely reopen the economy--which the U.S. sorely lacks. Besides lying about virtually non-existent testing capabilities at the time, while also continually misleading Americans by touting testing kits instead of actual testing ABILITIES, the dirty, dastardly, dynamic duo of Toxic TRUMP and Plague PENCE were moving the goal posts, hoping to "score" in a game with no winners. They scored big, alright...in dead American bodies.
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Asked by reporters about the protestors gathering against pandemic lockdowns, the vast majority not wearing face masks or observing social distancing, Toxic Trump--who tweeted his supporters to "Liberate" three states with Democratic governors critical to his reelection, against his own administrations pandemic edicts and guidance, and in foment of partisan rebellion against state's governors during a Federal National Emergency declared against this pandemic--said, "They seem to be very responsible people to me!"
Trumpette insanity that should have us ALL livid with outrage! Not only are these Republican cult fools putting themselves, their loved ones, and everyone else in danger, they are putting an increased burden upon our already over-stressed health care workers and system, FURTHER endangering them and those they would serve. They put all our other essential front-line workers at increased risk, as well--those we need for our groceries and supplies (including migrant workers), to keep the government, electric, gas and other critical infrastructure functioning. What's really, really stupid about their aberrant, irrational partisan cult behavior, is that they are only PROLONGING restrictive measures to contain COVID-19, EXTENDING the time until our economy can reopen fully, REDUCING the amount our economy can be opened--all of which DESTROYS Trump's reelection chances! But that isn't the worst of it. These Trumpettes ignorantly protesting are KILLING actual Americans, just as surely as they put a gun to their heads and pulled the trigger. Toxic Trump shares responsibility, but it is these GOP idiots who own primary responsibility for manslaughter. They should be charged, tried, and convicted, in our view. At the very, very least, they should all be arrested for public endangerment. Ludicrous and lethal ignorance!
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
Conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Republican cult placing greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law? Just when America most needed a strong and courageous AG at the DOJ, we instead got a cowardly enabler in Merrick Garland.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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@fishfossils8858 ~ Clearly, you must have been in the Girl Scouts, not the Boy Scouts, whose motto is "Be prepared." Clearly, you must be in the Republican cult, who swallows whole whatever lies they're fed--facts, evidence and reason to the contrary be damned. Clearly, you're going to believe whatever sore losers want to believe, whining and crying and throwing temper tantrums, behaving like a little baby, instead of sucking it up, having some class, and being a big boy. Clearly, you care more about your political party than your country. Clearly, you're too blinded by your Republican cult-programmed fear and hate to see how Toxic Trump has not just made a mockery of himself for four years, but a mockery of this great nation, as well. Your party losing a Presidential election doesn't make you a loser, Doc--you did that all by yourself.
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Asked by reporters about the protestors gathering against pandemic lockdowns, the vast majority not wearing face masks or observing social distancing, Toxic Trump--who tweeted his supporters to "Liberate" three states with Democratic governors critical to his reelection, against his own administrations pandemic edicts and guidance, and in foment of partisan rebellion against state's governors during a Federal National Emergency declared against this pandemic--said, "They seem to be very responsible people to me!"
Trumpette insanity that should have us ALL livid with outrage! Not only are these Republican cult fools putting themselves, their loved ones, and everyone else in danger, they are putting an increased burden upon our already over-stressed health care workers and system, FURTHER endangering them and those they would serve. They put all our other essential front-line workers at increased risk, as well--those we need for our groceries and supplies (including migrant workers), to keep the government, electric, gas and other critical infrastructure functioning. What's really, really stupid about their aberrant, irrational partisan cult behavior, is that they are only PROLONGING restrictive measures to contain COVID-19, EXTENDING the time until our economy can reopen fully, REDUCING the amount our economy can be opened--all of which DAMAGES Trump's reelection chances! But that isn't the worst of it. These Trumpettes ignorantly protesting are KILLING actual Americans, just as surely as they put a gun to their heads and pulled the trigger. Toxic Trump shares responsibility, but it is these GOP idiots who own primary responsibility for manslaughter. They should be charged, tried, and convicted, in our view. At the very, very least, they should all be arrested for public endangerment. Ludicrous and lethal ignorance!
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Reich-wing media, demagogues, and politicians created and nourished the beast for decades, and now it has consumed them. They could have learned a lesson or two from Frankenstein, but they were too arrogant, too greedy, too lustful for power and fame. It's bringing them down, it's bringing the GOP down, and--worst of all--they're bringing America down. Republican cult has been fed a steady diet of lies, fear, and hate, willingly swallowed and spewed back out. It's past time to deprogram the cult, save the nation.
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As many as 70,000 Americans could be confirmed as infected with coronavirus by the end of next week, marking a “pretty dramatic” increase in the number of confirmed cases, the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, told his employees in an agency-wide conference call on 03/20/20. Except 03/21/20 saw a 33% jump in U.S. cases, from 18,000 to over 24,000. If continuing at 33% every 24 hours, the number of confirmed cases is trending much higher than just 70,000 by 03/27/20. Suspect confirmed cases will be double that. Bear in mind, states hardest hit are not testing many people, saving the tests for those most in need. So the actual number of infected Americans is going to be far higher than just what limited testing of the population has so far confirmed. Don't think this fact is being given enough attention. More important than the number of cases confirmed is the number contracting the disease and not getting tested, spreading the disease, in many cases unknowingly. Hospital projections are for about 100 MILLION Americans to become infected, with about 500,000 dead from covid-19.
(Update 1: Confirmed U.S. cases doubled in two days, from 18,000 to 36,000 by 03/22/20. Which is on track for the 150,000 forecast by Friday--not 70,000 predicted by NIH.)
(Update 2: Confirmed U.S. cases over 56,000 Tuesday, 03/24/20, with over 700 deaths.)
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@abigailhowe8302 ~ Don't know of anyone, regardless of their political ideology or affiliation, who thinks that men can have babies. I reported that comment as hate speech as soon as it was posted and, as too seldom happens, it appears it was rightly removed by Google. It's just a fallacious trope propagated by Russian and Reich-wing trolls to ignite culture wars, divide Americans, weaken America. It seems the Republican cult (largely created, enabled and empowered by Reich-wing politicians, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues and Reich-wing Christian nationalists) doesn't realize or care that they have been doing----and continue doing----the dirty work of America's enemies for them.
The GOP can no longer be defined as "conservative," anymore, albeit there is still a minority of traditional conservatives in the party who aren't part of the cult insanity. Some of them have left the GOP, and the rest have been marginalized. What was once mainstream conservatism has become the fringe in the GOP, which has moved to the radical, extremist right. It didn't happen overnight, and it didn't start with Trump, who only exploited and exacerbated the destructive Reich-wing Orwellian machine the GOP had built and cultivated for decades. For those of us old enough, what has been witnessed over the past four decades plus is a gradual corruption, erosion, and deterioration of the GOP to its present deplorable state, which no longer represents a loyal opposition political party. Even more troubling, like some out-of-control drug addict or alcoholic, the GOP hasn't hit rock bottom yet; it's descent has become only more precipitous. It is dragging this country down with it, and could well prove the ruin of us all.
Anyway, appreciated your replies here, even though my comment reflects my true feelings on trying to reason with people in the Republican cult. Will sometimes reply myself to some of those with older YouTube accounts that are not obvious trolls, try to reason with them, but very rarely meet with any success. Of course, it is important that people of reason and decency continue to speak out, and continue to do so via comments in online forums and through other means. But I no longer waste much time on fools and trolls. Instead, have found it useful and much more enjoyable to engage with rational people like yourself, ignoring the unruly little children with little minds clamoring for attention.
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GOP = fascism + nihilism The few patriots left in the Republican party are rejected by the vast majority of Republicans. Hard as it may be for some to believe or accept, it is to our own and our nation's peril to ignore, diminish, or dismiss that the GOP has become a fascist cult. Their fascism, nihilism and cultdom needs to be recognized, acknowledged, called out, condemned, and strongly opposed if we are to keep our democracy.
A third of America has been successfully Talibinized, thanks to Reich-wing plutocrats, Reich-wing media, Reich-wing demagogues, and Reich-wing politicians. Republican cult is the new ISIS. Call them Talibangelicals, ISIS-KKK, Y'all Qaeda, Vanilla ISIS, Reich-whingers (the original English word for whiners), or QaBomb----they're all part and parcel of the current lunatic Reich-wing GOP.
Republican politicians are appeasing fascist, seditious terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, nurtured, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, demagogues, media, white nationalist, Christian nationalist religious, sovereign citizens and Qanon leaders thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast they created would soon come to consume them.
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If you're not very sophisticated, know little about the Constitution and impeachment, and didn't listen objectively to the other three expert witnesses on Constitutional law, then you might come away with the wrong idea that Professor Turley was credible. You do realize that Turley's whole testimony ADVOCATES impeachment, simply asking for more witnesses, which Democrats very much want to have testify, but refuse to let Trump run out the clock in the courts with baseless legal appeals blocking evidentiary materials and their testimony?
Professor Turley disgraced himself and his employer, Georgetown University, getting taken to the mat repeatedly and completely outclassed by three experts from other universities. While clearly knowledgeable about Constitutional law and history, Professor Turley failed to present any rational academic argument against impeachment, choosing instead to turn a blind eye to high crimes, unprecedented total obstruction of Congress oversight and impeachment powers, this President's penchant for perversions and abuses of power, and dire national security concerns...while making false allegations, engaging in false equivalencies, projecting undue bias and playing coy. Although much value and greatly appreciate opposing perspectives, Professor Turley's performance was an act of bad faith and intellectual dishonesty, demonstrating a critical lack of integrity, of which Georgetown University, its students, and its alumni should all be ashamed, as it reflects very poorly on them and their fine institution. This was a fool willingly made a Republican cult tool, and the motivation appears more self-interest than altruistic--at a time when all sane, loyal hands are crucially required on deck.
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To those not wearing masks, social distancing, or following guidelines: Your willful ignorance does not mask your wanton disregard for human life, your appalling lack of humanity and humility, your supremely selfish inconsideration of others. Despite absolutely loathing wearing a mask, it's also the reason it's worn. The sooner we all start wearing masks, social distancing, and taking this deadly pandemic seriously, the sooner we get to take them off, the less time they'll need to be worn. Not to mention, the sooner we can go back to a normal that is more like normal, the sooner we can get our jobs back and our economy rolling, again.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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The Case Against Donald Trump
The president of the United States poses a threat to our collective existence. The choice voters face is spectacularly obvious.
OCTOBER 22, 2020 — Jeffrey Goldberg, on behalf of the editors of The Atlantic
In 1973, a United States Air Force officer, Major Harold Hering, asked a question that the Air Force did not want asked. Hering, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, was then in training to become a Minuteman-missile crewman. The question he asked one of his instructors was this: “How can I know that an order I receive to launch my missiles came from a sane president?”
The writer Ron Rosenbaum would later call this the “forbidden question.” Missile officers are allowed to ask certain sorts of questions—about the various fail-safe systems built to prevent the accidental launching of nuclear weapons, for instance. But the Air Force would not answer Hering’s question, and it moved to discharge him after determining that officers responsible for launching nuclear weapons did not “need to know” the answer. “I have to say I feel I do have a need to know because I am a human being,” Hering said in response.
Hering’s question was taboo because the national defense strategy of the United States is built on the unstated assumption that the American people will not allow a lunatic to become president. If that assumption is wrong, then no procedural, legal, or technological mechanisms exist that are able to fully protect the human race from such a lunatic. Hering discovered a catastrophic flaw in U.S. nuclear doctrine, and for this he was driven from the Air Force.
In most matters related to the governance and defense of the United States, the president is constrained by competing branches of government and by an intricate web of laws and customs. Only in one crucial area does the president resemble, in the words of the former missile officer and scholar Bruce Blair, an absolute monarch—his control of nuclear weapons. Richard Nixon, who was president when Major Hering asked his question, was reported to have told members of Congress at a White House dinner party, “I could leave this room and in 25 minutes, 70 million people would be dead.” This was an alarming but accurate statement.
When contemplating their ballots, Americans should ask which candidate in a presidential contest is better equipped to guide the United States through a national-security crisis without triggering a nuclear exchange, and which candidate is better equipped to interpret—within five or seven minutes—the ambiguous, complicated, and contradictory signals that could suggest an imminent nuclear attack. These are certainly not questions that large numbers of voters asked themselves in 2016, when a transparently unqualified candidate for president won the support of 63 million Americans.
At the time, Donald Trump had not yet served in public office, so concerns about his ability to protect the United States from harm were hypothetical, though grounded in his long and terrible record as a human being. As The Atlantic stated in its October 2016 endorsement of his opponent, Hillary Clinton, Trump “traffics in conspiracy theories and racist invective; he is appallingly sexist; he is erratic, secretive, and xenophobic; he expresses admiration for authoritarian rulers, and evinces authoritarian tendencies himself … He is an enemy of fact-based discourse; he is ignorant of, and indifferent to, the Constitution; he appears not to read.”
What we have learned since we published that editorial is that we understated our case. Donald Trump is the worst president this country has seen since Andrew Johnson, or perhaps James Buchanan, or perhaps ever. Trump has brought our country low; he has divided our people; he has pitted race against race; he has corrupted our democracy; he has shown contempt for American ideals; he has made cruelty a sacrament; he has provided comfort to propagators of hate; he has abandoned America’s allies; he has aligned himself with dictators; he has encouraged terrorism and mob violence; he has undermined the agencies and departments of government; he has despoiled the environment; he has opposed free speech; he has lied frenetically and evangelized for conspiracism; he has stolen children from their parents; he has made himself an advocate of a hostile foreign power; and he has failed to protect America from a ravaging virus. Trump is not responsible for all of the 220,000 COVID-19-related deaths in America. But through his avarice and ignorance and negligence and titanic incompetence, he has allowed tens of thousands of Americans to suffer and die, many alone, all needlessly. With each passing day, his presidency reaps more death.
But let us lay all of this aside for the moment. Let us even lay aside the extraordinary fact that Donald Trump has been credibly accused of rape. Compelling evidence suggests that his countless sins and defects are rooted in mental instability, pathological narcissism, and profound moral and cognitive impairment. Which returns us to the subject of Major Hering.
Trump’s opponent, Joe Biden, is in many ways a typically imperfect candidate, but if we judge these men on two questions alone—Who is a more trustworthy steward of America’s nuclear arsenal? Which man poses less of a threat to our collective existence?—the answer is spectacularly obvious.
The Atlantic has endorsed only three candidates in its 163-year history: Abraham Lincoln, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Hillary Clinton. The latter two endorsements had more to do with the qualities of Barry Goldwater and Donald Trump than with those of Johnson and Clinton. The same holds true in the case of Joe Biden. Biden is a man of experience, maturity, and obvious humanity, but had the Republican Party put forward a credible candidate for president, we would have felt no compulsion to state a preference. Donald Trump, however, is a clear and continuing danger to the United States, and it does not seem likely that our country would be able to emerge whole from four more years of his misrule. Two men are running for president. One is a terrible man; the other is a decent man. Vote for the decent man.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/10/atlantics-endorsement-against-donald-trump/616815/
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Merrick Garland: "Trump and Congressional Republicans screwed me out of a seat on the Supreme Court...that's why now as AG I can't prosecute them for the many crimes they've committed!"
Merrick Garland’s House Testimony Demonstrated the Failure of His Hyper-Cautious Approach to His Job
Despite Garland’s many efforts to not appear political by declining to investigate Trump and his cronies for possible crimes and by using DOJ resources to actively protect Trump from civil liability, Republicans are still portraying him as the most political attorney general in history.
The other weakness of Garland’s timid approach was on full view during his opening statement and responses to Democratic members of Congress. “The essence of the rule of law is that like cases are treated alike. That there not be one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans; one rule for friends, another for foes,” Garland stated grandly. But by declining to investigate Trump and his associates, Garland is enabling further attacks on our democracy. (While proving inequity by putting Republicans above the law.)
Crucially, the two parties are not the same. Garland’s standard sets up a false equivalency between the Democratic Party and a political party whose national leader, Donald Trump, incited and celebrated a violent assault on our nation’s Capitol to overthrow the results of a free and fair election and who continues to portray the insurrection as a glorious “protest.” To that end, in the middle of the attorney general’s testimony, Trump issued a statement highlighting Garland’s feebleness at failing to even investigate the organizers and leaders of the Jan. 6 events, declaring “the insurrection took place on November 3, Election Day. January 6 was the Protest!”
Garland’s efforts to depoliticize the DOJ have proved to be an abdication of his responsibility to protect the rule of law. Take just a few examples: Garland’s failure to reconsider the obstruction of justice case against the former president, his deferral of an investigation of possible financial crimes by Trump and his organization to local prosecutors in New York City and Westchester, his use of the DOJ to protect Trump from defamation allegations, and his deferral of a soliciting of voter fraud felony probe in Georgia to local prosecutors there. By abdicating his responsibility, Garland is also opening the door for Trump to commit these possibly criminal abuses all over again, this time with the full support of the Republican Party, and maybe ultimately return to power.
--Mark Stern
"Try as he may, Merrick Garland cannot perform boring independence fast enough to outrun GOP claims that he’s a wild-eyed, violent socialist. And while the GOP currently exists only to cast everything you thought you believed into doubt, the real endgame is vigilantism. The endgame is to ensure that people mistrust government, election systems, school boards, (teachers, health care officials) the media, and the justice system enough to lend a hand in their destruction."
--Dahlia Lithwick
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Republican cult is the new ISIS.
Republican politicians are appeasing terrorists...because that's their voter base, radicalization and extremism is what they have cultivated, nourished, exploited, and profited from for four decades. Reich-wing politicians, plutocrats, media and demagogues thought they could ride the tiger, too arrogant, greedy, and stupid to foresee that master would become slave, and the beast would soon come to consume them.
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@les5136 ~ Thanks for your kind words, Les. As with all my original commentary, it is offered freely to educate, enlighten, and provoke thought. As always, people are encouraged to share and repost if found worthy as they wish--no accreditation even necessary. Personal recognition, popularity, subscribers, or YouTube profits are of no concern to me.
Have posted many times in this present form and in previous incantations. Parts of it are virtually unchanged, dating over three years old, now. But the more people posting it, the better! Can't be everywhere, don't have time for every YouTube video, so appreciate others spreading the good word. Consider it an honor whenever seen someone has reposted my commentary. Will post separately here to this space some other of our commentary you may also like; feel free to share or repost those too if you like, as well.
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@les5136 ***MEDIA FAIL*** -- Apparently, Smercartoonish would say Hitler was a "gifted showman" and orator, too. Limbaugh used divisive demagoguery to peddle lies, fear, bigotry, hypocrisy, and hate--purely for his vanity and greed. He may have achieved the most popularity among the Republican cult he was partly instrumental in creating, but he was only one instrument out of many who exploited the masses in the same way. Together, they were all the "John the Baptist," making way for America's version of Hitler, the Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump. There was nothing complicated about any of it--many of us have been calling out this Reich-wing demagoguery for what it is and where it would lead us for decades. Media BE better, WE be better!
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@les5136 ~ As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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@les5136 ~ "The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
~ "Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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"Peace is not a very big thing to ask for, is it?" ~ Fatima Gailani, Afghan activist and negotiator, pleading for continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan
It is when asking the Taliban, who do not seek peace or to bargain in good faith, but total domination once again. U.S. has spent 20 years and $2 trillion trying to achieve peace in Afghanistan, losing over 4000 American lives (military and civilian contractors), with tens of thousands of Americans wounded there.
"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials … have given Afghans little reason to support their government," Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the commander of U.S. forces in the country, wrote in a 2009 memorandum. "This crisis of confidence, coupled with a distinct lack of economic and educational opportunity, has created fertile ground for the insurgency."
That was 11 years ago, and little has changed since. Thought the invasion of Afghanistan by Bush was a mistake that would lead to a quagmire, and have been proven correct. Still, initially supported efforts to bring peace and stability there, along with basic human and civil-rights, because after invading felt we had an obligation to rebuild. However, while U.S. blunders there have contributed to a failure, Afghans are their own worst enemy, and no one can help them until enough of them are willing to help themselves.
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There has never been a graceful exit for the losing side in any war.
Truth is, our hasty withdrawal from Vietnam was even worse if you look at the numbers and the whole picture. Only 7,000 were evacuated from Vietnam during the fall of Saigon, with many more left behind, including two dead American soldiers----the last to die in the Vietnam War----left behind in a hospital and not returned until a year later by the Vietnamese. That evacuation occurred under hostile NVA and Vietcong fire. Since August 14, over 120,000 have already been evacuated from Afghanistan despite the complete capitulation of the Afghan government and Afghan Army, with no hostile fire upon American troops by the Taliban so far. Over 125,000 have been evacuated since the end of July. Moreover, the January 27, 1973 peace agreement signed by the Americans with the North Vietnamese ended all direct U.S. military involvement in Vietnam, and provided sixty days for troop removal. Just as with Afghanistan, all troops were removed. However, it was over two years later, on April 30, 1975, when the fall of Saigon occurred. So, the U.S. had nearly two-and-a-half years to evacuate everyone else before the fall of the South Vietnamese government and armed forces, instead of just the two weeks like in Afghanistan so far.
The other thing in stark contrast between Vietnam and Afghanistan is that no Democrats----including Carter, who was running against Ford for President----tried to use the situation for political gain like Republicans are so desperately and depravedly doing now. That, despite the fact that it was the previous Trump administration which bears the brunt of the blame for the current situation.
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06/25/20 -- 2,505,000 confirmed cases; 126,800 deaths.
06/24/20 -- 2,463,000 confirmed cases; 124,300 deaths.
06/23/20 -- 2,424,000 confirmed cases; 123,500 deaths.
06/22/20 -- 2,388,000 confirmed cases; 122,600 deaths.
06/21/20 -- 2,357,000 confirmed cases; 122,200 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
06/20/20 -- 2,331,000 confirmed cases; 122,000 deaths.
06/19/20 -- 2,297,000 confirmed cases; 121,400 deaths.
06/18/20 -- 2,264,000 confirmed cases; 120,700 deaths.
06/17/20 -- 2,235,000 confirmed cases; 119,900 deaths.
06/16/20 -- 2,199,000 confirmed cases; 118,800 deaths.
06/15/20 -- 2,182,000 confirmed cases; 118,200 deaths.
06/14/20 -- 2,162,000 confirmed cases; 117,800 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
06/13/20 -- 2,139,000 confirmed cases; 117,500 deaths. Latest projection has 200,000 Americans dead from COVID-19 before October.
06/12/20 -- 2,117,000 confirmed cases; 116,800 deaths.
06/11/20 -- 2,090,000 confirmed cases; 116,000 deaths.
06/10/20 -- 2,066,000 confirmed cases; 115,100 deaths.
06/09/20 -- 2,046,000 confirmed cases; 114,100 deaths.
06/08/20 -- 2,026,000 confirmed cases; 113,000 deaths.
06/07/20 -- 2,007,000 confirmed cases; 112,500 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
06/06/20 -- 1,976,000 confirmed cases; 111,900 deaths.
06/05/20 -- 1,949,000 confirmed cases; 111,000 deaths.
06/04/20 -- 1,924,000 confirmed cases; 110,100 deaths.
06/03/20 -- 1,902,000 confirmed cases; 109,100 deaths.
06/02/20 -- 1,881,000 confirmed cases; 108,000 deaths.
06/01/20 -- 1,860,000 confirmed cases; 107,000 deaths.
05/31/20 -- 1,837,000 confirmed cases; 106,200 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/30/20 -- 1,817,000 confirmed cases; 105,600 deaths.
05/29/20 -- 1,793,000 confirmed cases; 104,500 deaths.
05/28/20 -- 1,768,000 confirmed cases; 103,300 deaths.
05/27/20 -- 1,746,000 confirmed cases; 102,100 deaths.
05/26/20 -- 1,725,000 confirmed cases; 100,600 deaths.
05/25/20 -- 1,706,000 confirmed cases; 99,800 deaths.
05/24/20 -- 1,686,000 confirmed cases; 99,300 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/23/20 -- 1,667,000 confirmed cases; 98,700 deaths.
05/22/20 -- 1,645,000 confirmed cases; 97,600 deaths.
05/21/20 -- 1,621,000 confirmed cases; 96,400 deaths.
05/20/20 -- 1,593,000 confirmed cases; 94,900 deaths.
05/19/20 -- 1,571,000 confirmed cases; 93,500 deaths.
05/18/20 -- 1,550,000 confirmed cases; 92,000 deaths.
05/17/20 -- 1,528,000 confirmed cases; 91,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/16/20 -- 1,497,000 confirmed cases; 89,400 deaths.
05/15/20 -- 1,473,000 confirmed cases; 88,200 deaths.
05/14/20 -- 1,448,000 confirmed cases; 86,500 deaths.
05/13/20 -- 1,421,000 confirmed cases; 84,800 deaths.
05/12/20 -- 1,400,000 confirmed cases; 83,000 deaths.
05/11/20 -- 1,379,000 confirmed cases; 81,500 deaths.
05/10/20 -- 1,364,000 confirmed cases; 80,600 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/09/20 -- 1,344,000 confirmed cases; 79,700 deaths.
05/08/20 -- 1,318,000 confirmed cases; 78,200 deaths.
05/07/20 -- 1,289,000 confirmed cases; 76,500 deaths.
05/06/20 -- 1,260,000 confirmed cases; 74,500 deaths.
05/05/20 -- 1,233,000 confirmed cases; 72,000 deaths.
05/04/20 -- 1,208,000 confirmed cases; 69,600 deaths. CDC projects cases increasing to 200,000 per day with deaths rising to 3,000 per day by June because of states, localities and people not following guidelines and reopening their economies too soon.
05/03/20 -- 1,184,000 confirmed cases; 68,300 deaths. Every 44 seconds, another American dies from COVID-19. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
05/02/20 -- 1,158,000 confirmed cases; 67,000 deaths.
05/01/20 -- 1,129,000 confirmed cases; 65,500 deaths.
04/30/20 -- 1,094,000 confirmed cases; 63,600 deaths. The U.S. accounts for over a third of the world's cases, and over a quarter of COVID-19 deaths--despite possessing only 5% of the world's population. Yet--even now--we still lack the adequate testing capabilities that are critically needed to safely reopen the economy, and remain sorely lacking the necessary rational national leadership so vital to saving American lives and livelihoods.
04/29/20 -- 1,064,000 confirmed cases; 61,500 deaths. The U.S. now has as many COVID-19 deaths in just NINE WEEKS as there was for all TWELVE YEARS of the Vietnam War.
04/28/20 -- 1,034,000 confirmed cases; 59,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/27/20 -- 1,009,000 confirmed cases; 56,500 deaths.
04/26/20 -- 985,000 confirmed cases; 55,400 deaths.
04/25/20 -- 958,000 confirmed cases; 54,000 deaths.
04/24/20 -- 927,000 confirmed cases; 52,400 deaths.
04/23/20 -- 890,000 confirmed cases; 50,400 deaths.
04/22/20 -- 853,000 confirmed cases; 47,800 deaths (+2,674*)
04/21/20 -- 825,000 confirmed cases; 45,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/20/20 -- 788,000 confirmed cases; 43,200 deaths.
04/17/20 -- 702,000 confirmed cases; 37,000 deaths.
04/16/20 -- 671,000 confirmed cases; 33,100 deaths. Less COVID-19 testing performed this week than last, despite desperate need to ramp up volume to reopen economy.
04/15/20 -- 640,000 confirmed cases; 30,800 deaths. The United States recorded its first coronavirus fatality on Feb. 29. It took 38 days to reach 10,000 deaths and just nine more days to go from 10,000 fatalities to 30,000. An increase in fatalities over the last 48 hours was expected, but was also due to new CDC policy, starting on 04/14, to include probable COVID-19 deaths...finally.
04/14/20 -- 609,000 confirmed cases; 26,600 deaths (+2,364 - *New worst daily death toll)
04/13/20 -- 583,000 confirmed cases; 24,200 deaths
04/12/20 -- 558,000 confirmed cases; 22,100 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. NOTE: Large number of deaths undiagnosed in homes at 4-5 times normal rate are NOT being included in COVID-19 totals by state health departments. Consequently, the COVID-19 death toll is being kept artificially low in the U.S. With just 4.25% of the world's population, the U.S. has 30% of the COVID-19 infections and 20% of the COVID-19 deaths. So far, the U.S. has the very WORST response of ANY nation, something formerly inconceivable, and inexcusable that it could now be allowed to happen here. In the U.S., we have 1.5 million seniors in 15,000 nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Despite forming only 0.45% of the U.S. population, they make up almost 10% of deaths, primarily because our federal government is not doing enough to protect them. Reported that many hospitals are no longer accepting COVID-19 patients from nursing homes, preferring they die there, instead. Our seniors, who helped build, grow and make America great, are being sacrificed, solely to ignorance.
04/11/20 -- 530,000 confirmed cases; 20,500 deaths.
04/08/20 -- 432,000 confirmed cases; 15,900 deaths. .
04/07/20 -- 400,000 confirmed cases; 13,000 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic. Figures indicate a Covid-19 fatality rate for TESTED Americans at 3.25%.
04/06/20 -- 369,000 confirmed cases; 11,000 deaths.
04/02/20 -- 246,000 confirmed cases; 6,050 deaths. Still no adequate testing. Still no rational national coordinated response to this deadly pandemic.
04/01/20 -- 217,000 confirmed cases; 5,150 deaths.
03/31/20 -- 190,000 confirmed cases; 4,200 deaths.
03/29/20 -- 143,000 confirmed cases; 2,450 deaths. Still no adequate testing.
(Update 5: Friday, 03/27/20, confirmed U.S. cases 105,000--which is 50% over NIH high-end estimate; deaths 1,700 by end of day. The perspective for cases is significantly skewed low and thus highly misleading, however, as just 0.17% of U.S. population has been tested to date.)
"As many as 70,000 Americans could be confirmed as infected with coronavirus by the end of next week, marking a “pretty dramatic” increase in the number of confirmed cases," the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, told his employees in an agency-wide conference call on 03/20/20.
Except 03/21/20 saw a 33% jump in U.S. cases, from 18,000 to over 24,000. If continuing at 33% every 24 hours, the number of confirmed cases is trending much higher than just 70,000 by 03/27/20. Suspect confirmed cases will be double that. Bear in mind, states hardest hit are not testing many people, saving the tests for those most in need. So the actual number of infected Americans is going to be far higher than just what limited testing of the population has so far confirmed. Don't think this fact is being given enough attention. More important than the number of cases confirmed is the number contracting the disease and not getting tested, spreading the disease, in many cases unknowingly. Hospital projections are for about 100 MILLION Americans to become infected, with about 500,000 dead from covid-19.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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TRUM_PLANNED_EMIC!
Given plenty of advance warnings about COVID-19, Toxic Trump chose not to heed the sound advice provided. We could have been Taiwan, with a comparative 100 deaths in the U.S.; or South Korea, with a comparative 1500 deaths here, after adjusted for population size. Taiwan had just seven deaths; South Korea less than 300. We got over 125,000 deaths already, with the count still rapidly rising, while we remain, still, firmly mired in the first wave of the disease. Even worse, after six months, we STILL lack the adequate testing and rational national response to contain the disease.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
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Because humans have neglected to take aggressive action to curb our hydrocarbon usage and emissions, have refused to take climate change seriously, now what we are witnessing is a snowball effect, where the problem is exacerbated by fires burning in the Amazon, in Greece, in the western U.S. and Canada, raising temperatures and adding more CO2 and other greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. As the frozen tundra thaws, methane gases are being released, and as water bodies warm, methane hydrates formerly trapped at the bottom rise into the air, releasing even more methane gas. As more and more surface ice is lost on land and in the ocean, less sunlight is reflected back into space, causing more heat gain. Humans have set into motion a self-perpetuating loop; a cycle which we may well be powerless to stop, and which will destroy life on Earth as it has existed for millions of years.
What we are witnessing and experiencing is only just the beginning of the reckoning for human stupidity, greed, apathy, and short-sightedness. Pretty soon, with so many suffering, empathy will be in short supply. I fear what is to come for the human race, for our children, for their children, and all who follow after, and the sorrow I feel for them and our planet, for all that will be lost, overwhelms. Because this didn't have to happen. We knew decades ago that we were creating our own apocalypse, and took no more than token measures to stop it. And humans continue to dawdle, fiddling while the planet burns.
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"Without accountability, an attempted autogolpe or insurrection is just practice."
"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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Toxic Trump: "I'm the BEST, just absolutely CRUSHING the competition, with over TWO MILLION coronavirus cases and over 118--one-hundred and eighteen!!!--THOUSAND deaths! They ALL got eighty-sixed, 'cause nobody else even comes close! With a third of the world's cases and a quarter of deaths--can you even imagine how truly great, how awesome, that achievement is, with only just FOUR PERCENT of the world's population to work with? Believe it or not, I accomplished in only FIVE WEEKS what it took the Vietnam War a whole TWELVE YEARS to do! PLUS, we're not even counting ALL the COVID-19 cases and deaths here in the U.S.! Those other weaklings and losers don't stand a chance, because we're going to keep right on winning--as long as I'm in charge! Now, vacation's over; time to get back to work on increasing those numbers, people! Let's keep America great, get rid of all the excess baggage! As wartime President, I am commanding all CIVILIANS to senselessly sacrifice their lives for my arrogance, stupidity, vanity, malevolence, and greed!"
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Great to see good 'ol Torture Yoo put under the bright lights and given a little taste of his own medicine! However, as Torture Yoo proves, torture victims will say anything to make the torture stop, making it useless for intelligence gathering, good only for perverted gratification, used by sadistic, ignorant brutes like Trump, Cheney, and Torture Yoo!
It's "Torture" Yoo! Never forget--this is the clown that wrote specious opinions at OLC to provide legal cover for Dubya's torture regime! Still pissed Princeton took him on as a professor afterward, giving him a plush, prestigious job, a position he still holds, lending credibility when he deserves to be thoroughly discredited! Still pissed at Obama for not investigating torture, too--leaving the door open for another joker like Trump to torture.
Torture Yoo is a weasel. Always has been, so this is really nothing new for those who knew. Typical Republican.
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Get big money out of politics, and get corrupt politicians like Manchin and Sinema sucking up to the corporate trough voted out.
• A summer sting operation by Greenpeace had an Exxon Mobil lobbyist reveal that he met with Manchin weekly to try to persuade him to weaken Biden’s climate agenda (and he’s not the only rich guy who gets Manchin regularly on the line). Manchin has received more donations than any other Senator from oil, gas, and coal industry.
• An August piece in Harper’s noted that the West Virginia Democratic Party, which the senator played no small role in gutting, remains entirely under Manchin’s influence and control. It also mentions how Manchin leveraged his influence within the Senate to get plush government appointments for people close to him, including his wife.
• A September report from Type Investigations and the Intercept revealed that Manchin is currently invested in multiple coal companies that are run by his son, and that, even though the elder Manchin’s investments are in a blind trust, he has personally made $4.5 million from them during the time he has spent in the Senate (11 years to date).
• This is likely the Manch’s last term. In this remaining time, he seems to be simply looking out for his sources of wealth, including the ones that come from his son’s coal incinerators. It wouldn’t be the first time a Manchin family member used conflicts of interest to their advantage. Joe’s wife, Gayle, previously served as head of the West Virginia Board of Education and used her position to try to require the state’s schools to purchase EpiPens. EpiPens are manufactured by the Big Pharma juggernaut Mylan, whose former CEO was Heather Bresch—Manchin’s daughter, who stepped down after it was revealed she helped fix the prices of EpiPens in collusion with Pfizer. Family helping family: It’s a highly lucrative graft.
• While Manchin and Sinema worked to delay and reduce the Democrats’ budget bill, they were raising campaign money from wealthy Republican donors, according to a Sludge review of campaign finance data from Code for Democracy. For many of these donors, their contributions to Manchin or Sinema this year have been only their first or second donations to any Democrats in recent election cycles.
• Twenty years ago, when Kyrsten Sinema was a Green Party activist running for the Phoenix City Council, she likened the practice of raising campaign cash to “bribery.” Now that she's a U.S. senator, she no longer seems to have such qualms. So far this year, she's raised nearly $750,000 in donations from the pharmaceutical and medical sector (plus more from the financial sector) at a time when the Arizona Democrat was using her power in a narrowly divided Senate to force President Joe Biden to scale down his spending agenda. Her actions are closely aligned with the priorities of donors who have much at stake in how Biden's initiatives turn out.
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Farmer wakes up one morning, goes outside to milk his cows, and discovers his entire herd is missing! So, he then walks over nest door to where the Republican cult lives, notices them grinding a whole bunch of beef into hamburger, and asks them, "Did you see what happened to all my cows?"
Republican cult: "Yeah, they jumped over the moon."
Farmer: "Do you have any actual evidence of that?"
Republican cult: "No, because they landed on the dark side, and you can't see them over there. But we're conducting a bunch of investigations and fraudits, and we're confident evidence will soon emerge to prove it!"
Farmer: "You know, that sounds like a load of manure!"
Republican cult: "Well, that's what we all choose to believe!"
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@joespice785 ~ I'm absolutely certain you're pulling numbers out of your ass and that you don't know anything about economics, Doc! Trump added $8.2 trillion to the national debt in just four years, and a recurring $1 trillion added debt annually from lost revenue due to his tax giveaway to the wealthy. Moreover, it was Trump's budget that run through October of fiscal year 2020-2021.
At any rate, inflation is occurring globally, and is due largely to supply and demand issues arising from Covid-19, not any nation's national debt. Besides, the national debt is projected to only increase about $1 trillion after Biden's first year in office -- not the $4.5 trillion figure you fabricated. Also, wage increases in the U.S. have outstripped inflation, which means that American workers are coming out ahead.
Lastly, the Build Back Better Act is largely funded through offsets, so it adds little to the national debt. Not passing the Build Back Better Act is projected to result in a fairly significant loss in the growth of U.S. economic growth over the next three quarters, which means less revenues and greater debt. Not passing the Build Back Better Act, which the vast majority of Americans support, means the American people losing out in a myriad of ways.
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GOP and Trump administration: Where the hard reality of COVID-19 pierces the Republican cult bubble world of delusional fantasies, denialism, deceit, supreme ignorance, utter incompetence, and Orwellian governance, exposing them all as charlatans and frauds. Much as needed, we're hoping that doesn't happen; that America escapes the ravages of this disease, and we don't suffer thousands of American citizens dying, with many more becoming critically ill. Tragically, that doesn't seem very likely, and the Trump administration hardly inspires confidence, with all indications to date CONTRARY that they can capably handle such a catastrophe occurring here.
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Toxic Trump: "I'm the BEST, just absolutely CRUSHING the competition, with over FOUR POINT THREE MILLION coronavirus cases and over 150 -- one-hundred and fifty!!! -- THOUSAND deaths! Easy as 1-2-3! They ALL got eighty-sixed, 'cause nobody else even comes close! With a QUARTER of the world's cases AND deaths--can you even imagine how truly great, how awesome, that achievement is, with only just FOUR PERCENT of the world's population to work with? Believe it or not, I accomplished in only FIVE WEEKS what it took the Vietnam War a whole TWELVE YEARS to do! Not done with the fun--and not to be outdone--I then doubled down on the death toll from Vietnam in just FOUR MONTHS! PLUS, we're not even counting ALL the COVID-19 cases and deaths here in the U.S.! And, with only TEN PERCENT of the U.S. population already infected, we're just getting started with all the sickness and death; there's PLENTY more to come! Those other weaklings and losers don't stand a chance, because we're going to keep right on winning--as long as I'm in charge! Now, vacation's over; time to get back to work on increasing those numbers, people! Let's keep America great, get rid of all the excess baggage! As wartime President, I am commanding all CIVILIANS to senselessly sacrifice their lives for my arrogance, stupidity, vanity, malevolence, and greed!"
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Vote BLUE for science, humanity, sanity, justice, truth, inclusiveness, reason, decency, democracy, and reality! And, don't forget to also GET OUT THE VOTE! With anti-democratic, fascist Trump and GOP, must vote to win too big to rig, too real to steal, create too much heat to cheat; if complete, Dems can't be beat.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it just recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon the rest of the citizens of this nation.
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Instead of embracing the reverence for nature and sustainability practiced by the America's indigenous peoples, we have entered into a death pact with capitalism, consumerism, greed, and selfishness, largely forced upon the common person by large businesses and the wealthy, who continue exploiting us for the own short-sighted, immediate benefit. We bear some responsibility for that, too. For taking part, for allowing it to happen, and for allowing it to continue as long as it has. Until enough of us average citizens wake up and become active in changing how our cultures and societies operate, the downward spiral of our environment will continue leading us into a dead-end death trap. Capitalism and consumerism can serve a purpose. However, they should be viewed and utilized as just one tool at our disposal in our toolbox, and not overly relied upon, like a hammer used for every job, which does more destruction than good.
We all see the change, but some just don't want to admit it. Moved back north to southern Wisconsin in '84 after living in Arizona and Texas for seven years. Even back then, the change was noticeable, more warm summer nights, milder winters, and it was something I remarked upon at the time to family and friends. The temperatures even back then were more like that experienced about 200 miles south in northern Illinois where I spent the first eight years of my life. Since '84, the change has continued at what I estimate is about the same pace of warming as that noticed from the previous back in '84. Sure, we'll sometimes still get an arctic blast with a polar vortex, or a big snowfall. But the snow doesn't stay on the ground the way it used to do. We got a snow in late November or December before, it was there until spring, although sun, wind, compaction and evaporation would somewhat reduce it. Now, periodically all the snow melts during the winter as temperatures will rise above freezing long enough to melt all but the bigger compacted snow piles plowed or shoveled. Snowmobiling used to be a big thing, but now many no longer own them around here because there is less and less opportunity to use them, and those still fanatics are often now traveling to the upper half of the state to go snowmobiling. Now, the grass is staying green into December and even January sometimes. Growing up, we would experience only one or two nights out of the year when you could sleep outdoors without a sleeping bag in this part of Wisconsin, but now there are many such nights during the summer. Used to be you could get by without air conditioning here, it was more of a luxury than a necessity. Now, it's pretty much a necessity. Yeah, if you live up north, who doesn't like more warmer weather? But knowing AGW is leading us towards imminent and inevitable disaster, seeing some of the related disasters occurring from it, knowing how it is adversely affecting plants, animals and environments, it is a guilty pleasure, one that I personally don't believe is worth the trade-offs. Never thought I'd see the day when I'd say bring back colder weather, but here we are.
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In hard-hit areas, testing restricted to health care workers, hospital patients
Carolyn Y. Johnson, Lena Sun -- Washington Post -- 03/21/20
Health officials in New York, California and other hard-hit parts of the country are restricting coronavirus testing to health care workers and people who are hospitalized, saying the battle to contain the virus is lost and the country is moving into a new phase of the pandemic response.
As cases spike sharply in those places, they are hunkering down for an onslaught, and directing scarce resources where they are needed most to save people’s lives. Instead of encouraging broad testing of the public, they’re focused on conserving masks, ventilators, intensive care beds — and on getting still-limited tests to health care workers and the most vulnerable. The shift is further evidence that rising levels of infection and illness have begun to overwhelm the health care system.
Health officials are struggling with a complicated message — more people can get tested, but those with mild symptoms should stay home and practice social distancing. Some go so far as to warn that widespread testing at this point could threaten the U.S. response by burning through precious supplies just as a tidal wave of sick people descend on the system
“In a universe where masks and gowns are starting to become scarce, every time we test someone who doesn’t need one, we’re taking that mask and gown away from someone in the intensive care unit,” said Demetre Daskalakis, deputy commissioner for the Division of Disease Control of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
Jeff Engel, executive director of the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists and former health director for North Carolina said it was time for a “pivot” in the testing strategy.
“If you have mild illness and can stay at home … don’t get tested,” Engel said. “You’re not only putting others at risk if you go out and about with symptoms, you’re wasting all these valuable resources we really need to conserve for society.”
Other county and state health officials are sounding similar alarms — just as drive-through testing sites are finally opening and weeks after federal officials announced 1.1 million tests had been shipped out and another 4 million more were coming.
Los Angeles County health officials advised doctors in a letter Thursday to give up on testing patients as a strategy to contain the coronavirus outbreak, instructing them to test patients only if a positive result could change how they would be treated, the Los Angeles Times reported. The department “is shifting from a strategy of case containment to slowing disease transmission and averting excess morbidity and mortality,” according to the letter.
That same day, Sacramento county officials ordered residents to stay home except for essential activities, part of the city’s evolving strategy away from efforts to contain the virus by identifying and isolating each case and tracing that person’s contacts — a laborious process that becomes all but impossible once cases mount. The county public health order said the intent is to protect the most vulnerable, slow the virus’ spread, and preserve the ability of front-line workers to care for severely ill patients.
In Washington state, where hospital workers have been fashioning makeshift protective medical gear using parts purchased from Home Depot and craft stores, officials are restricting testing to high-risk populations, including health care workers and people with more severe symptoms.
“We’ve asked the public to understand we can’t test everyone, especially if they have mild symptoms or are asymptomatic,” said Jeff Duchin, health officer for Seattle and King County, a hard-hit part of the country.
The shift represents a confusing change in messaging and strategy after weeks of efforts to expand access to testing after the federal government’s botched rollout of testing kits, which hampered states’ ability to know whether the virus was already circulating and to take steps to try to get ahead of it. Now, the repeated reassurances from various federal officials that testing is plentiful and free have sown confusion. Every day, White House coronavirus task force officials have promised Americans they’re ramping up widespread drive-through testing.
On Friday, Vice President Pence underscored that message and said the government’s support of state-based testing efforts “are literally expanding by the hour.”
Some state health officials worry that those declarations will send the wrong message.
“I’m just scared there’s going to be mass confusion when people find out there is a testing site, are worried about their covid status, and they’re going to mob the testing site,” said Michael Fraser, executive director of the association that represents state health directors, ASTHO. “It’s confusing to people to hear that testing is being made available in a much more convenient way, and they think, ‘Hey this is great, let’s get tested.’”
New York City’s Daskalakis said that a recent spike in pneumonia-related hospital admissions, just as other respiratory diseases are receding, is almost certainly attributable to covid19 — and people with a manageable fever and cough who aren’t at high risk should assume they have it and not seek testing.
Doing so exposes health care workers administering tests to people with mild illness and uses up limited protective gear, even though nothing would change for those individuals based on their test results, he said.
As the disease has become widespread, a “negative” test could also provide false reassurance. When one of his patients with symptoms — who sought a covid19 test against his medical advice — tested negative, Daskalakis told the person to presume he had the disease anyway and to isolate himself.
As the flu season recedes, people with cough and fever will increasingly just have to presume they have covid19.
At New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital, which treated the state’s first coronavirus case, only a minority of the hundred-plus patients with respiratory symptoms who come to the emergency department each day get tested for the coronavirus, said Jolion McGreevy, the emergency department medical director.
“The default assumption is yes — anyone who comes in with any kind of fever, cough, respiratory symptom, flu-like illness, we’re making the assumption that they have this,” he said, based on the prevalence of community transmission in New York. “It’s very likely you have it. There’s no benefit for you to test.”
It’s a trade-off between individual and societal good that the United States, with its wealth and technologically-advanced health care system, is not used to making. A test result may be reassuring to individuals who feel unwell, but the mask and health care worker to test someone with mild symptoms are resources that could be used to save someone’s life.
“Because there’s a shortage, you have to think the way the rest of the world thinks. In developing countries, we only recommend testing if it changes how you manage the care of an individual person,” said a government public health official who has worked in the U.S. and Africa who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak. “I know it would make you feel better to know what you really have, but it doesn’t change your individual care.”
In an ideal world, public health officials say they should have done wide scale surveillance testing of people with respiratory symptoms much earlier. But city-by-city and state-by-state, officials say they are nearing — or in some cases have already crossed — the line when they must make a hard trade-off:
“In the 2009 influenza pandemic, we stopped testing for H1N1 once the level of illness in the community was so high that it just made more sense to treat based on clinical symptoms,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Center for Health Security.
In the coronavirus health crisis, there are no specific treatments.
“Our only defense is to tell people to stay home and to hope that sick people isolate themselves,” she said. While it’s essential for testing capacity to increase, the general public needs to understand what health officials are up against given the shortages.
“We have to target our resources and reserve testing for those who need it most: severely ill and those in high risk professions, such as health care workers,” she said. “We’d cause more harms by encouraging the general public to run out and get tested if they are well or experiencing mild illness.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/in-hard-hit-areas-testing-restricted-to-health-care-workers-hospital-patients/ar-BB11vpAa
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
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--Instead of striving to bring out the best in people, Toxic Trump reveled in bringing out the very worst.
--Instead of uniting the country, Toxic Trump sought to divide us.
--Instead of abiding by and honoring our Constitution and the rule of law, Toxic Trump held them in disdain, disregarded them, and degraded them.
--Instead of strengthening democracy and our cherished institutions, Toxic Trump worked to diminish and destroy them, inciting a terrorist insurrection against his own government, attempting a coup to steal an election.
--Instead of insuring a peaceful transfer power after losing the election, Toxic Trump kept insisting against all evidence that he won, and incited a terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol.
--Instead of confronting a serious threat to Americans with a deadly global pandemic, Toxic Trump lied to the American people about it, ignored it, and refused to take any responsibility for his gross homicidal criminal negligence that resulted in one out of every 800 Americans dying from COVID-19--over 400,000 lives in just ten months, as many casualties as all of WWII.
--Instead of creating jobs, Toxic Trump was the first President since the Great Depression to preside over a net loss of jobs over his tenure.
--Instead of lowering the national deficit, Toxic Trump increased it from 19.2 trillion to 27 trillion.
--Instead of raising our standing and security in the world, Toxic Trump lowered and weakened it.
--Instead of draining the swamp, Toxic Trump turned it into a noxious overflowing Republican sewer.
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"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance.
In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump left office, one out of every 800 Americans had died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 410,000 fatalities, as many American casualties as all of WWII. It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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Why hasn't Merrick Garland and his DOJ not yet arrested and charged Trump, Jeffery Clark, Mark Meadows, John Eastman and any other accomplices for their involvement in federal election interference and sedition??? WTF? How much more evidence is needed?
18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
"Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Disqualification form Holding Office, U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 3.1.1
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
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Trump and Republicans are like Jack and his band of boys in 'Lord of the Flies' who went native and turned barbaric. Ralph, Simon, Piggy and the other group of boys represent the rest of us who value civilization and order. Just as Jack and his band turned savage, killing and cannibalizing their fellow students on the deserted island they landed upon, Trump and Republicans, manically obsessed with power, money and vanity, have also turned savage, rejecting responsibility, reason, civility, morality, and science, killing their fellow Americans and cannibalizing our government. Except there will be no adults arriving to save those of us trying to do the right thing, like in the classic tale. We are the adults, and it is strictly up to us to save ourselves and this country from the fascistic, nihilistic impulses of Trump and Republicans.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
― Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
(NOTE: Gerson is a staunch life-long conservative, who served as former President George W. Bush's chief speech writer.)
As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a serious threat to our very security.
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again." ― Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney
More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, jingoism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
They' have essentially become a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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@MrsKAS1 ~ "SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea said on Wednesday the issue of U.S. troops stationed in the South is unrelated to any future peace treaty with North Korea and that American forces should stay even if such an agreement is signed.
“U.S. troops stationed in South Korea are an issue regarding the alliance between South Korea and the United States. It has nothing to do with signing peace treaties,” said Kim Eui-kyeom, a spokesman for the presidential Blue House, citing President Moon Jae-in.
Seoul wants the troops to stay because U.S. forces in South Korea play the role of a mediator in military confrontations between neighboring superpowers like China and Japan, another presidential official told reporters on condition of anonymity earlier on Wednesday."
Protesters at US foreign military bases are nothing new, and should not be given greater significance than deserved. The above quoted article is from three years ago, but South Korea's position has not changed since. A poll last year had 90% of South Koreans supporting their alliance with the U.S., reflecting a long history of strong South Korean support for U.S. involvement there. Would like nothing more than to see our troops come home from South Korea and Germany, but understand that arbitrarily withdrawing forces from those nations would send a green light to autocrats like Putin and Kim, that the likely resulting downside would greatly outweigh any temporary upside. The vast majority of South Koreans understand this very well, so please don't be confused or misled by some protesters at U.S. bases while you were stationed there.
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@joshl6275 ~ Very eloquently put. The truth is that there are seldom simple solutions to complex problems. And sometimes the solutions are unwanted, but necessary. Largely agree with your analysis, but not fully. There are bad actors in the world that good people are forced to deal with and defend against. That's the reality, which should not be ignored or downplayed. Are U.S. and NATO peacekeeping forces in South Korea, Germany, and the former Yugoslavian republics there to colonize those places and people, to make them part of their empire? Clearly the answer is no.
Many companies in the U.S. and elsewhere are privately owned, yet contribute to pollution, low wages, and depletion of the planet's finite resources. We have had reliable cheap labor for some time without need for our military or any imperialistic policy. What was once true historically is no longer very accurate. Define specifically who is what you call "the elite," which can mean very different things to different people. Is there some vast cabal of "elites" running our lives, or isn't it more true that we have vast numbers of different people and groups each competing against each other, who may sometimes align together in common purpose, and that common people united in common cause have far more power than any particular group?
As I've stated many times before, as a species humans have the unique ability to create the kind of society and world we desire. We should view capitalism as but a stepping stone in the evolution of human progress. It is just one tool in our ever-expanding tool box. It is not the be-all and end-all. We should use the tools we have for specific purpose where they are most effective in the proportion it does most good to obtain the kind of world we wish to live in. Just as using only the hammer in your toolbox every time is a recipe for disaster, so too is an overreliance upon and overuse of capitalism and consumerism.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from _'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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@night6724 ~ What's good for the goose is good for the gander, Doc! Republicans been stacking the court for years, and turn about is fair play. It's about balancing the scales and making SCOTUS reflective of the majority view----not some partisan fascist Republican minority Taliban interpretation twisting the Constitution into a pretzel. The majority of Americans don't support Republican policies, and Republicans are already in the minority nationwide, so killing the filibuster will be helping the GOP dig it's own grave even deeper should they return to power. Plus, the nation is fed up with gridlock in the Capitol.
Woman's reproductive choice is a Constitutional right under Roe v. Wade, which was decided by a 7-2 conservative SCOTUS containing a 7-2 conservative majority. Besides, Republicans don't give a crap about zygotes, embryos, fetuses, children, or women, Doc, as repeatedly proven by their policies! Fascist GOP is the Jim Jones cult pro-death party!
“The lie that abortion is murder is right-wing propaganda designed to demonize Democrats. Abortion is legal all over the world because a fetus without a cerebral cortex cannot think or feel before the 27th week. According to the CDC almost all abortions happen before the 13th week.”
― Oliver Markus Malloy
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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A "tornado shelter" in the candle factory that didn't really offer much shelter, sadly resulting in many senseless deaths. No U.S. tornado is known to have killed more than 80 people outside the core tornado season from March to June. If more than 80 deaths recorded, this Mayfield, KY tornado will become among the 25 most deadly in U.S. history, despite occurring outside the core tornado season in December. If more than 100, it will be among the 15 most deadly. At least two F5/EF5 tornadoes are on the record books for December: one in Vicksburg, Mississippi on Dec. 5, 1953, that killed 38 (the deadliest December tornado on record up to this year), and one on Dec. 18, 1957, that struck Sunfield, Illinois, as part of the state’s most severe outbreak on record so late in the year. Annually, the U.S.averages over 1,000 tornadoes a year, with only one per year rating as an EF5. However, the last EF5 was in Moore, OK in May of 2013, and before that in Joplin, MO in May of 2011. This Mayfield tornado is certain to be classified as at least an EF4, and may well have been an EF5, but it could take as long as a week before confirmed by the National Weather Service.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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As political commentator and former Republican presidential advisor Mark McKinnon so aptly put it recently, "The Republican party is at dysfunction junction." May disagree with conservative ideology and with their stances on many issues, but do value and respect LOYAL opposition--a duty that the GOP has for too long forgotten and abdicated, putting personal and party interests before country. That is not only harmful to their party, it is harmful to our democracy and institutions. And it has come to represent a clear a present danger to our nation, a serious threat to our very security.
All of this is mentioned because it is firmly believed that this is not a time for diplomatic, soft-spoken words. This is not a time to be timid or Pollyannaish about our current political landscape, but a time for frankness, a time for acknowledgment of defects, a time for courageously confronting stark unpleasant realities. Our democracy is a fragile construct, only as sturdy, vibrant, and enduring as we maintain it, requiring constant vigilance and due diligence. Just as we don't forget Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, even more so the attack against our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021 by fascist Reich-wing domestic terrorists incited to insurrection by a deranged President against his own government must never be forgotten or forgiven.
Thus, we MUST condemn both cowardly, corrupt Republican so-called "leaders" defying truth, justice, duty, democracy, and Constitution--and their dysfunctional political party that behaves as a cult--in the strongest possible terms, using the most muscular language that can be mustered. For it is necessary; the very fate of our nation depends upon it. Disaster was narrowly averted with the defeat of Trump, with Democratic control of the House and Senate, but the battle for the soul of this nation is far from over, and we must never again allow ourselves to become complacent. And so it is vitally imperative that we remind each other of this, that we impress these things upon our children and fellow citizens of this nation.
Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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WTF is going on with Minneapolis Medical Examiner?!? Why does it stink of cover-up?!?
George Floyd died of asphyxia and loss of blood flow, a private autopsy says.
George Floyd died not just because of the knee lodged at his neck by a Minneapolis Police officer, but also because of the other officers who helped hold him down, a private autopsy found.
Dr. Allecia M. Wilson of the University of Michigan and Dr. Michael Baden, a former New York City medical examiner, were hired by Mr. Floyd’s family to help determine his cause of death.
“Not only was the knee on George’s neck a cause of his death, but so was the weight of the other two police officers on his back, who not only prevented blood flow into his brain but also air flow into his brain,” said Antonio Romanucci, a lawyer for the family.
Benjamin Crump, the family’s lead lawyer, said emergency medical records showed Mr. Floyd was dead at the scene.
“For George Floyd, the ambulance was his hearse,” Mr. Crump said.
The knee to his back compressed his lungs and prevented them from being able to take air in and out, he said.
The findings differed substantially from what prosecutors have said about the conclusions of the Hennepin County medical examiner. The criminal complaint filed in the case said that the county autopsy “revealed no physical findings that support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation.”
The full report from the medical examiner is still pending.
Prosecutors intimated in the criminal complaint that other factors were involved in Mr. Floyd’s death, including coronary artery disease and hypertensive heart disease. “The combined effects of Mr. Floyd being restrained by the police, his underlying health conditions and any potential intoxicants in his system likely contributed to his death,” the criminal complaint said.
But Dr. Baden said: “The autopsy shows that Mr. Floyd had no underlying medical problem that caused or contributed to his death. This is confirmed by information provided to Dr. Wilson and myself by the family.”
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or “the Wall”) is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle’s name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-‘n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called “leaders” in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, along with Reich-wing demagogues and media, who were complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance, and in spreading disinformation and misinformation. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war. By the time Trump left office, one out of every 800 Americans had died from COVID-19 in just ten months--over 410,000 fatalities, as many American casualties as all of WWII. To put it into further perspective, throughout Trump's catastrophic mishandling of a deadly global pandemic, the U.S. led the world in cases and deaths, suffering nearly 25% of each, despite having only 4.25% of global population, despite having the advantage of being the richest and most advanced nation in the world.
The memorial would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure. Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to—and a barrier against—our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It’s design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge—and help teach—people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see…if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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Toxic Trump: A clear and present danger to himself and others. U.S. #1 national security threat sits in the Oval.
Republicans: Like to play dumb, demonstrating just how really, REALLY dumb they are. Complicity renders them likewise a clear and present danger to themselves, others, the nation. Decades of programming from right-wing media, demagogues, plutocrats, religious grifters, and seedy politicians created a mindless, fascist Republican cult, too hyper-partisan to place national interest over ignorant tribalism. GOP chained themselves to the rabid, ravenous beast of willful ignorance consuming them, which they created, nourished, and exploited.
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Trump refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the election!
Traitor-'n-Thief Toxic Trump: "Get rid of the ballots and we'll have a very peaceful — there won't be a transfer, frankly, there'll be a continuation."
WTF?!? Get rid of the ballots means getting rid of ALL the votes--absentee, mail-in, and in-person ballots! It means a Toxic Trump coup, an illegal seizure of power, a dictator, ignoring citizen's votes, no more democracy!!!
"This is how democracy dies. A president so desperate to cling to power that he won't commit to a peaceful transition of power. That he seeks to throw out millions of votes. And a Republican Party too craven to say a word," Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff
"In case anyone is unclear on the concept, in the United States of America, we do not "get rid of" ballots. We count them. Counting the ballots — all the ballots — is the way we determine who leads our country after our elections. The only way," Ellen Weintraub, a commissioner of the Federal Elections Commission, tweeted. Weintraub has previously debunked Trump's claims about mail-in voting fraud.
Trump has a long history of making unsubstantiated claims about electoral fraud, dating back to his allegations that he lost the popular vote in 2016 only because "millions" of people voted illegally. He has also been waging legal battles in multiple states in an attempt to stop the expansion of vote-by-mail and has admitted to using the USPS to sabotage those efforts.
Over the years, multiple extensive studies have found that widespread voter fraud is virtually nonexistent, difficult to successfully pull off, and discouraged through steep criminal penalties.
The US has had successful peaceful transitions of power in every single election since its inception in 1776, including following a contested election between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, during the US Civil War, and on multiple occasions when the electoral college vote has diverged from the popular vote.
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GOP has gone rogue, doesn't want to play by the rules in America, anymore. Republicans are all about constant deceit and hypocrisy, rigging elections, and rampant crony corruption.
One would hope that his cabinet or the Republican Senate would have done the right thing and removed him. Or, that the Republican SCOTUS would have defended our Constitution, instead of partisan power grabs. In fact, it's more than hope--those are the minimal basic expectation of our public officials. They failed themselves, and they failed our nation horribly. Because they are weak, and ignorant, and corrupt.
Thus, we are forced to suffer another six months of a failed Presidency, a failed Senate, and a failed SCOTUS. While confident Trump would be defeated before the pandemic and ensuing economic collapse, his loss has since become a virtual certainty. So, that isn't really about hope, either.
What does give hope is that the majority of Americans reject Trump. There is hope that the end of Trump will mark the beginning of the end for the Republican cult. There is hope that out of this darkness will come the realization progress is vital to our future, and that reactionary conservatism stagnates and kills.
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Republicans are willing to gain and hold power at any cost...even if the price is our democracy!
Farmer wakes up one morning, goes outside to milk his cows, and discovers his entire herd is missing! So, he then walks over nest door to where the Republican cult lives, notices them grinding a whole bunch of beef into hamburger, and asks them, "Did you see what happened to all my cows?"
Republican cult: "Yeah, they jumped over the moon."
Farmer: "Do you have any actual evidence of that?"
Republican cult: "No, because they landed on the dark side, and you can't see them over there. But we're conducting a bunch of investigations and fraudits, and we're confident evidence will soon emerge to prove it!"
Farmer: "You know, that sounds like a load of manure!"
Republican cult: "Well, that's what we all choose to believe!"
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over four decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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TRUM_PLANNED_EMIC!
Given plenty of advance warnings about COVID-19, Toxic Trump chose not to heed the sound advice provided. We could have been Taiwan, with a comparative 100 deaths in the U.S.; or South Korea, with a comparative 1500 deaths here, after adjusted for population size. Taiwan had just seven deaths; South Korea less than 300. We got over 125,000 deaths already, with the count still rapidly rising, while we remain, still, firmly mired in the first wave of the disease. Even worse, after six months, we STILL lack the adequate testing and rational national response to contain the disease.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-‘n-‘Thief, Toxic Trump, so much—although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages—as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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Republican cult morons rail against the very "elite" they keep voting for, who give tax cuts to the rich and have created the greatest income inequality and wealth disparity in American history.
Why? They are driven by the divisive fear and bigotry programmed into them 24/7 by the Reich-wing media and propaganda owned or funded by the plutocracy. It's absolutely Orwellian, and it began around 1984 in America. What is witnessed now is just the rotten results from the poisoned tree bearing fruition. It's the disease killing America that existed long before COVID-19, and which is likely to persist long after.
Republican cult going to believe what the Republican cult wants to believe, whatever the truth, whatever proof, whatever anybody says. "Healing" the country means deprogramming the 30-40% of Americans deep in cultdom. That needs to be recognized, acknowledged, and acted upon if we truly wish to revive the patient, America, and restore it to glory.
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The Reich-wing has been denigrating, demonizing, and damaging government and reputable media for decades, long before Qanon put their lies and fear-mongering on steroids. Even before Qanon, one might try explaining Civics 101 to Republicans and be met with a blank stare or derision. Just to point out that this is not a new problem, but an infection that has been festering for some time, with the GOP's embrace of Qanon akin to them now applying flesh-eating bacteria to the open already infected wound.
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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Toxic Trump and Republicans are traitors to America. They've been gaslighting Trump's Russian collusion and election fraud for years, and continue doing so. Trump should have been impeached and convicted after the Mueller Report, which didn't happen only because of A.G. Barr and Republicans, who were ultimately responsible for that failure. Then Congressional Republicans refused to impeach despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's Ukraine shakedown. The worst was the third time Republicans refused to impeach Trump after he incited a terrorist insurrection against his own government on the nation's Capitol. Now, Republicans refuse to even have a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate January 6. Moreover, throughout Trump's term and even after, Republicans have been KNOWINGLY spreading Russian propaganda designed to weaken America, kill Americans. So, when is Merrick Garland and the DOJ going to step up and hold Trump and his Republican accomplices accountable for their many FEDERAL crimes, or is Garland going to set the terrible, horrific precedent that a former President is a King and above the law?
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GOP and Trump administration: Where the hard reality of COV19 pierces the Republican cult bubble world of delusional fantasies, denialism, deceit, supreme ignorance, utter incompetence, and Orwellian governance, exposing them all as charlatans and frauds. Much as needed, we're hoping that doesn't happen; that America escapes the ravages of this disease, and we don't suffer thousands of American citizens dying, with many more becoming critically ill. Tragically, that doesn't seem very likely, and the Trump administration hardly inspires confidence, with all indications to date CONTRARY that they can capably handle such a catastrophe occurring here.
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"What happened on January 6 is the very definition of sedition." ~ Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Why has Traitor Trump not been charged yet by the DOJ? That's what a lot of people are wondering! Not just prosecution of Trump, but all his accomplices, too! Obstruction charges outlined in the Mueller Report, the Ukraine extortion racket, inciting an insurrection, sedition, and federal election interference. The evidence is all in plain sight, where are the indictments, the arrests? Our democracy hangs in the balance; this is no time to play nice, there is no time to waste! The DOJ shouldn't be worried about appearances, either, because it's a matter of impartially enforcing the law and not setting bad precedent that encourages future lawlessness and authoritarianism by the Executive Branch. And because justice matters.
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Open hearings are the absolute worst way for Congress to get at the truth because of Republican showboating, grandstanding, obstructionism, and obfuscating the facts in any way they can, but the public needs to see and understand for itself. The majority of Americans already know the self-evident truth, and it's plenty to convict for impeachment. However, Democrats still need to move the needle, bringing another 10-20% of those clueless Americans on board to pressure Senate Republicans into observing their sworn duty. A few Republican cult dupe morons slowly coming around, but they're not crucial or expected--it's those apolitical and apathetic voters that will make the difference, and who need to be awoken to the very real, and very clear, danger present to Constitution and country.
In point of fact, much of the truth Congress has obtained has been behind closed doors, and that practice will continue throughout because of the sensitive nature of some of the evidence and testimony involved. Understand that the truth already discovered behind closed doors can then be streamlined and presented in open hearing testimonials to the American people in a way enabled much more efficient and capable by that initial gathering of information behind closed doors. Not only is it better for the prosecution to have grand juries and the like behind closed doors, but it also to protect the accused, as a matter of fairness. It protects innocent reputations and helps guard against false charges. Republican lawmakers know full well these things, yet dishonestly cast aspersions upon the process, programming their cult--to the ultimate detriment of themselves and the nation, precisely as seen playing out right now before our very eyes! GOP never learns!
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'That's just not true.' GOP Gov. Hogan contradicts Trump claim that testing problems are fixed
Nicholas Wu, USA TODAY -- 03/31/20
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, a Republican, said Tuesday on NPR's Morning Edition that President Donald Trump was incorrect in saying coronavirus testing problems had been resolved.
"Yeah, that's just not true. I mean I know that they've taken some steps to create new tests, but they're not actually produced and distributed out to the states." Hogan said, when host Rachel Martin asked him about Trump's assertions. "No state has enough testing."
In a coronavirus task force briefing Monday, Trump said America's coronavirus testing was better "than any country in the world."
"We have done more tests, by far, than any country in the world, by far. Our testing is also better than any country in the world," Trump said on Monday.
"We have built an incredible system to the fact we have now done more tests than any other country in the world and now the technology is really booming," Trump said.
The president also said his administration "inherited a broken testing system" and have now "made it great."
The president also said over a million Americans had been tested for the coronavirus, though on a per capita basis, the country lags behind other developed countries.
Asked about testing on CNN's "New Day" on Tuesday morning, Hogan said states were "flying blind" without access to enough tests.
"Without the tests we really are flying blind, we're sort of guessing about where the outbreaks are and about what the infection rate and the hospitalization rates are," Hogan said.
As hospitals fill with coronavirus patients, protective equipment and ventilators become "as important as testing," he added.
The Maryland Republican, who also chairs the National Governors Association, said he was listening to the "smart team" in the White House like coronavirus task force leader Deborah Birx and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci who were giving accurate information.
Hogan, who issued a statewide stay-at-home order on Monday, had a grim outlook for states' pandemic preparedness.
"There's nobody in America that's prepared," he said.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/thats-just-not-true-gop-gov-hogan-contradicts-trump-claim-that-testing-problems-are-fixed/ar-BB11XUMZ
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Trump excluded the Afghan government from peace negotiations with the Taliban, legitimizing the Taliban by making a separate peace deal with them and delegitimizing the government we worked so long and hard at so much cost to build and support, while releasing 5,000 Taliban prisoners and agreeing to withdraw all U.S. forces by May 1, 2021, guaranteeing failure. Moreover, Trump eviscerated the refugee program for Afghan and Iraqi allies visa programs, creating a huge backlog over several years. A federal judge even ruled Trump's delaying of those visas illegal. Furthermore, Trump abandoned are Kurdish allies in Syria and Iraq. Trump and Pompeo could hardly have screwed up our foreign policy any worse, and the damage they did will take decades to repair. But the Republican cult morons are too stupid to know and too stupid to care; they'll just deny and try to shift blame, as usual.
Liz Cheney's right----it didn't have to happen this way: her father, Dick Cheney, and George Bush were responsible for the deterioration of affairs in Afghanistan by diverting troops and resources to conduct an illegal invasion of Iraq on the false premise of WMD and Iraq harboring terrorists. The situation in Afghanistan never recovered from that fatal mistake by Cheney and Bush; it allowed the Taliban to regroup and come back bigger and stronger than ever. Cheney and Bush's illegal war in Iraq also resulted in the emergence of ISIS.
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Wasn't expecting it, but Biden actually gave the best speech of the whole affair--against some really stiff competition! Next best, IMHO, Michelle, Barack, Jill, and Kamala (pre-convention). Also, surprisingly, felt this was the best Democratic Convention to date, despite (or, maybe even partly because of) being virtual. If one didn't feel the buzz and energy--check their pulse!
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TRUMP: -- "I'm guilty! Impeach me!"
MIGHTY McCOVER-UP and his MENDACIOUS BAND OF MARAUDERS: -- "He's innocent, I tell you, innocent! Case cloooosed!"
MEDIA -- "Problem is Democrats not declaring impeachment when WE dictate!"
MEDIA SOLUTION -- Daily punishing public whippings of Pelosi and Dems striving for accountability, using a double-standard projection device absolving Republican shared responsibility for impeachment. Overtly overly politicize process. Help normalize Congressional Republican deceit, denialism, cover-up and gaslighting by largely ignoring. A solution working to insure guaranteed failure!
Let's not forget it was the media twisted around Trump's little finger, being willing used to promote a nutcase, helping get him elected, because it promoted their ratings. And it was the media that performed their own version of a Comey on Dems, playing up Democratic squabbles and Republican propaganda memes, mostly ignoring the bigger picture. Media's playing kingmaker hurt Dem candidate, too. The media played a significant role in creating--and share responsibility for--the current mess. Projecting fault onto Democrats can't change or diminish that. Democrats ARE holding this administration accountable and having quite a few successes. However, while media has done outstanding work helping to expose administration corruption, it is failing spectacularly to hold Congressional Republicans accountable to even basic standards expected of any public official. It is the media not fulfilling its end of the bargain, fulfilling its own basic journalistic obligations!
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-‘n-‘Thief, Toxic Trump, so much—although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages—as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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~ Bad Vibration / Grave Reverberation ~
So much frustration and aggravation
Indignation plus exasperation
Immoderation the new sensation
Death, devastation, soaring inflation
Infestation the explanation
Justification for isolation
Depopulation due incitation
Dispensation of disinformation
Nevermind creation, innovation
Accommodation, consideration
No imagination, variation
Just castigation and condemnation
Infatuation with degradation
Causation of much mortification
Sick fascination, no reservation
Saud assassination operation
Race relation huge conflagration
Brutalization, victimization
Zero toleration immigration
Child separation, stigmatization
Retardation dreamer deportation
Not consolation--only stagnation
Monumentalization curation
Ceaseless rotation, dizzy gyration
Obfuscation, lie regeneration
Exaggeration, wild speculation
Constant conflation and truth negation
Instigation scam investigation
Evasion of his incarceration
Militarization provocation
Abomination seeks domination
Truncation of secure education
Renunciation, big demonstration
Still no resignation expectation
Thinks due ovation, congratulation
Admiration, always adulation
Mass desperation with situation
Trump's COVID nation obliteration!
What location revitalization?
What permutation for our salvation
Rejuvenation, and relaxation?
Cancellation any coronation
Repatriation determination
Motivation for illumination
Honest communication fixation
Cessation media manipulation
Magnification of inspiration
Amplification of education
Cooperation, collaboration
Through expiation, edification
Restoration results in elation
Evaporation of consternation
Realization unification
Invitation to glorification!
Consolidation brings excitation
Consummation big celebration
With each generation, jubilation!
In summation, joyful radiation!!!
Termination more elaboration...
Now reaching vacation destination!
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Donald Trump, at White House press conference on 04/07/20:
And we’re going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO. We’re going to put a very powerful hold on it, and we’re going to see.
Trump later at that same press conference:
Q: Thanks. A quick follow-up on that. So is the time to freeze funding to the WHO during a pandemic of this magnitude?
THE PRESIDENT: No, maybe not. I mean, I’m not saying I’m going to do it, but we’re going to look at it.
Q: You did say that you’re going to —
THE PRESIDENT: We give a tremendous —
Q: You said you’d put a hold on it.
THE PRESIDENT: No, I didn’t.
Toxic Trump, one week later, on 04/14/20: "I'm withholding WHO funding!"
WHO held a important meeting on COVID-19 vaccines at the beginning of May, with all nations attending...except no U.S. medical and scientific representatives sent by the Trump Administration, without any explanation. The absence particularly stunning in light that U.S. has half of world's cases and a quarter of the deaths, although possessing just 5% of the global population.
ME, US, the world: WTF?? Why in HELL is that raving lunatic STILL in charge during this major pandemic health crisis?!? Hasn't he KILLED enough Americans, ALREADY?!?
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Merrick Garland: "Trump and Congressional Republicans screwed me out of a seat on the Supreme Court...that's why now as AG I can't prosecute them for the many crimes they've committed!"
Merrick Garland’s House Testimony Demonstrated the Failure of His Hyper-Cautious Approach to His Job
Despite Garland’s many efforts to not appear political by declining to investigate Trump and his cronies for possible crimes and by using DOJ resources to actively protect Trump from civil liability, Republicans are still portraying him as the most political attorney general in history.
The other weakness of Garland’s timid approach was on full view during his opening statement and responses to Democratic members of Congress. “The essence of the rule of law is that like cases are treated alike. That there not be one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans; one rule for friends, another for foes,” Garland stated grandly. But by declining to investigate Trump and his associates, Garland is enabling further attacks on our democracy. (While proving inequity by putting Republicans above the law.)
Crucially, the two parties are not the same. Garland’s standard sets up a false equivalency between the Democratic Party and a political party whose national leader, Donald Trump, incited and celebrated a violent assault on our nation’s Capitol to overthrow the results of a free and fair election and who continues to portray the insurrection as a glorious “protest.” To that end, in the middle of the attorney general’s testimony, Trump issued a statement highlighting Garland’s feebleness at failing to even investigate the organizers and leaders of the Jan. 6 events, declaring “the insurrection took place on November 3, Election Day. January 6 was the Protest!”
Garland’s efforts to depoliticize the DOJ have proved to be an abdication of his responsibility to protect the rule of law. Take just a few examples: Garland’s failure to reconsider the obstruction of justice case against the former president, his deferral of an investigation of possible financial crimes by Trump and his organization to local prosecutors in New York City and Westchester, his use of the DOJ to protect Trump from defamation allegations, and his deferral of a soliciting of voter fraud felony probe in Georgia to local prosecutors there. By abdicating his responsibility, Garland is also opening the door for Trump to commit these possibly criminal abuses all over again, this time with the full support of the Republican Party, and maybe ultimately return to power.
--Mark Stern
"Try as he may, Merrick Garland cannot perform boring independence fast enough to outrun GOP claims that he’s a wild-eyed, violent socialist. And while the GOP currently exists only to cast everything you thought you believed into doubt, the real endgame is vigilantism. The endgame is to ensure that people mistrust government, election systems, school boards, (teachers, health care officials) the media, and the justice system enough to lend a hand in their destruction."
--Dahlia Lithwick
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Reich-wing media, demagogues, and politicians created and nourished the beast for decades, and now it has consumed them. They could have learned a lesson or two from Frankenstein, but they were too arrogant, too greedy, too lustful for power and fame. It's bringing them down, it's bringing the GOP down, and--worst of all--they're bringing America down. Republican cult has been fed a steady diet of lies, fear, and hate, willingly swallowed and spewed back out. It's past time to deprogram the cult, save the nation.
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It's like rowing or paddling upstream, or into a stiff wind--if you ease-up too much or stop, you will only have to paddle twice as hard to make up all the previous hard-earned progress that was quickly lost. Failing to maintain isolation and other measures for sufficient time to stop the spread of COVID-19 transmission will cost U.S. more in time, effort, money, and LIVES. Reopening and relaxing measures too early in defiance of the science and data is the ultimate in colossal ignorance, greed, ruthlessness, and arrogance.
We have a segment of Republican cult willfully ignorant, who malevolently seek to sabotage containment efforts. But many do not grasp how important it is that we treat ourselves and everyone else as being infected.
This is because people know that is very unlikely, especially outside dense urban areas, where incidence rates are low. Because of the delay in onset of the disease and asymptomatic carriers, COVID-19 is a stealth killer that uses Americans against each other as its foot soldiers, transporting it, keeping the disease and its train of transmission alive. This is further complicated because people cannot see a virus, see it attacking, see it spreading, until it is too late. For many of us, seeing is believing, and people are incapable or reluctant to make that leap of logic required to keep them and everyone safe--even with the massive public education efforts.
Of course, the problem becomes greatly exacerbated when the President refuses to wear a mask, and his administration works against itself in fighting this deadly global pandemic, sending conflicting messages to the public. Toxic Trump, his administration, and all the Republicans who have aided and abetted him, are directly responsible in our view for the senseless deaths of tens and thousands of Americans. The dead are the worst of it, but there is also the tremendous needless suffering and economic loss accompanying their wanton criminal negligence.
No national testing, no rational national coordinated pandemic response. Republican governors reopening too quickly in defiance of CDC guidelines are only following the President's lead. Democratic governors in many states likewise being adversely pressured by Toxic Trump's pandemic disinformation and Republican opposition to requisite lockdowns. Problem starts at the top. Don't fault even the worst Republican governors as much as this President. The President needed to take the lead, take the hit for the hard decisions--not put all the weight on governors as he as.
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Worst economic downturn in American history, catastrophically botched COVID-19 pandemic response with over 160,000 senseless American deaths (at the time) . TWENTY straight weeks of over ONE MILLION new unemployment claims. Deaths projected to double by the end of year due to most corrupt, incompetent, racist, and ignorant President in U.S. history. A treasonous President that compromised himself with Russia, who refuses to hold the U.S. principle foreign adversary accountable for its attacks on America, who won’t even speak out against Russian bounties on U.S. soldiers. Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy: “Toxic Trump is doing a helluva job!” Rabid right-wing cult media is DESTROYING America!
What’s really confusing America is Newsmax, Faux News, and all the other rabid right-wing media outlets propagating and spreading disinformation. Without the supporting cast of willing supplicant proto-fascist right-wing media exploiting and profiting from them, the lies and distortions of Toxic Trump and Republicans would hold very little power, and could not persist.
Anyone really all that surprised that the CEO of Newsmax, Chris Ruddy, is a dishonest partisan hack with no character or integrity whatsoever? If so, that’s only because you’ve never seen Newsmax.
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Republican cult morons rail against the very "elite" they keep voting for, who give tax cuts to the rich and have created the greatest income inequality and wealth disparity in American history.
Why? They are driven by the divisive fear and bigotry programmed into them 24/7 by the Reich-wing media and propaganda owned or funded by the plutocracy. It's absolutely Orwellian, and it began around 1984 in America. What is witnessed now is just the rotten results from the poisoned tree bearing fruition. It's the disease killing America that existed long before COVID-19, and which is likely to persist long after.
Republican cult going to believe what the Republican cult wants to believe, whatever the truth, whatever proof, whatever anybody says. "Healing" the country means deprogramming the 30-40% of Americans deep in cultdom. That needs to be recognized, acknowledged, and acted upon if we truly wish to revive the patient, America, and restore it to glory.
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Putin is posturing. He's not stupid, isn't about to kill the goose that lays the golden egg, which is the corrupt regime he runs that enriches him and appointed oligarchy friends. If he thought he could get away with taking Ukraine, he would do it, but he knows it would be too costly, and could well prove his downfall.
NATO nations border Russia now, just as they have since the days of the USSR. NATO is a defensive organization, as Putin well knows. The U.S. and other NATO allies have no intention or interest whatsoever of employing offensive military forces against Russia in aggression, as Putin also well knows. NATO was formed at the request of European nations in conjunction with the U.S. as a hedge against Russian aggression, another thing of which Putin is well aware.
And there's no mistaking that Russia is the aggressor, with its annexation of the Ukranian territory of Crimea, its military operation in eastern Ukraine, and its ongoing efforts to destabilize Ukraine.
Which is not because Ukraine poses any threat to Russia. It's because Putin promotes Russian nationalism and a return to the supposed "glory" of the former communist Soviet Union as a way to gain support to prop up his corrupt regime, much as Hitler did.
Putin runs a brutal, repressive regime, and while there is resistance and protests, they are met with harsh crackdowns by security forces and often heavy punishment handed down to those involved. What Putin fears is not the U.S. or NATO, but his fellow citizens.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-‘n-‘Thief, Toxic Trump, so much—although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages—as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, homophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, divisive, anti-democratic raving lunatic and his corruption, a man compromised by foreign nations, including our principle adversary, through his tremendous debt. Between that, his catastrophic, irresponsible handling of COVID-19, and his incitement of anti-democratic violent Reich-wing groups, Trump has made himself America's #1 most serious national security threat. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself, mental illness, and his upbringing, who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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Suspect what will be most remarkable to future generations is not the Traitor-'n-'Thief, Toxic Trump, so much--although his name will surely be enshrined in infamy for the ages--as it is and will be the Republican so-called leaders and cult that enabled him and supported a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic, moronic, raving lunatic and his corruption. A decade or two down the road, Trump is likely to be viewed as a tragic Hitleresque figure; a victim of himself and his upbringing who should have never been put in a position to victimize others, and who should have been removed long before being allowed to victimize so many others.
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, or "the Wall") is dedicated not to the war, but to the 2.7 million U.S. military men and women who served in the war zone, living and dead. It contains nearly 58,300 names of those dead or missing, on two ten-foot high granite wings, each spanning nearly 250 feet. A close uncle's name is etched into the black rock of the Wall.
Propose erecting a similar monument for all those who senselessly lost their lives to COVID-19 due to our Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, and all those Republican so-called "leaders" in Congress, SCOTUS, and the GOP, complicit in enabling, aiding, and abetting his malfeasance. In just four MONTHS, the U.S. had ALREADY needlessly lost more than TWICE as many to COVID-19 -- than died in all thirteen YEARS of the Vietnam war.
It would also honor all those front-line ESSENTIAL workers who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and secure; the names of their dead to be given prominence and note upon the structure.
Whether constructed in the form of a wall or something different, its principle intent would be to serve as a constant, enduring reminder to us all and to future generations; as a testament to--and a barrier against--our own American ignorance, arrogance, avarice, cowardice, and malevolence. A sort of visual prophylactic, if you will, built in hope of protecting us against inbred hubris, greed, and stupidity. It's design should be open, with interchangeable elements that challenge--and help teach--people to reason, and to think critically and objectively, while stressing humanity, humility and humbleness.
The VVM Wall is likewise also a monument to American ignorance, hubris, avarice, and malevolence, although erected solely to honor those military personnel. Few may think, or have thought, of it that way; and doubtless many would refuse to think of it as such, but the truth stands out in stark, prominent display for everyone to see...if they just apply a little critical, objective reasoning.
Another thought to ponder: The VVM Wall marks the first time America fatally failed that generation; the proposed monument would mark our second time they were senselessly sacrificed. Would like to see the proposed COVID-19 monument erected adjacent to the prior monument attesting failure, the VVM Wall, to serve as symbolic bookends, as a further tribute to that ill-served generation of Americans.
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Republicans constitute the minority, can't win on their merits, have sunk so low that they cheat to win elections. Under the Traitor-'n-Thief, Toxic Trump, they've even taken to pushing Russian propaganda crackpot conspiracies to smear Democrats, using the DOJ and Congress to conduct phony investigations in an effort to unethically, if not illegally, influence elections. Most disturbing and troubling is the Republican cult that not only tolerates such nefarious aberrations, but encourages it, in short-sighted mindless tribalism willing to flush America down the toilet if perceived to benefit their power-obsessed partisan purpose of the moment. This reflects an abject failure not only in GOP so-called "leadership," but among that minority Republican electorate that enables such highly destructive damage to our democratic Republic.
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Who'd have ever equated voting in America with survival? But that's pretty much what it has boiled down to, hasn't it? Survival of ourselves, survival of our democracy, survival of our nation, and survival of our planet. The irony is that Republicans have always tried to falsely paint Democrats as an existential threat...but in doing so it is actually they who have become exactly that.
Democrat voters need an even greater turnout in '22 and '24, put the final fork in Trumpism! Republicans want to engage in Jim Crow voter suppression laws, voter intimidation, and egregious gerrymandering? Republicans want to engage in corruption, gaslight their corruption, coverup their corruption? Republicans want to turn a blind eye to Russian election interference and knowingly disseminate Russian propaganda for Putin? Republicans want to instigate and sanction Reich-wing domestic terrorist insurrection? Republicans want to live in delusion and denial about the major problems confronting the nation and planet? Let's just prove that's fuel for the fire, and make their fascist antidemocratic corruption backfire on them!
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Merrick Garland: "Trump and Congressional Republicans screwed me out of a seat on the Supreme Court...that's why now as AG I can't prosecute them for the many crimes they've committed!"
Merrick Garland’s House Testimony Demonstrated the Failure of His Hyper-Cautious Approach to His Job
Despite Garland’s many efforts to not appear political by declining to investigate Trump and his cronies for possible crimes and by using DOJ resources to actively protect Trump from civil liability, Republicans are still portraying him as the most political attorney general in history.
The other weakness of Garland’s timid approach was on full view during his opening statement and responses to Democratic members of Congress. “The essence of the rule of law is that like cases are treated alike. That there not be one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans; one rule for friends, another for foes,” Garland stated grandly. But by declining to investigate Trump and his associates, Garland is enabling further attacks on our democracy. (While proving inequity by putting Republicans above the law.)
Crucially, the two parties are not the same. Garland’s standard sets up a false equivalency between the Democratic Party and a political party whose national leader, Donald Trump, incited and celebrated a violent assault on our nation’s Capitol to overthrow the results of a free and fair election and who continues to portray the insurrection as a glorious “protest.” To that end, in the middle of the attorney general’s testimony, Trump issued a statement highlighting Garland’s feebleness at failing to even investigate the organizers and leaders of the Jan. 6 events, declaring “the insurrection took place on November 3, Election Day. January 6 was the Protest!”
Garland’s efforts to depoliticize the DOJ have proved to be an abdication of his responsibility to protect the rule of law. Take just a few examples: Garland’s failure to reconsider the obstruction of justice case against the former president, his deferral of an investigation of possible financial crimes by Trump and his organization to local prosecutors in New York City and Westchester, his use of the DOJ to protect Trump from defamation allegations, and his deferral of a soliciting of voter fraud felony probe in Georgia to local prosecutors there. By abdicating his responsibility, Garland is also opening the door for Trump to commit these possibly criminal abuses all over again, this time with the full support of the Republican Party, and maybe ultimately return to power.
--Mark Stern
"Try as he may, Merrick Garland cannot perform boring independence fast enough to outrun GOP claims that he’s a wild-eyed, violent socialist. And while the GOP currently exists only to cast everything you thought you believed into doubt, the real endgame is vigilantism. The endgame is to ensure that people mistrust government, election systems, school boards, (teachers, health care officials) the media, and the justice system enough to lend a hand in their destruction."
--Dahlia Lithwick
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You don't get denialism without nihilism. As life-long conservative Bill Kristol astutely pointed our just recently in a tweet, the Republican party has embraced nihilism. Republicans still labeling COVID-19 a "hoax;" Republicans still refusing to wear masks or social distance after over half-a-million American fatalities from COVID-19; Congressional Republicans obstructing a COVID-19 stimulus bill certain to pass just to delay vital and urgently needed relief to Americans desperate for help; not one Congressional Republican in either chamber voting for the badly needed stimulus bill; Republican governors dropping mask mandates and all restrictions on businesses, heedless of rising case counts in their states and deadly new variants of the virus; and Republican leaders continuing to push the Big Lie that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen without evidence and in disregard of plentiful evidence and facts to the contrary, even AFTER their Big Lie incited a terrorist attack by a mindless Republican mob against the nation's Capitol in insurrection against the government, attempting to overturn a legitimate election, sieging, storming, sizing, sacking, defiling, defacing and disgracing America's citadel of, and temple to, democracy--these are all prime examples of nihilism.
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