Category Archives: Right-Wing Takeover

We Need Rule Of Law To Remain A Democracy

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If you are considering whether the US will be another “democracy” to fall to authoritarian rule/fascism here’s a question to ask: Is the Democratic Party committed to Rule of Law? Will it fight to protect us and our democracy? How about the Justice Department?

Brett Kavanaugh – Apparent Criminality At The Highest Levels

Here is a test of that: Are Dems willing to fight apparent criminality at the very highest levels? Will the House of Representatives or Justice Dept. investigate the allegations that Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh committed perjury during nomination hearings, and will the Justice Dept. indict, or House Dems impeach Kavanaugh if their investigation concludes he did?

Set Aside The Other Stuff

Keep it simple. There’s too much other stuff about Kavanaugh, muddying the issue. Set aside the other stuff.

Set aside out the questions about why Justice Kennedy resigned when he did (and how it might relate to Deutsche Bank and the Russia investigation), who paid off Kavanaugh’s debts, and the larger issue of the “dark money” machine that puts Federalist Society candidates into judgeships.

And never mind the sham FBI “investigation” of sexual misconduct allegations made against Kavanaugh. (The Trump-appointed FBI Director is one more Federalist Society member.)

Other “Other Stuff”

And, of course, that other “other stuff:

Nearly a year after Justice Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed to a lifetime appointment in the Supreme Court, the New York Times has reported a new allegation of sexual misconduct from Kavanaugh’s college years, as well as new corroborating information about Deborah Ramirez’s claim that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at Yale.

In his confirmation hearings Kavanaugh made several statements about his drinking and sexual misconduct that were obviously not true. (Just one obvious one: His yearbook referred to “ralphing” and Kavanaugh testified that meant eating spicy foods.)

Kavanaugh Perjury

It looks very much like Brett Kavanaugh committed perjury on other issues during nomination hearings for his appointment to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit as well as his Supreme Court nomination hearings.

Among many, many reports on Kavanaugh’s contradictions between his testimony that these hearings and evidence that has since been revealed, Pema Levy and Dan Friedman write at Mother Jones, in Five Times Brett Kavanaugh Appears to Have Lied to Congress While Under Oath,

During his 2004 hearing, Kavanaugh denied ever receiving any of the documents Miranda stole. Asked if he “ever come across memos from internal files of any Democratic members given to you or provided to you in any way?” he replied, “No.” In 2006, also under oath, he again denied ever receiving stolen documents.

But newly released documents show that Miranda had indeed sent Kavanaugh information from the stolen internal documents. The nominee continues to deny he knew the information was stolen. But he can no longer deny he received it.

And,

At a 2006 confirmation hearing, Kavanaugh told Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) that he knew nothing of the NSA’s warrantless wiretapping program, launched under President George W. Bush, until the New York Times revealed it publicly in 2005. Kavanaugh insisted he’d heard “nothing at all” about the program before that, even though he was a senior administration aide. But a September 17, 2001 email provided to the New York Times this week shows that Kavanaugh was involved in at least initial discussions about the widespread surveillance of phones that characterized the NSA program.

Similarly, Kavanaugh testified he had nothing to do with Bush’s torture policies while records now show he was involved in at least 3 discussions of detainee policies.

Kavanaugh also said in hearings he had not been involved in William Pryor’s nomination to the 11th Circuit, new documents and emails show he was “heavily’ involved.

And finally he said in hearings that he was not involved in the nomination of Charles Pickering when new emails show he was.

So Yeah… There’s A Lot Going On

So yeah, there’s a lot going on. And is this such a big deal?

Well yes. A guy is on the Supreme Court and everyone knows he’s a liar and possibly a lot of other things. But the people and institutions that are supposed to do something about that aren’t doing ANYTHING about that. And it’s right in front of our faces.

And on top of that, the guy is doing serious damage to our country!

So … once again WHERE ARE THE DEMOCRATS? Where is the Department of Justice? Where is the Rule of Law?

There is a short time left to hold the authoritarians and the fascists and the liars and the “dark money” accountable, and restore the Rule of Law (and decency). If that doesn’t happen then in the next election the 1776 experiment in self-government will end, and the Cruelty will again be THE POINT.

We all came out and voted for the people who said they would DO SOMETHING ABOUT THESE THINGS. When is it going to start happening?

I Quit Twitter. Is Trump In Jail Yet?

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I got off Twitter, for a while at least, and it’s wonderful. My concentration is returning. I’m able to go to the bathroom without my phone. And I’m even writing a blog post! (For better or worse.)

But I have a few questions:

– Has Trump or anyone at the top of things been held accountable for anything yet? I mean actually indicted for their crimes — not “stern letters” from Democratic senators. (Remember that report that detailed how Trump committed Obstruction but couldn’t be indicted because he was resident? Tell the Justice Dept. he’s not president anymore.) (PS His lawyer went to jail for a crime he committed with Trump but Trump couldn’t be indicted because he was president. Tell the Justice Dept. he’s not president anymore.)

Continue reading →

We Are In Pre-WWII Germany

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I was thinking about the emotional desire for normal times we see in so many of our elites. It’s dangerous right now. It leads to a blindness about what is really happening.

A lot of our Dem Representatives want to legislate, going through all the motions of passing bills even though pretty much nothing that passed the House has gotten through the Senate since Obama was elected. And they demand austerity even though austerity breeds fascism. People in the media cover the horse race as if several states aren’t going to overturn election results when Dems win.

I want to see my Representative recognize what is going on and put her body in front of the Senate Chamber doors to make a point to the public. Instead she attends mark-ups, and holds town halls to talk about the bills the House is passing. I want to see the media cover the (international) fascist movement as a fascist movement.

I think that people who write about/are in politics, etc these days should look at what they are saying and doing and ask themselves, “How would this look if I were writing/doing it in pre-WWII Germany?”

Looking at pre-war Germany, who do we remember?

Is Biden Another Carter?

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The Carter admin was a short interim between bad and much worse, and enabled the much worse to get into power. I am fearing Biden is failing to see the urgency of the moment, thereby enabling the very worst.

Previously I was surprised and enthusiastic about how the Biden admin started out. Big programs, etc. Lately not so much. The guy who promised he could work with Republicans can’t even get Democratic senators to support democracy.

I do not see administrative efforts to uphold democracy. Democracy requires accountability. No one has been held accountable for anything from the prior admin. Example: Trump was a co-conspirator in a case that put his lawyer Cohen in jail. That indictment could have come the minute he was not in office. So far, nothing. Never mind the obstruction of justice outlined in the Mueller Report.

It is looking like Biden has backed off several very important policies. Not cancelling student debt, not giving climate the urgency required. This is not just bad coverage, these are things he could just do himself and hasn’t. (Carter took on the oil companies and spoke to the public about the energy crisis all the time.)

Also, politically, the admin is not effectively getting the word out to the public about the good things they have already done.

There is a serious clock ticking. At any moment a Dem senator could fall ill or worse, Republicans gain the majority, and that is the end of the last hope. But they’re letting Republicans “negotiate” to run that clock out.

Update

So much is at stake. So much. I’d like to see some things happen that make me less pessimistic: Indict Trump on that charge Cohen went to jail for. Or for obstruction. Tell the public about the good things that have been done for them so far in the Biden admin. Put the hammer on Dem senators who are risking killing the Biden presidency and democracy — they might be playing out a strategy but the Senate is one vacancy away from Republican control. Stop the ridiculous “negotiating” with Lucy as she runs out the clock before pulling away the football. Give speeches about the urgency of the climate crisis. Get the Justice Dept moving.

How Do You Argue With This?

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I mean it as a question. How do you argue with this?

From a trumper I know:

Your friends seem to have all of this “information” at their fingertips, don’t they. So what! What is that information but leftist tropes designed to influence the masses and to gain power. They seize the territory of common belief, speaking earliest, loudest and most often. They employ a sprinkling of objective facts that may be easily confirmed, well-mixed with a carefully groomed, generous selection of friendly inventions that cannot. They tell a story calculated to most tickle sordid fancy and to invoke emotion, conclusion, and judgment. They leave no uncomfortable loose ends that encourage open-ended thought or provisional conclusion – the result of such is entirely unpredictable. They do these things so that they will be nearly impossible to contradict no matter how outrageous, grand, or comprehensive their departure from the truth. And they do this for what…a feeling of accomplishment…perhaps to be part of the regime, once the grand revolution has been accomplished?

… Frankly, most people don’t have the time to respond to each and every misdeed, lie or slanderous canard put out by the press, the left or you and your friends. You and they, on the other hand, seem to have unlimited time to wear down and slander the opposition. Again, what is your end game? On second thought, I already know and won’t waste my time with the bark, bark, barking of the dogs of war. I have learned the futility of speaking civilly and factually with you and the others.

Disproving their nonsense proves there is a conspiracy to manipulate information, leading to the “grand revolution.”

Literally, how do you argue with this?

A Painful Day

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Impeachment Day 1

This has been a painful day for me. First of all, watching that video and reliving Jan 6 was hard. It was bad enough that day watching from here; I can only imagine how it must feel to have been there. It was very painful to watch Trump’s lawyers make incredibly preposterous arguments – when they delivered an argument at all.

More painful, though, is that a year ago his entire party supported what he was and did, after having already destroyed so much of our government and rule of law. Painful that half a million people died in the last year with a government doing nothing, even encouraging actions that made it so much worse.

They tried to destroy the rule of law, and with that vote today they mock it.

Republicans Will Escalate Until They Face Consequences

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Republicans will escalate until they face consequences.

Ford pardoned Nixon, Reagan picked up where Nixon left off. W Bush did the same. Trump … well what can we say?

Trump still has not once faced consequences for anything he has done. Neither have Republicans. Republicans in Congress and criminal administrations do what they do and get huge payoff jobs when they leave government.

Rinse and Repeat

Republicans will escalate until they face consequences.

We can repeat this after each worse-then-the-last Republican atrocity. Until they face consequences they will escalate.

Or until they get their beloved, fascist, Handmaid’s Tale state.

Take What Happened Very, Very Seriously

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This post originally appeared at Imagine Democracy.

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People don’t want to say that Republicans attempted a “coup” but they certainly attempted to overturn the clear results of a democratic election. They tried to end our democracy, right in front of our eyes.

The election was almost “close enough to overturn.”

The Democrat received (the counting is not finished) over 6 million more votes but it was “close.” This is because our 18th-century electoral college system, designed to keep the “slave states” happy, does not belong in the 21st century.

If Republicans had blocked a few more people who couldn’t get birth certificates, etc. from voting…

If Republicans had been able to close a few more polling places…

If they had taken away a few more ballot drop-boxes…

If Republican had scared just a few more people…

If Republicans had told just a few more lies…

If the USPS had delayed a few more ballots…

If just a bit fewer Democrats had voted…

…they very well might have gotten away with it.

Take what happened very, very seriously. Because they tried. Right in front of our eyes.

And if we don’t take steps to do something about this, next time they will do … just that bit more.

Right Before Our Eyes

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Storm troopers in the cities? A Trumpian takeover of democracy?

The question isn’t if this is what the Trumpers are doing, it’s will they succeed.

A lot of people are in the “it can’t happen here” camp on this. But it is happening, we’re watching it. Trump says he is sending these – what should we call them – to all the “Democrat” cities. Calling them Little Green Men is good, because that is the model he is following.

Trump is following the Putin 21st-century stealth takeover model. Will Trump also follow the Putin election model? The one where Putin always wins “elections” even when he is unpopular?

Trump said this, and it is worth remembering that he did:

“You know, the left plays a tougher game, it’s very funny. I actually think that the people on the right are tougher, but they don’t play it tougher. Okay? I can tell you I have the support of the police, the support of the military, the support of the Bikers for Trump — I have the tough people, but they don’t play it tough — until they go to a certain point, and then it would be very bad, very bad. But the left plays it cuter and tougher.”

(“Bikers for Trump”? So maybe call these forces invading our cities “Night Wolves?)

There really is no question this is what he is doing. He told us, and we are seeing it happening. (Do we take him seriously or literally?) The question is, will it work?

It seems clownish, he is clearly not all there. The Trumper crowd are so incompetent that it is hard to take them seriously.

But make no mistake it IS happening right before our eyes. He says it out loud, and then he does it, and then people ask if it is happening?

But don’t worry the Democrats are not happy and might do something.

It’s Intimidation, Not “Moderation”

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The Nation has a great piece by By Guy T. Saperstein and Joe Cirincione, titled, Americans Want Jobs, Not War. It describes how to talk about war spending in ways that move the public toward progressive positions. Please read it.

Dems “Afraid” of how they will “Appear”.

One early line stood out to me, “Democrats are afraid of appearing weak on defense.”

This line says so much about our national discourse. We are so used to hearing it. Democrats do things because they are afraid of how things they do and say will “appear.” They don’t want to “be seen as” holding certain positions that trigger a certain response.

Just how does that “appearance” reach the public? Through our nation’s information channels. Think about this. In a supposed democracy members of the country’s majority party are “afraid” of how they will be “made to appear” if they do not conform to certain positions.

It’s Intimidation

Let’s call this what it is: it is intimidation. They are intimidated.

Instead of providing the public with objective information to help citizens govern themselves in a democracy, our nation’s information channels are structured to enforce a system of allowable do’s and don’ts. The dominance of the right-wing/lobbyist intimidation machine is so pervasive that we no longer understand it could be different.

“Imagine If A Democrat Did That”

Every time a Democrat says, “I don’t want to be seen as” not being supportive of our troops we are acknowledging that we are living in an environment of intimidation. Every time Republicans do something and we all say, “Imagine if a Democrat had said/done this,” we are acknowledging an intimidation machine. But we are not saying the words. 

“If a Democrat did this” really means our information sources are intimidated into making a big bru-ha about anything a Democrat does and ignoring when a Republican does it because careers and reputations are destroyed. And therefore the targets of this are intimidated as well.

A “moderate” Democrat is simply a Democrat who gives an appropriate nod to being intimidated and therefore controlled by the corporate/right intimidation machine.