Another D-Day

 

Trump’s lawyers’ meeting with Special Prosecutor Jack Smith didn’t pan out as he’d hoped. After complaining about an unfair process and mistreatment of Trump, they were advised by Smith’s team to file a complaint with the Inspector General’s office next door. Obviously, they had nothing legally improper to complain about, so they just left the building.

Trump’s panicked reaction was what a criminal authoritarian narcissist right out of “Central Casting” would say, to borrow one of his favorite phrases.

Reports are the Marxist Special Prosecutor, DOJ, & FBI, want to Indict me on the BOXES HOAX, despite all of the wrongdoing that they have done for SEVEN YEARS, including SPYING ON MY CAMPAIGN. Biden Crimes go unpunished, including that he had Boxes in Chinatown, in his garage by the 'Corvette,' & 1,850 Boxes in Delaware that he won't allow anyone to see. That is real OBSTRUCTION! They seek retribution for Republicans looking into Biden's CRIMES! I HAVE DONE NOTHING WRONG. ELECTION INTERFERENCE!"

Trump whined on his absurdly named “Truth Social” about a “Marxist Special Prosecutor, DOJ & FBI” wanting to indict him on the “BOXES HOAX”, and that the FBI spied on his campaign, repeating another old debunked claim.

True to the old Nazi playbook, he played all the usual cards, including the “commie card”, the “victim card”, and the wildly false “accusation card”. This is just his latest in a long string of lies that also adhere to the Nazi line he projected on July 3, 2021,  “If you say it enough and keep saying it, just keep saying it, they’ll start to believe you.”

Right, except when you say it to federal law enforcement.

His crazed wild-eyed tirade about “Biden Crimes” going unpunished is also pure projection, of course. He couldn’t cite any crime that he hadn’t already committed. So he piled on more projection about ”OBSTRUCTION”, “retribution” and lastly, “ELECTION INTERFERENCE!”

Hmm. I dare say the Tangerine Tyrant is “going through some things”.

And no matter what he says, Biden isn’t going through those things. Trump will howl about Biden and Pence being as guilty as he is, but there’s a wee difference in their cases concerning government documents. 

They complied with the law and returned them without being asked. Trump refused to return them after being asked.  He proceeded to obstruct efforts to have them returned by having them moved just before the FBI came to get them. He was reported to have waved secret war plans on Iran at his country club. That’s a big no-no.

Trump remains the “only one” to have done this, despite his desperate lie, “I HAVE DONE NOTHING WRONG”.

Now he’s about to face real felony charges.

Here’s a partial list of the crimes Trump committed that Biden and Pence did NOT commit:

 

18 U.S. Code § 2071 - Concealment, removal, or mutilation generally

(a)

Whoever willfully and unlawfully conceals, removes, mutilates, obliterates, or destroys, or attempts to do so, or, with intent to do so takes and carries away any record, proceeding, map, book, paper, document, or other thing, filed or deposited with any clerk or officer of any court of the United States, or in any public office, or with any judicial or public officer of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.

(b)

Whoever, having the custody of any such record, proceeding, map, book, document, paper, or other thing, willfully and unlawfully conceals, removes, mutilates, obliterates, falsifies, or destroys the same, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both; and shall forfeit his office and be disqualified from holding any office under the United States.

 

18 USC 793 — Gathering, transmitting or losing defence information

(f)

Whoever, being entrusted with or having lawful possession or control of any document, writing, code book, signal book, sketch, photograph, photographic negative, blueprint, plan, map, model, instrument, appliance, note, or information, relating to the national defense, (1) through gross negligence permits the same to be removed from its proper place of custody or delivered to anyone in violation of his trust, or to be lost, stolen, abstracted, or destroyed, or (2) having knowledge that the same has been illegally removed from its proper place of custody or delivered to anyone in violation of its trust, or lost, or stolen, abstracted, or destroyed, and fails to make prompt report of such loss, theft, abstraction, or destruction to his superior officer—

Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.

 

18 U.S. Code § 1519 - Destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in Federal investigations and bankruptcy

 

Whoever knowingly alters, destroys, mutilates, conceals, covers up, falsifies, or makes a false entry in any record, document, or tangible object with the intent to impede, obstruct, or influence the investigation or proper administration of any matter within the jurisdiction of any department or agency of the United States or any case filed under title 11, or in relation to or contemplation of any such matter or case, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.

 

18 U.S. Code § 1924 Unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or material... shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for not more than five years, or both.

18 U.S. Code § 1001 - Statements or entries generally

(a)Except as otherwise provided in this section, whoever, in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government of the United States, knowingly and willfully—

(1)

falsifies, conceals, or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact;

(2)

makes any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation; or

(3)

makes or uses any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry;

shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years or, if the offense involves international or domestic terrorism (as defined in section 2331), imprisoned not more than 8 years, or both. If the matter relates to an offense under chapter 109A, 109B, 110, or 117, or section 1591, then the term of imprisonment imposed under this section shall be not more than 8 years.

 

So here we are, on the 79th anniversary of the D-Day invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe. Within a year, Hitler would be dead, and his Third Reich destroyed.

But tragically, fascism, racism, and Nazis would survive. We are now in a strikingly similar time of criminal authoritarian leaders, with the rising racism and white nationalism that infected 1930’s Germany.

We survived Trump’s Putsch of January sixth, but his threat remains.

The lesson we must learn should be clear by now. The struggle against fascism never ends. It is time for democracy’s 21st Century D-Day, as the Orange Fuhrer glowers in a seething rage from his bunker.

Neo-Nazis and Leftism

 

If Nazi Germany had a Memorial Day, Hitler’s greeting would have been very much in line with this one from Trump:

 Happy Memorial Day to all. But especially to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for the country they love, and to those in line of a very different, but equally dangerous fire, stopping the threats of the terrorists, misfits and lunatic thugs who are working feverishly from within to overturn and destroy our once great country, which has never been in greater peril than it is right now. We must stop the communists, Marxists and fascist “pigs” at every turn and, Make America Great Again!

The Nazi playbook is all there; false victimization, demonization, scapegoating, and dehumanizing the opposition.

“Wait a minute there, Dubya”, Someone might say. “Haven’t you heard of Godwin’s Law?”

“Why, yes, I have”, I would reply. Then I’d show him what Mike Godwin himself has to say about calling radical Right Republicans neo-Nazis.

" Sure, call Trump a Nazi. Just make sure you know what you’re talking about."

I came up with Godwin’s Law. In its original form, Godwin’s Law goes like this: “As an online discussion continues, the probability of a reference or comparison to Hitler or Nazis approaches 1.”

First, let me get this Donald Trump issue out of the way: If you’re thoughtful about it and show some real awareness of history, go ahead and refer to Hitler or Nazis when you talk about Trump. Or any other politician.

OK, I will.

Hitler: "Ein Volk. Ein Reich. Ein Fuhrer!" 

Trump September 17, 2022: "One movement. One people. One family. One glorious American nation!" 

Just as Hitler's Nazis revered their "martyr" in the "Horst Wessel Song", American neo-Nazis revere their "martyr", the insurrectionist Ashli Babbitt. Her mother was just arrested for assault. That's what neo-Nazis do. Violence is their language, as they find delight through cruelties that result in real suffering and loss for people they hate or fear.

And there's so much more.

Like Hitler, Trump has no respect for facts, the rule of law, and our democratic ideals. He begins this attack on our Constitution with an absurd false dichotomy before going to his Big Lie on his deceptively named “Truth Social”.

"Do you throw the Presidential Election Results of 2020 OUT and declare the RIGHTFUL WINNER, or do you have a NEW ELECTION? A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution.”

What kind of traitor would call for the termination of the Constitution?

On the day of his SDNY indictment, Trump wailed:

These Thugs and Radical Left Monsters have just INDICATED the 45th President of the United States of America, and the leading Republican Candidate, by far, for the 2024 Nomination for President. THIS IS AN ATTACK ON OUR COUNTRY THE LIKES OF WHICH HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE. IT IS LIKEWISE A CONTINUING ATTACK ON OUR ONCE FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS. THE USA IS NOW A THIRD WORLD NATION, A NATION IN SERIOUS DECLINE. SO SAD!

“Indicated” by thugs and monsters. 

Here we have Trump’s semi-illiterate version of “Mein Kampf” for MAGAts. We can almost feel the hot-blooded chant of “Ein Reich! Ein Volk! Ein Fuhrer!” behind his vile neo-Nazi diatribes.

Ron Desantis would also echo the original Fuhrer when he told Trey Gowdy on FOX®, “The woke mind virus is basically a form of cultural Marxism. At the end of the day it’s an attack on the truth. And because it’s a war on truth, I think we have no choice but to wage a war on woke”.

“Woke” essentially means whatever and whomever they hate, of course.

DeSantis blew the dog whistle to his racist base when he scored a double, by invoking hate for a Jew, and praise for a white guy who strangled a mentally ill Black man on a subway train.

“We must defeat the Soros-Funded DAs, stop the Left's pro-criminal agenda, and take back the streets for law abiding citizens. We stand with Good Samaritans like Daniel Penny. Let’s show this Marine... America’s got his back.”

Penny is charged with second-degree manslaughter. The pro-criminal projection here is once again wrapped in praise for a killer.

They loved the racist who killed Trayvon Martin.

They send money and praise to a sociopath punk named Kyle Rittenhouse for killing BLM protesters.

Governor Abbot plans to pardon another bigot who killed a protester in Texas. The killer Daniel Perry proclaimed, “I might have to kill a few people on my way to work”.

These are the heroes of neo-Nazis.

They LOVE white people who kill Blacks and others they hate.

Then DeSantis pitched a promise that enthralls every Nazi, “I will serve two terms, and I will be able to destroy leftism in this country.”

Imagine if a Democratic candidate said they were going to "destroy conservatism in this country." We know how the corporate media and press would treat that statement with outrage. But It’s OK if you’re a Republican. (IOKIYAR) It’s just “rhetoric” and “legitimate political discourse”, as in how the GOP whitewashed Trump’s coup on 1/6/21. 

"America First" activist Tyler Russel admits what the white nationalist neo-Nazi base really wants. "We don't want freedom. We want a total Trumpian Reich. We want dictator Trump...And we want all these people who are traitors to this nation to go to jail."

To hell with all those American neo-Nazis who want to destroy our democracy. THAT is their goal, as they pack the courts with corrupt anti-democratic judges to cement minority rule.

This is the purpose of their war on truth, democracy, education, and our freedom. They want to restrict the right to vote, dictate forced births, dictate what books children can read, what teachers can teach, how people dress and perform, and force their radical Right, racist, one-party dictatorship on our nation. This is what they do while projecting and howling that the "left" is trying to control them.

Why do they really want to destroy leftism?

Leftism is anti-racist, so they hate it.

Leftism supports separation of church and state and opposes theocracy in the laws and courts, so they hate it. 

Leftism supports women's right to reproductive freedom, so they hate it.

Leftism supports ethical standards for the Supreme Court, so they hate it.

Leftism supports our justice system holding Trump and his mob accountable for their crimes, so they hate it.

Leftism supports school children's safety by banning assault weapons, so they hate it.

Leftism supports public education and public healthcare, so they hate it.

Leftism supports asylum for victims of war, crime, and tyranny, so they hate it.

Leftism supports our Constitutional taxes on the rich and corporations, so they hate it.

Leftism supports our Constitutional regulation of commerce, so they hate it.

Leftism supports our Constitutional provision for the general welfare, so they hate it.

Leftism supports the peaceful transfer of power, so they hate it.

Leftism supports cleaner air and water by regulating polluters, so they hate it.

Leftism supports feeding the poor and treating the sick, so they hate it.

Leftism supports and protects our Constitutional democracy and voting rights, so they hate it.

American neo-Nazis like DeSantis, Trump, and his cult will accuse all who oppose them of being "communists". Just like Hitler did to those who didn't "Sieg Heil" and goose-step for his Third Reich.

No wonder they purged Liz Cheney for daring to speak out, "No party, no nation, no people can defend and perpetuate a constitutional republic if they accept leaders who have gone to war with the rule of law, with the democratic process, with the Constitution itself.”

This is why American neo-Nazis love Trump and DeSantis. They share the same white nationalist hate for democracy and our ideal of consent of the governed. They share the same hate for fellow Americans who don’t look like them, or show intelligence, honesty, decency, and compassion.

Those are NOT their values. They seek wealth, power, and one-party control of our country, and above all, to punish people they hate. There’s the reason they want to destroy leftism, and not fascism.

They are enemies of our Constitution and democratic republic, and they have earned their designation as “neo-Nazis”.

Hillary Was Right

If anyone of sound mind and morals sat through the Trump/CNN debacle last night, I offer them both my pity and congratulations. Witnessing fascism's voice being amplified for over and hour, spewing a stream of lies and hate is exhausting and depressing. 

We can only ask ourselves, "What the hell is wrong with our country?"

This is the question I've been writing about since Bush and Cheney lied us into war and were reelected for their war crimes.

Trump is but the logical consequence of the moral decline and willful ignorance in a large percentage of our citizenry. White nationalism has taken over the American Bible Belt. We're watching good people be deceived by sociopaths and allowing their racial resentments, bigotry and fears of being replaced to dominate their politics. Now the question is, are they still good people?

Were "good Germans" still good people after willingly swearing an oath to Hitler? Sure, they may have still been good parents, and good neighbors and friends to fellow Nazis, but is that enough for them to remain good people?

The answer is no. Their willing embrace of anger and hate in service to evil cancels what might remain of any conscience or decency.

I'll leave it to others to fact check all his lies, and denounce his vile hate and outrageous behavior. We've seen quite enough of it already. 

Instead of my usual ranting, I want to share the important observations of former naval aviator Brynn Tannehill.

She knows her subject, and is the author of “American Fascism: How the GOP is Subverting Democracy".

This is what she tweeted regarding CNN's horror show last night:

A ton of ink (virtual or otherwise) has already been spilled on Trump and CNN. Obviously it was Trump at his most awful. And obviously CNN did our country a disservice by hosting what was effectively a Trump rally. But, there's an angle that's missing from the discussion. 

Namely, the audience. These were all Trump supporters. Republicans and independents who were supporters of the former President. Clinton called them a "basket of deplorables" in 2016, and they got offended.

Last night was a reminder she was right.

They laughed and cheered as Trump mocked the woman he was found liable for sexually assaulting. He was cheered when he called "moderator" Kaitlan Collins "a nasty woman." They eagerly devoured the myriad of lies he told about EVERYTHING.

It was a Gish Gallop, right down to claiming he would end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours without giving details. (Hint: there's no way the US could do that, even if we cut off aid immediately. Ukraine would keep fighting and looking for alternate suppliers of arms.)

And they believe it all. They LOVE it all. The cruelty is the point. They love Trump and Putin and Orban. They love Jesus too, and have claimed all of American Christianity for their own. They've destroyed its reputation in the process.

For most decent people, who don't laugh at people for being raped, seeing someone wearing a cross is a big warning sign: this person is not safe. This person is not kind. This person does not even vaguely live in the same reality the rest of us do. 

And yes, this thread will get a lot of "not all Christians" messages here. But these folks are at the spearhead a fascist movement that revels in cruelty, domination, and abuse of power. Not everyone that wore a swastika pin was bad, but there weren't many Oskar Schindlers.

But, above all else, last night was a reminder of what America under Trump was, and will be again if we put him back in office. Cruel, theocratic, vulgar, misogynistic, unmoored from reality, ignorant, immune to evidence, and racist. 

These are not good people, even if they believe their religious beliefs make them inherently good. This is a movement centered on grievances and vengeance against enemies of the herrenvolk. What we saw are the true believers Milton Mayer wrote about. 

Hardly anyone will read this. And even if it goes viral, it still isn't enough. But for those that do read it, I hope it reminds you that what is coming is dark beyond all belief. They want vengeance on those they believe they have tolerated for too long.

There is no bottom: there is no point at which his supporters will say, "No, we're going too far, this is wrong." These are people with an axe to grind, and without empathy for anyone who seen as an enemy.

If the 2nd Trump administration was putting trans people through tree shredders, his supporters would demand that they be dipped in lemon juice first.

Last night was a chilling reminder not only can it happen here, it WILL happen here if we get a second Trump term.

 

Paranoid By Default

 

It happens every day.

Insanity is becoming the norm now. Paranoia is the default state of mind in too many Americans.

The only good news is this victim of insanity survived.

“A teenager was shot by a homeowner after going to the wrong house to pick up siblings”

Ralph Yarl, 16, was “shot twice and struck in the head and arm,” his family’s attorneys said in a statement.

The teen was taken to a hospital, where he was in stable condition Sunday, police said.

“Despite the severity of his injuries and the seriousness of his condition, Ralph is alive and recovering,” civil rights attorneys S. Lee Merritt and Benjamin Crump, who have been retained by Yarl and his family, said in the statement.

Police learned the teenager’s parents had asked him to pick up his siblings at an address on 115th Terrace, but he accidentally went to a home on 115th Street, where he was shot.

“Ralph Yarl was picking up his younger brothers when he mistakenly rang the doorbell at the wrong house. A man shot Ralph twice and now he’s in critical condition. His family needs support during this tragedy,” Crump tweeted.

The homeowner – who has not been identified – was taken into custody and placed on a 24-hour hold, then released while police work to get a victim statement and gather more forensic evidence.

Under Missouri law, a person can be held for up to 24 hours for investigation of a felony, at which time they are required to be charged or released, Graves said at the news conference.

Asked whether the shooting may have been racially motivated, the police chief said, “the information that we have now, it does not say that that is racially motivated. That’s still an active investigation. But as a chief of police, I do recognize the racial components of this case.”

 

Believing the "Militia Amendment" endows them the constitutional right to shoot people they fear and overthrow the government, the NRA/Republican Cartel, paranoid white bigots, Radical Right conspiracy nuts, and racist neo-Confederates have all contributed to arming a nation of criminals, idiots and sociopaths.

Too many want to revive vigilantism and relive the Civil War and the movie version of the wild west. Too many are clinging to their weapons in the hope of an opportunity to kill people they hate.

I'm convinced the human species is genetically pre-programmed for self-extinction. We are infected with essentially the equivalent of angry book burning primates running amok with dynamite.

People gifted with good sense, a conscience and consciousness will have to live, and survive, among them for as long as there is a Republican Party.

Will we last that long?

"What Is Wokeness?"

 

A concerned reader, or just someone I irritated, decided to respond to my previous post "CRT and Woke", and inform us “Wokeness is Marxism in the 21st Century”. Despite the mysterious origin of this screed, I’ll take it as the best argument the radical Right can muster on the topic.

I’ll post it for all to review, then give my response. 

WHAT IS WOKENESS?

There are those on the "woke" left who seem to believe conservatives cannot define what wokeness is. Well, let me help by taking a swing at it.

Karl Marx and his early followers often referred to "class consciousness." Since Marxism holds that all human relationships are class based, "class consciousness" referred to propagandizing the people to make them "conscious" of these class distinctions as the root of all their problems. "Woke" is just another word for consciousness. There's more to it, so if you're interested, read on.

Marxists like all tyrants, always want to control language because they know if they can control what people can say, they can control how they think and eventually how they behave. This all began with "political correctness." Look where that's gotten us. Certain words are effectively banned. But not all banned words are banned for everyone. We now accept a double standard and believe we continue to have freedom of speech. Certain words are off limits to some, while others use the same words and earn a king's ransom. Odd, isn't it?

After the 2nd World War, the Marxist use of the term "class consciousness" seemed anachronistic and dated. Then came Herbert Marcuse of the Frankfurt School. He, along with many others refined Marx's class consciousness theory with a tool called "Critical Theory". This theory proposed to raise "consciousness" or more colloquially, "wokeness", by applying Critical Theory to societal institutions. Marx believed all existing institutions had to be destroyed in order for socialism and communism to be realized. He reasoned that all existing institutions served the status quo interests controlled by the dominant capitalist class who subordinated, exploited and enslaved all other classes.

Critical Theory is the overarching term applied to a panoply of Critical Theories applied to different institutions Marxists target for attack. Therefore, Critical Gender Theory is actually an attack on the nuclear family and heterosexuality, by making people conscious or if you prefer, "woke" and supporting of the systematic degradation and deconstruction of the traditional family as a foundational institution. That's what "woke" means in that sphere. The appeal to rights for transgenders is only the vehicle employed for the destruction of women, motherhood and the traditional nuclear family.

Critical Race Theory is also an attack, but simply based in race. All the different Critical Theories endeavor to control speech and actions through suppression of any alternative views. We see examples of this on college campuses every day where the neo-Marxist chant "speech is violence." This is upside down. It can be said that violence can be a form of speech, but it's absurd to suggest that speech itself is violence. This is how the suppression of speech becomes justified in the minds of these militants.

Each version of Critical Theory has its own version of "wokeness". It's just dishonest to suggest it defies description. Anyone familiar with Marxism and the Frankfurt School and Herbert Marcuse in particular understands this. This isn't ambiguous. Wokeness is Marxism in the 21st Century.

It attempts to distance itself linguistically from the classic Marxist terminology, making it appear different in form only. There is no difference at all in substance. The important point here is this: all of this was enabled by accepting the cancer of political correctness.

The day is coming soon when political dissent in America will be driven underground if people don't stand up to this right now. Do not comply.

~~~~~~~~~~

The author’s take on the question “What is woke” leads us to ask our own questions. How will we ever know who asks, and declares, “What is Wokeness?”

The anonymous troll didn’t credit his copy-and-paste white nationalist “definitions”.

Who is the “me” who is “taking a swing at it”?

Why won’t he have the integrity to put his name to that piece? I suspect it’s because he lacks the ability to compose it. Then there’s the additional apparent lack of integrity in withholding the name of the actual author.

This lack of integrity and honesty sets up our case and obviously weakens his.

Everything the radical Right hates is “woke” “CRT” or “Marxism” because they will ALWAYS unilaterally redefine anything they hate as “woke” “CRT” and “Marxism”.

I thank him for proving my point that they need to disregard or dismiss any definitions they don’t like and make up new ones to suit their prejudice and hate. 

Make no mistake. Hate and bigotry are at the core of this nonsense, expressing moral panic, bitter grievances, and paranoia through the manufactured horror of the  “destruction of women, motherhood and the traditional nuclear family”. This expresses the fear, anger and resentments fomenting within the reactionary FEELINGS of the radical white Right. In fact, this tirade would resonate with every American white supremacist and neo-Nazi. 

Hundreds of armed radical Right bigots, including "Sieg Heil" chanting neo-Nazis, joined by right-wing Christian groups, converged on a park in Ohio where parents were and children had gathered to enjoy a drag queen story event. (Hint: Idiots with guns kill children, drag queens do not.)

Let’s remember on February 1, 1933, Hitler proclaimed, “The National Government...regards Christianity as the foundation of our national morality, and the family as the basis of national life."  

Every white nationalist fascist ideology must also embrace a false sense of victimhood. Hitler was a “victim” of the Jews. Trump and his cult are “victims” of the “Marxist radical Left”, aka “racist” Black prosecutors, the “deep state”, Democrats and “RINOs”.

The election was “rigged”. Justice is “weaponized”. These are just two of their bitter projections to deflect from Trump’s efforts to interfere with states’ election counts by fake electors, strong-arming a Secretary of State, and his efforts to have his DOJ  “just say the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me and House Republicans” 

Of course, they see no “political correctness” in parroting Trump’s fascistic swill of lies, lest they fall into their Dear Leader’s disfavor. “Disloyal RINOs” beware.

The other blatant projection is Marxists “want to control language because they know if they can control what people can say, they can control how they think and eventually how they behave”. And there’s their reason for redefining terms to fit their prejudice and hate.

The other big giveaway of this racist “definition” is glaring.

Notice the “definitions” of woke and CRT completely ignore the existence, history and effects of slavery and racism, the essential roots of the original meaning of woke and CRT. This is why the radical white Right insists they alone have authority to whitewash racism, woke, and CRT.

“The Life of Rosa Parks,” a biography of a civil rights hero who fought segregation, is one of 176 titles that schools in Duval County, Florida, removed from classrooms for review, per Business Insider. According to nonprofit PEN America, the books in review have been in storage for months “with little indication of when they might return to classrooms."

A textbook publisher used in 45,000 Florida schools recently removed any reference of Rosa Parks’ race in a draft lesson plan, per The New York Times. The publisher, Studies Weekly, said this was done to comply with Gov. Ron DeSantis’ (R) “Stop WOKE Act."

“In Florida we are taking a stand against the state-sanctioned racism that is critical race theory,” said DeSantis in his 2021 proposal of the law. “We won’t allow Florida tax dollars to be spent teaching our kids to hate our country or to hate each other.”

One more radical Right projection, deflecting from THEIR efforts to teach kids and adults to deny white American racism and hate others who see it for the reality it still is.

When they tell us it’s all a “commie plot to destroy America”, they really see a "plot to threaten white supremacy".

CRT And Woke

 

Merriam-Webster - Woke: aware of and actively attentive to important societal facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice)

Conservative writer Bethany Mandel: “It is sort of the understanding that we need to totally re-imagine and redo society in order to create hierarchies of oppression.”

As they’ve shown over the years, the radical Right notoriously refuses to discuss or debate in good faith. Every high school debate team learns a debate depends on mutual agreement on definitions of terms.

This becomes a problem in today’s political discourse. The Right will often reject accepted meanings of terms to suit their bias, dishonesty, bigotry, racism, and political agenda.

They have usurped the unilateral authority to redefine terms. It's one of their primary propaganda tools. An early example is their suppressing the accurate term “Estate tax” and redefining it as the “death tax”. Estates are taxed, death isn’t. Patriotism itself was twisted into loyalty to Trump and seeing progressives and Democrats as "communists who hate America". Anything tinged with fear and anger is useful for their purposes. They know fear and anger motivates uninformed and uneducated Americans to support them.

More recently radical Right white Republicans have been relentlessly redefining and demonizing terms like Critical Race Theory and “woke”. Their goal is to use these terms as emotional triggers to frighten and infuriate white conservatives into racial resentments and to inflame bigotry. That’s what wins elections for them. Their duplicitous culture war must be vehemently challenged.

Now we see almost everything that annoys conservatives is "woke".  Every academic discussion of the history and effects of slavery and racism is “Marxist CRT”. It forces white children to be "uncomfortable" and teaches them  "America is racist and you are to blame".  

In their propaganda, only white conservatives are allowed to define woke, CRT, and even racism. This has gone to the extreme absurdity that conservative white Americans are being told by their leaders THEY are now the “real victims” of racism.

On the other hand, there’s the fringe on the Left that do no favors for their concept of woke. Protesting racist police brutality is woke. Rioting and destruction isn’t. It is criminal, and it will be falsely branded as “woke” by the Right.

Desecrating or tipping over statues of Lincoln or the founders who owned slaves isn’t woke. It’s vandalism and a crime. It dishonors the legacy of their own wokism of their time. Abolishing slavery and establishing a democratic republic were their responses to systemic injustice.

When Blacks and educators dare discuss CRT and the real history and effects of slavery and racism, they are smeared as promoting “wokism”, as if they are the “evil commie racists”. Behind their howls about CRT lurks the stench of racism. Behind their howls about “woke” lies bigotry.

It is woke to understand members of the LGBTQ community have been victims of bigotry and abuse. But when some of them demand special accommodations and conformity to their chosen pronouns, they should understand this can confuse and upset people who never had exposure to their culture and lifestyles. They might want to consider whether they are forcing too much on other’s beliefs and sensitivities. Most Americans aren’t comfortable with teens or their parents deciding on transgender surgeries.

Many are uncomfortable with trans kids in school sports, or what bathroom they use.

Vandalism and demands for conformity become counterproductive. What happens next is any criminal and aggressive behavior will be what the Right calls “woke”, only to result in more bigoted and racist reaction. Progressives shouldn’t let the radical Right bigots and racists define woke, CRT, and racism. It is not their right to do so.

The sole purpose of these deceptions and outright lies is to fuel division, racism, anger, and hate in their white conservative base. All to get votes so they can have power. This reveals them as basically sociopathic con artists. If they can’t have power, they are more than willing to tear the country apart. Some Texas Republicans even want a vote on secession.

Woke originated as a term for conscious awareness of injustices against Blacks, and efforts to address it in good conscience. These have never been valued by the power seeking Right, so they need to dishonestly distort and redefine woke, CRT, and racism.

The good news is most Americans don’t seem to be buying into the Republicans’ distorted politicized definition of woke:

Republican presidential hopefuls are vowing to wage a war on "woke," but a new USA TODAY/Ipsos Poll finds a majority of Americans are inclined to see the word as a positive attribute, not a negative one.

Fifty-six percent of those surveyed say the term means "to be informed, educated on, and aware of social injustices." That includes not only three-fourths of Democrats but also more than a third of Republicans.

Overall, 39% say instead that the word reflects what has become the GOP political definition, "to be overly politically correct and police others' words." That's the view of 56% of Republicans.

Why would Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis pass a “Stop WOKE Act”? So he can demonize and redefine it to his political advantage. The same is true for the entire Republican Party.

When DeSantis’ lawyers were forced by the court to define “woke”, the lead lawyer correctly described it as “The belief there are systemic injustices in American society and the need to address them.”

The founders, abolitionists, Lincoln, Native American leaders, suffragettes, Martin Luther King and civil rights advocates, as well as the voting rights and civil rights acts were all “woke” by this definition. Many of these Americans were murdered for what the Right now calls “wokeism”. Even Jesus was crucified for his “woke” compassionate teachings about loving your neighbor, welcoming the stranger, visiting prisoners, feeding the poor and healing the sick, the “least of my brothers”.

What did they all have in common? Contemporary conservatives hated them all.

GOP Fascism

"We are in an epic struggle to rescue our country from the people who hated it, and want to absolutely destroy it."

Trump or Hitler? What's the difference?

Not every Republican is a fascist. Some may even have a modicum of conscience, but it’s never their primary concern, as they primarily coddle the rich and deprive the sick and poor. (And they think they’re being Christians.)

The Republican Party isn’t the American Nazi Party. Not yet. But they are being taken over by the same fascist fringe ideology that spawned Hitler’s regime. 

Some people are annoyed  by any comparisons I’ve made. “But Republicans aren’t putting people in camps”, I’m told.

This is correct. But that’s not where German Nazis started in their path to power, either. It was from the same roots of racism, lies, extreme nationalism and will to dominate. 

Only Republicans fly the Confederate Flag. That alone should tell the story.

History has supplied ample evidence of what fascism is all about. Banning books, demonizing and scapegoating minorities and educators, boasting of their superiority, and endless lies and hatred are all elements of a toxic authoritarian political cult.

They would dictate what can be taught in schools. They would demand purges in academia for those who do not conform to their ideology.

They would frame their racism to fit their twisted definitions of terms. Every time Republicans invoke “CRT” and “woke” they barely conceal their racism, an essential foundation of historical and current Nazi ideology.

And Nazis of the past and present will ALWAYS falsely accuse their opposition of being “Marxists” and “Communists” who “hate” their country.

In reality the hate is their projection. 

Their goal is one-party rule, and inflicting as much suffering as possible on anyone who stands in their way.

Radical Right neo-Nazis and white supremacists now see all pro-democracy advocates as "Marxists". Who else did that? Adolf Hitler. And like Hitler’s Nazis, they feel the same false sense of victimization. In fact; too many white nationalist bigots believe THEY are the "real victims" of racism. "More than half of Republicans think minorities are favored over Whites in the United States".

Hate, vengeance and white identity grievance have infected today’s Republican Party to frightening levels.

Another fair comparison is the fact Trump and Hitler both incited a Putsch to seize power. Trump even praised his thugs for their violence, saying, “You’re very special. We love you”. That day alone should cement his evil into the historical annals of fascism.

One more direct comparison between Nazis and Republicans is this: On October 10, 1936 Heinrich Himmler created the Reich Central Office for Combating Homosexuality and Abortion. In this assault on freedom and equality there is no distinction between them.

We see this fanaticism growing like a tumor in the Trump Cult, the US Congress, and in the states controlled by Republicans.

The catalog of radical Right extremism has become too vast to document here, so I’ll just focus on a few more examples of their fascistic war on democracy, truth and decency.

In one raging neo-Nazi diatribe Marjorie Taylor Greene called Ilhan Omar, Maxine Waters, Ayanna Pressley, Adam Schiff, Joe Biden, Rashida Tlaib, Nancy Pelosi, AOC, and Elizabeth Warren, “Communist Democrats who hate America, hate God, and hate our way of life.”

This enemy of truth decency and democracy howled, “You can’t allow it, to just transfer power ‘peacefully’ like Joe Biden wants.”

“We need to be the party of nationalism and I’m a Christian, and I say it proudly, we should be Christian nationalists.”

Ranting further about her failed coup on January 6, 2021, MTG boasted, "I want to tell you something, if Steve Bannon and I had organized that, we would have won. Not to mention, we would've been armed."

And of course what neo-Nazi would be worth their swastika if they didn’t project the evil darkness within their authoritarian amygdala? "I am not going to mince words with you all. Democrats want Republicans dead and they have already started the killings."

This insanity is from the newly empowered and profoundly nasty QAnon Queen of Congress. There’s so much more, but let’s move on to examples from the most extreme state of the Union.

A Florida Republican state senator proposed a bill that would require bloggers who write about DeSantis, his Cabinet officers, or members of the legislature, to register with the state.

Another authoritarian Florida fascist proposed outlawing the Democratic Party.

Per Orlando’s Spectrum News 13:

A new proposed bill could pave the way for the official removal of the Democratic Party from official voting information if passed in this year’s legislative session in Tallahassee. The bill, currently titled SB 1248, calls for the state Division of Elections to cancel the “filings” of a political party, to include party registration and approved status in any and all elections if that party’s platform had previously advocated for slavery, or involuntary servitude. 

Although not explicitly listed, the Democratic Party, which was popular in the nation’s South during Reconstruction, would fit the description. Economics and civil rights fueled significant changes in both parties in the years since. The bill includes language that would require any voter currently registered as a member of a canceled party to be notified by that political party to update their voter registration to an approved and active political party. 

The bill was filed by Florida state Senator Blaise Ingoglia.

Finally I present the latest neo-Nazi bile from the man the Republican Party cannot stop from running for president again.

"This Animal Prosecutor that they stuck on me over the Boxes Hoax is trying to TORTURE my people into telling lies. It’s all for political reasons, and the fact I’m leading big, in all the polls. He’s flying people from all over and throwing them in front of a D.C. Grand Jury. They are confused and scared – they’ve never done this before. These Democrat Marxist Pigs should be the ones that are investigated. The nice guy prosecutor in the Biden documents case hasn’t even started yet!"

Along with the perversion of justice, the victim card, the commie card, and the projection card are all there, lifted directly from Hitler's playbook.

If not for our fragile Constitution and weakened democratic institution of fair elections and representation that allow us to vote them out, these monsters would be even more destructive. How can anyone doubt what horrible violence and bloodshed they would inflict if they thought they could get away with it?

Past warnings are forgotten at our own peril.

"I could hire one half of the working class to kill the other half." – “Robber Baron” Jay Gould 

Fascism is definitely and absolutely opposed to the doctrines of liberalism, both in the political and economic sphere. - Benito Mussolini

“Three great forces rule the world: stupidity, fear, and greed.” - Albert Einstein

“There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.” - Isaac Asimov 

Do not rejoice in his defeat, you men. For though the world has stood up and stopped the bastard, the bitch that bore him is in heat again. - Bertold Brecht 1941

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

- Pastor Martin Niemöller’s words at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum