Thursday, November 8, 2018

Patriotism v Nationalism


The post election press conference went as expected. The authoritarian leader declared victory after losing the House of Representatives.

Of course the press was attacked again. There were more whining accusations about “hostile media”, “fake news” and “enemy of the people”.

And this included a personal attack on Jim Acosta. "You are a rude, terrible person. You shouldn't be working for CNN."

So much for toning down the rhetoric.

But the White Nationalist had more rage to vent.

“Such a racist question!” Trump interrupted Yamiche Alcindor, the black female correspondent for PBS. He accused her several times that the question was "racist" and "insulting". She wasn’t allowed to finish her question without being interrupted. All she wanted was clarification on what he meant by calling himself a nationalist. In framing her question, she mentioned people saw it as emboldening white nationalists.

And there it is.

No wonder he didn’t want to answer her question. No wonder he projected “racist” at a black woman. White nationalists like Trump see themselves as “nationalists”, not white nationalists. They think we can’t see the sheet if they don’t hold it up, but we remember it was his birther flag that first rallied his base. 

Here’s the thing. Patriots love their country. They serve their country, the Constitution and above all the people. Most of us are patriots to one degree or another. Most of us are not nationalists.

Nationalists are different. They say the love the country, but hate half the people. They claim to want law and order, but when justice investigates their crimes, they attack justice. They hate democracy. They hate equality.

They want purity and power and superiority over not only other nations, but over domestic opposition as well. They don’t want to govern by fact, reason or compromise. They want to rule. They are very white and very conservative, and often very racist. And they are backed by the gilded elites and duped authoritarian evangelicals.

This is the Nationalist Party of Trump.

Anyone dividing the people, threatening political opponents, obstructing justice, and calling the press the enemy of the people, while bragging about being a nationalist IS evil.

He's doing what every evil tyrant in history has done.

Too many Americans have been asking for it. The sheep are drinking the koolade and following the authoritarians into the darkness of the coming abyss. And they will drag us with them, if we let them.  We American Patriots need to clearly see the threat to our country, to vote and to defend democracy and to stop the Nationalist Party of Trump. 

This election showed just how weak the Patriotic resistance is. The House is all we have for constitutional checks and balances. They are up against the corrupted radical Right White House and Senate. And their efforts will be blunted by a Supreme Court now owned by the forces of the Corporate/puritanical Right.

The Constitutional crisis that has been brewing for two years is about to come to a boil. Carl Bernstein is right. The “Cold Civil War” is here.

The United States might survive. But it will not be the same. A democratic republic cannot survive unless the Party of Trump and its owners are defeated and prevented from ever gaining power again. This express train to fascism is only being slowed temporarily.

For that we can be proud and grateful. But this is no time to rest in false comfort.

Meanwhile their war on justice, equality, decency, democracy, the free press, and the truth continues.

And for that I call them evil. We Patriots must always stand against the evil of anti-democratic corporatist nationalism.

9 comments:

Jefferson's Guardian said...

"Meanwhile their war on justice, equality, decency, democracy, the free press, and the truth continues." ~~ Dave Dubya

Dave, the fact this White House chose to defend its banning of Jim Acosta from future briefings by sharing a video on social media that had been altered and doctored to make Acosta’s actions toward an intern look more aggressive, is yet another prime example of how far this corrupt fascist administration will go to attack a free press and mislead a nation.

TB3 said...

Is this surprising? The ones Projecting and decrying fake news are the ones generating it.

This 92 percent negative news coverage the White House has been whining about... I mean, it's negative because they are just broadcasting, in many times verbatum, what the President says or Tweets. And the sheer volume that he regurgitates into the political discussion, of course it's 92 percent. Stop saying things that can be construed as negative or, Hell, just stop saying things with as much frequency and give people time to analyze and digest the other things being said and maybe that number might go down.

Also; Banning Acosta? What happened between him and the intern was televised for the world to see live. It's ridiculously easy to see what they put out in defense was doctored.

Dave Dubya said...

The doctored video shows Trump's Orwellian "Ministry of Truth" is following the totalitarian Party's tactics in "1984". It's as if the book were it's operators manual.

Those who support the American Axis of Evil are evil, or abetting evil. Maybe I am the bombastic one, but I'm still waiting for someone to challenge my call.

Jefferson's Guardian said...

"Maybe I am the bombastic one, but I'm still waiting for someone to challenge my call." ~~ Dave Dubya

Dave, how can one challenge the truth?

Oh, wait, Trump and his minions do it on a daily basis...

Jefferson's Guardian said...

"And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed — if all records told the same tale — then the lie passed into history and became truth." ~~ George Orwell, 1984

I gotta hand it to 'em, they keep trying.

Jefferson's Guardian said...

"You are a narcissist who likes to see his name and face on buildings. You appoint family members to positions of power. You hold rallies even when you’re not running, and they are scary. You talk about jailing the press and political opponents." ~~ "Dictator Checklist", Real Time by Bill Maher, 2017

Bill Maher added to his 2017 checklist last night, inserting "You appoint your own protectors".

Dave, you have a very creative blog and astute following - less the trolls, of course. Should we all help Mr. Maher extend his list?

I'll start: "You scapegoat and denigrate others", although, if I'm not mistaken, Mr. Maher's list included this one.

Dave Dubya said...

JG,

Lack of compassion along with pervasive narcissism and ego are the foundation for the authoritarian sociopath.

Incitement of resentment, anger, hate and victimhood are the tools.

Attacking the press, demonizing dissent, suppressing democracy, and scapegoating minorities are the hallmarks.

And of course, "I am a nationalist" is every dictator's path to evil.

They also demand a Praetorian Guard. Trump wants to use our Justice Department as his personal SS to enforce his will and protect his power.

As if Sessions wasn't corrupt enough, now he wants the crooked bigot Whitaker to be his Heinrich Himmler.

Godwin's Law has been revised by Godwin himself: "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."

It is interesting how conservatives flee from this discussion. I wonder why...

Dave Dubya said...

The old demons are rising again. We must reaffirm before our peoples our true and huge responsibility....Patriotism is the exact opposite of nationalism. Nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism, In saying "Our interests first, whatever happens to the others," you erase the most precious thing a nation can have, that which makes it live, that which causes it to be great and that which is most important: Its moral values.

French President Emmanuel Macron

"Moral values" has always been the deal breaker for our white nationalist in the White House.

Jefferson's Guardian said...

"'Moral values' has always been the deal breaker for our white nationalist in the White House." ~~ Dave Dubya

Yet, he finds such a large swath of his support originates with evangelical, and other, Christians.

The irony is impossible to comprehend. It must be a "conservative thing".