Monday, July 11, 2022

Who's Next?

 

At the US Holocaust Memorial Museum:

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

This was 1930's Germany. 

This is the USA now:

Trump and his bigots continue to call Democrats socialists or communists.

The Party of Trump is as anti-union as they come.

Now women are losing their right to reproductive freedom, just as they did under Himmler's Reich Central Office for Combating Homosexuality and Abortion in 1936.

Jewish women are also being denied the right to their religious faith. Jews believe life begins at first breath, but are now being forced to live under right-wing Christian rule.

What happens when Jews are no longer allowed equal rights and their freedom of religion?

Most Republicans, white supremacists, and Nazis don’t care...

An acorn is not an oak tree. A zygote is not a person. The great majority of Americans understand this.

But the radical Right theocrats will give a cell cluster more rights than they would for women and Jews.

We can be certain the radical theocrats will not be satisfied with overturning Roe v. Wade. They've admitted it.

Authoritarians will always continue their assault on democracy and equality. They've only just begun.

Who's next on their list of targets? LGBTQ rights will be attacked. Even inter-racial marriage and the right to contraception are in their sights.

For them the First Amendment matters only in allowing their lies and hate speech. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;” not so much.

As if being massacred in Temples wasn’t enough...

The Anti-Defamation League has been documenting radical Right terrorism:

“A Dark and Constant Rage: 25 Years of Right-Wing Terrorism in the United States”

 To illustrate the threat of right-wing terrorism in the United States, the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism has compiled a list of 150 right-wing terrorist acts, attempted acts, plots and conspiracies from the past 25 years (1993-2017).  These include terrorist incidents from a wide variety of white supremacists, from neo-Nazis to Klansmen to racist skinheads, as well as incidents connected to anti-government extremists such as militia groups, sovereign citizens and tax protesters.  The list also includes incidents of anti-abortion terror as well as from other, smaller right-wing extremist movements.

Right-wing extremists annually murder a number of Americans, but only some of those murders occur in connection with terrorist acts.  There are, after all, hundreds of thousands of adherents of right-wing extremist movements in the United States and all such movements have some degree of association with criminal activity.  No one should think, therefore, that the incidents listed here represent the breadth of right-wing violence in the U.S.  But, as acts of terrorism, they do show right-wing movements at their most vicious and ambitious.

The reactionary response to the Obama presidency and rise of Trump reveal the vast breadth and depth of racist hate and extremism in our country.

This history of racist terrorism is ongoing.

“New ADL Data: Far-Right Extremists Responsible for Overwhelming Majority of Domestic Extremist-Related Murders In 2021”

 New York, NY, February 15, 2022 … Right-wing extremists were linked to at least 26 extremist-related murders in the United States in 2021 and have been responsible for 75 percent of such murders in the last ten years, according to new data from ADL (Anti-Defamation League).

According to an annual analysis of extremist fatalities by ADL Center on Extremism, domestic extremists were responsible for killing at least 29 people in the United States, in 19 separate incidents.

Murder and Extremism in 2021: Summary of Major Findings

Domestic extremists killed at least 29 people in the United States in 2021, up from the 23 murders documented in 2020, but far fewer than the killings in any of the years 2015-19 (which ranged from 45 to 78).

White supremacists killed more people in 2021 than any other type of extremist

Of the 443 people killed at the hands of extremists over the last 10 years, 333 (or 75%) were killed by right-wing extremists.

Of the 333 right-wing extremist-related killings over the last 10 years, at least 73 percent have been at the hands of white supremacists.

This is horrifying to decent Americans.

And it doesn’t even include Trump’s thousands of terrorists who tried to seize our Capitol to overturn our election.

As it is, Trump’s anti-democracy insurrectionists at the state level are rapidly seizing control of elections to deny the will of the voters.

They are fascists. Period. Or have I said that before?

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is not government sanctioned behavior, in fact, we have laws against the kind of behavior you cite. To say current America reflects your anecdotal stories, is simply wrong.

Dave Dubya said...

Anonymous,
You're being vague again.

What specifically "is not government sanctioned behavior"?

What laws and what behavior are you referring to with, "laws against the kind of behavior you cite"?

Do you mean the First Amendment's freedom of religion?

I never said America "reflects anecdotal stories".

You seem to be putting words in my mouth, probably due to your obvious reluctance to cite my actual words for your obtuse refutations.

I'm reporting facts about what is happening in the US, and provided historical and ideological comparisons for context.

I'm also citing ADL reports on radical right racism and violence.

These are not anecdotes, but collected data reflecting real events.

If you see any false information, then show us. If you cannot, then what is your point?

I mean besides your strange personal obsession with me personally.

Reason, reading retention, and communication skills elude you for some reason.

Or would you simply prefer to make it all about your emotional reactions to me, as usual?

You could try answering my questions and responding in good faith on specific points.

Why can't you?


Wesley Sandel said...

This IS government sanctioned behavior. The ranks of the police and military are riddled with fascists and racists. And the DNC is so invested in the economic status quo that they're afraid to rock the boat. Burn down the mission, if we're going to stay alive.

Shaw Kenawe said...

"Who's next on their list of targets? LGBTQ rights will be attacked. Even inter-racial marriage and the right to contraception are in their sights."

I see the far-right proto-fascist movement attacking LGBTQ rights, sending contraception back to pre-Griswold, and even challenge Lawrence v. Texas because the majority of SCOTUS are orthodox Catholics, and Catholicism views contraception/family planning as a grave sin and homosexuality as well, if one acts upon it. But inter-racial marriage? With Clarence sitting on the Court? I don't think so.

I think the SCOTUS will send the LGBTQ, contraception issues, and Lawrence v. Texas back to the states, as they did with abortion. And the proto-fascist governors will restrict those privacy issues as they have abortion. And life in those conservative states will be intolerable.

Dave Dubya said...

Shaw,
The cowardly authoritarian liars and haters of the radical Right will always attack the most vulnerable people.

Just as Nazis demonized and persecuted Jews, Republicans love to demonize and persecute single poor Black women and girls too young for parenthood. The LGBTQ rights are now in their sights.

And let's not forget their war on Black voters, elections and our democracy.

They are fascists down to their greedy, power-mad, hateful bigoted core.

Anonymous said...

"Trump and his bigots continue to call Democrats socialists or communists."

Dave how do your policy beliefs differ from these of socialists like Bernie Sanders?
This is you big time chance to explain why you are not a socialists or a communists.

If you can't you must be one.

Dave Dubya said...

Anonymous,

Thank you for offering me my big time chance to explain my policy beliefs.

As a new reader, I suggest you scan back over the years of my blogging to get an idea of my policy beliefs.

But considering your kind offer, I'll give you the basics.

Simply put, I'm not a member of any party. Policy wise, I'm more aligned with Bernie than with Biden, and denounce the corporate puppet behavior of Sinema and Manchin. They get more money from Republican donors than Democratic.

I vote for Democrats because they are not Republicans, who represent the interests of the rich and powerful over the public good.

America's greatest middle class growth and prosperity happened when the economic elites paid more of their share of taxes. I support Constitutional taxation and regulation of commerce (Capitalism).

I think public education and healthcare are essential to our general welfare under the Constitution. They promote our right to life, liberty and happiness.

I believe in equal justice under the law. I believe in fair laws that don’t suppress personal rights, opportunities, and freedoms.

I believe in responsible firearm regulations that support our general welfare under the Constitution. The “Militia Amendment” is a relic of the past and fails to protect the safety of the public. I own firearms, but support restrictions on military style weapons of war exclusively designed for mass death. I think guns should be as regulated as driving a vehicle, with waiting periods, background checks, training and licensing for new purchasers.

Republicans represent and do the bidding of gun manufacturers, indifferent to the inevitable slaughter in a population saturated with lethal weapons.

Only one party is suppressing voter rights, women’s rights, public healthcare, and public education. They will never get my support.

Republicans prefer to side with Big Pharma and Big Oil and Big Insurance over the needs of the American people.

I reject profit over people policies. I reject profit over the environment policies.

I also reject the communist ideologies as expressed by the Soviet Union, Red China, and North Korea. I hate fascists, dictatorships and cruel tyrants.

Call me a Democratic Socialist if you like. I lean towards the Scandinavian type of Democratic Socialism, where people always score among the happiest in the world.

My political beliefs are based on the best ideals of our Constitutional republic. I also understand the Constitution had flaws from the beginning. It accepted slavery, and didn’t allow women and Blacks to vote.

I’ve listed the five Constitutional impediments to democracy, justice, and stability.

1. Slavery
2. Lifetime Supreme Court Justices
3. 2nd Amendment
4. Electoral College
5. Anti-democratic Senate

Amendments have been, and are still, needed, but highly unlikely to continue. The days of a living Constitution, adapting to the changes of time, people, and circumstance are in the past.

I embrace the founders’ ideal of "consent of the governed" at the heart of the Declaration of Independence.

Therefore I support our citizens’ right to vote in fair and open elections as an essential foundation of democracy.

I believe We the People should be fairly and proportionally represented in a representative republic.

One man, one vote, with nobody’s vote counting more than anothers’.

How radical is that?

Dave Dubya said...

From former Republican Joe Walsh:

A former supporter: “Joe, why’d you leave the GOP?

Me: “Because I believe in freedom.”

Him: “Bullshit. Give me 1 example of Republicans being against freedom.”

Me: “2 hrs ago, 96% of House Republicans voted against people having the freedom to use contraceptives.”


Anonymous,

This is your big time chance to explain why you're a Republican and Trump supporter.