Saturday, November 26, 2022

Charming Company


Maybe you remember in October Trump’s friend Kanye West announced: "I'm a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I'm going death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE.”

Well, guess who’s coming to dinner at Mar-a-Lago.

West brought along another fellow MAGA traveler and pal Nick Fuentes.

Maybe you remember him from such patriotic events like the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville in August 2017, and the deadly “Stop the Steal” rally on January 6, 2021.

We know Trump had to be prompted several times to denounce the “very fine people” gathered with David Duke in Charlottesville, when he proclaimed, “We’re here to fulfill the promise of Donald Trump. That’s why we voted for him”.

Trump’s kind of people. Just like his mob that terrorized Congress and sent a hundred cops to the hospital. He praised them with, “You’re very special. We love you”.

All charming company, no doubt, and deserving of a lavish dinner party at Mar-a-Lago. Not to mention the promise of a future presidential pardon.

Feeling the stirring neurons from his primitive amygdala, Fuentes crowed to his squealing cheering toadies: “This is going to be the most racist, sexist, anti-semitic, holocaust-denying, speech in all of Dallas this weekend!”

Fuentes is known for telling Jews to, "get out fuck out of America": "You serve the devil. You serve Satan. ... I piss on your Talmud."

Nice guy, amirite? 

West, who has legally changed his name to Ye, posted a video on Twitter claiming that Trump “is really impressed with Fuentes.”

And Trump approvingly wrote of West on Truth Social. “Anyway, we got along great, he expressed no anti-Semitism, & I appreciated all of the nice things he said about me on Tucker Carlson.”

The mutual admiration is so, um, Klanish.

Lest I be accused of mis-quoting the racist neo-Nazi Trump supporter, I’ve collected a few more of his white supremacist and openly racist rhetoric.

"When it comes to the Jews, every society where shit has gone down with these people, it always goes from zero to sixty."

“The Jews had better start being nice to people like us, because what comes out of this is going to get a lot uglier for them…”

The Anti-Defamation League has a list of things we should know about Nicholas J. Fuentes:

Nicholas J. Fuentes: Five Things to Know

July 08, 2021

1) Nicholas Fuentes is a white supremacist leader and organizer and podcaster who seeks to forge a white nationalist alternative to the mainstream GOP.

2) Nicholas Fuentes believes that he is working to defend against “leftist” cultural changes that are destroying the “true America:” a white, Christian nation.

3) Fuentes has used his platforms to make numerous antisemitic and racist comments. 

4) Fuentes promoted election fraud narratives and encouraged his adherents to participate in nationwide “Stop the Steal” protests.

5) Fuentes has been embraced and praised by a spectrum of far right-wing fringe conservatives, providing him a larger platform for elevating the America First movement. 

In 2017, Fuentes began hosting his livestream show America First with Nicholas J. Fuentes, which attracted a cult-like following. Fuentes refers to these supporters as “Groypers” or the “Groyper Army,” who see their bigoted views as necessary to preserve white, European-American identity and culture. They believe that the mainstream conservative movement is just as responsible as liberals and the left for destroying white America, and that Groypers are the true future of the conservative movement.

“Our civilization is being dismantled, our people are being genocided, and conservatives can’t think past what will play well with liberal media in the next election.”

 “If you are a White male zoomer, remember that the people in power hate you and your unborn children and they will try to genocide you in your lifetime.”

"I don’t see Jews as Europeans and I don’t see them as part of Western civilization, particularly because they are not Christians.”

“Any serious person thinking about globalization and demographic changes should actually care a lot about racial differences in intelligence. But this subject doesn’t “interest” you because it’s not convenient for your trojan horse brand of kosher nationalism.”

Fuentes and other members of America First were present at the Capitol on January 6, about which Fuentes said, “This is awesome...we have been beat up and betrayed and spit on and stepped on for decades. And to see the tables turned for once was a little bit refreshing.” Fuentes was seen that day giving a speech near the Capitol encouraging his followers to “keep moving towards the Capitol – it appears we are taking the Capitol back!”

“White people founded this country. This country wouldn’t exist without white people…people are done being bullied.”

The last quote is the key to fascism. Every racist, every Nazi from Hitler to our American neo-Nazis, every white supremacist, every Proud Boy, Oath Keeper, every Klansman, and every white nationalist of every stripe (and even color) have this in common. 

They are all victims. When their Dear Leader announced his bid for the presidency he succinctly made this point. “I am a victim!”

It’s the famous, patented, all-purpose, demonizing “Victim Card” they pull out for every occasion. There can be no fascist movement without a strong sense of manufactured victimization, to incite hate for the hated “others”, minorities, immigrants, the left, democracy, and even the legal system. Of course, none ever have as much political power as the Angry White Conservatives, but equality was never in their interest. Only their power and privilege.

I don’t know about most conservatives, but most Republicans have indicated they are quite OK with this. Not a peep of condemnation.

They are what they are.

“When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” ~Maya Angelou

Tuesday, November 8, 2022

Minority Rule


James McHenry, a Maryland delegate to the Constitutional Convention wrote: 

“A lady asked Dr. (Benjamin) Franklin, Well Doctor what have we got a republic or a monarchy. A republic, replied the Doctor, if you can keep it.”  

Ideally a republic is based on one of our Declaration of Independence’s most important phrases, “consent of the governed”.

That’s not exactly what was protected in the Constitution by the founders. Minority rule, and voter rights, were for the privileged white land owners.

And minority rule is the antithesis of a republic.

It's happened before and will happen again.

Republicans can win the gerrymandered House and anti-democratic Senate with fewer overall votes than Democrats. Along with the Electoral College, these tragic errors in judgment by the founders will impair, undermine and corrupt our representative republic.

Like slavery, the founders codified these inequalities in the Constitution. (Thanks to the slave states.)

White nationalist Republicans will refuse to concede if they lose. They will howl “voter fraud” and “rigged”, as they stir more resentment, anger and hate. (The real values of the radical Right.) 

After 2000 and 2016, Republicans have become accustomed to having presidential power with a minority of votes. 

Americans STILL endure taxation and minority rule without fair representation. 

Washington DC has more people than Vermont and Wyoming combined, yet have no voice in our so-called republic. 

White nationalist Christians are not the majority, but they are louder and are more empowered than the majority.

And that's what they want. Minority rule. And they will violently revolt against the majority AGAIN, if they lose.

This is how a republic dies.


Wednesday, November 2, 2022

Trumpism On The Ballot

 

For the week up to the midterm elections, I’ll let the professionals have this space to remind us what Trumpism really is.

~~~

Duty to Warn is “an association of mental health professionals warning NOW about TrumpISM.

Many psychologists increasingly use Addiction Theory to explain the cult of Trump. The premise: Trump supporters engage compulsively, pursue rewarding stimuli, ignore adverse consequence. Like an addict. It explains why they adopt arguments that work against their own interests. One example of Trump supporters adopting an argument or taking action against their interests was not getting vaccinated. Another is sending him $. It's defiant behavior. It's compulsive. MAGA are very much addicted. The reward is owning the libs. The drug is dopamine.

Duty To Warn 

1- When we marvel or roll our eyes at Trump supporters, we're often asking the wrong question. Instead of asking: "How can they believe this nonsense?" Better we ask: "What do they get out of being part of Trumpism that makes them so willing to suppress reasoned thought?"

2- There are a lot of answers to the question of what they get out of Trumpism. First and foremost is "the need to belong." They can dislike and defy the same people, share common grievances, do stuff TOGETHER. It's a brotherhood of purpose. It's easier to "believe" than think!

3 - We're often asked if Trumpism is a cult. The short answer: YES, it is. A cult is defined by an unusual, unwavering interest or belief in a particular personality or goal, where devotion transcends reasoned thought. And when you do that, you transcend science, math, and facts

4 - But here's an important point: Trumpism changed. It's no longer a "Cult of Personality," about a man. It's about tribal contrarianism. The goal: TO WIN (and "own the libs"). When Trump himself got booed for advocating vaccines, that was a first sign of cult outgrowing man.

5 - Trumpism has become a full-on apparatus. Enablers. Amplifiers. Fox News. Talk radio. Right wing podcasts. Performative elected officials. Foreign actors, like Putin. It's spread like a plague to many millions of our most susceptible. The fearmongering alone is relentless.

6 - Culture wars. Nationalism. Demonization. Xenophobia. Perversion of words. (Does any Trump cultist understand the actual meaning of the word "evidence"?). Total politicization of EVERY issue. Lies that are shameless. In an echo chamber; with mass repetition. This - is TRUMPISM

7 - The future of OUR democracy will unfold before and during our midterm elections. We MUST not only be more plentiful at the polls, but we MUST be smarter in understanding what Trumpism is, and how to defeat it. We've got 75 (Now 6) days to jell into a highly focused, functional team.