Authoritarian Tactics And Rules Of Discourse:

 “Complacency is our enemy. Anyone that does not embrace the @realDonaldTrump agenda of making America great again will be making a mistake.” - Ronna Romney McDaniel, chairwoman of the Republican National Committee

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"We're in a strange place. It's becoming a cultish thing, isn't it?" the Tennessee Republican told reporters. "It's not a good place for any party to have a cult-like situation as it relates to a President that happens to be purportedly of the same party."- Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker

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Jonestown and Waco have shown us cultists will defend or follow their leaders unto death. Their cult is their religion. There really are fanatical “Trump Christians” exulting, “Jesus sent Donald Trump to save America”.

Sorry. NO. That would be more a hooded “Republican Jesus of Wall Street", aka Mammon, they are thanking.

To protect the Cult leader, the alt-Right Party of Trump and FOX(R) seek to discredit the Justice Department and shut down a productive investigation into Russian interference in our election. Conspiring with an adversarial regime to take power over our government amounts to treason, the deepest betrayal of our country.

All in service to the cult of the Big Dotard. The Cult of Right-wing Authoritarian Personalities has reached its inevitable transformation into a toxic American expression of fascism.

And their propaganda continues to poison the minds of our fellow citizens to the great detriment and peril of our democratic republic.

I never heard of “Alinsky Rules” before I was accused of employing them. The same is true of almost everybody I know. (Alinsky’s book was actually disseminated by the Tea Party group FreedomWorks to use for scary red-baiting.)

The propaganda machinery of the radical Right has been hammering those who disagree with them with red-baiting accusations of “Alinsky tactics”.

The accusation would be leveled when they are cornered by the truth or by questions they cannot answer.

Maybe I’m a bad liberal for not following or even knowing what the “Alinsky rules” are.

But I have been observing the propaganda of the radical Right. 

I have compiled the Authoritarian Tactics and Rules of Discourse.

They will deny it, of course, and “deny” isn’t even one of their Dirty Dozen Rules of Discourse.

I alphabetized the rules, so let’s start with the first,

They deceive. Their Big MAGAt has lied more than any American politician in our collective memories.

They tirelessly deceive in order to unite the Right and consolidate power. The radical Right MUST LIE. They represent a powerful and wealthy anti-democracy minority bent on one-party rule. The Big MAGAt and his Party have recruited every white racist in the country to that cause.

The second of the Authoritarian Dirty Dozen Rules of Discourse is the foundation of their dogma. They have seized authority to unilaterally define terms. They smeared the word “liberal” for decades. They have historically undermined journalism with their “Liberal media” Big Lie. Now under the fascistic rule of the Party of Trump they have gone from what the Nazis called “Lügenpresse”,  to declaring our Constitutional free press is the “enemy of the people”.

The German Nazis used the term “Lügenpresse”, or lying press, in their campaign to destroy journalism. Now American fascists cry “liberal media” and “fake news” when the truth threatens their agenda.

And here we are:

"I do it to discredit and demean you all, (News media) so when you write negative stories about me no one will believe you." – Big MAGAt Cult Leader

"Truth is relative. They may have a different version of the truth than we do." - Rudy “Perjury Trap” Giuliani

This is exactly what totalitarians do.

The Rules:

Deceive

Define

Deflect

Distract

Demand

Demean

Demonize
Deride

Despise

Dictate

Discredit

Dismiss

Distort

The Tactics:

Blame.

False Accusation

Inflaming Hate

Inciting Anger

Instilling Fear

Intimidation

Questioning Patriotism

Employing Fallacies

Projection and other defense mechanisms.

Whataboutism

Obfuscation

False Narrative

Outright Lies

Their “Not A Full Deck” of Cards:

The Angry White “Victim Card”.

The “Commie Card” Accusation.
The "Alinsky Card' Accusation.

The Reverse Accusation “Race card”. 

This isn't intended to be a complete compilation, of course. These are just the common rules and tactics from the top of my head. 

Along with "Deny", I'm sure there are even more  "D" words to add to our already "Dirty Baker's Dozen"; let alone what can be added from the rest of the alphabet. We are open to such amendments as offered, of course.

Start with applying these rules and tactics to any utterance from an alt-Right/Trumpist/White Nationalist and you'll see the pattern. Other less employed tactics and rules will emerge. 

Happy hunting!

Glimpse Of Hope

For years I’ve been saying the only path to human prosperity and survival is through evolution of conscience and consciousness.

If our thinking and perceptions don’t evolve, they narrow and withdraw from reality. We’ve seen this demonstrated by the Party of Trump and their leader.

The Washington Post chronicles a unique exception to conservative stultification of the mind’s conscience and consciousness. Even a conservative Mormon like Orrin Hatch has shown some progress amidst all the bigotry and regression embraced by the Party of Trump.

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Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), a socially conservative 84-year-old Mormon, was long one of the most outspoken critics of gay people in Congress.

In 1977, as a freshman, Hatch said gay people should never be allowed to teach in public schools because they have a “psychological deficiency.”“I wouldn't want to see homosexuals teaching school anymore than I'd want to see members of the American Nazi Party teaching school,” he told a group of students.

In 1988, he referred to Democrats as “the party of homosexuals.”

In the 1990s, he championed the Defense of Marriage Act – which prohibited the federal government from recognizing same-sex unions and barred couples from receiving benefits.

When the Supreme Court struck down the law in 2013, Hatch ripped the justices for relying on their “personal opinion.”

But the times, they are a changin’.

-- Hatch, retiring after 42 years as the longest-serving Republican senator in American history, appears to have had a change of heart. In honor of Pride Month, Hatch took to the Senate floor on Wednesday to send “a message of love” to “my LGBT brothers and sisters.”

“These young men and women deserve to feel loved, cared for and accepted for who they are,” the senator said in a heartfelt speech. “I don’t think they chose to be who they are. They’re born the way they are. And we ought to understand that. They deserve to know that they belong and that our society is stronger because of them…

“No one should ever feel less because of their gender identity or sexual orientation,” he continued. “LGBT youth deserve our unwavering love and support. They deserve our validation and the assurance that not only is there a place for them in this society, but that it is far better off because of them. These young people need us—and we desperately need them. We need their light to illuminate the richness and diversity of God’s creations. We need the grace, beauty and brilliance they bring to the world.”

-- These comments are especially notable because President Trump and Vice President Pence have pointedly declined to acknowledge Pride Month. After Barack Obama issued proclamations all eight Junes he was in office, the White House chose not to do so last year or this year.

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-- Against this backdrop and his own history, Hatch pleaded with his fellow conservatives to not just tolerate, but love, those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender. “Mr. President, ensuring that our LGBT friends feel loved and accepted is not a political issue,” said Hatch, who as president pro tempore is third in line to the presidency. “We all have a stake in this. We all have family or loved ones who have felt marginalized in one way or another because of gender identity or sexual orientation—and we need to be there for them. … Regardless of where you stand on the cultural issues of the day—whether you are a religious conservative, a secular liberal or somewhere in between—we all have a special duty to each another. That duty is to treat one another with dignity and respect. It is not simply to tolerate, but to love.”

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Good for Hatch. It took Obama time to accept marriage equality too.

The question remains when the Party of Trump recognizes this about not only the LGBTQ community, but with liberals, Blacks, Muslims, and immigrants. As long as they are the Party of Trump this consciousness and conscience will be suppressed.

The road is long, and obstructed by the rubble of far Right propaganda, and bridges are far too few. It offers only a slight glimpse of hope when the only Republicans who show truthfulness and compassion are no longer running for office.

We are only at the beginning of the evolution of moral courage and compassion for the modern American Right. For them to continue on this path, they need to turn Left.

What To Expect From Singapore? More Winning

Putin's Puppet has been busy. 

Instead of working with our allies, he was shilling for his master, demanding Russia be allowed back in the G7. After all, it's the least Putin deserves for attacking our election.

Putin wins.

Steve Schmidt, Republican without a party, tweeted: “TRUMP disgraced the Presidency and the United States at the G-7 summit. From his slovenly appearance to his unpreparedness, ignorance and arrogance, he beclowned himself. The Republican majority is filled with cowards who are servile supplicants to the most unfit POTUS ever.”

As horrifying as the first two sentences are, the greater tragedy is in the third. Cowardice is bad enough. The shredding of the Constitution and betrayal of our country is now the ruling party's agenda.

The Party of Trump has solidified and will continue Putin's work.

And there are more winners.

As Abby Huntsman indicated by Freudian slip on FOX(R), "This is history we are living, regardless of what happens in that meeting between the two dictators. What we are seeing right now, this is history.”

Yes. This is history, already. Here's the deal.

Kim has already won his little game of "Spin the Dotard". 

As Trump embarrasses our nation more than anyone in history,  China is already reducing sanctions. 

Kim wins.

And Trump wants to help bail out Chinese telecom ZTE, facilitating their next round of espionage against us. 

China wins.

So far the Dotard has given Putin, China, and Kim victories. So what happens next? 

This will happen:

Trump will make demands. Kim will make demands. Trump will have a tantrum and stomp off. And it's back to the same crap.

And Kim will win again.

Is he tired of winning yet?

Which reminds me of a question only a “good conservative” can answer.

Why was it bad for the Black president to talk to Kim, but OK for the Angry White president? FOX(R) said so, so it must be true!

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Update:

“It’s my honor, and we’re going to have a terrific relationship.”

I should have known the two dictators would bond. The Dotard loves him some dictators as much as he resents our allies and hates a free press, minorities and Democrats.

So we have vague language, posturing for posterity, and empty promises. Kim can tell his people he got the US and South Korea to end their planned military exercise. Kim demolishes an old test site.

Kim wins.

The bottom line remains. it's back to the same crap.

It will be entertaining watching the Trump Cult gloat in expectation of a Nobel Prize. But wasn't it the North Korean dictator who requested the summit? Wasn't it South Korean president Moon who met with Kim first?

Kim's status had been elevated beyond expectations.

Kim wins again.

"Pardon Me"

Trump's first pardon was fellow racist birther Joe Arpaio.

Now it's Dinesh D’Souza. Hold your nose, the stench is about to engulf the room. No wonder Trump and the alt-Right love the guy.

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“Hitler was NOT anti-gay. He refused to purge gay Brownshirts from Nazi ranks saying he had no problem as long as they were good fighters.”

(What's this? No history classes required for our guy who knows Hitler was a liberal. Hitler had a gay Brownshirt leader killed in “Night of the Long Knives. Gays were force to wear pink triangles in concentration camps.

His compassionate con-servatism for Parkland school shooting survivors was exhibited when they supported of a failed attempt to ban assault rifles.) 

“Worst news since their parents told them to get summer jobs,”

Charlottesville rally “staged”: “The white supremacist leader of this group is an Obama guy and an Occupy Wall Street guy, so right away you know that this could be a sort of staged Nazism that we’re seeing for the benefit of serving a narrative.”

On Obama: “YOU CAN TAKE THE BOY OUT OF THE GHETTO...Watch this vulgar man show his stuff, while America cowers in embarrassment”

“I am thankful this week when I remember that America is big enough and great enough to survive Grown-Up Trayvon in the White House!”

D’Souza shared a meme of Obama holding a sign that calls himself a “gay Muslim” and suggested that former first lady Michelle Obama is a man.

“OVERRATED DEMOCRATS DEPT: So Rosa Parks wouldn't sit in the back of the bus--that's all she did, so what's the big fuss?”

(Only stupid democrats thought Rosa Parks was special, amirite?

Vox has the sordid racist history of the sordid racist bigot.)

D'Souza first came to prominence as a student at Dartmouth (he graduated in 1983), where he was one of the first editors of the Dartmouth Review, a still-extant conservative campus publication. During his time there, the Review:

Published an interview with a Ku Klux Klan leader accompanied by a "doctored photo of a black student being lynched on campus." This spurred then-Rep. Jack Kemp (R-NY) to resign from the publication's board.

Ran an anti-affirmative action article written entirely in ebonics and headlined, "Dis Sho Ain't No Jive, Bro."

Posted a list of members of the campus Gay Straight Alliance, some of whom were still closeted.

(For some reason, nobody loves to deny and downplay racism like racists love to deny and downplay racism. Unless they want to blame and accuse liberals of racism, obviously. 

D’Souza assures conservatives there’s no racism in slavery, and segregation was just the Southern White Conservative rulers’ way of protecting Blacks. And of course, the Civil Rights Act needs to go.)

The End of Racism (1995) was considerably more incendiary. Here are a few lines from the book:

"Was slavery a racist institution? No. Slavery was practiced for thousands of years in virtually all societies … Thus slavery is neither distinctively Western nor racist."

"In summary, the American slave was treated like property, which is to say, pretty well."

"Am I calling for a repeal of the Civil Rights Act of 1964? Actually, yes. The law should be changed so that its nondiscrimination provisions apply only to the government."

"Segregation … represented a compromise on the part of the Southern ruling elite seeking, in part, to protect blacks." [Emphasis D'Souza's.]

"If racism is not the main problem for blacks, what is? Liberal antiracism."

"Racism originated not in ignorance and fear but as part of an enlightened enterprise of intellectual discovery."

"The civil rights establishment has a vested interest in the persistence of the underclass."

"The main contemporary obstacle facing African Americans is neither white racism, as many liberals claim, nor black genetic deficiency, as Charles Murray and others imply. Rather it involves destructive and pathological cultural patterns of behavior: excessive reliance on government, conspiratorial paranoia about racism, a resistance to academic achievement as 'acting white,' a celebration of the criminal and outlaw as authentically black, and the normalization of illegitimacy and dependency."

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Presto! The end of racism! 

Just don’t call these vile bigots racists. They are the “real victims” of injustice.

The good news is it looks like we found Roseanne’s soulmate, folks.

Enemy of the People v. Journalism

The polluter-friendly fascists are not satisfied censoring climate data. They are not satisfied having polluters dictate environmental policy.

They are going full “Lügenpresse” on our First Amendment, having a thug physically evict an AP reporter from a public meeting on water contaminants.

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(AP)The Environmental Protection Agency is barring The Associated Press, CNN and the environmental-focused news organization E&E from a national summit on harmful water contaminants.

The EPA blocked the news organizations from attending Tuesday’s Washington meeting, convened by EPA chief Scott Pruitt.

EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox told the barred organizations they were not invited and there was no space for them, but gave no indication of why they specifically were barred.

Pruitt told about 200 people at the meeting that dealing with the contaminants is a “national priority.”

Guards barred an AP reporter from passing through a security checkpoint inside the building. When the reporter asked to speak to an EPA public-affairs person, the security guards grabbed the reporter by the shoulders and shoved her forcibly out of the EPA building.

FOX(R) v. Journalism

In a nutshell.

FOX(R) v. Journalism: Exhibit A.

Sean Hannity asked Ted Koppel, “You think I'm bad for America?”

After being rudely interrupted three times by "Sad" Hannity, Koppel responded, “Yep. You have attracted people who are determined that ideology is more important than facts.”

Ideology over facts. Look no further for your true "enemy of the people".

Better late than never, out from under the yoke of Putin’s Puppet, Rex Tillerson found his voice.

"A responsibility of every American citizen to each other is to preserve and protect our freedom by recognizing what truth is and is not, what a fact is and is not, and begin by holding ourselves accountable to truthfulness and demand our pursuit of America's future be fact-based -- not based on wishful thinking, not hoped-for outcomes made in shallow promises, but with a clear-eyed view of the facts as they are, and guided by the truth that will set us free to seek solutions to our most daunting challenges. When we as people, a free people, go wobbly on the truth, even on what may see the most trivial of matters, we go wobbly on America."

"Understanding" White Nationalism

We've seen it pop up over the news. The media is often duped by far Right whiners complaining about the rest of us "not understanding" Trump supporters. 

Oh, but we do. 

When Angry White Americans accuse me of hating America and opposing the Constitution, when they lie like White Nationalists, when they accuse and blame liberals, Blacks and Muslims, and NEVER bring up racist killings going on today, when they attack BLM as a "racist hate group", when they agree “very fine people” marched with Nazis, when they are angered by the Congressional Black Caucus meeting with Nation of Islam and attack the Black President for being a racist, even after he denounced NOI’s racism, when they focus all blame on the Black President while praising the racist Birther that followed him for banning Muslim refugees, Etc. ad nauseum....

Yeah, if that doesn’t fit White Nationalism, then it doesn’t exist.

I will not compromise with hate and lies. I will call haters and liars out for what they are. There can be no common ground with extremism. It will never disappear, and it must be defeated by every generation.

I suggest they just follow their White Nationalist mentor Steve Bannon’s advice to, "Let them call you racist. Let them call you xenophobes. Let them call you nativists. Wear it as a badge of honor. Because every day, we get stronger and they get weaker.”

Inspiring, is it not? Kinda makes me want to goose step, raise my right arm and “hail victory”.

I know I can be a smart ass at times. It is who I am. But seriously, I am saddened by the disinformation, anger and hate we see from the far Right. I am ashamed of such a large faction of Americans who have become fanatic enough to trust Trump over journalists, scientists, and educators. And I am horrified they not only trust Trump, but actively share his hate for our free press and educational institutions, and his demonizing and defaming of law enforcement professionals for investigating Russian interference in our election. These hypocrites are undermining the very rule of law to shield the “law and order president” from justice.

They also viciously attack anyone who calls out the lies and hate from the Party of Trump.

This is who they are folks.

And they HATE anyone who sees them the way they actually present themselves.

We’ll stop telling the truth about them when they stop lying about us.

But that won’t happen, for they will never see the truth in what I just said. They are unable to comprehend anything outside their bubble cult because they are indoctrinated to hate and loathe dissent from their ideology. Thus deflection, distraction, denial, dishonesty and distortion are their only tools.

There can be no common ground with deflection, distraction, denial, dishonesty and distortion. They whine that we “don’t understand” them. This is not true. We know what they are about. THEY don’t want to understand us. They choose to see us and our free press as the “enemy of the people”.

I stand ready to share the common ground of reality and basic human decency. The Party of Trump and their enablers obviously want none of that.

They want to rule. They want to reward the servants of mammon and feed the greed of the rich. They don’t care what the poor and working class will lose. They want to attack our democracy, dismantle our institutions, subvert our rule of law to their will, and crush dissent and our free press.

And I shall resist that ignorance, tyranny, anger, and hate until my dying breath.