When "OK" Is Not OK

Three Questions:

What would be the reaction from Republicans and white conservatives if Obama had expressed well wishes for a criminal sex trafficker?

What has been their reaction to the impeached leader of their party expressing well wishes for a criminal sex trafficker?

Would you please explain to me again how there’s no systemic racism in this country?

Makes one wonder, a bit, doesn’t it?

Oops. That was four questions.

While the far Right howls about Back Lives Matter being “racist commie thugs who don’t even care about Black lives”, why do they deliberately ignore the real racists?

Who are real racists?

Our resident authority on conservative beliefs STILL hasn’t explained what “real racism” is.  Too bad, since only white conservatives are allowed to unilaterally define terms.

Let me suggest something. It’ not just the Klan, folks. Rudy Giuliani is another racist who projects his racism unto Black Lives Matter.

Would a birther who demanded death for exonerated Black kids and re-tweeted someone saying “white power” be considered racist?

Anybody?

How about the friend of that person who was convicted of lying to investigators and witness tampering? He’s a special friend, too. Special enough to have his 40 month sentence commuted.

Yes, the special friend is Roger Stone. And the racist birther is you-know-who. What are the chances Stone might be a real racist too?

Most of you should know by now the hand sign that used to mean “OK”  has been adopted by white nationalists and other “real racists” to signify White Power.

Stone proudly flashed the racist white power sign with a group of fellow racists who call themselves “Proud Boys”.

Yes, we know every racist and every Nazi has been proud of their racism. They all hate the same kind of people and embrace far Right authoritarianism.

We need no further proof the Trump Cartel and Trump Cult are racists.

They are essentially bragging about their racism.

Did you see the BLM demonstration where white counter-protesters re-enacted the cop’s knee to the neck of George Floyd?

They are absolute ghouls, but good conservative Christians, I’m sure.

From the  Washington Post:

White men mocked George Floyd’s death

As a peaceful Black Lives Matter march made its way through Franklin Township, N.J., the group protesting against police brutality and systemic racism walked past a white man kneeling on the neck of another white man in a mocking reenactment of George Floyd’s death.

The men were part of a group of white counterprotesters with flags supporting President Trump and “Blue Lives Matter” that barked, “Black lives matter to no one,” and “Police lives matter.”

No “real racism” to be found there, amirte?

After all, these respectable white guys were only concerned for the poor cop, victimized by his killing of George Floyd.

At least that’s not what the local mayor and police chief think.

Franklin Township Mayor John Bruno and Police Chief Police Chief Brian Zimmer released a joint statement denouncing the actions of “certain individuals”, saying “This is not who we are as a Community”.

It’s a good thing two of the men faced consequences. One was fired by Fed Ex, and the other suspended from his corrections job.

And what kind of Black Lives Matter Marxist would suggest there is systemic racism in law enforcement, anyway?

BLM: As Seen By The Conservative Amygdala

Something happened yesterday that illustrates the attitude of white conservative men. Something frightens and angers them to the core. Their fear and anger clouds their vision of anyone not sharing their system of beliefs.

A news item from yesterday illustrates the issue at play in our discussion of Black Lives Matter. 

Before we get to the news report, let's review our ongoing discussion of Black Lives Matter, a group founded by Black women.

Conservative white men seem particularly threatened by progressive women, especially those of color. I can’t imagine why, apart from it having something to do with the over-reactive amygdala of the authoritarian personality. MRI Brain scans have shown an enlarged amygdala in self-described conservatives. The primitive “fight-or-flight” mechanism is more readily triggered in them when confronted by something new, unfamiliar and different.

This usually results in conservative white men believing only the worst in others. “BLM are looters and racist commies bent on destroying America, and Black lives mean nothing to them”, for example. Do I exaggerate?

Our friend Darrell asserts:

“But BLM, the organization, only wants to foster hate and division...Black Lives Matter (the organization) is not about black lives.  They could not care less about the dozens of black people killed every single week...The bottom line is that this not about black lives mattering.  It is about furthering a Marxist, godless agenda... Thuggish people...espouse violence and have very little to do with denouncing actual racism.”

See what I mean about their need to show BLM in the worst possible light? We expect this reaction from conservative white racists, not from an informed and objective viewpoint.

And we’re still waiting for what constitutes “actual racism” or “real racism”. All we know is only white conservative men have authority to define the terms.

The fact is there is NOTHING about a “Marxist, godless agenda” among the beliefs shared at the BLM website. Darrell was misinformed and misreported this falsehood.

People involved with BLM have a range of political opinions. It is not a commie cult, nor an armed terrorist militia of roving Black gangsters. In case he hasn’t noticed, BLM has been protesting racism and police brutality, not gathering a rabble of armed Stalinist insurrectionists. But this is what frightened white conservatives CHOOSE to see.

We understand conservative men have a deep suspicion and mistrust of the LGBTQ community as well. They're different, and should know their place and not demand to be treated as equals. This reaction to the unfamiliar is typical of the conservative mindset. 

Nowhere does BLM show intent to “destroy” capitalism and “disrupt” the nuclear family. 

(It was the “Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement”.)

“We disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement by supporting each other as extended families and “villages” that collectively care for one another, especially our children, to the degree that mothers, parents, and children are comfortable.”

But their amygdala’s reaction to advocacy for single mothers and LGBTQ people is the same as when confronted by most other unfamiliar ideas, different people, and traditions other than white American conservatism. They feel threatened. Remember when gay marriage was going to destroy the American family?

And what on God’s green Earth scares them more than progressive women of color? To the white conservative world view, the lives and experiences of these women are as unfamiliar and different to them as nomads in yurts. 

Their very existence is seen as mortal threat to these powerful white men. We understand equality has always been viewed as a threat to the power of an established and privileged class. This is exactly what is driving the White Right’s war on voter rights, voter registration, and poll access for minority communities.

I’m sure Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.) is a good conservative Republican Catholic. He probably shares the same values, and views the world through the same lens, as our conservative Catholic friend Darrell.

Here is what happened yesterday:

The Hill Reports:

Ocasio-Cortez accosted by GOP lawmaker over remarks

Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.) was coming down the steps on the east side of the Capitol on Monday, having just voted, when he approached Ocasio-Cortez, who was ascending into the building to cast a vote of her own.

In a brief but heated exchange, which was overheard by a reporter, Yoho told Ocasio-Cortez she was "disgusting" for recently suggesting that poverty and unemployment are driving a spike in crime in New York City during the coronavirus pandemic.

"You are out of your freaking mind," Yoho told her.

Ocasio-Cortez shot back, telling Yoho he was being "rude."

The two then parted ways. Ocasio-Cortez headed into the building, while Yoho, joined by Rep. Roger Williams (R-Texas), began descending toward the House office buildings. A few steps down, Yoho offered a parting thought to no one in particular.

"Fucking bitch," he said.

“Rude” is a generous term for that display of white conservative anger and hate.

She tweeted her reaction:

“I never spoke to Rep. Yoho before he decided to accost me on the steps of the nation’s Capitol yesterday. Believe it or not, I usually get along fine w/ my GOP colleagues. We know how to check our legislative sparring at the committee door. But hey, “b*tches” get stuff done.”

AOC shows class and empathy that few conservative white men are able to demonstrate. 

This must enrage and scare the hell out of them even more.

~~~~~~~~~
Update: July 22, 2020

After denying what he said to AOC, the hateful Republican "apologized" while never mentioning her name. Instead he said, “I cannot apologize for my passion..or for loving my God, my family and my country.”

These racist Republican bastards are no different than Nazis. They hate the very same people Hitler hated. 

Do Black Lives Matter?

Do Black Lives Matter? Obviously, one would think. Apparently others would say it depends on whether you are with Black Lives Matter or not. Confused? So am I. 

Before we examine this question, let’s first welcome an old friend back to blogging. T. Paine has returned and revamped savingcommonsense.blogspot.org into Unabashedly American.

He is now posting under the name Darrell Michaels. 

He expressed a few notions about Black Lives Matter, and their protests against racism and police killings of unarmed Black people.

First thing first. Mr. Paine, aka Darrell, is not a racist. Like many of us, he is against “real racism”. (We’ll have to let him define that term for us.)

We have on occasion shared our writings in the past, with added commentary. I’d like to welcome him back and show my appreciation by doing so again.

Once again our friend has given us interesting points to consider and discuss.

Here is his recent post on Black Lives Matter:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Black lives matter. Absolutely they do! The amount of melanin in one’s skin pigmentation does not add nor diminish to the inherent dignity and worth of any human life.  Of course, black lives matter.  The phrase itself is uncontroversial and inarguable to my mind. Every person is a child of God and created in His image.  As such, racism is a sin and a pernicious evil that is not to be tolerated by decent people of any color.

Now, the organization of Black Lives Matter is another thing altogether.  They are founded by self-professed “trained Marxists” who seem bent on destroying capitalism, religion, social mores, the nuclear family, and the very foundation of America.   One prominent Black Lives Matter leader told a news reporter just two weeks ago that the group is willing to embrace violence.  And they have proven this repeatedly in the ensuing weeks.  

Black Lives Matter (the organization) is not about black lives.  They could not care less about the dozens of black people killed every single week in Chicago, Baltimore, Seattle, Minneapolis, New York, Los Angles, and elsewhere in our country at the hands of others that aren’t police officers.  (Every city of which is governed by Democrats, but that is an entirely different matter… or not.)  They certainly don’t do ANYTHING to help improve the lives of Americans of color.  Indeed, if they wanted to help black Americans, they would realize that capitalism, faith, and the rule of law has brought unparalleled prosperity and peace to people of color in this country, especially in the past three years.  But BLM, the organization, only wants to foster hate and division when a black person is killed by a police officer.  It is a pretext for “burning the whole thing down” as one member said.

If a police officer is wrong in using deadly force on ANYONE, I am right there with you in protest and demanding justice --- just like every other decent American is, regardless of color.  What the rioting, burning, looting, shooting, and destruction of property largely by snot-nosed suburban white kids marching under the BLM banner does is to harm this cause for justice.  They are not about justice.  They want an excuse to engage in chaos, anarchy, and mayhem.  That turns the vast silent majority of Americans against them specifically and dilutes a just message by righteous protesters that then becomes lost in the ashes of rioting.

Further, the idiot rioters further prove their ignorance of history, or perhaps just display the fact that they don’t give a damn about it, as they tear down or vandalize statues of Fredrick Douglas, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Columbus, and even a damned statue of an elk in Portland last week.  A freaking elk!  I was not aware that the elk were the most racist creatures in the forest.  The bottom line is that this not about black lives mattering.  It is about furthering a Marxist, godless agenda.

Teaching our kids that racism is a pernicious evil is the responsibility of all good parents.  Teaching them or allowing them to be taught that Marxist antifa and BLM groups which espouse violence and have very little to do with denouncing actual racism is a gross abrogation of parental duties.

I know this nonsense is commonplace as taught in our schools and colleges by teachers and professors with a militant leftist agenda these days.  America is always bad to these people and they indoctrinate and infect our students with this verifiably false load of crap.  Truth is the very first casualty in this socialist revolution that is bound to fail.

Sadly, there is real racism in America, but it is far more the exception than the rule.  It is NOT systemic, even in nearly all of the police forces throughout our nation.  We should be concentrating on eradicating real racism through an education of actual facts of history and current events instead of made-up and debunked agenda-driven programs like the 1619 project and BLM rhetoric.  How does a nation elect a black president and people of color to all offices throughout this country if it is overwhelmingly racist?  

What happened to George Floyd was horrific.  That said, the officers involved were fired, jailed, and will face punishment for their parts in his murder.  Every single decent person that saw that video agrees with that, regardless of color.  Mr. Floyd did not deserve to die and I fully support the righteous anger of the PEACEFUL protesters to that purpose.  They are preaching to the choir though, as I said, every decent person already agrees with them. 

We achieve nothing when Americans are busy hating America. Further violating the rule of law will only usher in a new Jacobian version of the “French revolution” here on American soil, except the ending for the radicals will be much different here.  Despite what the progressives teach in schools these days, there is a distinct difference between the American Revolution and the French Revolution.  Our revolution led to a representative republic based on the ideal that all men are created equal.  The French revolution, which the mob today is emulating, led to the Reign of Terror.  

It is heart-wrenchingly sad when so many ignorant, arrogant, and thuggish people want to burn down the nation simply so they can “govern” over the ruins.  The overwhelmingly vast majority of Americans are better than that, and while once again we are a sleeping giant, the righteous anger of Americans of all colors will eventually cause us to stand up and protect this divided nation from a small vocal and dangerous minority of anti-American would-be insurrectionists from within.  The first step is for good people to stand up together and say enough.  History has proven in past such incidents that We The People will indeed do so. 

~~~~~~~~ 

(I'm not sure I could reassure our friend that protesting against racism and police brutality will not result in a reign of terror and guillotines for aristocrats. This is a deep-rooted fear that has long haunted the rich and powerful, as well as their minions. What I could do was offer some questions, facts and perspective.)

My reply:

Darrell,

Thank you for providing some food for thought.

I’m glad you and I are opposed to racism. We share that value.

What we don’t share is the desire to blame BLM and Black people for racism and to minimize and deny the existence of systemic racism. Ask African American drivers if they feel unsafe when stopped for “driving while Black”. Ask African American voters if they have equal access to voter registration and polls. Ask African Americans if they are under more suspicion and mistrust than white people.

The Republican Party is actively targeting them to suppress their right to vote. This reality has been established in the courts.

I noticed you hold Martin Luther King Jr. in high regard. Are you aware that conservatives of the day accused him of being a communist?  Have you noticed many progressive figures in history were condemned by conservatives, only later to be recognized for their contributions?

It was conservative people who opposed the Revolution. It was conservative people who opposed emancipation. It was conservative people who opposed women’s right to vote.

It was conservative people who opposed the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. Today’s conservative people oppose Constitutional taxes, regulation of commerce, and providing for the general welfare. Today’s conservative people oppose public education and public healthcare.

I wonder if you might care to extrapolate from this some time. You may see your “heritage” more clearly.

It seems very difficult for you to separate BLM protesters from looters and vandals. It is tempting to paint them all with the same stroke, isn’t it?

Why not cite evidence of “trained Marxists who seem bent on destroying capitalism, religion, social mores, the nuclear family, and the very foundation of America”?

They are protesting racism and police brutality. If that is “Marxist”, why do you agree with them on this? Can you cite evidence where BLM has done something to “destroy” capitalism, religion, social mores, the nuclear family, and the very foundation of America”?

I suspect this is your “feeling”, rather than evidence based conclusion.

“Black Lives Matter (the organization) is not about black lives.  They could not care less about the dozens of black people killed every single week in Chicago, Baltimore, Seattle, Minneapolis, New York, Los Angles, and elsewhere in our country at the hands of others that aren’t police officers.  (Every city of which is governed by Democrats, but that is an entirely different matter… or not.) “

“Not about Black lives”. Wow. No evidence was offered to support this wild accusation. “They could not care less about the dozens of black people killed...” Wow, again. Same lack of evidence. These are powerful, cruel, and very demonizing accusations. Any racist would love to regurgitate these accusations. I think you are horribly wrong.

“Every city of which is governed by Democrats...” is yet another racist trope, endlessly repeated everywhere from Breitbart and Limbaugh to Storm Front. Absent from this criticism are the cities governed by Republicans. San Diego, Jacksonville, Fort Worth, El Paso, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Omaha, and Miami all have similar urban issues. The fact you must selectively ignore this fact reveals a strong and misinformed bias on your part.

But you wish to blame only Democrats. Your bias is crystal clear here.

“One prominent Black Lives Matter leader told a news reporter just two weeks ago that the group is willing to embrace violence.  And they have proven this repeatedly in the ensuing weeks”.

No context or evidence was given. Blaming a mostly peaceful group for the actions of a few vandals is quite authoritarian. What makes you conclude he spoke for the entire group? Surely you must have troves of evidence to show “the group” espoused willingness to embrace violence. As I saw it, there were white punks throwing stuff at cops and vandalizing property. White supremacists were found to be acting as agent provocateurs They’re not BLM, are they? Why not blame them?

I also saw dozens of cases of police brutality. Elderly citizens were knocked to the pavement, soaking it in their blood. Peaceful protesters were gassed and assaulted by Barr’s thugs BEFORE curfew to allow Trump’s “Bible photo op”’. The list grows. Why not blame them?

Why do you need to ignore all that police violence? “Bad apples” spoil the entire barrel, you know.

“It is a pretext for “burning the whole thing down” as one member said.”

If this was about Greater New York Black Lives Matter president Hawk Newsome's interview on FOX(R), it is deceptively presented. 

Newsome told the host, "I said, if this country doesn't give us what we want, then we will burn down this system and replace it. All right? And I could be speaking ... figuratively. I could be speaking literally. It's a matter of interpretation.”

Racists and fearful conservatives take it literally. So do you. Fact: It CANNOT be literally true.

What does BLM want? Equal justice under law and an end to racism. How “un-American” is that? Is that “Marxism”, and if so, why do you also support it?

Did you know Newsome also said, “I love the Lord, and my Lord and savior” in response to an MLK quote? There goes your unfounded accusation about their “war on religion”.

Is conservatism indeed all about beliefs over facts? Meanwhile the death toll is over 140,000 under our “American Carnage President” who minimized and denied the lethal virus.

“...unparalleled prosperity and peace to people of color in this country, especially in the past three years.  But BLM, the organization, only wants to foster hate and division when a black person is killed by a police officer.”

How comforting it must be to ignore Trump’s racist birtherism, his demand for executing the exonerated Central Park kids, and his denying Black renters. Here we have hate and division stoked by a president and leader of the Republican Party.  

It was hate and division that killed those unarmed Black people, not the reaction to it. It is fear of cops when “driving while Black” that reflects hate and division, not the reaction to it. You have it backwards.

I love your MAGA talking point about “especially in the past three years”. If you’re referring to Black unemployment, Obama presided over the largest reduction of it.

Facts:

1. Aug. 2011 the Bush Recession produced Black unemployment rate 16.7%

2. January 2017, the Black unemployment rate was at 7.8 percent.

3. Under Obama the Black unemployment rate dropped of 8.9%

But you praise Trump for a 3.4% drop. The Black guy did all the heavy lifting and got no credit from the racist Birther and his fawning cult. Why do you believe that man?

“Marxist antifa and BLM groups which espouse violence and have very little to do with denouncing actual racism is a gross abrogation of parental duties.”

There you go again with the horrible accusations based on your feelings over facts. Here’s some perspective for you.

Authoritarian, racist, and unqualified cops have killed numerous unarmed people. Antifa and BLM have killed NOBODY. Meanwhile the body count rises from White nationalists and racists. Only ignorance or bigotry can account for disregarding the facts of the matter. But you are obsessed with attacking those who protest the atrocities and racism.

What kind of parent are you?

“There’s very little “real racism”, and racism is all the fault of BLM, Blacks and Obama, not conservative whites and the police”, seems to be your message. I wouldn’t be surprised if your offspring got that impression.

“Sadly, there is real racism in America, but it is far more the exception than the rule.  It is NOT systemic, even in nearly all of the police forces throughout our nation.  We should be concentrating on eradicating real racism through an education of actual facts of history and current events instead of made-up and debunked agenda-driven programs like the 1619 project and BLM rhetoric.  How does a nation elect a black president and people of color to all offices throughout this country if it is overwhelmingly racist?”

If that is a valid point, then so is this: “The election of racist birther Trump proves the country is overwhelmingly racist.”

Nonsense. The election of a Black president only indicated MOST voters were not racists. That’s it. This is a lame deflection employed to minimize racism. See how shallow this reasoning can be?

I understand it is far easier to simply regurgitate Breitbart, Prager and other extremely biased white conservative Trump supporters.

If you want “facts and history” as well as an intelligent discussion of the 1619 Project, I suggest reading this article by Leslie M. Harris, a professor of history at Northwestern University, and historian of African American life and slavery:

I Helped Fact-Check the 1619 Project. The Times Ignored Me.

"The paper’s series on slavery made avoidable mistakes. But the attacks from its critics are much more dangerous."

But then, what’s the point? In your view, educators and historians are all commies unless they are conservative and blame BLM for violence and racism.

“I fully support the righteous anger of the PEACEFUL protesters”

...Unless they’re BLM. THAT is your message.

For some reason you need to smear all the kind and peaceful people of the movement. How is that any different from someone saying, “All Trump voters and supporters are racists.”

What you are doing is fortifying that argument, whether you see it or not.

“We achieve nothing when Americans are busy hating America.”

I couldn’t agree more.

Isn’t that what Trump rallies are all about? Remember “Democrats hate America”, all the Confederate flags, “Lock her up!”, and “I’d rather be Russian than a Democrat” images?

“Our revolution led to a representative republic based on the ideal that all men are created equal”. 

An ideal is not a reality. Women and blacks couldn’t vote and slave owners imposed the electoral college that still deprives us of "one man one vote" equality. Women and blacks are still under-represented. No group has more representation in the Senate than small population states with mostly white and rural people.

All men may have been created equal, but conservatism has assured they are not equal in life, whether at the polls or by representation. You know this is true.

You conclude by defining BLM as a “dangerous minority of anti-American would-be insurrectionists from within”. Right. Because they protest racism and police brutality. Never mind thugs in blue knock elderly citizens to the pavement, assault peaceful demonstrators, and mace children, etc.

Would it hurt the Right to understand there would be NO BLM or antifa if not for racism, minority voter suppression, and police brutality? No. It’s far easier to minimize racism, blame it on Black people, and ignore injustice and police brutality. As (commenter) Vincent’s wife stated, “White people don’t understand”.

It is always interesting that only conservative white people deny systemic racism, while they claim the authority to define and minimize “real racism”. Instead they blame Obama and BLM for racism. This is what all white racists do. From Trump down to his rebel flag waving militia nuts, Proud Boys, 3%’ers, and other racist hate groups.

I don’t believe you are one of them, but I would be very concerned for one’s true values or scope of understanding when they agree with these racists.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Just a concluding note. My Twitter theme of late has been featuring the following statements:

Racism is not racism to racists.

A cult is not a cult to a cult.

I'm not sure if these have anything to do with this post or not...

Comments And Discussion

As often happens, my response to a couple comments under the previous post expanded into a post in itself. It's only proper to question claims as serious as "failed state" and "police state". Further discussion was indeed warranted, and is still welcomed. 

Let’s present the content here instead of in a long thread.

~~~~

Tyrell (TP):

From failed state to police state, huh? I don't think so, my friend.

While leftists have done what they could to either ignore or undermine our constitution (yes, some militant right-wingers are also guilty), America is still not a failed state. Even for Americans of color, there is more prosperity, opportunities, and freedom in America than nearly anywhere else in the world.

Further, if the Democrats were to recapture the White House and both chambers of congress, this would not become a police state either, since the Democrats are seemingly bound and determined to eliminate the police in most major metropolitan areas. That, of course, is another knee-jerk reaction, the ramifications of which has not evidently occurred to these brilliant leaders of ours.

==

TB3:

Oh, I'm waiting with bated breath on a further elaboration on how "leftists" ignore or undermine the Constitution AS WELL as reconciling the ongoing demonstrations with the phrase "Even for Americans of color, there is more prosperity, opportunities, and freedom in America', TP.

==

I thank the gentlemen for their remarks. 

It’s always revealing that our conservative friends are so reluctant to cite any of my points or opinions offered, and provide facts or information that contradicts them.

I suppose they think just stating their beliefs accomplishes that.

I, too, would love to see further elaboration, and of course evidence, to support TP’s assertions. Historically the pattern would indicate none will be forthcoming.

I don’t know how any “leftists” ignore or undermine the Constitution, since they wield very little power to do so. Maybe this is a red herring to deflect from the blatant abuses of our Constitution by the Republican Party and Donald Trump?

Remember when Moscow Mitch refused to follow the Constitution and hold a vote for a Supreme Court Justice nominated by the Black President? Remember how we used to have Constitutional checks and balances, and administrations would comply with oversight and obey lawful Congressional subpoenas? Remember how Constitutional impeachment trials would allow for actual evidence and testimony?

Rightists love to deflect form these horrible abuses of our Constitution.

The Republican Party has become a gutless cult, serving their criminal and corrupt racist leader. Rep. Justin Amash alone had the moral decency to leave the Republican Party. Mitt Romney was the only Republican In DC with a conscience to vote Trump guilty of his criminal attempts to bribe and blackmail a foreign leader to help win his upcoming election. (Article 2, Sec. 4) That doesn’t bother them any more than Trump’s criminal payoff to a porn star.

It seems "Constitutional conservative" has become an oxymoron.

Remember the First Amendment provisions for a free press? Totally demonized by the Tangerine Tyrant for not kissing his ring. Remember the First Amendment “right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances”?

We have numerous videos of cops gassing and clubbing peaceful protesters, for protesting police violence. Like a police state.

We have a president who said, “I will fight to protect you. I am your President of law and order, and an ally of all peaceful protesters." Minutes earlier it was as if he ordered: "OK, Barr. Smash and gas those peaceful protesters so I can have my Bible photo-op." This is exactly the behavior of a dictator's failed state, verging on a police state.

Even high ranking former Trump officials and other military leaders have called out his lawlessness. Retired Air Force Generals Mark Volcheff and Richard Myers, Admirals Mullen and McRaven, Army and Marine Generals Powell, Kelly and Mattis were just a few of those senior military men outraged by this flagrant and criminal violation of our Constitution.

But, I am open to hearing evidence on how “leftists” are the guilty ones.

I would concede the terms “failed state” and “police state” do not generally apply to wealthy white Americans. They are doing swell. After all, they comprise almost all the economic elites served by a bought and paid for Congress and White House sympathetic to the rich over everyone else.

We are a failed state when it comes to our founders’ ideal of consent of the governed as stated in the Declaration of Independence. We are certainly a failed state if the standard is equal justice under law. Only privileged and rural whites still believe this myth. Voter rights and registration depend on Republican leniency and what color your neighbors are. Republicans, in their open war on democracy, shut down the League of Women Voters from helping with registration. Qualified voters have been purged from rolls. Poll access is another unequal proposition.

Note that I am not including voter ID to counter wildly inflated claims and blatant lies of voter impersonation. Major election fraud has recently been the domain of Republicans. Trump’s taxpayer funded witch hunt for “millions of illegals voting” came up empty.

The Electoral College is a vestige of slave state demands. It is antithetical to representative democracy. The same is truth for the imbalance of representation and power in the Senate. These are direct and intentional impediments to the consent of the governed. The fact is our country was founded by wealthy white men, many being slave owners. Women and African Americans waited over a hundred years for the right to vote. Now we have an authoritarian political party working to reduce the number of voters and their access to their right to vote.

Republicans would prefer Americans standing in line, risking death and disease in a pandemic, rather than allow mail-in ballots.

So yes, the state has failed, and is actively failing, its citizens regarding voter rights and fair elections. The state has failed, and is actively failing, policing the police and providing equal justice under law.

Racial profiling and a long history of police brutality against minorities indicates another characteristic of a failed state. “Qualified immunity” is a concept that protects abusers in law enforcement and is antithetical to justice. Unaccountable police violence is a characteristic of a police state. Tyrell might even agree with this point.

And I agree that Americans of color have “more prosperity, opportunities, and freedom in America than nearly anywhere else in the world.”

The qualifier I would add is “generally” people of color having more prosperity, opportunities, and freedom than “nearly anywhere else”. The last qualifier is important. People of color have opportunities, better health care and better education in other countries.

We certainly have nothing approaching equal opportunity in this country.

Also “driving while black” is one of the freedoms that still eludes many, if not most, African Americans. Anyone who dismisses their real fear of racist cops is uninformed or willfully ignorant.

Trump and Sessions gutted federal measures for police accountability.They drastically limited abilities of federal officials to use court-enforced deals to require reforms at police departments.

I would also love to see evidence that “Democrats are seemingly bound and determined to eliminate the police in most major metropolitan areas.”

Reform is not removal, and the Right stands firmly opposed to reform.

It’s interesting that the Right sees a protester’s “defund the police” sign and assumes it is the Democratic Party platform to eliminate police. Nowhere have I seen a sign demanding “Eliminate the police”. Could that be the real “knee jerk reaction” projected upon Democrats?

This isn’t unusual, since the Right sees things that are not there. They see commies under progressive beds and the Devil between their sheets.

From Failed State To Police State

I'd like to share some random thoughts, impressions, and tweets regarding the ongoing Great American Tragedy. This tragic arc of our history was birthed by slavery, and prolonged by the continued racism, and indifference to racism, by white American conservatives. It has been continued in systemic racism throughout law enforcement.  

Equal justice under law has been an ideal, but still exists only as myth in America.

Since American con-servatism now has Trump for its leader, inequality and racism have only been fueled. Exacerbation will continue until he is removed from office.

We can count on a despot like the Big MAGAt to deny the result of an election he loses. If he can't win, or steal, the election, it WILL get ugly . He will likely incite his armed brown shirts to violence. Win or lose, he will go full Nazi. Count on it.

RepublicaNazis want voters to stay home or expose themselves to the coronavirus. They hate voter rights and fair elections. They are enemies of democracy and a threat to our lives. Wisconsin showed standing in line to vote spreads the virus. Republican judges refuse to allow the election to be postponed. The Trump Cult is pure evil.

I was for Bernie, but this is an emergency. Trump is a direct threat to our health. He threatens to withhold Michigan’s federal funding over vote-by-mail. He threatens the Post Office to stop mail-in votes. We choose to stop this fascist or allow four more years of destruction.

Many Nazis evaded justice. The Bush/Cheney cartel evaded justice for war crimes and torture. Trump will go free in an America gone rogue. This is a failed state. American democracy, justice and rule of law have been corrupted.

How is the Trump cult different from Nazis? They hate the same people. Minorities, liberals, educators, scientists, journalists, and yes, socialists are the targets of their hate. Time to call RepublicaNazis what they really are.

The Birther Liar tweeted: "It’s ANTIFA and the Radical Left. Don’t lay the blame on others!"

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey: "We are now confronting white supremacists, members of organized crime, out of state instigators, and possibly even foreign actors to destroy and destabilize our city and our region."

White nationalists threatened a family of campers and accused them of being "Antifa". This is the ignorance and hate being spread by Trump, hate radio, fascists on social media, and FOX(R).

Trump and his white nationalist cult deserve to be called neo-Nazis. No question. They hate the same people Hitler's Nazis hated. Minorities, liberals, educators, journalists, etc. The Fourth Reich is taking America down.

What has been true for minorities is now true for the majority of Americans. Racism, lies and hate stoked by Trump and the Right have taken us from divided state, to failed state, and now, to a police state. American neo-nazis are taking America down fast.

Yes. The truth is ugly. Nazis always hated democrats. FDR was their enemy. They still hate democrats, like they still hate democracy and minorities.

Racism is not racism to racists. A cult is not a cult to a cult.

Don't let Captain Tom "No Quarter" Cotton pretend otherwise. Historically “no quarter” was a death sentence. Hauptsturmführer would be Captain Tom 's rank in the SS. The Trump Cult hates the same people Hitler's Nazis hated. Hmm?

William Barr and his thugs are guilty of assault on peacefully assembled Americans exercising their First Amendment rights. He proclaimed, “The violence instigated and carried out by Antifa and other similar groups in connection with the rioting is domestic terrorism and will be treated accordingly.” 

So Barr ordered violence upon non-violent Americans.

He is literally an enemy of the people, as are his boss and every brutal cop. Lock them all up.

Amidst this authoritarian crackdown, the president tweeted:

5-28-02 “The only good Democrat is a dead Democrat”. 5-29-02 “When the looting starts, the shooting starts.”

5-30-20 "It’s ANTIFA and the Radical Left. Don’t lay the blame on others!"

5-31-20 "The Lamestream Media is doing everything within their power to foment hatred and anarchy. As long as everybody understands what they are doing, that they are FAKE NEWS and truly bad people with a sick agenda, we can easily work through them to GREATNESS!"

"LAW & ORDER!"

“The United States of America will be designating ANTIFA as a Terrorist Organization.”

6-1-20 To Governors: "Most of you are weak."

"You have to dominate, if you don’t dominate you’re wasting your time. They’re going to run over you, you’re going to look like a bunch of jerks. You have to dominate."

Hundreds of thugs with badges have been beating people for protesting police violence. Journalists have been viciously attacked as well. 

Here is just a small sample of police brutality inflicted on people protesting police brutality:

Buffalo Police shove older man, who then bleeds from his head.

Black store owners looked for help from LA police, were handcuffed instead.

Black CNN reporter arrested live by Minneapolis on air. 

Protester with his hands up taken down by Buffalo police while giving a TV interview.

US Park Police gassed and bashed peaceful protesters to clear the way for a Trump photo-op.

Atlanta Police pull college students from a car and stun them with a Taser.

Salt Lake City Police knock down older man with a cane when he doesn’t move fast enough.

NYPD rams SUV into a crowd of people.

LAPD batters protesters with batons.

NYC Police shove, shout expletives at Associated Press journalists.

Richmond Police fired tear gas at protesters in Virginia before curfew.

What are the odds these real enemies of the people are Trump supporters, taking cues from their RepublicaNazi leader?

Hitler Was Defeated, Nazis Remain

75 years ago the war in Europe was ended. On May 8, 1945 Hitler’s Nazi regime was finally annihilated. Hitler was dead, but not before inflicting immeasurable destruction, loss of lives, and human suffering. 

His racism, fascism, police state, war of aggression and murderous holocaust should have taught humanity a lesson. And it did for many people through the following few decades.

That was then.

Now the hated swastika flag and emblem of racist white supremacy has found a  new home. It flies along with Confederate flags and Trump banners all over the United States of America. One Trump supporter even displayed the flag at a Bernie rally in Phoenix before having it torn from his hands. 

We have a president who built his base on claims the Black president was not born an American, suggesting he was illegitimate. This president accuses law enforcement officers of treason for investigating his crimes and those of his cronies. His political adversaries are similarly accused of treason and hating America. He calls journalists enemies of the people for reporting facts that reveal his dishonesty and never-ending diatribes that fuel far Right resentment, anger and hate.

The president said there were “very fine people” marching in the Confederate and Nazi flagged “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville.

The praise was welcomed by Klan leader David Duke: “Thank you President Trump for honesty and courage to tell the truth about Charlottesville & condemn the leftist terrorists in BLM/Antifa.”

Duke echoed every racist white nationalist and neo-Nazi when he made these statements:

“Voting against Donald Trump at this point, is really treason to your heritage.”

“We are determined to take our country back, we're going to fulfill the promises of Donald Trump, and that's what we believed in, that's why we voted for Donald Trump, because he said he's going to take our country back and that's what we gotta do." 

Ivana Trump told her lawyer Michael Kennedy that from time to time her husband read a book of Hitler’s collected speeches, My New Order, which he kept in a cabinet by his bed. 

This is the man who lavishes praise on every dictator. 

"Don't yet rejoice in his defeat, you men!
Although the world stood up and stopped the bastard,
The bitch that bore him is in heat again.”

From Bertolt Brecht’s 1941 parable play on the rise of Hitler, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui.

Hitler died. Nazis survived. The war against Nazis and fascism has never ended. 

There were Nazi rallies in the US before WWII. Fascists are still here in the United States. Along with every bigot, racist, and white nationalist they have their president in power. They have their vast propaganda network in talk radio, FOX, OANN, Sinclair Broadcasting, and far Right internet hate sites.

The far Right believes only their leaders and propaganda network. Like a cult they are told to distrust anyone outside their influence. They share heavily indoctrinated resentment, anger and hate for those not in their cult. 

American fascists hate the same people Hitler did. Minorities, liberals, educators, journalists, labor unions, and scientists that didn't support him were demonized, scapegoated and terrorized. 

It's no secret. American fascists and Hitler's Nazis hate the same people. 

Trump's "Fake news" was Hitler's “Lügenpresse”, or lying press, Both targeted the press as enemies of the people for questioning their lies and claims of "total authority". 

Revealing his true Nazi inclinations, Trump incited his armed Brownshirts to “liberate” Michigan.

American fascism is here.

When authoritarians, tyrants and dictators hold power they will do anything to keep it. Anything. 

The Fourth Reich has risen on the Potomac, and a fair election to remove it this November is in doubt.

America's greatest anti-fascist was FDR. We'd better start listening to him again.