Dare I Compare?

 

Dare I compare?

Because of all their similarities, I’ve tended to compare the American Radical Right to Nazis and other fascists. I knew I would get flak for that, and I suppose I’m begging for it again.

Recently I was informed that I was uninformed, of some Brownshirt/Nazi history, although the correct information was never offered. The Brownshirts were Hitler’s Nazi storm troopers during his ascent to power. They were his “security”, but more accurately they were his brawling street thugs. They were his early versions of Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, itching for fights with commies or anyone they declared a commie. He purged them the year after he became chancellor, awarding the security duties and brutality to Himmler’s SS.

I was told, “Comparing anyone to Hitler is an insult to the Holocaust victims and the millions of other victims”. I can understand equating mask requirements and vaccinations to the Holocaust would be an insult, but Holocaust victims HAVE compared Trumpism and its white nationalist core to the early Nazi movement, and rightly so.

I’m pretty sure my comparisons of similarities don’t meet the same level of insult as Marjorie Taylor Greene saying, “We can look back in a time in history where people were told to wear a gold star and they were definitely treated like second-class citizens — so much so that they were put in trains and taken to gas chambers in Nazi Germany,” and days later, tweeting, “Vaccinated employees get a vaccination logo just like the Nazi’s forced Jewish people to wear a gold star.”

Readers are free to make their own call on comparing our two perspectives.

I do stand guilty of comparing the rise of the current American radical Right with the rise of Nazis and other fascists of Europe in the past. Similarities draw those comparisons, but in my defense I did not equate them. Fascists come in all sizes and colors, creeds and races. Nazis do not. They come almost exclusively in white.

I don’t want to be a blog Nazi, but I insist on an understanding of the difference between “compare” and “equate”. (Just joking. I suppose the olden days when Jews could joke about a “Soup Nazi” were too wild for today’s PC sensibilities. If so, I apologize to Holocaust victims and survivors on our joint behalf.)

I’ll summarize my case.

Remember "Godwin's Law"?

Mike Godwin updated it. Now he says this:

"I came up with Godwin’s Law. In its original form, Godwin’s Law goes like this: “As an online discussion continues, the probability of a reference or comparison to Hitler or Nazis approaches 1.”

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."

I'm comparing the similarities of radical Right movements and their common roots of fascism. Authoritarians have always been the minority, but that doesn't stop them from taking power.

Yes, I'm comparing racist American authoritarians to Nazis because Nazis were/are racist authoritarians.

Nazis didn't start out with camps and Kristallnacht. They started in the same place as other racist authoritarians. They had to win a propaganda war first.

Today's radical Right are doing just that. The anger, resentment, scapegoating, accusations, and lies from FOX(R) and Limbaugh and all the rest of the radical Right's hateful messaging has been sinking in to millions of Americans.

They have indoctrinated a significant percentage of our population into believing Democrats are Socialists and the radical left "hates America".

Good God, MOST Trump voters believe HE WON! This degree of brainwashing and delusion is a lethal cancer on the republic.

As with Hitler, all opposition is demonized as "Marxist" and communism. Why in the world should I NOT compare such similar ideologies?

As I noted, Tucker Carlson denied the existence of white nationalism, but he attacked Rep. Ilhan Omar for “hating America,” saying, “We have every right to fight to preserve our nation and our heritage and our culture.” He fanned outrage at, “non-white people cheering the extinction of white people”.

Systemic denial of systemic racism is actually systemic racism. No wonder the radical Right sees the study of racism and its effects as a Marxist assault on our freedom, and is why they want to ban the 1619 Project and anything that looks like CRT.

And while we’re at it, let’s ban masks and vaccines. It’s just patriotic, unabashedly American, common sense.

Some think I went too far with, “I get a lot of flak for comparing America’s radical Right to Nazis. But racists are racists. Authoritarians are authoritarians. They spring from the same fetid mire of bigotry and hatred. They are enemies of democracy and equality. They share the bloody trait and heritage of a violent coup and Putsch... They desecrated the “Back the Blue” and US flags by beating police officers who thwarted their coup and protected our Congress and Constitutional rule of law. Are they really that different from Hitler’s Brownshirts?”

Perhaps you’ve heard of the Nazi anthem called “The Horst Wessel Song”. He was a brown shirt storm trooper killed in a 1930 brawl, possibly by communists. Nazi propagandists, led by Joseph Goebbels, elevated him to martyrdom.

Not to equate anyone, it seems Trump has his own martyr.

~~~~~

“Statement by Donald J. Trump, 45th President of the United States of America”

"I spoke to the wonderful mother and devoted husband of Ashli Babbitt, who was murdered at the hands of someone who should never have pulled the trigger of his gun. We know who he is. If that happened to the “other side,” there would be riots all over America and yet, there are far more people represented by Ashli, who truly loved America, than there are on the other side. The Radical Left haters cannot be allowed to get away with this. There must be justice!"

 “Save America”

President Donald J. Trump

August 11, 2021

~~~~~~

It’s quite clear who to hate and blame in all this, and they are not the “very special” terrorists he “loves”.

He promoted and basked in a renewed elevation of nationalism. Flagrant patriotism was the new norm. Flag displays, many of him, were more abundant than any time since 9-11. National security, as in a strong military, was paramount.  Without his leadership the military was “out of ammo” and weak. After he became president the military suddenly became the “most powerful military in the world”.

He wanted to expand interrogation torture tactics “beyond waterboarding”. "I would absolutely authorize something beyond waterboarding and believe me, it will be effective," he said on ABC's "This Week With George Stephanopoulos." "You have our enemy cutting heads off of Christians and plenty of others, by the hundreds, by the thousands."

"Do we win by being more like them?" asked Stephanopoulos.

"Yes," replied Trump. "I'm sorry. You have to do it that way."

The pro-torture serial sex offender pretended to embrace traditional family values. Denial of women’s reproductive rights was a priority. His appointments to the Supreme Court had to be pro-business and anti-choice.

History has echoes:

“The National Government...regards Christianity as the foundation of our national morality, and the family as the basis of national life." - Adolf Hitler "My New Order" - Proclamation to the German Nation, Berlin, February 1, 1933

In 1941 Hitler said, “I am now as before a Catholic and will always remain so."

On October 10, 1936 Heinrich Himmler created the Reich Central Office for Combating Homosexuality and Abortion, or Special Office (II S), a sub-department of Executive Department II of the Gestapo.

Incidentally, Hitler’s “My New Order” was the only book his wife Ivana saw him read.

But Trump brought religion back to government, surrounding himself with preachers in the Oval Office. Better yet, Black preachers. After gassing protesters for exercising their First Amendment right, he brandished an upside-down Bible in a calculated campaign photo-op.

He anointed an unhinged woman as his “spiritual advisor” who reveled in her “assignment from God”. Paula White was the typical “prosperity” preacher who sucked up cash from unwitting dupes before bankrupting the church.

She employed the old scam of “speaking in tongues” to secure Trump’s reelection, as Jesus surely would have wanted. "We declare that we overcome every strategy of hell that has been aligned against this election, that has been aligned against your will, that has been aligned against the church," she said.

White claimed that "demonic confederacies" were attempting to steal the election from Trump.

"I hear victory, victory, victory, victory in the quarters of heaven," "Angels are being dispatched from Africa right now," she said, adding, "They're coming here."

Can I get an “Amen”?

He told us who the bad guys were. We’re not talking about ISIS, the Taliban, Russia or China, but fellow Americans. The enemies are everywhere, and they would be his scapegoats and targeted for blame for any and all ills within our borders.  He blamed immigrants for gangs and crimes, saying Mexico and other “shithole countries” were sending rapists and murders to the US. He wanted to have protestors and people crossing the border illegally to be shot. 

Athletes taking a knee to protest police violence were “sons of bitches” who deserved to be fired, “Radical left Democrats”, antifa, "The radical left democrat communist party" were more of his hated enemies. “Like it or not, we are becoming a communist country. That’s what’s happening.” The message is, “The Left hates America”.

He ran on a promise to ban Muslims from entering the country. His supporters were delighted to share his hate for all those “Anti-American others”. When he ordered the assassination of an Iranian bad guy, he pushed us to the brink of another war. Luckily Iran was satisfied by retaliating with a missile attack on a US base in Iraq.

Also, whenever the press portrayed him in any negative or unflattering way, they became “fake news” and “enemy of the people”. He led the media in circles with daily outrages and rants against journalists. In one week in 2018 he singled out three African-American women journalists. The women - Abby Phillip, April Ryan and Yamiche Alcindor - earned his contempt apparently just for asking him questions. Trump, the Birther President, called one of Ms Phillip's questions "stupid," described Ms Ryan as "a loser" and scolded Ms Alcindor, saying her question was "racist."

In the radical Right’s twisted world, only Blacks, BLM, and liberals are racists. They will tell you they “don’t see color” and judge only on the “contents of one’s character”. They will tell you racism isn’t really a problem anymore, but white conservatives are the real victims of racism.

The far Right’s primary Big Lie was “liberal media” in their war on journalism. Journalism has always been seen as a threat to totalitarians and authoritarians.

The German Nazis used the term “Lügenpresse”, or lying press, in their campaign to replace journalism with their party propaganda. Now American fascists replaced “liberal media” with  “fake news” and “enemy of the people” when journalists threaten their agenda with truth.

He cut taxes and regulations for corporations and the economic elites. He scorned organized labor and embraced opponents of unions and labor rights.

He proposed cutting activities funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Following the Goebbels playbook, he projected his dishonesty onto the press and opposition. “That’s what they’re doing. You know what it’s called? Disinformation. They make up a lot of crap and they say it over and over and over…”

This projection is to deflect away from Trump’s 30,000 plus lies in office, as well as the stolen election “big lie”.

From the Jewish Virtual Library:

“The original description of the big lie appeared in Mein Kampf. Adolf Hitler applied it to the behavior of Jews rather than as a tactic he advocated. Specifically, he accused Viennese Jews of trying to discredit the Germans’ activities during World War I. Hitler wrote of the Jews’ “unqualified capacity for falsehood” and “that in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation…. From time immemorial, however, the Jews have known better than any others how falsehood and calumny can be exploited.”

The OSS psychological profile of Hitler described his use of the big lie:

His primary rules were: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it.

Goebbels did describe the big lie in different language in an article he wrote in 1941, “Churchill’s Lie Factory,” but he was accusing the British of the ploy: “The English follow the principle that when one lies, one should lie big, and stick to it. They keep up their lies, even at the risk of looking ridiculous.”

Hollywood Access personality Billy Bush, of the infamous “Grab ‘em by the pussy” interview, reported Trump’s telling response after being called out for inflating his ratings. "People will just believe you. You just tell them and they believe you,"

He claimed the mantle of “law and order”, but he had different standards for BLM protestors and his own insurrectionist mob. He praised his violent mob, saying they were special and he loved them. He and his party are dug in on protecting violent and crooked cops with “qualified immunity”. They resist any reforms to police powers and practices.

He placed unqualified family members and loyal cronies into the Cabinet and high lever advisory positions. His daughter Ivanka would be an advisor. Her husband Jared Kushner was to solve every problem from the Middle East to the opiod crisis, in addition to being Liaison to Mexico and China.

Trump assured us, "I know all the best people".

Manafort *

Roger Stone **

General Flynn **

Giuliani ****

Michael Cohen *

Tom Barrack ***

Rick Gates *

Allen Weisselberg *****

----

* Convicted & imprisoned

** Convicted

*** Arrested

**** Raided by FBI

***** Indicted

 

He undermined and interfered with elections with his big lie that he won the 2020 election, and by demanding Georgia “find” him enough votes to win. He twisted arms at the Justice Department and demanded acting attorney general Rosen to, “Just say that the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me.” In self-serving subservience his party actively works to restrict voting rights, registration, and ballot access. Minorities are specially targeted for disenfranchisement of both the vote and fair representation.

There is no doubt that the American radical Right, like all fascists before them, are absolute enemies of democracy and equality.

But are they really fascists? If that’s not clear by now, here’s a handy guide for your search for any similarities and shared characteristics between our American Radical Right and fascism.

~~~~~~

 Political scientist Dr. Lawrence Britt recently wrote an article about fascism ("Fascism Anyone?," Free Inquiry, Spring 2003, page 20). Studying the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia), and Pinochet (Chile), Dr. Britt found they all had 14 elements in common. He calls these the identifying characteristics of fascism.

The 14 Characteristics of Fascism

by Lawrence Britt

Spring 2003

The 14 characteristics are:

1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism
Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.

2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights
Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.

3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause
The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.

4. Supremacy of the Military
Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.

5. Rampant Sexism
The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Opposition to abortion is high, as is homophobia and anti-gay legislation and national policy.

6. Controlled Mass Media
Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.

7. Obsession with National Security
Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.

8. Religion and Government are Intertwined
Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.

9. Corporate Power is Protected
The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.

10. Labor Power is Suppressed
Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed .

11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts
Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts is openly attacked, and governments often refuse to fund the arts.

12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment
Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.

13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption
Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.

14. Fraudulent Elections
Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.

Racist Projection

Definition of Projection: In psychology, projection refers to placing your own negative traits or unwanted emotions onto others, usually without reason. “It’s not ME. It’s YOU!”

What does projection look like when it is projected by racists?

Let’s start this discussion by taking a short stroll down Memory Lane.

Do you remember the “Simpsons” image of the FOX News helicopter with the words, “Not racist, but #1 with Racists”? I wonder if that survived the censors on reruns.

We remember when Tucker Carlson denied the existence of white nationalism, but he attacked Rep. Ilhan Omar for “hating America,” saying, “We have every right to fight to preserve our nation and our heritage and our culture.”

Omar is not hating democracy and equality, the fundamental American ideals and values. “Hating America” is how racists frame Omar’s revulsion for racist conservative white heritage and culture, of course.

“Preserve our heritage and culture” echoes the popular white supremacist slogan: "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children."

We remember Klan Leader David Duke wanted Carlson to be Vice-President.

"President Trump! You have one last chance to turn the tables, win this election and save America—and yourself! Nominate Tucker Carlson for Vice President. This would energize your campaign beyond belief." Duke tweeted.

And finally, we remember when Trump officials decided to cut the census period shorter last year. What were they afraid of? 

Enter again FOX(R)’s resident white nationalist, and therefore a “victim of racism”, Tucker Carlson:

Democrats are intentionally accelerating demographic change for political advantage...They said we were espousing something known as the Great Replacement Theory”, a well-known racist fantasy. In other words, “Shut up”.

(After playing the radical Right’s ubiquitous “race card” and “victim card” he cites census results showing fewer white Americans.)

As leading Democrats put it again and again, “Who cares? Fewer white people in America is a great thing and we should celebrate.”

(Cut to non-white CNN commentators.)

“Right now Stephen Miller and Donald Trump are at Mar-a-Lago, and they’re throwing up, because this is not the America they want to see.”

“I was at the White House the other day and guess who has got Stephen Miller’s old office. Her name was Susan Rice, and she’s one of us. And guess who was in Ivanka Trump’s old office. Julie Rodriguez.”

Thus Carlson’s reactionary racist conclusion: Did you hear that? “Her name is Susan Rice, she’s one of us.” Meaning she’s a Democrat? No, she means she’s not white. “Us” is the non-white people cheering the extinction of white people...it’s that evil. And if you want to encourage permanent racial division, and maybe even violence in America, that is exactly how you would talk on television. These people are completely out of control. They are dangerous.

How racist and divisive can you get? “Those Black and Brown people on CNN are dangerous and evil! They hate good white people like us so much they are cheering for our extinction!”

If Carlson isn’t the face of racist white nationalism, Hitler was a democratic socialist. Carlson is spewing the same hate for American people of color as Hitler did about Jews. “Those Jews are dangerous and evil! They hate good Aryans like us so much they are cheering for our extinction!” Not much difference, is there?

I get a lot of flak for comparing America’s radical Right to Nazis. But racists are racists. Authoritarians are authoritarians. They spring from the same fetid mire of bigotry and hatred. They are enemies of democracy and equality. They share the bloody trait and heritage of a violent coup and Putsch. The differences are context and uniforms. America’s radical Right racists wear MAGA hats, Q-anon slogans, and white hoods instead of swastikas. They desecrated the “Back the Blue” and US flags by beating police officers who thwarted their coup and protected our Congress and Constitutional rule of law.

Are they really that different from Hitler’s Brownshirts?

The real difference is our racist white nationalists are constrained by the Constitution and the power of the ballot to limit their power. For now. The radical Right are doing their utmost to remove the threat of fair elections and proportional representative democracy.

What would a white supremacist or Nazi say about a Black man and Latina woman remarking on Trump and Miller being disturbed by fewer white Americans, and for noting minorities in the Biden Administration?

I could be mistaken, but:

A racist and or a Nazi would accuse them of “intentionally accelerating demographic change for political advantage”.

He would be outraged at being called out for, “espousing something known as the Great Replacement Theory, a well-known racist fantasy”.

He would be enraged at a Black man accurately noting Trump and Miller would fear fewer white Americans, and as “not the America they want to see”.

He would see someone mentioning Susan Rice in Stephen Miller’s old office as, “non-white people cheering the extinction of white people.”

A white supremacist and Nazi might even describe the non-white people discussing those facts as being “that evil”.

FOX(R)’s resident white nationalist was projecting his hate and racism to the ultimate degree. “And if you want to encourage permanent racial division, and maybe even violence in America, that is exactly how you would talk on television. These people are completely out of control. They are dangerous.”

Yes, Carlson was correct about the Great Replacement Theory being a well-known racist fantasy. So he’s obsessed with pushing it. Those Black and Brown racists are “cheering the extinction of white people.”

Carlson is terrified of being in a minority in America. The evil he projects is from his own hateful and fearful bigoted nature. But racism isn't racism to the racist.

Why is that?

I don’t suppose it has anything to do with how minorities have been treated by racist white conservatives over the years.

The Authoritarian Way

 

I can respect some Republicans, even though we would rarely agree.

I disagreed with the Republicans' lust for war on Iraq based on lies. I vehemently disagreed with the Bush/Cheney torture program. 

There’s something in the conservative/Republican/authoritarian DNA (or amygdala), that has a high tolerance, and even enthusiasm, for punishment.

They love the “tough on crime” and “law and order” rhetoric of their leaders. And why not? It’s an effective political position. Republican Lite Democrats like Clinton and Biden were enthusiastic supporters of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. Clinton’s “triangulation” worked well enough to win him a second term. To his credit he did pass an assault weapons ban, albeit a lame temporary one.

If we take it a radical step beyond law and order into the realm of torture, the split becomes clear.

In terms of public acceptance of torture, you can imagine which demographic has the highest approval rate on torture. If you guessed “white male Republicans”, you would be correct.

Conservatives in general tend to favor harsh punishment. Especially for “other people” they fear, hate or misunderstand. That includes Democrats and progressives. They find great sport in taunting, harassing, insulting, and otherwise waging their psych-ops campaign to punish liberals. “Owning the libs” is what they call it.

They have considerable more tolerance for their own, of course, but their tolerance disappears when some of them fail to conform to the demands of an authoritarian leader like Trump. His attitude towards harsh and extreme punishment was shown by the intentional separation of immigrant children from their parents. He enthusiastically ramped up federal executions of prisoners. He praised a Republican for assaulting a journalist. He wanted to go “a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding”. The list is long, but you get the idea.

Now the radical Right is howling for punishment for a couple of their own, especially Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, for their refusing to toe the line on the Party of Trump’s seditious and authoritarian refusal to even have hearings to investigate January 6th.

Liz has already been stripped of her leadership position for daring to say, "My oath, my duty, all of our oaths, all of our duty are to the Constitution and that will always be my focus, not politics," after Pelosi first announced her appointment earlier this month.

Philip Bump wrote in the Washington Post:

At the White House on Monday, McCarthy was asked about comments from some Republicans who suggested that their party should participate more fully in the probe.

“Who is that? Adam and Liz?” McCarthy replied casually, looking over his shoulder. “Aren’t they kind of like Pelosi Republicans?”

And there you go. Liz Cheney, of the Cheney Cheneys, is a “Pelosi Republican,” not because she broadly sides with the Democratic leader on matters of policy but, instead, because she sides with Pelosi on the idea that the Capitol riot could use a bit more investigation. You know who voted with Pelosi more than Cheney in the 116th Congress? McCarthy. Data from ProPublica makes clear that McCarthy could be described as more of a “Pelosi Republican” than the representative from Wyoming based on votes in the last Congress.

Not satisfied with removing her from leadership, the extremists want to punish her further.

(CNN) A growing group of rank-and-file House Republicans wants House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and GOP leadership to punish Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for accepting a position from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to serve on the select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection.

Not only do they want to strip Cheney and Kinzinger from their other committee assignments, they want to punish Nancy Pelosi as well. No doubt some of the more malevolent House coup supporters would have welcomed the hanging of the Speaker of the House. As we recall, Lauren Boebert tweeted about the Speaker’s movement during the coup, not long after tweeting, “Today is 1776!”.

The Radical Right white nationalist Freedom Caucus is already pressing McCarthy to file a motion to vacate Pelosi from the speakership. Radical Right authoritarian and House GOP conference chair Elise Stefanik wants to blame and punish the Speaker: “The American people deserve to know the truth. That Nancy Pelosi bears responsibility, as speaker of the House, for the tragedy that occurred on Jan. 6.”

It is the Authoritarian Way.

The nerve of that woman, wanting to investigate the same terrorists who screamed, “Hang Pelosi!” along with, "Hang Mike Pence!" How dare she exclude supporters of Trump’s Big Lie and resulting coup from the committee? She must be punished too.

But there are still some Republicans who understand Trumpism is not conservatism. Ten House Republicans stood for the Constitution and country by voting to impeach Trump for incitement of insurrection.

 Two Republicans will be on the House committee to investigate the January 6 insurrection. They are now targets for punishment, of course.

They know Trump lied about the election and incited his insurrection. They know the truth.

That’s really the only standard for Republicans to be welcome in the House select committee to investigate the January 6 attack on the US Capitol. Why should participants and co-conspirators be allowed to investigate themselves? If they want a voice, let them spew their lies under oath as sworn witnesses.

CNN reports on why the pair are targeted for punishment:

 Liz Cheney was formerly the No. 3 member of House Republican leadership before a very public break with Trump following his role in inciting the January 6 riot. Cheney was one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump earlier this year and has been an outspoken critic of both the former President and GOP lawmakers who support his “Big Lie” about the 2020 election. She was ousted from her leadership position in May.

Adam Kinzinger has been a vocal critic of Trump and was one of 10 House Republicans to vote for his second impeachment. Kinzinger served in the Air Force in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. He continues to serve in the Air National Guard as a pilot. “I’m a Republican dedicated to conservative values, but I swore an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution—and while this is not the position I expected to be in or sought out, when duty calls, I will always answer,” Kinzinger said in a statement accepting a position on the committee. “This moment requires a serious, clear-eyed, non-partisan approach. We are duty-bound to conduct a full investigation on the worst attack on the Capitol since 1814 and to make sure it can never happen again.”

Will history eventually be kinder to both of them, or are they just disloyal RINO “socialist appeasers”, for betraying their oaths to Donald Trump?

Oh, wait. They swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution, not Trump.

For that treacherous transgression and disloyalty to their Dear Leader, they must be punished. It is the Authoritarian Way.

For some reason the Party of Trump has a lot more tolerance for their Dear Leader’s loyal gang of terrorist vandals, felons, thugs, racists, white nationalists, Q-Anon true believers, Proud Boys, Nazis, Oath Keepers, Klansmen, and assorted radical Right terrorists from the military and law enforcement.

They first wanted to blame BLM and antifa for Trump’s coup. Then they compared the terrorists to “tourists”.

For some reason the Party of Trump wants to look the other way and deflect from the crimes and terrorist instigators of January Sixth. Not very “law and order” of them, is it?

Despite the efforts by Trump's Radical Right to undermine and block it, the House committee begins their investigation today, Capitol Police officers are the first to testify.

One has already asked the committee if anyone in power abetted the criminals. Officer Dunn: "There was an attack carried out on January 6, and a hit man sent them. I want you to get to the bottom of that."

Like major crime cartels and street mobs, the radical Right Party of Trump will defend their own, until the ones who got arrested take a plea, and inform on their leaders.

Likewise, those who offer aid to investigators will be targeted as well. As we’ve see from the radical Right, that is the greater offense, just begging for punishment.

I would like to hear from clear-eyed conservatives, who can rationally explain their anger and resentment for the two Republican supporters of our Constitutional rule of law and peaceful transition of power.

Is there any chance of that?

“Only One America News”

 

In an effort to present both sides of important issues that divide our country, I’d like to share some of my well-known liberal generosity of spirit.

I’ve decided to offer something for everyone.  After all, I’m a uniter, not a divider. I’m the Only One to fairly present the news you all can use.

Welcome to “Only One America News”, where you choose, or you snooze.

~~~~~

News Flash!

Philip Bump, Washington Post

The invisible crime wave that’s sweeping the nation!

Much of the political conversation at the moment centers on one particular false belief: that millions of ballots in the 2020 election were cast illegally.

This belief takes many forms, from the assumption that somehow thousands of fraudulent ballots were simply injected into state totals or that countless individual voters cast ballots multiple times or that thousands of people voted who weren’t legally allowed to. Whatever the manifestation of the fraud it’s always the case that the belief precedes the proof for the simple reason that proof of such claims doesn’t exist....

...Republicans have been convinced that fraud is rampant and a serious threat to American democracy. In YouGov polling conducted for the Economist, more than three-quarters of Republicans said they believed millions of illegal votes were cast in last year’s election. Millions! By contrast, about 265,000 houses were burgled in 2019. Yet, somehow, despite occurring several times more often, there’s no actual evidence of even hundreds of votes having been illegally cast. Despite the best efforts of America’s most brilliant bedding manufacturers, the proof remains elusive.

~~~

OK. That was mind numbingly boring, wasn’t it? Nothing but dull facts. Real American News is supposed to be entertaining, or at least emotionally stimulating. as in inducing anger towards someone to blame for everything.

That’s enough from the commie liberal fake news enemies of the people!

Time now for a fair and balanced, patriotic Real American Radical Right Trump/Q-Anon News Flash!

Socialist Democrat Communist Party Crime Wave Sweeping the Nation!

Q-Anon and Trump insist the election was stolen by millions of illegal votes!

Socialist Judges and Commie Democrats deviously denied the Pillow Guy, the Best Lawyers, drunken witnesses, and Rudy the lawyer with the revoked license to practice law just because he lies.

In other Radical Right Trump/Q-Anon News, the Trump Family Cartel had nothing to do with the peaceful January 6th “Special Conservatives Only Tourist Day”.

This peaceful protest was held following the extra-special, exclusive, preliminary, “large family” reconnaissance tours for Real Americans that were kindly hosted by True Patriot Lauren Boebert and other Republican Representatives.

Every true patriot was so excited! Real Americans will finally have their voices heard! A festive joy was in the air. The big day was finally here. Capitol tour guide Boebert tweeted, “Today is 1776”.

Yes, if you’re like me, you get a tingle up your spine at her lofty patriotic tweet. We all knew what she meant when she told us, "Ted Cruz is an American hero and patriot! On January 6, we're both going to be fighting for freedom!"

Let’s review this outstanding celebration of American democracy, one that will go down in history as Trump’s greatest achievement in making America great.

Our most wise, truthful and loving Dear Leader’s invitation went out on twitter: “Be there, will be wild! Stop The Steal!”

And so, America’s True Patriots flocked to Washington DC.

Don Jr. proclaimed, “This isn't their Republican Party anymore. This is Donald Trump's Republican Party!"

Rudy the lawyer with the revoked license to practice law urged, “Let's have trial by combat!”

On election day, long before the votes were counted, Rudy the lawyer with the revoked license to practice law was the first person to advise the President.

“Just say we won.”

That settled it. Never mind all the votes that shouldn’t be counted anyway. Trump and his loyal lieutenants immediately pressured states to stop the count while he was ahead.

Fair is fair.

Dear Leader demanded the disloyal Georgia RINO Republican Brad Raffensperger to follow his just and reasonable command. “All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have.”

He even gave him fair warning that he was guilty of a criminal offense by disobeying. “But the ballots are corrupt. And you are going to find that they are — which is totally illegal, it is more illegal for you than it is for them because, you know what they did and you’re not reporting it. That’s a criminal, that’s a criminal offense. And you can’t let that happen. That’s a big risk to you and to Ryan, your lawyer.”

Even after this compassionate warning, the treacherous RINO chose to betray our Leader.

It was clear that measures needed to be taken by Real Americans.

It was time to save America and stop the steal. A “Stop the Steal” rally and a “Save America March” was the way to do it.

Many of our Best People met at Trump’s hotel the night before the rally.

True Patriot Proud Boys were there. Real American Oath Keepers were there.

Other guests included Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, Michael Flynn, Peter Navarro, Corey Lewandowski, 2016 Trump campaign manager David Bossie, 2016 Trump deputy campaign manager Adam Piper, executive director of the Republican Attorneys General Association, Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville, Michael the Pillow Guy Lindell, and Rudy Giuliani, personal attorney to the President of the United States and lawyer with the revoked license to practice law just because he lies.

It was to be a glorious rally and peaceful march to stop the steal and save America. (Until antifa and BLM showed up to overturn the election.)

Trump’s own words prove he had nothing to do with the assault on the Capitol. He merely told his mob of True Patriots:

"We're going to walk down Pennsylvania Ave ... and we're going to try and give our Republicans -- the weak ones because the strong ones don't need any of our help -- we're to try and give them kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country...so let’s walk down Pennsylvania Ave.”

“All of us here today do not want to see our election victory stolen by emboldened radical left Democrats, which is what they’re doing and stolen by the fake news media.... Our country has had enough. We will not take it anymore and that’s what this is all about. To use a favorite term that all of you people really came up with, we will stop the steal. We will not let them silence your voices. We’re not going to let it happen. Not going to let it happen.”

The crowd chanted, “Fight for Trump! Fight for Trump! Fight for Trump!”

“We want to go back, and we want to get this right because we’re going to have somebody in there that should not be in there and our country will be destroyed, and we’re not going to stand for that. For years, Democrats have gotten away with election fraud and weak Republicans, and that’s what they are.”

“Something’s wrong here. Something’s really wrong. Can’t have happened. And we fight. We fight like Hell and if you don’t fight like Hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore. Our exciting adventures and boldest endeavors have not yet begun. My fellow Americans for our movement, for our children and for our beloved country and I say this, despite all that’s happened, the best is yet to come. So we’re going to, we’re going to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue...and we’re going to the Capitol and....we’re going to try and give our Republicans, the weak ones, because the strong ones don’t need any of our help, we’re going to try and give them the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country.”

“We fight like Hell and if you don’t fight like Hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”

Our Dear Leader’s patriotic, inspirational and unifying message will be honored by every future historian. All his best words will be carved in marble in the big beautiful Trump Memorial, towering over the Washington Monument.

January 6th will become the greatest holiday in America.

But we’ll have to wait for the honor of remembering America’s greatest president.

Everything was going great for a few hours that winter day at the Capitol.

The President was reported to have watched his own reality show on TV with delight. He had no reason to listen to those killjoys who urged him to do something to stop his mob of true patriots.

He had the National Guard given special instructions to lay low and go easy on the True Patriots.

But something went disastrously wrong. How could it be? The disloyal military didn’t join in. Many of the socialist Capitol cops didn’t cooperate.

Tragically, the mob of True Patriots failed to stop the steal. They failed to hang Mike Pence. They failed to hang Nancy Pelosi. They failed to take our country back.

It was the darkest day in the history of our democratic republic and Constitutional rule of law. The government betrayed our Dear Leader. Pence, the House and the Senate did their Constitutional duty At 2:24, after the Capitol was breached, the president tweeted his disappointment. "Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution."

So after the longest day in the radical Right’s righteous war on democracy, the Greatest Law and Order President consoled his loyal gang of vandals, felons, thugs, racists, white nationalists, Q-Anon true believers, Proud Boys, Nazis, Oath Keepers, Klansmen, and assorted radical Right terrorists from the military and law enforcement.

The stable genius comforted his faithful and True Patriots with his soothing words. “We had an election that was stolen. It was a landslide. But you have to go home now...we love you, you're very special."

The Real American True Patriots were told to “Remember this day forever” and went home.

All was not lost. The Party of Trump obediently stood against the Constitution and treacherous socialist impeachment, and renewed their loyalty to their Dear Leader.

But sadly, it was not enough...

The radical left socialist Democrats stole the House, Senate and White House!!

And then the evil commies destroyed America. Just like they did when Obama the Kenyan Marxist was president. Yeah, that’s it. That’s what happened.

And besides, it was really BLM and antifa who stormed the Capitol, because they wanted to overturn the election their guy won. It just makes sense.

And why would Republicans want to investigate BLM and antifa to hold them accountable?

I mean, really.

But let us not despair.

Let’s urge every Real American and True Patriot to keep the faith. As Mike Flynn, Roger Stone and our Q-Anon Shaman say together, “Where We Go One We Go All!”

Celebration of Ignorance

 

In 1995 Carl Sagan had a foreboding vision of America’s future.

“I have a foreboding of an America in my children's or grandchildren's time -- when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what's true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness...

The dumbing down of America is most evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media, the 30 second sound bites (now down to 10 seconds or less), lowest common denominator programming, credulous presentations on pseudoscience and superstition, but especially a kind of celebration of ignorance”

From “The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark”.

If there could be any doubt about who that description may fit, let’s look at an important measure.

Those in the throes of their "celebration of ignorance" are revealed by their vaccination rates.

A Kaiser Family Foundation poll in June shows vaccination rates of selected groups in the US.

Democrats 86%

Independents 61%

Republicans 52 %

College Grads 79%

No four-year degree 59%

Women 70%

Men 61%

White 67%

Hispanic 63%

Black 60%

Clearly one of these groups should NOT be allowed the power to dictate any public policy, from voting rights to education to healthcare.

The fact they support Trump's Big Lie and deny his incitement of insurrection should be enough to tell us how ignorant (or outright evil) they really are.

Not only are they a public health menace, they are the greatest domestic threat to our Constitution and republic.

"Ignorance is strength". Orwell's Big Brother has given the former GOP, now the Party of Trump and Qanon, its new motto.

Dear Marjorie

 

This past Fourth of July weekend, the crazed, radical Right, white Q-anon lady tweeted a lecture for “real Americans”.

Which crazed, radical Right, white Q-anon lady, you ask?

Primarily Marjorie Taylor-Greene, the white nationalist from Georgia, but we have a bonus tweet from America’s favorite gun whore, Lauren Boebert, so she won’t feel left out.

The primitive amygdala of the brain of MTG conveyed the usual radical Right hate and lies. Her reptilian projection-laced screed was called, “Here is a message from America to the Swamp”.

I’ll give my interpretation and reply to each of her ignorant, anti-science, snowflake white resentments and racism.

Here we go:

Dear Marjorie,

If I may, on behalf of our nation's better half, I'd like to respond to your heart-felt, pseudo-patriotic, radical Right, white nationalist tweets. As another real American, I beg to differ from your arrogant, self-righteous, radical Right hate and bigotry. 

Most of the people that I talk to daily are regular Americans and I like it that way because I am one of them. This is everything people are saying that DC can't even come close to understanding because Washington can't relate. Here is a message from America to the Swamp:

 

(By “regular Americans” she means her white Q-anon cult of Trump worshipers. If “DC can't even come close to understanding”, it is because of radical Right, white nationalist, Q-anon Trump suckers have infected DC.)

 

People have stopped watching the news bc they are sick & tired of the fake news media, including Fox News. People feel like the mainstream media is the most destructive dividing force in our country. They know the media only reports what they want you to see. It's sad.

(Et tu FOX(R)? This demonization of the free press is derived from Hitler’s Nazis and their 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. Q-anon only reports what you want to see, right, Marjorie?)

The 2020 election is still #1 to Republican voters. Many want it fixed before '22 & even democrat voters admit there was fraud with absentee ballots. Rep voters are furious at elected Republicans that won't listen or do anything about it & they are most vulnerable in '22.

 

(Trump’s Big Lie about the 2020 election being stolen is the loyalty test for his cult. The Republican Party is the party of Trump. Anyone who dissents from the word of the Fuhrer will be stripped of power and attacked as the enemy.)

 

No one cares about the Delta Variant or any other variant.

 

(Imagine dismissing the victims and their families as “no one”. Her lies and cold-blooded disregard of human suffering tells us she is a sociopath. This tells us the same of her fans.)

 

No one likes Kamala. Not even the Democrats. She failed miserably as a Presidential candidate. Even people that work for her hate her.

 

(More radical Right hatred and lies. She is a racist. Change my mind.)

 

Dems embrace of the Progressive Squad aka Communists are going to be their downfall.

 

(The squad ladies are already out on the margin of the Democratic Party. Institutional Dems  would dump them in a heartbeat. Branding Jews and socialist opponents as “communists” was the standard smear tactic of Adolf Hitler. He rounded up Jews, socialists and Marxists and sent them to his concentration camps. Marjorie’s wet dream?)

 

Everyone hates Ilhan Omar, both sides of the aisle. She is an anti-semitic, hate-America, ungrateful refugee, who married her brother and broke the law to get him in the country.

 

(Not “everyone”. Every racist like Greene hates this dark-skinned Muslim immigrant. Her vicious lies echo David Duke and are KKK approved.)

 

The non-stop dog whistle labeling everything racist is broken. We've had a black POTUS, VP woman of color, black members of Congress, and so many successful & wealthy black Americans. We don't care about color, we care about character. MLK's dream came true, thank God!

 

(One of my favorite red herrings. “Obama was elected. This proves Americans are not racists!” No. Trump accused the Black president of not being American born and illegally elected to office. Every white racist in the country, including Marjorie, flocked to their New American Fuhrer. How many Black Americans say “MLK’s dream came true”? Let us know, Marjorie.)

 

Your identity is not your sexual preference or what you like to do in the bedroom.

 

(True. But sexual preferences are one of the first things bigots will use to discriminate and hate the LGBTQ community.)

 

The persistent hate the American flag vomit coming from the radical left makes the Democrat party look really really bad.

 

(Why is that Marjorie? You can’t show us ONE Democrat desecrating the flag as much as your mob of terrorists did when they stormed the Capitol, broke windows, and beat police officers with their American flags.)

 

If you don't like America or our flag, then get the hell out of our GREAT country & go live in some other shithole Socialist or Communist country that shares your hate for America, our flag, & our God given freedoms. You don't deserve to be an American if you hate our flag.

 

(Oh, Marge... We don’t hate America or the flag. We just hate white nationalists, Nazis, and other radical Right enemies of democracy and equality. “Shithole” Socialist countries and even some Communist countries won’t let their people get sick and die if they can’t afford health care. Only Shithead Radical Right Republicans want to let sick people die.)

 

Signed, The American People. *who pay ALL the taxes that fund the federal government.

 

(Sorry. I won’t sign. And I pay taxes that fund the federal government. How about Trump and the corporate elites who get away with paying NO federal income taxes? I guess they’re not “the American People, amirite?) 

And Tuesday afternoon she tweeted: “Biden pushing a vaccine that is NOT FDA approved shows covid is a political tool used to control people. People have a choice, they don’t need your medical brown shirts showing up at their door ordering vaccinations. You can’t force people to be part of the human experiment.”

(There she goes again. Her nasty anti-science lie about "NOT FDA approved" is bad enough. Remember her fake apology after her visit to the Holocaust Museum? She didn't seem to learn that Nazis were not socialists, but a radical Right, white nationalist, anti-Semitic cult. She disrespected and diminished the suffering of Holocaust victims by comparing vaccinations and masks to Nazi persecution. Her hate and ignorance are no different from the rest of her radical Right, white nationalist, anti-Semitic cult. She has shown her true colors and will never change her fascist ways.)

 

Now, as promised, I’ll have a go at America’s favorite gun whore, Lauren Boebert.

 

We are basically the first nation to actively teach our children to be ashamed of their nation. I am not willing to have my children as the test subjects for this insane indoctrination. – Lauren Boebert

 

(History is fact. If the facts make Americans ashamed, then there’s a better the chance these sins won’t be repeated. The radical Right has shown us they have no sense of shame, anyway. Denying history is an injustice against past, present and future Americans. We are not all snowflakes who need protection from the truth. This woman’s display of ignorance is astounding. Or it just reveals her racist desire to whitewash slavery, Jim Crow, lynchings, “driving while Black”, and the rest of the nation’s history of racial butchery, including the genocide and abuses of the native population. I’m sure both apply. Racism and ignorance are partners in crime.)