Sorry for frequent readers about the repeated theme, but I feel I must express my fervent concern over the continued rise of autocratic forces (fascism in reality).  The slippery slope away from democracy toward dictatorship starts with populism.  Populism which is anti-policy, anti-plans, and pro-grievances and pro-fears finds the underbelly of society, the hatred and fears which is being tapped into.  The themes are tested in rallys and then exploited further… todays themes are deep-state (the swamp – holding us back, coming for our guns, etc.) and immigration (latent racism, economic fears, safety fears)… populism successfully gets a large part of society to vote against their own immediate and long-term self-interest.

The GOP strategy book says we cannot win the economic argument on tax reductions for the rich, or on reduction in social benefits (smaller government)  so we’ll pursue culture wars and further a divisive populist agenda.  But populism leads to a worship of the culture warriors, and as the populists feel besieged, especially by the state, they want fighters who claim to be right, never wrong.  To get past reasonable doubt, to get past reason, alternate facts, conspiracy and blatant lies are needed to migrate from populism to cultism.  Cultism … always right… gets us to power makes right, and intolerance to opposing views, and if power makes right, who needs compromise.  If you don’t need compromise for governance, what is the point of democracy… a very slippery slope from democracy to autocracy.

Watch the House of representatives. Jim Jordan the insurrectionists who sought pardons for himself and other congressmen will be given the gavel to investigate the government, to issue subpoenas when he had not honored subpoena from the Jan. 6 committee investigation.

The attacks that will come, the attempted weakening of our government’s justice, and democratic institutions (including voting rights)… the idea that power is all that matters, tolerating cheating to get in office, like Santos, just so they have the additional vote.  Taking over government through violence, Jan 6 Coup attempt.  Exportation of these ideas to Brazil and other countries, make the rise of fascism a global problem.  We are in a true Orwellian time.   Beware what lies ahead on this very slippery slope.

The Red Ripple… not a Wave…

Election deniers, those embracing Trump’s big lie, and conspiracies, lose big.   Voters stood up for democracy and against unfounded conspiracy theories.  Thankfully reason and sanity prevailed!

How can Republican strategists and donors not be rethinking the party’s engagement to Trump?  Hopefully the GOP begins to move away from a Trumpism populist movement and back to financially conservative and socially compassionate leadership.

The center, is where America is, and it’s time leadership moves there, and the parties both start working for the benefit of the American people, and protecting democracy.

I was just thinking… why would Trump keep classified documents which he had to know would create a legal problem for him?

Ignorance is not a possible answer, as he moved them in a vain attempt to hide them, and there is no possibility he wouldn’t notice the clearly marked Top Secret labeling.

Espionage is not likely, and quite unbelievable, for if it was for profit or otherwise, the documents would never have been found, they would have been flown out of the country or destroyed after the information was sold.

Trophies and trappings of the office is possible, in that it would likely feed his insatiable ego, however, there are too many documents to even begin to show as trophies, so all though believable at a small level, it is not believable on this scale.

Everyone who has had top secret clearances, and has handled such documents, understand the sensitivity of these documents and the information to our Nation’s security… we all know anyone else would find themselves incarcerated within a day of taking such documents.

The reason which makes some sense to me, is Trump is intentionally creating this turmoil for the simple purpose to force the Dept. of Justice to indict him, and to do so at a time when Trumpism is on a rise, post-midterm elections.  Wins in the midterms will further institutionalize trumpism to the Republican Party.  There will be actions post midterms to impeach President Biden… as Trump claims he is the rightful winner of the 2020 election and as he is still the president and cannot be denied access to government documents.  He aspires to cause an uprising to reinstall him either through a special election he’ll call for or otherwise into the White House.  He is not giving up, he is still fighting and is extremely dangerous.

I have a theory about the missing Secret Service texts on and around 6 January 2021.   I believe there were some agents close to DJT who were aware of intent and request to have Mike Pence decertify the legal and fair democratic election.  The mob at the Capitol was intended to create, in-part, a pretense to get Pence out of the Capitol and somewhere Trump and his people could continue to press the issue with Pence.  When Pence said he wouldn’t play ball with the “Green Bay Sweep” then the disturbance which was started and encouraged by Trump was intended to disrupt and delay the election certification, and after he could not go to the Capitol himself, he was going to have Pence brought to him, and continue to delay and push on Pence, possibly while calling for martial law.  The text from Trump Secret Service team to the Pence Secret Service team would likely be highly revealing.  Pence refusing to leave the Capitol despite his Secret Service trying to get him into a car, was the brave move which enabled the election certification, preserving our democracy along with the hundreds of others who fought to protect the Capitol and our elected representatives.    Quite interesting these texts are lost to history… ask yourself who does this protect?

“Farcical Fascism is still Fascism”
by Charlie Sykes
The most interesting thing I heard this morning… as they discussed how Trump pursued ridiculous conspiracy theories on election fraud, including bizarre ideas that Italian satellites were changing Trump votes to Biden votes.  Laughable of course, but there were people willing to believe, willing to pursue this and willing to be his stooges in our government for the explicit purpose of overturning a free and fair election in order to maintain power, and use violence to do so… this is fascism pure and simple.   My profound fear is the next time a fascist finds his or her way to the top of our government, he or she may be more calculating and competent at manipulation of people and our government, and our democracy will die.

Fascists kill democracies.  Hitler and his Brown Shirts did exactly this in Germany of the 1930’s.  He came to power by taking advantage of runaway inflation, grievances and underlying racist lies.  Listen to Republicans trying to deflect, using inflation in equivalency to the death of democracy!

Hitler used levers of a democratic government to rise to power and then kill the democracy to become a dictator.
More recently, in the last three decades, Putin followed the same play book successfully in Russia.   Because Trump was unsuccessful and cartoonish in his approach, doesn’t make him any less of a fascist.

There is a direct line between Hitler’s Nazi’s and the MAGA crowd. If you still buy into the big lie and support the insurrection, if you still believe Trump will make America Great Again, then you are a fascist… and have no right to the term patriot.

From August 2018:

Will we learn from fascism’s history?

…on its way to a dark place.

There is a radicalization happening in the Republican Party.  Belief in the big lie of a stolen election in 2020 is no longer a fringe belief, but has become mainstream in the GOP.   Conspiracy theories offered by fringe groups such as Critical Race Theory being taught in grade school, has morphed into acception of the Great Replacement Theory within the mainstream.   The idea that Jews and a cabal of elites are bringing non-white, non-european heritage peoples into our country via immigration intentionally to change the voting demographic to disadvantage whites…  A conspiracy theory offered by white supremacists for years, is now repeated by Republican politicians.

I predict this all goes too far, and candidates supported by this newly-mainstream republican radicalization can win in primaries.  They cannot win in a general election and will ultimately fail in elections this coming fall.   The concern this raises, is what will happen next?  Where will these fringe, now-mainstream right-wing ideas evolve to?  Where do they go when they find they cannot get their grievances addressed using the democratic process.  Will they give up?  I fear they won’t and there will be violence.  They will claim the elections are rigged.   A rise of militancy, and marches, and protests, and provocative violence is coming.

Trump and others, including Fox News celebrities have helped to mainstream these ideas, and they will be consumed by them, because you cannot play, as long as they have, with fire without eventually getting burned.   Their house will eventually burn down and will have to rebuild, just as our country had to rebuild after the Civil War…. Ironically after the assassination of the founder of the GOP who rid our country of the stain of slavery… and was thus vilified by the white supremacists of the time.

May your day be blessed with joy and peace

Christ is Risen!