As a society
we’ve been conditioned for quick gratification and sound bites. Digging deeper
requires effort. Reading requires effort. At approximately 100 words I will
have lost 50 % of the average American that voluntarily decided to read this.
By 600 words 75% will have thrown in the towel. Back in the day when I
campaigned for office with words written on paper, a.k.a. pamphlets, door
knockers, cards, etc. the statistic was that the handout would last long enough
to make it to the first trash the person passed unless the person that had it
in their hand was a litterer. (I just made up that part about littering.)
So here we go.
(113 words.) If you want to know what’s going on and do something about it
you’re going to have to start reading more than a 100 words or watch something
for more than 5 minutes. Getting involved is going to involve a lot more paying
attention.
When I was
stationed in Germany back in 1970 there was a pirate radio station playing in
another guy’s area. Over and over again some guy was saying “Kill the white
man! Kill the white man! We must rise up and kill the white man! Kill the white
man!” I was writing letters home at the time and no one else was in the room
for me to holler at “Turn that crap off!” So I just kept writing. After a while
I found myself thinking that, “yes we must kill the white man.” That’s when I
decided enough of that, got up off my butt and went and turned the radio down.
Not being mentally disturbed, I never acted on killing the white man.
I probably
didn’t listen to that for more than an hour and it was just background noise to
what I was doing and then that earworm crept into my thoughts. The Leader
pounds out his message every day. Usually I try and avoid saying “every” or
“all” this or that but he manages to do it every day. He’s been at the helm of
the hate message for three years now and people are starting to act on it.
Hate the
immigrants! Shoot the immigrants! The press is the enemy of the people, rich
Jews are behind it, etc. Every chance he gets. Pounding the message. Pounding
the message.
When
everything old is new again
Fascism is on
the rise. And it isn’t on the rise just here in the United States. It’s on the
rise in Europe. It’s on the rise in South America. In Italy they’re giving
stiff armed salutes again. Well…Italy. Home to Benito Mussolini, a.k.a. Il Duce
(the leader). The pictures are on the internet if you want to see them. Crap,
stiff armed salutes are being given in this country. Some of the same people
that are involved with the White Nationalist agenda here, like Bannon, are also
involved abroad and vice versa. The internet takes Fascists worldwide.
The last time
that Fascists had to be dealt with on a World Wide scale millions of lives were
lost. We’re heading there again.
American lives
were lost for those that have a narrow view of ‘what lives’ matter. My dad was
a part of the 6th Armored Antifa Division. He was in the Battle of
the Bulge and received a bronze star. Some of us feel a little stronger about
Fascists, Nazis and White Nationalists, et al than others. This war was already
fought once. Now they’re back claiming their rights.
This time
around they believe that President Trump and the leadership of the Republican
Party have signed onto their agenda. They have good reason to believe that,
given The Leader’s rhetoric and actions. So it’s as much a case of whether you
believe that we’re headed as a nation towards fascism or are we headed in a
good direction if White Nationalists, et al like where we’re headed. (657)
Seriously, an
actual Nazi won a Republican primary in Illinois and is on the ballot. The
Republican leadership there opined that it was the media’s fault. Ah yes, the
enemy-of-the-people-media made it happen. Cray.
A free press
stands in their way along with anti-fascists and others. If you oppose the
White Nationalists, et al agenda then you oppose them. Ultimately even the
people that want to just be left alone get involved whether it’s voluntary or
as victims.
Their Leader
is still at it. President Trump tweeted a very nice statement about visiting
the Tree of Life synagogue right up until the point where President Trump does
what he does.
“Melania
and I were treated very nicely yesterday in Pittsburg. The Office of the
President was shown great respect on a very sad & solemn day. We were
treated so warmly. Small protest was not seen by us, staged far away. The Fake
News stories were just the opposite-Disgraceful!”
For all
intents and purposes President Trump was interrupting a funeral service (Shiva)
when he went to The Tree of Life synagogue. The Secret Service locked down the
neighborhood as best they could for security concerns. The Leader just can’t
help himself. He’s the man with the bully platform. He was going to show up and
nobody was going to stop him.
The protestors
were right outside. He was being shouted at by neighbors to the Tree of Life
synagogue. There were signs across the street and media was there as well. They
showed video of the solemn event. They also showed the protestors. That’s what
media does. It’s what they’ve always done. They report what’s going on. That’s
unacceptable to The Leader and his True Believers. He could have stopped with
“We were treated so warmly.” He didn’t. (706 words.)
Where we’re
at.
President
Trump is not just the President of the United States. He is also the head of
the Republican Party. He is also The Leader of the Evangelical Party.
Now, I’m not
really going to try and make the case for why we’re headed towards fascism. You
can look up fascism and reach your own conclusions. Trump supporters will see
us going to a happy place. Others will reach different conclusions. You decide
if we’re headed for a better place. Here’s where we’re at.
The Leader
says that citizens should not be critical of the state. Only positive comments
should be allowed.
President
Trump is going to continue going to hold rallies to spread his message! The
Leader is running for President. His True Believers love him. He basks in their
adoration. He needs their adoration. He needs supplicants. When I watch one of
his rallies I watch the whole thing. If you’ve seen one you’ve pretty much seen
them all. He pounds the same message over and over. The names of the
supplicants change depending upon the venue. They come for the blessing of The
Leader.
The Leader
says that he’s the best that has ever been as well as his administration in the
history of our nation. Everything that has been done is the best that has ever
been done. He should have the Nobel Prize for what he hasn’t accomplished. Yet
somehow as good as things are we are on the brink of disaster that only he can
save us from! Mind you for 2 years Republicans have been in complete control of
our government. But, in spite of everything we are still on the brink of
disaster, of chaos. While some would call this campaign hyperbole his True
Believers believe this. COMPLETELY. This isn’t just politics as usual. True
Believers take his dark words to heart.
The Army
called out for civilian enforcement. We are being invaded by 6,000 brown people
walking to our southern border with Mexico and he is sending in the Army. If
they throw rocks he wants soldiers to return fire. That’s right. The Commander
in Chief is ordering soldiers to fire on unarmed civilians. (Meanwhile 300,000
people a day are crossing at our border with Canada.)
The country
and police forces are being militarized. (1344)
Under the
direction of The Leader, families are being separated and incarcerated.
Children are being separated from their parents. They are brown.
Muslims are
banned. (At least from ones that The Leader doesn’t have business interests
in.)
Jews are being
targeted again. (It’s a White Nationalist, et al kind of thing.)
LGBTQ citizens
are being attacked. (BTW the love the sinner hate the sin isn’t flying. Its
bullshit and people know it.)
At the
direction of the leader, brown people that have already been naturalized will
be having their citizenship revoked if possible.
The President
is talking about invalidating the 14th Amendment that provides for
citizenship for babies born here. He says that he has the authority to do so regardless
of the Constitution. The Constitution is what he says it is.
The Leader
continually says that news uncomplimentary to him is fake. If he can undermine
the 14th Amendment with the stroke of a pen what will he do with the
1st Amendment protection of the free press? He should get that pen
out again and order than no one can say anything bad about him.
Defend The
Leader. The Leader now calls himself a Nationalist as he lays the groundwork
for civil war.
Surveillance
of everything we say and do was already in place along with secret courts for
enemies of the state. How long before journalists start disappearing.
The religious
right is supporting the leader.
The Leader is also calling opposition to
Republicans in other states criminals.
Constitutional
checks and balances are not working.
It’s going to
get worse before it gets better.
In regards to
the “blue wave” every vote does matter.
It’s just that
in the polls the races are tight often with the Democrat closing the gap from
BEHIND and still behind though within the margin of error. At least the
Electoral College isn’t involved. The Senate likely will remain in control of the
Party of The Leader. The Supreme Court is also beholden to The Leader just like
the courts of the Middle East.
Say everything
in the election goes perfectly and everything falls into place and the
Democrats gain both houses. Things still aren’t going to change overnight.
There’s still The President and veto power.
The damage
done on the world stage is not going to be quickly undone. World leaders have
now observed firsthand how quickly treaties can be undone and that the Republican
Party with The Leader at the head prefers Russians and the North Koreans. The
President admires their leaders along with those of the Chinese government.
They have the model of government that he likes where The Leader has the
absolute power, where dissent is crushed and opposition is not allowed.
The trillion
dollar plus that The Leader gave to rich people is NOT coming back. That’s
unfunded deficit.
The trade war
that The Leader started will have impacts that will last years past its
resolution. (Seriously, He inherited a good economy. All he had to do was leave
it alone. Instead he started a trade war!) Small farms will go under during
this trade war. Corporate or large farming enterprises will gain their land
since their deeper pockets will better allow them to whether the storm.
If the
Democratic Party wins they will probably screw it up. (It’s hard to believe
that Nancy Pelosi is still in charge of the House.) The Democratic Party needs
to be completely restructured and if they undertake that it will take years.
What to do?
What to do?
Vote by all
means! Just don’t harbor unrealistic expectations. We have to get over the idea
of waiting for an election cycle to do something.
Doing
something in the physical world, like voting, also requires effort. Show up in
person to talk with an elected official. Make them see you.
Do not enable
violence.
At some point
churches will have to get involved. They waited until it was too late in axis
countries during WW2 and some ended up losing their lives over it.
Call racists
out! Call liars out. Call misogyny out. Call bigotry out! Call discrimination
out! Shine the light on injustice! Stand up for your fellow human beings.
Be more aware in
social media. Stop passing around stupid memes without checking them out simply
because you like the message. We need the truth. Truth is power.
Support a free
press. The real press. Press that has workers and newsrooms. Press that is more
than an instrument of the state. The First Amendment is as important as the
Second Amendment.
It’s easier to
stop a despot in the beginning than at the end AND their reign always ends.
History measures the damage and suffering caused.
Meet with
people and decide how you can make a difference; where you can make a
difference.
There isn’t
any one answer. There aren’t any easy answers. There are a thousand answers.
There are ten thousand answers. Be one of them.
But most of
all…
Be heard.
