Semi-Fascists

 

Last week Thursday, President Biden finally called out the Rethuglicans, calling them “semi-fascists.”  Of course, the Rethugs and GQP went berserk, whining about how awful it was for the President to say such a thing about them.  Of course, they forget all the names and insults they’ve thrown not only at President Biden but Democrats too.  I think the Rethugs “doth protest too much.”

They’ve proven again and again and again that they are, at the very least, “semi” fascist.  Frankly, I’d call them full-blown.  You need look no further than what some of these characters have said and done.  Most recently, it was Senator Lindsay Graham, who went on Fox News to announce that if 45 was charged with anything, there would be rioting in the streets.  Maybe it was incitement; maybe not.  Definitely, though, it fits in with fascist SOP.  They use threats of violence to keep people in line.

Then there’s Governor Death Santis in FL.  He’s the guy that went into covid-denial overdrive and then out of left field into the subspace.  He fought with Disney (and lost) over his “Don’t Say Gay” law.  Not only are teachers and students not allowed to talk about different sexuality and genders, the original had teachers ratting kids out to their parents.  Definitely trying to turn teachers into secret police and dropped like a hot potato (I hope).   He went after corporations that would give classes regarding critical race theory with a law called Stop Woke Act.  Fortunately, I recently read a judge stopped him in his tracks there.  Even before SCOTUS betrayed us on Roe v. Wade, he was championing legislation severely restricting access to abortion.

Robert Reich wrote an opinion piece about whether this guy is a fascist and got some heat for it.  What I found most interesting was Reich’s explanation of the difference between an authoritarian and a fascist.  They’re about the same but a fascist is filled with hatred toward one or more groups.  Death Santis definitely has it in for people who are other than straight, deliberately targeting and hurting LBGTQ kids especially.

The whole formerly respectable GOP has become a hateful Rethuglican/GQP organization.

Governor Abbott in TX does not like immigrants.  Rethugs there call people trying to escape poverty and gangs further south “invaders.”  His response to the Uvalde mass killing was just appalling.  He didn’t go to any of the funerals.  Most of the children and teachers killed were not white.  Abbott doesn’t particularly care for women either, apparently.  A tale of two women: one, a woman that learned that not only would her baby not survive, she might die too.  She needed an abortion but wasn’t allowed one so she had to go out of state.  Apparently, TX was ok not only with her baby dying soon after birth, but her too.  The other example is of the woman who started to have a miscarriage when she was 18 weeks pregnant.  After losing so much amniotic fluid, doctors weren’t hopeful the baby would survive—but they were not allowed to perform an abortion even though the woman could and did become very ill with an infection.  This nightmare goes on in other red states with outlawed or severely restricted abortion laws.

Oklahoma has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country.  They also don’t like their students to learn about diverse people and sexualities.  They have joined FL, TX and other red states banning books.  Recently, they fired a teacher whose crime was to provide a link to a library that would loan a banned book to any student in the country. 

I know that white supremacy is alive and well in the “Christian” nationalists, extreme right wing militias, KKK, Nazis in America and other outrageous groups but this completely floored me:  Mississippi appeals court upholds an old Jim Crow law that would keep Black people from voting.  WTAF?  The case will be appealed up to the Supreme Court but who knows what will happen there?  After all, conservatives are in control and they all seem to be TFG supporters.

We all know HE is a fascist.  He is filled with hatred, only having love for himself.

This is why it's so important that every Democrat of voting age VOTES this November!  We want to save our democracy. 

 

We Are Hawkins

 

If you’re familiar with the popular series Stranger Things, then you know what I mean when I say the vines in the Upside Down grow deep and have been spreading.  If you’re not familiar, let me explain what the Upside Down is and about the vines: it is a place that seems very similar to our world but is sinister and peopled with evil creatures.  The Upside Down has a mind hive and one aspect of its evilness is the vines that grow and spread everywhere.  Hawkins is the town under attack from the Upside Down.

In real life, 45, his cult, his supporters, “Christian” nationalists, white supremacist militias, right wing conservative evangelicals and other extremists make up the Upside Down.  Their corruption is everywhere and easily influenced people fall under their power.  The rest of us are Hawkins, under siege but fighting back.

Another way to look at it is this: is tRump THE anti-Christ?  If he wasn’t so flat out stupid, I might think so as many real Christians have wondered.  But Jesus said that we would suffer through many “false prophets” – many anti-Christs – before THE real thing shows up.  I might be more likely to think Death Santis could be THE one but even he is probably just another of the false prophets.  Could it be Putin?  Possibly.  Jesus also said, by their deeds you shall know them.  It’s very clear now that TFG and all his followers are evil.  Just look at what they say and do.  Who the anti-Christ could be has been on my mind since reading an article in Daily Kos: Is Donald Trump The Anti-Christ?

Most recently regarding TFG, the DOJ has released a redacted affidavit the judge used to sign for the search of Mar-a-Lago by the FBI.  With each release about news regarding all the files tRump stole and hoarded, things just seem more horrifying.  As President, that man never read anything.  He wasn’t interested no matter how much his staff abridged or tried to spice it up.  So why did he take those files, many of which were of the highest security?  One: to use as blackmail.  Two: to sell to foreign agents.  Whatever the reason, they weren’t even secured.  Anyone could have accessed those files. Daily Kos ran an article not long ago wondering who actually packed the files and why?  Who else are involved?  What other “vines”?

Still thinking of those other “vines”, how about the GQP response to all these new evil revelations?  Their response that it sure looks like 45 was a treasonous foreign agent?    First Rand Paul of Kentucky suggested that the FBI planted the files and then called for repealing/doing away with the Espionage Act!

I read in another newsletter piece that TFG isn’t the source of the rot; he’s a symptom.  He didn’t create the racism, white supremacy, and right-wing extremist groups.  He just brought them into the open by embracing them.  There has always been a sickness in this country; we just weren’t so aware of it until tRump ascended.  Just look now at the governors of Florida and Texas and the fascist laws they are bringing to their states.  Look at the conservative right wing of the Supreme Court—all tRump appointees.  The white supremacist extremists and so-called “Christian” nationalists are openly plotting an overthrow of our government and creating a theocracy which is NOT based on the New Testament.  These groups and what is now the GQP/Rethuglicans have embraced violence as an acceptable way to get their way.

The vines have spread to the police and ordinary citizens.  No matter how many times there has been outrage about police violence against a person of color they have in custody, it just goes on and on.  Civility is out the window.  I just read NBC’s article about covid bullies .  There’s always been bullies and trolls online and off who take perverse pleasure in hurting people.  They didn’t seem as prevalent before.

The tentacles have spread far and wide. 

On the up side, there are enough of the Hawkins residents (us) to keep fighting off the Upside Down’s vines.  We just can’t give up because the Upside Down is a truly terrifying place in which to be trapped.

 

No, not here in America

I have so much to write about.  My head is spinning.   Originally, I was going to write about climate change.  The whole world is on fire and Mother Nature is very angry.

 

Other stuff keeps happening!   The FBI raided Mar-a-lago and retrieved 10-12 boxes of what may have been classified nuclear information.  tRump had his first wife buried on his golf course.  She was cremated and yet had a coffin so heavy it had to be carried by extra pall bearers.  Now I wonder what else was in that coffin.  It reminds me of Ocean’s 12, an old movie about a group of ex-soldiers plotting to raid several Las Vegas casinos.  They pulled it off but one of them died and the friends thought it was a good idea to put the money in the coffin.  The big twist was that the guy was cremated, coffin and all.   The whole tRump team and followers are reminding me of organized crime.  TFG is “the godfather”—the Don.  He was a hierarchy of people that serve different roles for him so that he doesn’t get his hands dirty.  They threaten anyone who is against them and willingly resort to violence to scare/silence the other parties.   So look now at what’s going on here.  You’ve got the “Teflon” Don still a large force in the GQP.  There aren’t enough of the true Republicans who will willingly cross him, especially since so many legislators, state AGs, and even regular employees have been threatened and harassed.  The whole January 6th committee have gotten death threats, particularly the two “traitors” Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger.  The GQP thugs and assorted morons have come out in strong support of the “Big Lie” and now, defunding the FBI.  That’s a retaliation tactic for the raid on tRump’s home.  Oh, and the judge who signed permission for the raid has been receiving death threats from tRump’s loyal white supremacist violent followers.   All of this is not only like organized crime families, it’s also the tactics of rising dictators.  TFG is practically in lockstep with Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Josef Stalin, Putin, and all the other current dictators of the world.  In a dictatorship, the rights of the people are wiped out.  People who resist or rebel are jailed or executed.  What the white supremacist extremist violent groups want is an all-white “Christian” country.  So what’s to happen to people of color or different religious beliefs or different sexual orientation?  I know:  we’ll have places like Auschwitz all over again if those people don’t escape first.   Do I sound hysterical?  My imagination running away with me?  Do you think, “No, this won’t happen in America!”  My answer is to do some reading and exploring of topics and don’t rely on just social media or friends.  Start with that Lewis Powell memo and then google topics like Christian nationalism.  Review European history from the 1930s to the declaration of WWII; learn about Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin.   I used to be in that “No, this won’t happen in America” group until I got busy reading.  Now I realize how deeply in peril our democracy is.  It’s up to us to stand up and try to stop the overthrow.  The legislators aren’t going to do it.  They are too busy hating each other.  It has to be us, voting and speaking up.   Here is one of several pieces about former Justice Lewis Powell’s memo that set the Rethuglicans plotting: https://robertreich.substack.com/p/the-worst-memo-in-american-history?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share   The actual memo: https://law2.wlu.edu/deptimages/Powell%20Archives/PowellMemorandumTypescript.pdf   Christian nationalism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_nationalism a good place to start   White supremacy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_supremacy Read other sources too!   White supremacist militaristic goups:  https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/mainstream-presence-of-proud-boys-other-extreme-groups-creates-mass-radicalization-fears   https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/all-american-extremism-guide-1361035/   Read, learn, vote.