Norm Ornstein speaks to me. From his books (It’s Even Worse Than It Looks, with Thomas Mann, and One Nation After Trump, with E.J. Dionne and Thomas Mann) to his principled fight against gerrymandering, I have admired both his intellect and his principles.
And in his recent essay in the Atlantic, he gave voice to my own political distress.
I have been immersed in national politics in Washington for five decades. Over my time here, as an academic, a congressional staffer, a think tanker, and a commentator and public figure, I have gotten to know and worked with a wide range of key actors in politics and policy. I have seen up close the changes in our politics and culture. Nothing has been more striking or significant than the transformation of the Republican Party, from a moderately conservative party to a very conservative party to something else entirely.
One sign of this change? A five-term Republican congressman from Colorado, elected in the Tea Party wave in 2010 and now a Trump loyalist, was recently defeated in a primary by a candidate who runs Shooters Grill, where servers are encouraged to carry firearms, and who has indulged the QAnon conspiracy theories and who is now endorsed, not repudiated, by the National Republican Congressional Committee. Another? The current buzz surrounding Tucker Carlson as the party’s hope in 2024—even as he takes sudden leave from his show to go fishing, after one of his writers was tied to racist and misogynistic posts on an internet message board.
Those of us of a. “certain age” would agree with Ornstein that “old-time” Republicans would be appalled by the party’s ethnic and anti-immigrant animus and deliberate efforts to stoke racial division. Although the GOP has always had a rightwing, nativist fringe–just as the Democrats have always had a collectivist fringe– when I was Republican, they were, for the most part, consigned to that fringe.
The party of Nixon, with all its pathologies, created the Environmental Protection Agency, proposed a health-care-reform plan as sweeping as the later Affordable Care Act, and considered offering Americans a guaranteed annual income on a par with Andrew Yang’s universal basic income. The party of Reagan, which tried to cut Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, and which slashed taxes in 1981, precipitating ballooning deficits, also cut deals with Democratic Representative Henry Waxman to bolster Medicare and Medicaid; championed bipartisan Social Security reform in 1983; and supported tax increases in 1982, 1983, 1985, and 1986 to offset the earlier cuts and reduce the deficits. The party responsible for Iran-Contra is also the party that championed democracy and moved in concert with Democrats to create the National Endowment for Democracy, the United States Institute of Peace, the National Democratic Institute, and the International Republican Institute.
Many of the Republicans with whom Ornstein worked exemplified “institutional patriotism,” which he defines as a concern for the integrity of Congress as an institution, and a commitment to checks and balances.
Unfortunately, they were unable to transfer those values to succeeding generations, or to overcome the regional shift in American party politics, the rise of manipulative leaders, and the growing influence of extremist tribal media.
Ornstein tells us what we all know: that whatever it is that has taken the place of that GOP “has thrown away its guiding values and embraced its darkest instincts.”
It has blown up long-standing norms in the Senate, creating divisions that outstrip anything I have seen before; done nothing about rank corruption in the White House and the Cabinet; accepted the politicization of the Justice Department and lies from the attorney general; avoided any meaningful oversight of misconduct; and failed to curb attacks on the independence of inspectors general.
The article goes into considerable detail about Ornstein’s political biography–the Senators and staff with whom he worked, and the ability that afforded him to see public servants up close, to evaluate their sincerity and integrity. I encourage you to click through and read it in its entirety.
But the sentence that really resonated with me was the following:
Plenty of the Republicans I dealt with in the past were fierce partisans, including Dole and John Rhodes. But when pushed, they put country first.
When the sniveling sycophants beholden to the conspiracy theorists and bigots that make up today’s GOP “base” are pushed, they put their own prospects above country– and arguably even above the long-term best interests of their party.
I think Comrade Putin has dirt on those who flipped from hating Trump to doing his laundry. That is the only thing that makes sense to me. Putin pulls the strings. On Donald and on the Senate Republican “leaders”.
Sheila; I to was a 40 year dedicated Republican, a campaign worker for Luger, and contributor to the MCRC, served as a PC , vice PC worked the polls and managed campaigns. They had a platform that there were pome planks I didn’t like and I worked to change, and I never hated the Democrats but was willing to debate them over the issues of the day always looking for that common ground, But starting with Newt, I saw the party start changing, then with Norquest with at government small enough to drown in a bath tub, Just is saying that and finding traction with it. My question was who is going to drown it and what replaces it after the drowning.
The GOP changed the campaign money flowing into political campaigns by Oligarchs wanting a piece of the privatization of our government is frightening, and the rise of Trump could seal the deal and our democracy will be lost. I have no interest in what the Republican Party of Trump is today except to destroy it, and it requires pitchforks and torches at the door count me in. I want a fair and honest government big enough to to do want is determined by the people needs to be done, and that’s not what we have today.
Reagan was the front man for the smoke screen all these “democratic institutions” were floating out from under the doors of the back rooms where the corporatists like Donald Regan were working ever so hard to implement Lewis Powell’s manifesto.
The GOP has never really been about democracy or the well-being of the people who have made their donors rich. They are based in corruption. All it took was a lunatic hate monger to expose their true colors. I don’t understand why so many are so surprised that the Republican party “morphed” into this corrupt monster. They’ve always been that way under the surface and behind the smoke.
In other news, Senator Ron Johnson continues to be Putin’s operative in the Senate. He, John Kennedy from Louisiana and a few others took that trip to Moscow early in the Trump era. Why did they do that? Nobody is willing to dig into those reasons. Why not?
Many of us on this blog have been bashing Republicans and Trump on a daily basis, but, unlike today’s blog, have ignored the inbred and inherent insidiousness of the Republican party. They’ve ALWAYS been against Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, public education funding, and anything else that smacks of the New Deal or other Democratic initiatives that enhance the living conditions and opportunities of working class people.
Forget the poor. BOTH parties continue to fail to address the rampant poverty that drives people into the streets armed with their most expensive possession, their gun. And here we are… Shooting each other in the streets just as Putin wants us to do. Whacko QAnon entities are just another symptom of the gutting of our social fabric. Just ask what their motives would be.
In her book, Democracy in Chains, Nancy MacLean tells the story of the Koch network of billionaires and how they gained control of the Republican Party. Sheila, it would be great if you would review it here and answer that question. thanks
Vernon,
“They’ve ALWAYS been against Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, public education funding, and anything else that smacks of the New Deal or other Democratic initiatives that enhance the living conditions and opportunities of working class people.”
From at least the early 70s, just as you have pointed out over and over in your books. Now it’s simply White against Black [Trump doesn’t have a Black son-in-law, but Joe Biden has a Black running mate] very similar to what Pastor Martin Niemoller said in the ’30s in Germany about the Jews:
“First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me”
I would strongly suggest, that some of you on this blog should start worrying about “ME.”
If it’s going to be WHITE AGAINST BLACK, who do you think is going to win that election. The polls are already picking-up that reality.
This is why you MUST have a MOVEMENT outside of party politics, along with the Democratic Party hopefuls, if you want to beat the BEAST.
I’ve mentioned it before, but “Coup d’ Etat: A practical handbook-A brilliant guide to taking over a nation” by Edward Luttwak (A Fawcett Premier Collection, Greenwich, Conn, 1968) is where we need to start to understand our present predicament, so that we can create an effective MOVEMENT before it’s TOO LATE.
Frank,
We’ve been discussing the Koch Brothers for over five years on this blog. History isn’t the answer at this point in time. It has to be EFFECTIVE ACTION, or all will be lost in a matter of weeks.
I cannot allow myself to underestimate the power that fear unleashes on the masses, and the Trumpublican Party has mastered that tactic. Current events give tooth to the fear, and every time a violent incident erupts during an otherwise peaceful protest, the numbers in favor of the right increase. I am losing confidence in the D’s ability to rally the voters to show up in numbers enough to win either the White House or the Senate in 2020, but I continue to look for ways to take action to make that happen and do what I can. I am taking part in a letter-writing campaign from the Sierra Club, and have recently gotten involved with a group called FairVote. Whatever you decide to do, it is vital for as many people as possible to participate in efforts to get out the vote.
James,
“Whatever you decide to do, it is vital for as many people as possible to participate in efforts to get out the vote.” Couldn’t agree more.
Trump/Bannon misperceived/miscalculated from the beginning. We don’t have to lose this battle. It’s ours to win.
Think PEISNET, the movement. It’s now the time to “move.”
“I am losing confidence in the D’s ability to rally the voters to show up in numbers enough to win either the White House or the Senate in 2020, but I continue to look for ways to take action to make that happen and do what I can.”‘
James; I have already lost all confidence in the D’s ability to rally the Ds; how can they unite others when they remain splintered themselves? But; like you I will continue to look for ways to take action, do what I can, continue donating what I can and continue whining, crying, pissing and moaning about the fact that the Ds refuse to unite the party in order to strengthen it.
Pat: “I think Comrade Putin has dirt on those who flipped from hating Trump to doing his laundry. That is the only thing that makes sense to me. Putin pulls the strings. On Donald and on the Senate Republican “leaders”.”
In the criminal world, the boss doesn’t need blackmail fodder on every underling; the boss, in this case, Putin, only needs dirt on Trump. With that, Putin, can expect Trump to acquire blackmailable data on his own under-bosses, McConnell, et al, whatever it takes to keep them in line.
Whatever else we have here, we at least have a demand economy for private detectives with all the gadgets. Which gives me an idea for another sarcastic political painting.
Ornstein must have been snorting lunch in the 80s if he didn’t see what Reagan/Thatcher was doing. The only reason there was a huge deficit is Ronny slashed taxes on the rich while he began the assault on worker’s unions. Not to mention the privatization of public institutions in an attempt to shrink the government.
Roger Ailes was dictating much of the mentally incapacitated POTUS’s policies before joining Fox News.
As mentioned above, the Koch brothers took over the GOP but then abandoned the national picture when Trump started to do his own thing. They are still funding down-ticket candidates and meeting behind closed doors with public representatives to pass out boiler-plate legislation beneficial to the Oligarchy.
How does a rational person explain all the stock market indices performing at record levels when our economy is facing the worst conditions in its history?
To keep with the theme of “connecting the dots,” who is robbing the treasury at the expense of the working classes?
#WakeUP
Perspective: World War II 1941–45 Deaths 405,399, Deaths per day 297 (“Deaths per day” is the total number of Americans killed in military service, divided by the number of days between the dates of the commencement and end of hostilities.)
On Feb. 29, the authorities announced that a patient near Seattle had died from the coronavirus, in what was believed to be the first corona virus death in the United States at the time.
As of Today we have 182,000 deaths from Corona in the USA. That is an average of 1,005 deaths per day by Corona. We have had more deaths per day from Corona than we had from Americans killed in military service per day in World War 2.
Think about how many have been touched by the death of a loved one or friend since Corona appeared in the USA. There are also the bills for treatment for survivors of Corona or the bills to families for those who were treated and died. Millions of unemployed with no way to pay their bills.
Corona could not have been stopped. It could have been mitigated if The Trumpet and Pastor Pence had taken decisive action and followed the advice of Medical Professionals and Scientists. That is not the way it happened, instead The Trumpet’s wishes, whims and dreamland thinking guided the approach to Corona.
Wed, Aug 5 2020 At a White House briefing, the US president said of Covid-19: “It’s going away, it will go away, things go away, absolutely. No question in my mind, sooner rather than later.”
And, challenged on his assertion that US schools should reopen fully after the summer break because children are “virtually immune” to corona virus, Trump said at the briefing that he was “talking about them not getting very sick”.
In fact, children can catch, pass on and die from Covid-19.
The Democrats cannot let The Trumpet and Pastor Pence off the Hook. They must hammer home the message are you better off now than before The Trumpet Pastor Pence Regime took over???
When it comes to political parties bouncing back from a stinging defeat, I have always been very optimistic. After every such loss, the political party experiencing it has bounced back. Also, when someone suggests something is unique, i.e. unprecedented, in American politics, I could always point to an example of it happening before.
That’s why it is surprising that I have to agree that we are in unprecedented times. Most of the objectionable things Trump does have no historical precedent whatsoever. Also, for the first time, I think it very possible the Republican Party is not going to survive this period. Here’s why:
Absent wide scale cheating (very possible) or a dramatic shift in the polls, Trump is likely to lose, perhaps by quite a bit. But his influence on the party is not likely to end. He will remain eligible to run in 2024 and given his love for attention, he’s likely going to keep hinting at that possibility until the last possible moment. He will freeze the field.
Trumpism is a personality cult that has overtaken the Republican. The RNC confirmed that being a Republican isn’t a commitment to a set of principles outlined in a party platform, but a commitment to whatever agenda “Dear Leader” chooses to follow
But a party that doesn’t stand for anything, but support of one individual, is not a party with a future. It will eventually fade away. (This is even more true when you look at demographics and that the GOP’s base is drastically shrinking.) In that regard, there is actual precedent. Alexander Hamilton was the leader of the Federalist Party. When he was killed by Aaron Burr in the infamous duel, the Federalist Party, which had abandoned having a coherent set of principles, was rudderless. It never recovered.
If the GOP dies, another more conservative party will rise up to replace it. But that could take 15-20 years. In the meantime, the Democratic Party will pretty much be able to do whatever it wants, having control of the White House, both houses of Congress and, eventually, the federal courts. The GOP may just fade away during the interim, only able to win election in the reddest of states and districts.
As a non-Trump conservative Republican, it concerns me the GOP may not survive. But what concerns me even more these days is that our democratic Republic may not survive. Trump clearly wants to be an authoritarian and is willing to do whatever is necessary to accomplishing that. One thing that may save us though is that Trump does not have the intelligence of the many autocrats he admires. If he did, Trump could be sitting at 55% approval and on track to win re-election.
James and JoAnn,
Relax. Donald Trump is an expert at driving Democratic turnout. There has not been an election since 2016 in which President Donald Trump did not maximize Democratic turnout. Polls that measure enthusiasm for each candidate overlook the fact that Democrats don’t have to be enthused about Joe Biden (though I think they’re underestimating his appeal…he is the perfect person for these times), Democrats are going to the polls to defeat Donald Trump. Virtually every election involving a President seeking re-election, is a referendum on that President. Democrats wanted to nominate a candidate that wouldn’t change that formula and they accomplished it by nominating Biden.
Todd – right on! I have been weeks in waiting to write an essay on the Dow’s performance in the midst of a deepening recession, and as a preview, I think with the Fed’s buying corporate stock and even junk bonds and with promises to print money for corporations should their Dow falter that we have completely lost the fictions in textbooks that corporations compete with one another in re which can most efficiently offer their goods and services in the marketplace. There is little demand in today’s economy for goods and services in the midst of both health and economic crises and thus it is impossible to meet the textbook criterion. So now we have Powell telling us that the Fed will “average” inflation using numbers in advance of the ideal of two percent in order to meet the Fed’s twin congressional mandates of fighting inflation and unemployment. That “averaging” is another expression of support for the Dow but raises prices for corporate workers who are mired in wage inequality and a federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour that hasn’t been adjusted for over eleven years! Strange, isn’t it, that corporate relief is available almost instantly while minimum wage workers hope for relief is going on 12 years!
Philosophically, Keynes rightly held the view that we should get into deficit spending during recessions and depressions and pay back via higher taxation during the good times thereafter. With the current corporate giveaways on steroids (all of which favor the wallets of the investing rich and not corporate workers, who on the contrary would be stuck with higher prices due to inflation), it seems that the Fed is selectively Keynesian, like why don’t we see an emphasis on the unemployment side of its congressional mandate? Why doesn’t the Fed attack wage inequality with the same ferocity it attacks a downturn in the Dow? Campaign contributions?
My preview is running into my planned substance, so I’ll end it here – but the foregoing will give you the idea and a taste of what’s to come. As for the topic today, the Republican Party has long been en route to the Whigdom from which it arose in 1854. Reagan started it with his destruction of the remnants of the New Deal, union busting and gigantic tax cuts for the rich, and Trump is speeding its descent with his threats of firing Powell or anyone else who stands in his way of fleshing out his dictatorial designs. The Republican Party should now be more properly known as The Authoritarian Party, occupying the usual niche between democracy and dictatorship. It is our task to refuse to be the “Good Germans” of the early 1930s.
While I agree with most all comments today I’m struck by the old quote attributed to the late Speaker Tip O’Neil who said “all politics is local”. I think we worry too much about national movements and change (they ARE important) but then forget that where we can have the most impact is at the state and local level. If you haven’t yet adopted one ore more non-GOP candidates for the General Assembly it’s not too late. Volunteer to phone bank and/or write post cards or, at minimum, write a check – a little goes a long way.
The Indiana General Assembly has drifted so far to the right in the past 30 years and especially since the GOP claimed supermajorities one both houses plus the Gov’s mansion that Indiana is locked in a tight race to the bottom of all states with Mississippi in most measures of social and economic well-being. We need a movement right here – back home in Indiana. Right now.
As for me I’m campaigning by phone for Aimee Rivera Cole, running against House Speaker Todd Huston, a professional lobbyist for Educational Testing Service, a company with profound financial interests in public education. I’m also supporting Shelli Yoder, who is running for IN State Senate in Monroe County. There are either no Democratic candidates running against the Senator and Reps in my County or, if there are, they simply have no chance of winning.
Thanks!
I don’t vote in Indiana but reside here seasonally from Florida, where I may not return as usual in Occtober what with an epicenter of the virus located there and a crazy governor who would rather out-Trump Trump than save the lives of Floridians. Florida with a population roughly one fourth that of Germany has a death count of over 10,000, more than Germany. I’m thinking snow this winter for the first time in many winters while awaiting a safe vaccine and, hopefully, a sane new president.
“Donald Trump is an expert at driving Democratic turnout.”
Paul; you will get no argument from me on that issue but…the THREE MILLION more popular votes for Hillary and the more than SEVEN MILLION votes for Jill Stein and Gary Johnson drove someone to turn out at the polls. The question is how many of those SEVEN MILLION were votes against Trump, how many against Hillary and how many against both because Bernie wasn’t nominated? The fact that Bernie dropped out again but remained on the ballot at the Convention is a bad sign and I have already seen too many stating they don’t want to vote for Biden and recommending people vote for Libertarian or Green party. We are going to have to place our hopes on local and state elections to oust Republicans. I fully support Joe Biden and Kamala Harris but see a repeat appointment of Trump by the Electoral College.
I hear no echos of “Hail To The Chief” in our future but a funeral dirge for our nation.
JoAnn, the difference between now and 2016 is that Trump wasn’t President in 2016. Many people who voted for Trump were actually anti-Hillary voters and, while they did not like Trump, they thought Trump was a safe alternative because he would be surrounded by good, competent men and women in his administration and would be held in check by Congress. Even I, who knew Trump’s history and thought him nothing more than a clown, never thought he would be this bad and this dangerous.
In 2016, Democratic turnout was down, especially in key constituencies such as African-Americans. Many D voters did not like Hillary Clinton so they stayed home instead of vote for Trump. African-American turnout for Democrats was off like 6%, the first decline in years. Trump narrowly won the election, just by 78,000 votes in three states. That AA decline in turnout, Jill Stein and the targeted effort by Russia, could have easily made up that difference. Oh, and let’s not forget the one person on the planet most responsible for President Donald Trump: James Comey. Hillary’s numbers fell several points after he reopened the email investigation right before the election, a falloff she never recovered from.
Since 2016, it’s been a different story. In virtually every special election in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020, and certainly the mid-terms in 2018, the Democratic turnout has been through the roof. Now that he’s been in office, they see how bad Trump is and are chomping at the bit to get to the polls to vote against Trump.
Democratic turnout will be fine. And mark my words, a higher percent of Democrats will vote for Biden than Republicans who will vote for Trump. The D’s have never been this motivated and unified.
In a normal situation, Biden would heading to an easy victory, maybe even a landslide. I would be much, much more worried about Trump cheating and using the Justice Department to try to steal the election.
Actually, I am hearing from a lot of people their determination to Dump Trump. Hopefully, this translates into movement to the polls on election day.
As someone who years ago scheduled people to work the polls, there were always last minute cancellations by poll workers for one reason or another. This year we have the extra dimension of Corona out there. Will the various polling places have their acts together??? I am voting absentee.
Paul’s comment:
“In a normal situation, Biden would heading to an easy victory, maybe even a landslide. I would be much, much more worried about Trump cheating and using the Justice Department to try to steal the election.”
I can also visualize a Dark Army of The Trumpet’s Lawyers and the Justice Department (actually at this point a wholly owned subsidiary of The Trumpet) contesting the results every step of way. He may even try to rally his rabble to guard the WH when the results of defeat are apparent. The Trumpet knows he will be facing the music in court once he vacates the WH.
What’s changed about the Republican Party is this: They scent the intoxicating possibility of permanent one-party rule, with total and unchallenged dictatorial power and the unlimited power to loot and persecute that comes with it. They’re going for all the marbles, now and forever.
Democracy doesn’t matter; popular majorities don’t matter, and laws don’t matter, as long as they can use the power of the state to seize and cement permanent control of the mechanism of government through all the means that have been discussed on this and other patriotic and progressive blogs: blatantly partisan manipulation of the justice system and law-enforcement, an entrenched partisan judiciary, bullhorn-calls to racism and religious bigotry, pervasive gerrymandering, selective voter suppression, manipulation of voting locations and times and methods, the distorting effect of the Electoral College, hardball obstruction and manipulation of every part of the government that they already control (such as the Senate.) And if despite all these tactics, they still lose an election, they have other ratf***s lined up: lawsuits, compliant state legislators who will refuse to certify any vote that doesn’t go the Party’s way, or simply denouncing the election and refusing to step down. Law enforcement and the military politically skew right, after all. Would they balk at a command to keep “their guy” in power?
They’re making their big push for Final Victory. All of it, now & forever.
Shortly after sneering at the “collectivist fringes” of the Democrats, Sheila, you then outline a series of behaviors by Republicans that you ascribe to what I’d call out as hyper-individualism.
We’re falling apart because our lives are interlaced with advertising telling us that we deserve it all, a life of thrills and comfort. We’re spoiled, coddled, and milked for money we should save for better things, maybe even for others.
Oops, I revealed my collectivist leanings.
Felix,
“They’re making their big push for Final Victory. All of it, now & forever.”
You couldn’t say it any better.
The problem with the Republican Party is like the mythical frog in a pot of water. Each election cycle they compromised with more bad actions. Sheila, you mentioned the positive actions of Nixon and Reagan, which are true, but looking at the bad side — I thought Nixon was terrible, prolonging the war, red-baiting, Southern strategy, hit list (my brother was a law clerk for someone on that list), telling Hanoi to wait for a better deal? — and he was a crook, Checkers speech of not — but then we got Reagan – Philadelphia, MS loving, union–buster, deficit creator, secret cabal to bypass Congressional oversight, secret dealing with Iran (maybe before the election), and protected by people who hid the bipartisan S&L scandal so that it wouldn’t happen on his watch, thus inflating the losses
I thought he was the worst and then we got W
Never again will I think it can’t get worse – it did
It is like the Niemoeler lines that Marv quoted – first they purged the Rockefeller Republicans ….
As for the future of the Party, it depends upon the strength and patience of those that want that name back (rather than creating a new center-right party). Almost 50 years ago, I was taught how to take over an organization by waiting patiently for its near dissolution and then sweeping in to take control – of course, at that time, I was more concerned with finishing college, but there may be people with the patience (maybe having to wait until after 2024) to reclaim the Party. For myself, I wouldn’t mind a short period of a very weak Republican Party to allow the country to return to arguing between center-right and center-left with others pulling on both sides. After that, I really don’t care if they are “Republicans”, “Whigs”, “The American Tory Party”, or some new inventive name. My old days studying “poli sci” suggested that a robust two party system was the most successful political situation.
Len,
“I thought he was the worst and then we got W
Never again will I think it can’t get worse – it did”
Right. Now we’ve got Y. How did we end up with him? We need to look back to W, that’s where our answer, if there is any, lies.
The next day, after W was elected, I called Dennis Hayes who was then the Staff Attorney for the N.A.A.C.P. and explained to him that Bush would take us toward FASCISM [not theocracy like his father]and he did just that. He laid the groundwork for America’s “third force movement,”
the TEA PARTY which Y, eventually, hijacked for his own purposes.
“Y” should be the name of a new movie or some type of video. That’s why I purchased TrumpCard.video 7 days after he announced he was going to run for the presidency.
It looks like we need Oliver Stone again. He helped me take on John Grisham [they are mortal enemies]. See http://www.KillingtheMessenger.info.
Len,
We’re DEFENSELESS. Almost total. It’s neither the 1% that’s continually discussed on this blog, nor the 10th of 1% that Chomsky maintains, but the 10th of the 10th of the 1% that we need to be concentrating on, if we’re to have any chance of getting rid of Trump.
How did the 10th of the 10th of the 1% pull this COUP off so far? It’s called: DOMESTIC VIRAL WARFARE, the release of a lethal Virus of the Mind from a continuously, moving, platform.
The Pro-Democracy force’s only chance left is to destroy the PLATFORM. It’s as simple as that.
Professor Bertram Gross saw all of this coming in his book: “Friendly Fascism: The New Face of Power in America” (South End Press, Boston, 1980)p.xiii & 9:
EVIS AMONG US
Evil is no faceless stranger
living ina distant neighborhood.
Evil has a wholesome, hometown face,
with merry eyes and an open smile.
Evil walks among us, wearing a mask
which looks like all our faces.
The Book of Counted Sorrows
Also:
Arturo Ui, referring to Adolph Hitler:
Let none of us exult too soon,
The womb is fruitful
From which this one crawled . . .
Bertolt Brecht
“The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui”