The biggest one thing we could do, after modifying the Electoral Count Law & passing voting rights this year…would be to rid ourselves of the evening Propagandists at FOX. They’ve poisoned the minds of 35-45% of our Nation.
Please help me understand where current law enforcement fits in. Isn’t it illegal to call for and pursue insurrection? Why is Bannon able to lay out a clear plan to topple our democracy and then go out to dinner? Why are the wealthy elite funding this effort allowed to fund it? I see the danger. I don’t need to wake up. I need to know what an average law-abiding person can do about it. Should we be pressuring electeds to act, news organizations to report on the danger, democracy supporters to donate to democrats at every level in every state? Urging businesses to understand that all bets are off for freedom to earn profits in an authoritarian state so they best stop funding Republicans? Is it too late for all that?
I agree & what can individuals do, time is scarce. Grassroots reaching is good, but more is needed ,,, and thru what venue?
It almost feels like a voter movement of quick study education. Repetition of a few clear talking points. With the rich background Ruth has provided, now must be synthesized into repetitive small soundbites. ( oh! Bring back the bumper stickers, jk).
The taste of greed has led to widespread slippage to acceptance of Public Corruption as fashionable & enviable.
You are so right. The business, financial aspect is a good side of the prism to address. If the midterms go all to the R, it begins the targeted erosion of higher ed, expertise, the arts and innovation.
The death of innovation leadership from America would be felt globally.
I would be interested in any further thoughts on what venue is effective...
Having witnessed the effects of corruption, I have always longed for a National Awareness Day where these effects are explained to the citizenry.
Pardon my bluntness, but in that scenario the citizenry are pawns in a game.
I feel people need to know potential end results -- to family units-- and potential business / industry lo$$es to scorch our collective brains to snap-out of this comatose state.
I believe Bannon (and Laura Ingraham) are the architects of a lot of Trump's twisted thinking and beliefs.
I so appreciated Ruth saying today that we have to repeat our messages over and over. Everything else gets lost in the relentless noise and lies we hear every day. Plus, Americans aren't the deepest of thinkers. The repetition is ESSENTIAL and the message should be simple and emotional. The eliteist of the elites on the right understand this.
I just recently discovered the fabulous Ruth Ben-Ghiat, another American female truth-warrior who has leapt to the defense our precious and imperiled Democratic Republic. I have subscribed to her newsletter, Lucid, at the $5/Mo. deal and when I opened it I was very pleased to see a conversation between Ruth and the great Malcolm Nance. I feel like I know this amazing fellow as I own all of his several excellent books. It was somewhat comforting to read what Malcolm wrote, that the American military will stand up to the coming white trash insurgency and crush it. As a thirty-year veteran of Naval Intelligence, Malcolm knows the military very well and when he says what he says about its inherent resistance to political extremism I tend think he knows whereof he writes. Folks, it is now the time for all good women and men to come to the aid of their country, to paraphrase the typing class drill I recall from high school more than five decades ago. We must, to paraphrase Gandalf standing on the ramparts of a besieged Minas Tirith, throw these foul creatures back into the abyss at the polls in the fall of 2022. Our electoral victory needs to be overwhelming!
Yep, sociopaths lie and have no empathy for others. Psychopaths seem to be even more destructive to others. Thanks for reminding us....most of us were saying sociopath very early in the 2015-16 debate cycle, and I blocked him on Twitter as soon as he attacked ex-Gov Bush as I could see the sociopathy and won't put up with liars in my midst.
I have been writing to my friends for the last 3 years that Donald J. Tramp (intentional spelling) is a Dictator in waiting. And Putin has been pulling strings for him behind the scenes. And Facebook is a co-conspirator and obviously Fox News and the other DARK media are too. And why the hell was Pence, Michael (not the good one) in Hungary kissing ass with Victor Orban?
I was scolded by my (otherwise intelligent) attorney boss shortly after the 2016 election when I called Trump insane and the head of a crime syndicate. He scoffed and thought I was being unreasonable and overwrought, and he never has gotten in touch with me to tell me how right I was lol
Tagging on to the last line: "And don't forget environmental collapse." The enemy is us, that's easy to see. The answer is not, but I know that it entails a systemic change from permanent hierarchy to flexible heterarchical forms of local governance.
part of the Authoritaruan Drive to install Trump and a line of Trumpian GQP Dick-Tators … Trump, Flynn, DeSantis, Hirdan, Nunes, etc. to rule America, plunder it’s resources on State & Federal lands (as Putin & his oligarchs did, 1991 to now… although they’re running out of riches to pilfer). I think Putin & oligarchs have Kompromat on The GOPers… & are pressuring Trump & Co. to keep accepting campaign cash from Moscow & give Vlad a percentage of the spoils of America once Trumpism is in power. The impending climate disaster is providing the GQP with the attitude that “this planet won’t be livable for all humanity by 2070, so we’re going to take ‘ours’ and enjoy it while we can…”
Ever since Trump said he was running, and then became the choice of the Republican party , I knew he could win and I already had a pit in my stomach. I've been in amazement how people fall for his ignorant comments and rants but then I realize they are my neighbors, even some family members can see "his side"....He's a dangerous man leading people who feel that they are victims and feel "the other people" , the immigrants, people of color or different religion are taking advantage and taking over. My mom survived world war II. She was a war bride from England and my Dad served there. When people, when countries look the other way at the evil , no matter how salient, is rising, there is danger for all. I hope and pray we don't continue to look away.
Donald J. Trump has been a liar and cheat most if not all of his adult life - just ask all those who believed him (and in him) who bought into Trump University training or the HUNDREDS of buyers of the condos at the Trump Ocean Resort in Baja California, Mexico all who sued him for fraud costing him millions to settle (and then there's the Trump football team, wine, ties, casinos, etc., etc., etc. - all falling in failure because he's a con not a businessman!!)
Thankful for those like Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Malcolm Nance, and many others who keep shining the light on Trump, the deceived millions who still support him, and the Psychophants masquerading as legislators seeking their own advantage by playing up to his self-aggrandizing ego.
Trump's business behavior and political behavior reflect his mental state of being a sociopath (APD). Psychopaths and sociopaths are the most vile, treacherous people in the Human Race. Sociopaths have no conscience, nor remorse for having caused pain in others. They are infamous for cruelty, cold bloodedness, a lack of empathy, rage, manipulation of others, unlawfulness, deceitfulness and grandiosity. They are lacking traits that make people virtuous. Jeffry Dahmer, John Gacy, Ted Bundy and Hitler were all sociopaths, just like Trump. They will murder without blinking an eye.
"Out of touch with the mood" - meaning who? certainly not all those fans here of Ruth Ben-Ghiat and Malcolm Nance who are against the creeping autocracy and demagoguery of Donald John Trump, the millions of those still deceived into following him (would that be YOU given your comment?), and all the RINOs masquerading as "Republican's" sucking up to him and trying to take over our Republic by legislating voter suppression in multiple states!!
"Collective denial" - Malcolm Nance used this term, in this exceptionally insightful interview; backed with his expertise & supported in his views by our productive and compassionate, President Biden. (Please review Pres. Biden's speech 1/6/2022, against the trumpery & chaos of the GOP & followers. Ex: "We saw it with our own eyes. Rioters menaced these halls, threatening the life of the Speaker of the House, literally erecting gallows to hang the Vice President of the United States of America.”) Collective denial is you, unfortunately epitomized in your comment.
Sincerely,
NOT "you all" & NOT part of your gross generalization about the "mood" since the attempted murder of our Democracy, by Donald and his COUP Cabal; on Jan. 6, 2021; at our beloved Capitol. Thank you for listening.
Because we know that Trump, Kevin McCarthy, and many others are unfit intellectually to lead a nation with no Constitution, chaos, violence, are followers also remotely aware that nothing good can come from a Trump tyrannical reign?
Cognitive warfare or hacking of the mind has been going on for decades. They are aware of only their Dear Leader, whom they believe is the only one who can "fix it." The GOP leaders fear their loss of power, their white supremacy. The fear of the loss of power corrupts absolutely. Everything merges to "state", which provides order. There's one religion Christian (Evangelicalism). Theocracy develops, along with authoritarianism,MHO.
Thank you for this, Sandra. There is a very illuminating lesson to be learned from T.E. Lawrence when he was seeking the solace of obscurity. He wrote the entry for "Guerrilla Warfare" in the Encyclopedia Britannica and outlined the basis of mass psychological warfare. His observations help us to understand what Bannon and his ilk are doing to all of us. https://www.britannica.com/topic/T-E-Lawrence-on-guerrilla-warfare-1984900
Viet Nam and Afghanistan were both essentially guerrilla warfare. Reason why US couldn't "beat" either, and why Russians also failed in Afghanistan. An F18 Top Gun pilot who bombed Afghanistan told me in 2010 that it was impossible to win there due to terrain, too, which is well known.
Thank you for this, Linda. A Russian doctor in the Soviet Army told me exactly the same thing about their experiences in The Land of the Shitty Vodka. I can imagine the British saying the same thing all the way back to 1842.
Christianity is only a "cover" for seditionists/white supremacists by which they hope to attract followers, achieve acceptability and communicate. Putin, Hitler and others reject(ed) religion. I'm beginning to remember that psychologists say some people are addicted to their own adrenalin rush they get from violence, anger, and that it's typical of prisoners. Trump loves conflict among others he has said, let alone himself and others...told an aide in 2016 after win he wanted "a fight everyday as president, which I win." He has "self addiction" worse than narcissism.
Trump sees himself as a demigod, which springs from his sociopathic grandiosity. He belongs in a mental institution, where he cannot cause any more destruction to society.
If you are young and brave, run for office, whether it be school board, city council, city election official or poll worker or poll watcher. You have to be brave, because these people are under assault. That's how they take over, with fear and anger. Vote of course & help someone else to vote, like driving them to polls when you go.
We will continue to push to the Abyss as long as Tucker Carlson, Hannity, Ingraham, Pirro, Kirk, Bannon, Levin, A Jones, Prosobiec, etc., lie to their followers.
If FOX would get rid of Tucker, Ingraham, Hegseth, Pirro & Hannity… it could go a long way to reversing this trend. Even if the Murdoch’s did this, it’d take 2 generations to get back to where we were in 1980, when Reagan tanked The Fairness Doctrine
I would like to know what we citizens should do right now. I have studied totalitarian regimes for years, and I fear we have tipped into a dangerous crevasse. If the Dems won’t move to prosecute, quickly, I believe we are through. Other than pressuring the Democrats and Garland, what else is there? We are awake. But we need leaders to lead.
See my reply above.Run for a local office--school board, city council, volunteer to be a poll worker or poll watcher (info is likely on your SOS web site). Realize you must be brave because these people are under assault. That's how GOP gain power--through fear & anger.
On the prospect of Garland doing anything serious about the saboteurs of American democracy, see the tweets at @SethAbramson today beginning, “AG Merrick Garland said all correct things today.” A 25-tweet thread plus a 5-tweet conclusion. Garland appears to be the Joe Manchin of federal law-enforcement.
Not very many people might know this, but Garland appears to be a great admirer of post WG AG Edward Levi (has a pic of him hanging on wall of DOJ lounge outside his office I read).Levi was a return to normalcy after criminal Nixon.He raised morale in DOJ (which was very low), investigated abuse of CIA & FBI by past Presidents & Congressmen, testified before Congress on secret files of Hoover & gave docs to Church committee.After WG, we codified the prosecution of a POTUS by creating position of Independent Counsel (like Starr), appointed by Congress, approved by a 3 judge panel & overseen by a fed judge. All 3 gov branches must be involved to prosecute a POTUS. As soon as SCOTUS rules on Executive privilege of Trump, we will have all 3 elements. Jan6C given legislative purpose by Judge Chutkan, Biden waived EP & DC prosecutor prosecutes. Jan6C can send criminal referral, but it remains DOJ's job to enforce the law. I believe we mirrored impeachment of POTUS, also requires 3 branches. DOJ appoints Special Counsel (like Mueller), House prosecutes, Senate convicts & VP would normally preside (conflict of interest w/ POTUS) so CJ of SCOTUS presides over Senate.
The problem is that Garland's very worship of Levi blinds him to the magnitude of the current dangers. AG Levi's reforms were imaginative and bold, addressing the dangers posed by an unscrupulous president and cronies. Levi would have matched the response to the severity of the danger. Watergate was a forest fire, Trumpism is thermonuclear war. Garland is Mueller 2.0, and he will be equally ineffective. Allowing a year to pass without a single step taken to investigate the ringleaders of the insurrection is tantamount to a declaration that Trump and his enablers are above the law. Garland's ridiculous explanations about how prosecutions proceed, in a meticulous 'bottoms up' approach is gaslighting. This is not a normal situation, and pretending that it is, allows Garland to run out the clock to maintain DOJ impartiality. It's terrifying to see him place institutions over democracy. He is clearly the wrong man for the job.
Watergate was a cancer on the Presidency.Actually in the 70's it had already metastasized into CIA & FBI.POTUS nominates these directors. It was more than a simple break in. There was a coverup of a coverup leading back to the assassination of JFK. Nixon was 1st POTUS in our history (and the last so far), who could have been convicted in Senate.Votes were there, so he resigned. His crimes were never punished, because he was pardoned. We're likely in this position now (MHO), because he was pardoned. Those who surrounded & came after him (Barr, Epstein, Maxwell, Manafort,Stone & others) became career criminals. Trump had long associations with these people through his casinos, money laundering, & alleged sexual affairs. Garland is the AG, constrained only by the confidentiality of Barr memos & OLC. Mueller was a Special Counsel (not INDEPENDENT Counsel), constrained by Rosenstein who narrowed his scope & "landed the plane" & coverup Barr (also covered up Iran Contra)who "made inappropriate redactions" &"distorted the Mueller findings" (Judge Walton). Not a prosecutor & never worked in DOJ.That being said, the proper procedure to "take down" a mob is in a meticulous "bottoms up" approach, lower "fish" flipping on the bigger "fish" & so on up the ranks. Jan6C, on the other hand, is proceeding from the "top down", getting staff members from Congress,WH, VP,Melania, Ali Alexander, Bannon, Jones & others. They are trying to get Reps Jordan & Perry to give documents & testify. This may be a problem. If they are given legal clearance to subpoena a member of Congress, they will do so. I'm not OSIntel & don't follow court filings. A person who does is Empty Wheel. You might follow her. Cases of Mueller can be resurrected (a lot were killed by Barr), if new evidence is found. She tracked one case that was transferred to another USAO, indicating there might be additional evidence. Rudy's case is in discovery with a Master deciding the evidence FBI will get. Sidney Powell's LLCs (one possible source of funding the insurrection) have been subpoenaed (following the $). Barrack's case came out of the blue. He's UAE agent associated w/ George Nadar & has ties to multiple people in Trump admin as part of transition team & chair of inaugural committee (follow the money), associations with Qatari blockage, KSA & Elliott Broidy (also worked for UAE). Important to note Mueller had all communications of the Trump transition team. These are facts. If it's my opinion, I've indicated that. IMO Garland is right man for the job. Any other AG worth their salt would follow the policy book & the same process. Not probably what you wanted to hear, but facts are facts.
I'm familiar with the history, and I've read both volumes of the Mueller report, cover to cover. I also know that Andrew Weismann wrote a book scorching many of Mueller's decisions. Being part of the Mueller team, it's fair to say that he's a much better judge if the miscalculations made by Mueller, Barr's obstruction notwithstanding. As to the cases quashed by Barr, the statutes of limitations are all running out. I've read Emptywheel's theory of the case, and don't find it to be particularly persuasive given that a serious top to bottom prosecution would have leaked, and Garland himself said that prosecutions are handled bottom to top. I'd also mote that every former federal prosecutor who has spoken about Garland has expressed alarm at his lack of action and focus on the rioters vs ringleaders. That said, we'll have to agree to disagree re Garland.
Ditto for me. People like to write books after the fact. Hindsight is 20/20. I don't think it's necessarily fair to only look at Weismann's views as a better 'judge'. Frankly I'd rather take a real judge's opinion like Judge Walton's, who read the unredacted Mueller report. It's well known that mob cases proceed bottom to top. I'll state this as an opinion. Trump was a confidential informant like Nader. FWIW Mueller signed Nadar's papers as a CI. Garland stated under oath to Senator Whitehouse that he'd go after the ringleaders, aiders & abettors, funders, planners. That said, I guess we'll have to disagree on Garland, unless of course Garland wasn't telling the truth to Sen. Whitehouse.
MN has been crying the alarm since long before the 2016 election. Ignoring his voice will be the end of our experiment. As long as Americans can get their coffee and hamburgers with no problem they think its all OK. Unfortunately those on the radical right have responded to the fears and hate engendered by Bannon, Steven Miller, Mike Pompeo and their ilk. Reality seems to be a vague threat rather than the imminent danger it is.
The next 10 months are important for educating widely, grass-roots style.
I agree with your comment on coffee & hamburgers. How accurate.
Our generation (broadly speaking) has been asleep at the wheel, enjoying the fruits of the labors of those before us. We must roll up our sleeves and educate with facts & non-emotionally tell the story of historical patterns in the next 10 months.
I think people (voters) could attach to the prospect of the extinguishment of innovation -- imagine that world? No new updated phones, apps, etc, innovation dies. The arts diminish.
You are so accurate with the vague threat v. imminent danger diagnosis.
Bannon's hero is Mussolini and I see Bannon as a far right authoritarian, a fascist leaning radical. I disagree with Nance, in his statement, "This is a man who believes in essentially a form of Marxist-Leninism". Historically, fascists have been very anti-Marxist. Our radical Republican movement is far right and fascist leaning.
I do however agree with Nance's sense of urgency this nation faces. Complacency in the face of radicalism will lead to failure.
Bannon was a great admirer of Reagan. As a young man he snuck into Reagan's victory celebration party in 1979. He stole Reagan's campaign slogan Let's MAGA. They're following Koch platform of 1980-dismantle, deregulate, destroy all agencies & depts (now all institutions). Burn it all down "Bannon style." Reagan has been considered the 'face of fascism'. Last tenet of fascism is election subversion, when they declare themselves the winner no matter true outcome.
I worked in the savings & loan industry in the 1980s - and deregulation destroyed that industry. It was like a wild rodeo ride watching it unravel at such a fast pace.
While that industry was destroyed, the $$ obviously funneled elsewhere.
It's always a 'follow the money'.
We must guard, strengthen and even improve the institutions we currently have. Generations before us envisioned & created them as guard-rails.
Yes indeed the S & L destruction was one of many scandals in Reagan administration. Look up Keating 5. Five US Senators were accused of corruption in 1989, igniting a scandal that was part of the much bigger S & L crisis. Deregulate, dismantle, destroy, privatize were all part of the Koch Platform of 1980.
"Deregulate, dismantle, destroy, privatize were all part of the Koch Platform of 1980." It was also the platform of the larger national agenda to install neoliberal capitalism here. It had buy-in from both major parties, with only a few exceptions. Lobbying bribes guaranteed its success. The Green Party rejected the idea completely. The Libertarian Party had neoliberalism as its mantra. They wanted a corporate state.
Our industrialists have long wanted to own the politicians; yes, a kind of privatized government. It has mostly taken place, as we see most DC politicians taking money on K Street from corporate lobbyists. Lawmaking has already shifted to reflect the corporate agenda, not the peoples'. Our corporatocracy has been in place for quite some time now, unbeknownst to the general public. The corporate momentum really picked up power with the passage of Citizens United in the Supreme Court. The people have already lost most of their voice. It's a massive problem.
Our neoliberal economics is all about removing guard rails from business. The advent of the Commodities, Futures Modernization Act was one of the tools used to remove previous guard rails. The investment banks ran wild as a result and caused the Great Recession. Guard rails that were put in place during the Great Depression were abandoned. The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act eliminated the Glass-Steagall Act's restrictions.
Agree and thank you for additional references. The question becomes how do we distill those scenarios into a few appropriate soundbites for the average (overly stressed out) citizen to digest?
With the focus on those possible future consequences for their family unit - friends - and loved ones.
It's so frightening but the message must remain factual so as not to create total fear and draw people frightened, looking for a 'strongman' solution...
Delicate messaging.
One citizen to another is best, but time is scarce.
My previous comment somehow came out 2 times. I participated in Hands across America, which took long time to organize bc there was no social media. The man who started it said "It's easier to do the impossible than the ordinary."
There was a very real connection between Ayn Rand, Greenspan and Reagan regarding neoliberal economics and its dissemination. The Koch bros Libertarian politics seems to be based on this concept. There is some overlap of Libertarian politics with fascist politics. Libertarians embrace Social Darwinism and unfortunately, so do fascists. Libertarian neoliberal economics could easily be the stepping stone to a fascist cartel economic system. Time will tell.
Great interview. Love M.N. I look forward to seeing him in his regular time slot every Wednesday morning on the Stephanie Miller show. M.N. has been screaming from the roof tops warning us about the dangers of Trump and Bannon since day one. He must at times feel like a Cassandra warning us over and over. I'm reminded of a Soren Kierkegaard quote; "A fire broke out backstage in a theatre. The clown came out to warn the public; they thought it was a joke and applauded. He repeated it; the acclaim was even greater. I think that's just how the world will come to an end: to general applause from wits who believe it's a joke.”
The biggest one thing we could do, after modifying the Electoral Count Law & passing voting rights this year…would be to rid ourselves of the evening Propagandists at FOX. They’ve poisoned the minds of 35-45% of our Nation.
NPR is objective? CNN?
Please help me understand where current law enforcement fits in. Isn’t it illegal to call for and pursue insurrection? Why is Bannon able to lay out a clear plan to topple our democracy and then go out to dinner? Why are the wealthy elite funding this effort allowed to fund it? I see the danger. I don’t need to wake up. I need to know what an average law-abiding person can do about it. Should we be pressuring electeds to act, news organizations to report on the danger, democracy supporters to donate to democrats at every level in every state? Urging businesses to understand that all bets are off for freedom to earn profits in an authoritarian state so they best stop funding Republicans? Is it too late for all that?
I agree & what can individuals do, time is scarce. Grassroots reaching is good, but more is needed ,,, and thru what venue?
It almost feels like a voter movement of quick study education. Repetition of a few clear talking points. With the rich background Ruth has provided, now must be synthesized into repetitive small soundbites. ( oh! Bring back the bumper stickers, jk).
The taste of greed has led to widespread slippage to acceptance of Public Corruption as fashionable & enviable.
You are so right. The business, financial aspect is a good side of the prism to address. If the midterms go all to the R, it begins the targeted erosion of higher ed, expertise, the arts and innovation.
The death of innovation leadership from America would be felt globally.
I would be interested in any further thoughts on what venue is effective...
Having witnessed the effects of corruption, I have always longed for a National Awareness Day where these effects are explained to the citizenry.
Pardon my bluntness, but in that scenario the citizenry are pawns in a game.
I feel people need to know potential end results -- to family units-- and potential business / industry lo$$es to scorch our collective brains to snap-out of this comatose state.
I believe Bannon (and Laura Ingraham) are the architects of a lot of Trump's twisted thinking and beliefs.
I so appreciated Ruth saying today that we have to repeat our messages over and over. Everything else gets lost in the relentless noise and lies we hear every day. Plus, Americans aren't the deepest of thinkers. The repetition is ESSENTIAL and the message should be simple and emotional. The eliteist of the elites on the right understand this.
Corporate innovation$ die in the darkness (too)
Russell Taylor
I just recently discovered the fabulous Ruth Ben-Ghiat, another American female truth-warrior who has leapt to the defense our precious and imperiled Democratic Republic. I have subscribed to her newsletter, Lucid, at the $5/Mo. deal and when I opened it I was very pleased to see a conversation between Ruth and the great Malcolm Nance. I feel like I know this amazing fellow as I own all of his several excellent books. It was somewhat comforting to read what Malcolm wrote, that the American military will stand up to the coming white trash insurgency and crush it. As a thirty-year veteran of Naval Intelligence, Malcolm knows the military very well and when he says what he says about its inherent resistance to political extremism I tend think he knows whereof he writes. Folks, it is now the time for all good women and men to come to the aid of their country, to paraphrase the typing class drill I recall from high school more than five decades ago. We must, to paraphrase Gandalf standing on the ramparts of a besieged Minas Tirith, throw these foul creatures back into the abyss at the polls in the fall of 2022. Our electoral victory needs to be overwhelming!
Yep, sociopaths lie and have no empathy for others. Psychopaths seem to be even more destructive to others. Thanks for reminding us....most of us were saying sociopath very early in the 2015-16 debate cycle, and I blocked him on Twitter as soon as he attacked ex-Gov Bush as I could see the sociopathy and won't put up with liars in my midst.
I have been writing to my friends for the last 3 years that Donald J. Tramp (intentional spelling) is a Dictator in waiting. And Putin has been pulling strings for him behind the scenes. And Facebook is a co-conspirator and obviously Fox News and the other DARK media are too. And why the hell was Pence, Michael (not the good one) in Hungary kissing ass with Victor Orban?
I was scolded by my (otherwise intelligent) attorney boss shortly after the 2016 election when I called Trump insane and the head of a crime syndicate. He scoffed and thought I was being unreasonable and overwrought, and he never has gotten in touch with me to tell me how right I was lol
Tagging on to the last line: "And don't forget environmental collapse." The enemy is us, that's easy to see. The answer is not, but I know that it entails a systemic change from permanent hierarchy to flexible heterarchical forms of local governance.
I believe the impending climate disaster is
part of the Authoritaruan Drive to install Trump and a line of Trumpian GQP Dick-Tators … Trump, Flynn, DeSantis, Hirdan, Nunes, etc. to rule America, plunder it’s resources on State & Federal lands (as Putin & his oligarchs did, 1991 to now… although they’re running out of riches to pilfer). I think Putin & oligarchs have Kompromat on The GOPers… & are pressuring Trump & Co. to keep accepting campaign cash from Moscow & give Vlad a percentage of the spoils of America once Trumpism is in power. The impending climate disaster is providing the GQP with the attitude that “this planet won’t be livable for all humanity by 2070, so we’re going to take ‘ours’ and enjoy it while we can…”
The overriding problem behind Global Warming is too much US (and world) population for the US resources and infrastructure.
This interview is what I have been waiting for. Two amazing minds expressing the truth which has to be heard.
Ever since Trump said he was running, and then became the choice of the Republican party , I knew he could win and I already had a pit in my stomach. I've been in amazement how people fall for his ignorant comments and rants but then I realize they are my neighbors, even some family members can see "his side"....He's a dangerous man leading people who feel that they are victims and feel "the other people" , the immigrants, people of color or different religion are taking advantage and taking over. My mom survived world war II. She was a war bride from England and my Dad served there. When people, when countries look the other way at the evil , no matter how salient, is rising, there is danger for all. I hope and pray we don't continue to look away.
Donald J. Trump has been a liar and cheat most if not all of his adult life - just ask all those who believed him (and in him) who bought into Trump University training or the HUNDREDS of buyers of the condos at the Trump Ocean Resort in Baja California, Mexico all who sued him for fraud costing him millions to settle (and then there's the Trump football team, wine, ties, casinos, etc., etc., etc. - all falling in failure because he's a con not a businessman!!)
Thankful for those like Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Malcolm Nance, and many others who keep shining the light on Trump, the deceived millions who still support him, and the Psychophants masquerading as legislators seeking their own advantage by playing up to his self-aggrandizing ego.
Trump's business behavior and political behavior reflect his mental state of being a sociopath (APD). Psychopaths and sociopaths are the most vile, treacherous people in the Human Race. Sociopaths have no conscience, nor remorse for having caused pain in others. They are infamous for cruelty, cold bloodedness, a lack of empathy, rage, manipulation of others, unlawfulness, deceitfulness and grandiosity. They are lacking traits that make people virtuous. Jeffry Dahmer, John Gacy, Ted Bundy and Hitler were all sociopaths, just like Trump. They will murder without blinking an eye.
As someone who voted for Biden and will never vote blue again I think you are all really out of touch with the mood.
"Out of touch with the mood" - meaning who? certainly not all those fans here of Ruth Ben-Ghiat and Malcolm Nance who are against the creeping autocracy and demagoguery of Donald John Trump, the millions of those still deceived into following him (would that be YOU given your comment?), and all the RINOs masquerading as "Republican's" sucking up to him and trying to take over our Republic by legislating voter suppression in multiple states!!
Wake up Perri Chase
"Collective denial" - Malcolm Nance used this term, in this exceptionally insightful interview; backed with his expertise & supported in his views by our productive and compassionate, President Biden. (Please review Pres. Biden's speech 1/6/2022, against the trumpery & chaos of the GOP & followers. Ex: "We saw it with our own eyes. Rioters menaced these halls, threatening the life of the Speaker of the House, literally erecting gallows to hang the Vice President of the United States of America.”) Collective denial is you, unfortunately epitomized in your comment.
Sincerely,
NOT "you all" & NOT part of your gross generalization about the "mood" since the attempted murder of our Democracy, by Donald and his COUP Cabal; on Jan. 6, 2021; at our beloved Capitol. Thank you for listening.
Because we know that Trump, Kevin McCarthy, and many others are unfit intellectually to lead a nation with no Constitution, chaos, violence, are followers also remotely aware that nothing good can come from a Trump tyrannical reign?
I especially don't want Don Jr, Kim G, etc etc forming a dynasty.
Cognitive warfare or hacking of the mind has been going on for decades. They are aware of only their Dear Leader, whom they believe is the only one who can "fix it." The GOP leaders fear their loss of power, their white supremacy. The fear of the loss of power corrupts absolutely. Everything merges to "state", which provides order. There's one religion Christian (Evangelicalism). Theocracy develops, along with authoritarianism,MHO.
Thank you for this, Sandra. There is a very illuminating lesson to be learned from T.E. Lawrence when he was seeking the solace of obscurity. He wrote the entry for "Guerrilla Warfare" in the Encyclopedia Britannica and outlined the basis of mass psychological warfare. His observations help us to understand what Bannon and his ilk are doing to all of us. https://www.britannica.com/topic/T-E-Lawrence-on-guerrilla-warfare-1984900
Viet Nam and Afghanistan were both essentially guerrilla warfare. Reason why US couldn't "beat" either, and why Russians also failed in Afghanistan. An F18 Top Gun pilot who bombed Afghanistan told me in 2010 that it was impossible to win there due to terrain, too, which is well known.
Thank you for this, Linda. A Russian doctor in the Soviet Army told me exactly the same thing about their experiences in The Land of the Shitty Vodka. I can imagine the British saying the same thing all the way back to 1842.
Christianity is only a "cover" for seditionists/white supremacists by which they hope to attract followers, achieve acceptability and communicate. Putin, Hitler and others reject(ed) religion. I'm beginning to remember that psychologists say some people are addicted to their own adrenalin rush they get from violence, anger, and that it's typical of prisoners. Trump loves conflict among others he has said, let alone himself and others...told an aide in 2016 after win he wanted "a fight everyday as president, which I win." He has "self addiction" worse than narcissism.
Trump sees himself as a demigod, which springs from his sociopathic grandiosity. He belongs in a mental institution, where he cannot cause any more destruction to society.
Vote blue or it could be the end of you…
If you are young and brave, run for office, whether it be school board, city council, city election official or poll worker or poll watcher. You have to be brave, because these people are under assault. That's how they take over, with fear and anger. Vote of course & help someone else to vote, like driving them to polls when you go.
And perhaps once a day ( or more) start a neutral conversation with a stranger and see where it goes.....
Me as well. Thanks for yours today.
We will continue to push to the Abyss as long as Tucker Carlson, Hannity, Ingraham, Pirro, Kirk, Bannon, Levin, A Jones, Prosobiec, etc., lie to their followers.
If FOX would get rid of Tucker, Ingraham, Hegseth, Pirro & Hannity… it could go a long way to reversing this trend. Even if the Murdoch’s did this, it’d take 2 generations to get back to where we were in 1980, when Reagan tanked The Fairness Doctrine
Right on.....don't mince words....good post
I would like to know what we citizens should do right now. I have studied totalitarian regimes for years, and I fear we have tipped into a dangerous crevasse. If the Dems won’t move to prosecute, quickly, I believe we are through. Other than pressuring the Democrats and Garland, what else is there? We are awake. But we need leaders to lead.
I like : what we citizens should do right now.
????
See my reply above.Run for a local office--school board, city council, volunteer to be a poll worker or poll watcher (info is likely on your SOS web site). Realize you must be brave because these people are under assault. That's how GOP gain power--through fear & anger.
On the prospect of Garland doing anything serious about the saboteurs of American democracy, see the tweets at @SethAbramson today beginning, “AG Merrick Garland said all correct things today.” A 25-tweet thread plus a 5-tweet conclusion. Garland appears to be the Joe Manchin of federal law-enforcement.
Not very many people might know this, but Garland appears to be a great admirer of post WG AG Edward Levi (has a pic of him hanging on wall of DOJ lounge outside his office I read).Levi was a return to normalcy after criminal Nixon.He raised morale in DOJ (which was very low), investigated abuse of CIA & FBI by past Presidents & Congressmen, testified before Congress on secret files of Hoover & gave docs to Church committee.After WG, we codified the prosecution of a POTUS by creating position of Independent Counsel (like Starr), appointed by Congress, approved by a 3 judge panel & overseen by a fed judge. All 3 gov branches must be involved to prosecute a POTUS. As soon as SCOTUS rules on Executive privilege of Trump, we will have all 3 elements. Jan6C given legislative purpose by Judge Chutkan, Biden waived EP & DC prosecutor prosecutes. Jan6C can send criminal referral, but it remains DOJ's job to enforce the law. I believe we mirrored impeachment of POTUS, also requires 3 branches. DOJ appoints Special Counsel (like Mueller), House prosecutes, Senate convicts & VP would normally preside (conflict of interest w/ POTUS) so CJ of SCOTUS presides over Senate.
The problem is that Garland's very worship of Levi blinds him to the magnitude of the current dangers. AG Levi's reforms were imaginative and bold, addressing the dangers posed by an unscrupulous president and cronies. Levi would have matched the response to the severity of the danger. Watergate was a forest fire, Trumpism is thermonuclear war. Garland is Mueller 2.0, and he will be equally ineffective. Allowing a year to pass without a single step taken to investigate the ringleaders of the insurrection is tantamount to a declaration that Trump and his enablers are above the law. Garland's ridiculous explanations about how prosecutions proceed, in a meticulous 'bottoms up' approach is gaslighting. This is not a normal situation, and pretending that it is, allows Garland to run out the clock to maintain DOJ impartiality. It's terrifying to see him place institutions over democracy. He is clearly the wrong man for the job.
Watergate was a cancer on the Presidency.Actually in the 70's it had already metastasized into CIA & FBI.POTUS nominates these directors. It was more than a simple break in. There was a coverup of a coverup leading back to the assassination of JFK. Nixon was 1st POTUS in our history (and the last so far), who could have been convicted in Senate.Votes were there, so he resigned. His crimes were never punished, because he was pardoned. We're likely in this position now (MHO), because he was pardoned. Those who surrounded & came after him (Barr, Epstein, Maxwell, Manafort,Stone & others) became career criminals. Trump had long associations with these people through his casinos, money laundering, & alleged sexual affairs. Garland is the AG, constrained only by the confidentiality of Barr memos & OLC. Mueller was a Special Counsel (not INDEPENDENT Counsel), constrained by Rosenstein who narrowed his scope & "landed the plane" & coverup Barr (also covered up Iran Contra)who "made inappropriate redactions" &"distorted the Mueller findings" (Judge Walton). Not a prosecutor & never worked in DOJ.That being said, the proper procedure to "take down" a mob is in a meticulous "bottoms up" approach, lower "fish" flipping on the bigger "fish" & so on up the ranks. Jan6C, on the other hand, is proceeding from the "top down", getting staff members from Congress,WH, VP,Melania, Ali Alexander, Bannon, Jones & others. They are trying to get Reps Jordan & Perry to give documents & testify. This may be a problem. If they are given legal clearance to subpoena a member of Congress, they will do so. I'm not OSIntel & don't follow court filings. A person who does is Empty Wheel. You might follow her. Cases of Mueller can be resurrected (a lot were killed by Barr), if new evidence is found. She tracked one case that was transferred to another USAO, indicating there might be additional evidence. Rudy's case is in discovery with a Master deciding the evidence FBI will get. Sidney Powell's LLCs (one possible source of funding the insurrection) have been subpoenaed (following the $). Barrack's case came out of the blue. He's UAE agent associated w/ George Nadar & has ties to multiple people in Trump admin as part of transition team & chair of inaugural committee (follow the money), associations with Qatari blockage, KSA & Elliott Broidy (also worked for UAE). Important to note Mueller had all communications of the Trump transition team. These are facts. If it's my opinion, I've indicated that. IMO Garland is right man for the job. Any other AG worth their salt would follow the policy book & the same process. Not probably what you wanted to hear, but facts are facts.
I'm familiar with the history, and I've read both volumes of the Mueller report, cover to cover. I also know that Andrew Weismann wrote a book scorching many of Mueller's decisions. Being part of the Mueller team, it's fair to say that he's a much better judge if the miscalculations made by Mueller, Barr's obstruction notwithstanding. As to the cases quashed by Barr, the statutes of limitations are all running out. I've read Emptywheel's theory of the case, and don't find it to be particularly persuasive given that a serious top to bottom prosecution would have leaked, and Garland himself said that prosecutions are handled bottom to top. I'd also mote that every former federal prosecutor who has spoken about Garland has expressed alarm at his lack of action and focus on the rioters vs ringleaders. That said, we'll have to agree to disagree re Garland.
Ditto for me. People like to write books after the fact. Hindsight is 20/20. I don't think it's necessarily fair to only look at Weismann's views as a better 'judge'. Frankly I'd rather take a real judge's opinion like Judge Walton's, who read the unredacted Mueller report. It's well known that mob cases proceed bottom to top. I'll state this as an opinion. Trump was a confidential informant like Nader. FWIW Mueller signed Nadar's papers as a CI. Garland stated under oath to Senator Whitehouse that he'd go after the ringleaders, aiders & abettors, funders, planners. That said, I guess we'll have to disagree on Garland, unless of course Garland wasn't telling the truth to Sen. Whitehouse.
Difficult to be patient but deliberate measuredness will secure a better prosecurial outcome, with more defendents being able to be unsnared.
MN has been crying the alarm since long before the 2016 election. Ignoring his voice will be the end of our experiment. As long as Americans can get their coffee and hamburgers with no problem they think its all OK. Unfortunately those on the radical right have responded to the fears and hate engendered by Bannon, Steven Miller, Mike Pompeo and their ilk. Reality seems to be a vague threat rather than the imminent danger it is.
The next 10 months are important for educating widely, grass-roots style.
I agree with your comment on coffee & hamburgers. How accurate.
Our generation (broadly speaking) has been asleep at the wheel, enjoying the fruits of the labors of those before us. We must roll up our sleeves and educate with facts & non-emotionally tell the story of historical patterns in the next 10 months.
I think people (voters) could attach to the prospect of the extinguishment of innovation -- imagine that world? No new updated phones, apps, etc, innovation dies. The arts diminish.
You are so accurate with the vague threat v. imminent danger diagnosis.
Bannon's hero is Mussolini and I see Bannon as a far right authoritarian, a fascist leaning radical. I disagree with Nance, in his statement, "This is a man who believes in essentially a form of Marxist-Leninism". Historically, fascists have been very anti-Marxist. Our radical Republican movement is far right and fascist leaning.
I do however agree with Nance's sense of urgency this nation faces. Complacency in the face of radicalism will lead to failure.
Bannon was a great admirer of Reagan. As a young man he snuck into Reagan's victory celebration party in 1979. He stole Reagan's campaign slogan Let's MAGA. They're following Koch platform of 1980-dismantle, deregulate, destroy all agencies & depts (now all institutions). Burn it all down "Bannon style." Reagan has been considered the 'face of fascism'. Last tenet of fascism is election subversion, when they declare themselves the winner no matter true outcome.
I worked in the savings & loan industry in the 1980s - and deregulation destroyed that industry. It was like a wild rodeo ride watching it unravel at such a fast pace.
While that industry was destroyed, the $$ obviously funneled elsewhere.
It's always a 'follow the money'.
We must guard, strengthen and even improve the institutions we currently have. Generations before us envisioned & created them as guard-rails.
Yes indeed the S & L destruction was one of many scandals in Reagan administration. Look up Keating 5. Five US Senators were accused of corruption in 1989, igniting a scandal that was part of the much bigger S & L crisis. Deregulate, dismantle, destroy, privatize were all part of the Koch Platform of 1980.
"Deregulate, dismantle, destroy, privatize were all part of the Koch Platform of 1980." It was also the platform of the larger national agenda to install neoliberal capitalism here. It had buy-in from both major parties, with only a few exceptions. Lobbying bribes guaranteed its success. The Green Party rejected the idea completely. The Libertarian Party had neoliberalism as its mantra. They wanted a corporate state.
Is a privatized government the goal?
Is that a new model of governance?
If corporations own/ control government - how does that look?
Is lawmaking shifted?
Are laws then determined by a Congress of corporately-seated members? (Energy sector, tech sector ...)
A paragram ? shift, indeed.
People would lose all voice.
We would no longer be a nation of families.
Our industrialists have long wanted to own the politicians; yes, a kind of privatized government. It has mostly taken place, as we see most DC politicians taking money on K Street from corporate lobbyists. Lawmaking has already shifted to reflect the corporate agenda, not the peoples'. Our corporatocracy has been in place for quite some time now, unbeknownst to the general public. The corporate momentum really picked up power with the passage of Citizens United in the Supreme Court. The people have already lost most of their voice. It's a massive problem.
Thanks for those references, Sandra. It reads like a case study that our citizenry should revisit.
Greed must be diluted.
Criminality must become unfashionable again.
Institutional pillars strengthed.
The stories of history valued.
Welcome!
Our neoliberal economics is all about removing guard rails from business. The advent of the Commodities, Futures Modernization Act was one of the tools used to remove previous guard rails. The investment banks ran wild as a result and caused the Great Recession. Guard rails that were put in place during the Great Depression were abandoned. The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act eliminated the Glass-Steagall Act's restrictions.
Agree and thank you for additional references. The question becomes how do we distill those scenarios into a few appropriate soundbites for the average (overly stressed out) citizen to digest?
With the focus on those possible future consequences for their family unit - friends - and loved ones.
It's so frightening but the message must remain factual so as not to create total fear and draw people frightened, looking for a 'strongman' solution...
Delicate messaging.
One citizen to another is best, but time is scarce.
Remember
Hands Across America?
Most effective as one shoulder tap @ a time.
Starting today.
And shoutout of gratitude to our neighbors to the north, the Globe & Mail for their alarming notice to us.
My previous comment somehow came out 2 times. I participated in Hands across America, which took long time to organize bc there was no social media. The man who started it said "It's easier to do the impossible than the ordinary."
There was a very real connection between Ayn Rand, Greenspan and Reagan regarding neoliberal economics and its dissemination. The Koch bros Libertarian politics seems to be based on this concept. There is some overlap of Libertarian politics with fascist politics. Libertarians embrace Social Darwinism and unfortunately, so do fascists. Libertarian neoliberal economics could easily be the stepping stone to a fascist cartel economic system. Time will tell.
Great interview. Love M.N. I look forward to seeing him in his regular time slot every Wednesday morning on the Stephanie Miller show. M.N. has been screaming from the roof tops warning us about the dangers of Trump and Bannon since day one. He must at times feel like a Cassandra warning us over and over. I'm reminded of a Soren Kierkegaard quote; "A fire broke out backstage in a theatre. The clown came out to warn the public; they thought it was a joke and applauded. He repeated it; the acclaim was even greater. I think that's just how the world will come to an end: to general applause from wits who believe it's a joke.”
Terrific analysis and commentary Gary. Thank you for your concise wording. Much appreciated.
Glad you liked it! Thanks..